Chapter 20
“May Goddess Aurea’s blessing always be with you, devotee.”
“Thank you, Grand Priest.”
After returning to the Grand Temple, Theodore worked up a sweat dealing with the visitors who had piled up.
He had only postponed his morning duties, but he couldn’t even properly drink a sip of water all afternoon.
It was only after evening service ended that Theodore could finally settle into a chair.
“Oh dear.”
He couldn’t very well shove a picture he had gone to such trouble to obtain into a drawer.
Theodore unlocked the sturdy lock and took the rolled-up paper from the drawer.
Then the goddess appeared in midair, embraced Theodore from behind, and draped her arms over his shoulders.
[You went to see Vieta this morning?]
The goddess really had an uncanny knack for noticing anything related to Vieta.
“Yes, because I won’t be able to see her for a while.”
The goddess’s soft hair brushed Theodore’s cheek.
[You seem disappointed. Why not go along with her this time?]
“I have things to do too, so I can’t just abandon them and go. Besides, if I go, what will you do if you get bored, Goddess?”
At Theodore’s words, the goddess giggled and unfolded the rolled-up paper.
[Did Vieta draw this?]
Brown hair waved softly in the breeze beneath the sunlight.
A man with somewhat strong features gazed straight ahead with a faint smile.
“I didn’t know the captain had a talent like this, either.”
[Right? It’s incredibly well drawn. It’s different from the drawings I usually see, though. How should I put it? It feels wistful yet warm.]
Theodore turned his eyes toward the goddess.
The goddess’s eyes were visible from barely a handspan away.
Those clear eyes were filled with wistfulness.
[Did the other children receive drawings too, not just Theodore?]
“For now, only Fulcare and I got one. There was one for Iseria too, but the captain took it back, insisting on drawing it again.”
[…I see. I’d like to see Fulcare’s too.]
The goddess’s slender fingers stroked the drawing several times.
Although she claimed otherwise, Theodore could tell that the goddess liked Vieta very much.
Yet the goddess placed the prosperity of the Empire, and ultimately the peace of this world, above Vieta as an individual.
And in that process, Vieta was always the victim.
A yoke she had to bear as a goddess.
Because she knew that no matter what she said, she would never be forgiven.
The goddess did not particularly try to ask Vieta for forgiveness.
Theodore knew that well, which was why he did not interfere in their relationship.
In a way, Theodore himself, as an imperial citizen, owed Vieta a great debt.
So he had all the more reason not to get involved, and never even considered interfering.
Forgiveness belonged to Vieta alone.
He had merely been forgiven; the goddess simply had not.
[May I keep this?]
“What are you going to do with my drawing? Don’t tell me you like me.”
Theodore made a silly joke.
The goddess grinned and wrapped one arm around Theodore’s neck.
[A well-drawn picture is a pleasure just to look at.]
“Take it. Just don’t burn it because you hate me.”
What greater honor could there be for a Grand Priest than to make the goddess he served happy?
If she wanted it back, the goddess would return the drawing at any time, and since it was in her hands, not even a speck of dust would settle on it. In a way, that was better than putting it in a frame.
[…Thank you.]
A childlike smile spread across the goddess’s face at the sight of a single drawing.
*
“Hello?”
“Vieta!”
Blanc was startled when he saw Vieta appear at his window and shot to his feet. The luxurious dark-brown chair toppled over with a loud crash.
At this rate, the servants might come running.
“J-just a moment.”
Blanc checked the office door once more before opening the window for Vieta.
“What brings you here?”
“Um…. Just because?”
Vieta gave only a vague answer, rolling her large eyes around as she looked over every corner of the office.
She had suddenly shown up at night.
And since Vieta, who normally never hesitated over anything, was acting like this, Blanc suddenly felt uneasy.
“…Did something serious happen?”
Vieta’s expression turned sullen.
“I suppose you think I’m someone who goes around causing trouble.”
“…No. Absolutely not.”
Though he said that, Blanc did kind of want to see her too.
Whenever fatigue overcame him during work and he closed his eyes for a moment, Vieta’s office kept coming to mind.
They say you don’t notice someone when they’re there, but you notice when they’re gone. They had been together for three days, and being apart for just one day had left him feeling strangely empty.
“How are the pilgrimage preparations going?”
Vieta showed interest in the documents scattered across the desk. Among them, she seemed particularly focused on the map with the pilgrimage route marked out.
“I think I can finish everything without incident by tomorrow. Actually, it’s not so much the pilgrimage preparations as things inside the palace and outside appointments during the pilgrimage that are complicated.”
Four dots were marked around the capital on the map.
“These must be the places we need to visit first?”
Traveling solely on horseback would take more than two months, making it a fairly grueling itinerary, but assuming they received help from the warp gates set up along the way and from the mages, they could shorten it somewhat.
“That’s right. We’re planning to head south first.”
The southern Marquis Ahan was famous for his eccentric temperament, and even setting a date for the visit was proving difficult.
Although he claimed to want to be the first of the three dukes and marquises to meet the new Crown Prince and swear allegiance, even a political novice could tell that, beneath those words, that wasn’t his true intention.
But Blanc couldn’t bring up matters like this with Vieta. If he did, she would almost certainly collapse again.
“If it’s Blanc, I’m sure he’ll manage.”
As expected.
She had only been curious about where he was going.
“So, Fixer, are your preparations going well?”
Blanc picked up a bottle of wine set aside in one corner of the office and gave it a slight wave toward Vieta.
He had thought she would leave soon, but unexpectedly, it seemed their conversation might continue for a while.
In that case, it seemed better to have something to drink than to keep chatting dry.
“More or less? Since the Empire is providing supplies, I didn’t have as much luggage as I expected.”
Vieta grinned and made an OK sign with her fingers.
“It’s expensive, right?”
“It isn’t particularly expensive, but it should still be tasty.”
Given the hour, a low-alcohol wine seemed more fitting than black tea.
“There’s no food to go with it. Is that okay?”
“If we’re just having a light glass, it’s fine.”
The candlelight burned softly in the silver sconce hanging on the wall.
Red wine flowed smoothly from the dark-green bottle edged in gold, quickly tinting the transparent wineglass in its own color.
“Is this how I’m supposed to drink it?”
Beneath the warm yellow candlelight, Vieta held the stem of the wineglass and gave it a light swirl.
“Swirl it so the wine gently coats the rounded bowl of the glass.”
Blanc demonstrated. The purplish wine brushed the bowl of the glass with the smoothness of silk.
“Then you savor the aroma like this.”
Blanc savored the wine as he watched Vieta imitate him.
It was wine he usually drank simply to ease his fatigue, but today its aroma and flavor seemed especially mellow.
“It has a fresh aroma.”
Judging by her reaction, Vieta seemed to like it too.
“I’m glad. I have other wines as well, so if you don’t like this one, please feel free to say so.”
The cool breeze slipping through the window chilled Blanc’s slightly flushed earlobes.
He had always thought she was pretty, but under the soft candlelight, she looked especially beautiful.
“No, this is good. But I’m only going to have one glass.”
“That will be plenty.”
Though the guest table was by no means small, amid the scent of wine, Blanc kept catching Vieta’s fragrance from across it in fleeting traces.
The low murmur of their conversation, Vieta’s laughter breaking out now and then.
Until the single glass of wine they had initially agreed on was empty.
Blanc and Vieta exchanged small talk, just as they had in her office.
“I should get going now.”
Perhaps the one glass had gone to her head, because Vieta’s cheeks and ears were flushed.
“Ah, take this before you go. I came to give you this, but I didn’t expect it to get this late.”
What Vieta held out was a rolled-up sheet of paper.
“What’s this?”
Blanc had never expected to receive a gift from Vieta.
“I thought of you while I was drawing one for Fulcare and Theodore today, so I drew this too. Well, good night.”
“Vie-.”
Before Blanc could say anything, Vieta vanished from his view.
When he hurriedly looked out the window, he saw a cat already bounding over the Imperial Palace wall.
“…There she goes.”
He had worried that she might collapse on the way, but it seemed that concern had been unfounded.
Blanc sat down in his chair and untied the strip around the rolled-up paper.
“Ha….”
Blanc covered his face with both hands.
Inside was a drawing of himself holding a Trom tea set and smiling awkwardly.
Since it was marked ‘by. Vie,’ it was clear that Vieta had drawn it herself.
“What am I supposed to do? Seriously.”
Blanc’s face and neck turned bright red.
It took him a very long time to calm himself down.
***
“Well then, shall we be off?”
At last, it was the day of departure. Vieta locked the office securely and left a sign behind.
[I’ll be away on a business trip for a little while.]