CH 12

Chapter - 12 || A Fearless But Idiotic King

The day after the tea party with the Empress, Rudolf-sama introduced me to a young priest.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Eric Achenbach."

"My name is Elvira Von Lustro."

This is the person that Rudolf-sama once said he could trust.

Both of them had studied at the same school.

Eric-sama, with his red hair and dark brown eyes, seemed very friendly. I was a little surprised by that.

The priests in the Kingdom of Turku were all very strict and unapproachable.

"I can show you around the monastery later, if you like."

Eric-sama said with a smile.

"Thank you very much."

"Eric is still young, but he is rumored to be the next high priest."

"Well, I never thought I'd meet such a brilliant man."

"I won't deny it, but it's not definite yet, but I doubt anyone but me will."

"You're confident."

The atmosphere between the two of them, which showed that you were very close, made me relax.

So I thanked them again.

"Thank you for listening to my unreasonable request."

"It's not at all unreasonable. It's the flower of the 'Maiden Lily,' right? It's outside. This way, please."

He led me to a well-ventilated warehouse. Beyond the warehouse, we could see a large field and what looked like a barn.

"Are these all of them, by any chance?"

Inside, the flowers of the Maiden Lilies were neatly laid out, evenly spaced.

Eric-sama picked up one of them.

"I was just preparing them for the Maiden Lily Festival next month."

Eric-sama gazed at the lilies with fascination.

"As you know, saints do not appear in our Zomer Empire. Even this lily only has yellow petals. Even so, these lilies are the stars of the Maiden's Lily Festival. We decorate the temple with them as if they were nothing."

He turned around and looked at me, as if he was very happy to see me.

"This year, we'll get to see the real Maiden Lily in bloom. It's amazing. It's getting exciting!"

"Nothing's exciting yet, and don't go near Elvira."

"No, I'm fine."

The Maiden's Lily Festival, as the name suggests, is a festival in the Zomer Empire that celebrates saints.

"I heard that here, children dress in white and carry paper lilies in a procession."

"That's great! You know a lot!"

"I only know about it."

"That's a waste of time! Let's have some fun together."

Eric-sama leaned forward even more. Then Rudolf-sama frowned.

"There will be musicians, food stalls, and everyone will be in a frenzy all day."

I gently put the lily back in place and nodded.

"The saint of the Zomer Empire is very shy, so she doesn't show herself, but she always watches over us. But this is the only day that she comes down to earth and secretly joins the festivities."

I couldn't help smiling.

"You can't tell because everyone is dressed as a saint."

"It's fun to talk about it the next day, like maybe it was her, or maybe it wasn't her."

"It's wonderful. In the hearts of everyone in the Zomer Empire, there is indeed a saint..."

To be honest, I was envious. But I will try not to show it on my face. This was the result of the queen's education, wasn't it?

Rudolf-sama said in wonder,

"In the Turku Kingdom, there is no such thing as a 'Maiden's Lily Festival,' is there? It seems like there should be, but it's strange."

Eric-sama said to Rudolph-sama,

"I'll explain it to you as many times as I can, so listen carefully."

"No, I'd rather hear from Elvira than you."

"Once upon a time... there was nothing but a wasteland everywhere."

"Shut up."

"The people prayed desperately, and the heaven of compassion enriched the earth."

"That much I know."

"But after a long time, the people forgot to pray."

"I know that too."

"The angry heavens ravaged the earth once more. The people cried and apologized and prayed, but they were not forgiven."

"But in the end, they did forgive them, didn't they?"

"Don't get ahead of yourself. Only one pure maiden prayed for twenty days without eating or drinking, and the heavens enriched the earth in exchange for her life."

"That maiden was a saint!"

"Yes, she was. And to comfort the maiden's soul, Heaven gave her a lily, with white petals and blue pollens."

"That was the maiden lily."

"I told you not to get ahead of myself. The lilies multiplied by it's pollens, but no matter who grew them afterwards, they did not bear white petals and blue pollens. Up to this point, both the Zomer Empire and the Turku Kingdom share the same myth."

"So this is where they diverged."

"Yes, they did. The reason was that the Maiden Lilies bloomed in the Kingdom of Turku, albeit only occasionally, and not in the Zomer Empire. That's was the difference."

"But even though the lilies didn't bloom, the people of the Zomer Empire kept their faith in the saints. I think that is very wonderful."

I couldn't help but interrupt him, but Eric-sama smiled broadly at me.

"That's right! Even if she doesn't show up, she is always watching over us. That's what the people believe."

"—On the other hand," Eric-sama continued,

"The culture of the saint did not take root so easily in the Kingdom of Turku."

"Why not? The Maiden Lily blooms."

"They don't bloom every year."

I nodded.

"It is said that a lily with white petals and blue pollens blooms only once every 60 years."

"So, every year in the Kingdom of Turku, a candidate for sainthood was recruited from women who turned 18 and had them grow lilies."

"So that's the 'Ritual of the Saint'? I didn't know about it, I'm ashamed to say."

"People from other countries don't often participate."

Eric-sama nodded.

"I wish I could have been there. The Kingdom of Turku, where a living saint is manifested, is really special. It would be foolish of them to voluntarily give up that glory."

I muttered.

"I have heard that many of the ladies prepared fakes from their families, and that is why Prince Alexander thinks that everything is just a legend."

I've been praying since I was a little girl, because I heard that Heaven gets angry when people forget to pray.

But Alexander often said that it was useless because the Kingdom of Turku was flourishing even without such a thing.

It was a relief that there was still a faith in saints among the people. When I asked Father to allow me to pray at a local cathedral, I enjoyed a brief exchange with such faithful people.

Eric-sama shook his head as if to say, "Good grief."

"He's such a king that he's not afraid to set up imposters, isn't he? It's horrible."

"It will be interesting to see how the heavens will react to the neglect of the real saint who even made the Maiden's Lilies bloom."

Rudolf-sama also muttered.

"The temple, too, is a problem. They probably thought that if a visibly beneficial being appeared, they would lose their authority. I wonder what kind of shady stuff they're up to."

Rudolf-sama smiled somewhat coldly.

"I'll take care of everything around here. I will make them regret to death that they have disgraced you."

What are you going to do?

I was wondering if I should stop him.

"But,"

Eric-sama said lazily.

"As far as I can tell, those guys were idiots so Rudolf could get engaged, right?　Isn't that a good thing?"

"You may be right, but I can't forgive the ones who hurt Elvira."

I was about to say that I am fine, but Rudolf-sama suddenly grabbed my hand.

"Even without this incident, if I had heard that Elvira was not happy, I am sure I would have flown over to help. So you can always count on me to be there for you."

"Eh...!"

I suddenly turned red because he said such a thing.

"Don't get all flirty on me."

Eric-sama muttered, unamused.