Chapter 84.3

Arnold clicked his tongue softly when Rishe prompted him.

Then he looked up at Oliver beside him.

“Oliver, stay with Rishe for a while.”

“As you wish.”

Oliver bowed with his hand on his chest. Arnold finally stood up and left the room with the priest.

When the door closed, it was just the two of them in the waiting room, Rishe and Oliver.

“… Oh, you were really a great help!”

Oliver remarked with a fresh smile on his face.

“Rishe-sama, Master is more reasonable when you’re around. I wish it were always like this.”

Reasonable…?

It sounded like something you would say to a child, but he has been in Arnold’s service for ten years.

In other words, he has been Arnold’s squire since he was nine years old. If he was serving him since he was about that age, he might naturally treat him as such.

“However, I really should be able to persuade him without Rishe-sama’s help. Phew, I am ashamed of incompetence.”

“That’s not true. Besides, the only time His Highness Arnold expresses a certain degree of willfulness is with Oliver-sama. I think that’s proof of his trust in you.”

“!”

If he was so forgiving, he should have at least told him why he asked Rishe to marry him.

Of course, even if he told Oliver about it, it didn’t guarantee that he would share it to Rishe.

Oliver chuckled softly as he thought this inwardly.

“Rishe-sama, you’re looking out for my master, aren’t you?”

Huh…

Rishe had known how to smile like Oliver in the past.

It was the kind of smile that fellow knights wore when they talked about their lord and master, His Majesty.

It was a look of loyalty, pride, respect, and affection in equal measure.

The master-servant relationship between the two of you is a strong one. I would like to hear about His Highness Arnold from you as well, Oliver-sama.

However, if she suddenly asked something inappropriate, Arnold would immediately catch wind of it. Rishe decided to start with a distant, indirect question.

“Did Oliver-sama have a good master-slave relationship with His Highness Arnold from the start?”

“Haha, no way.”

After an amused laugh, Oliver continued with the same refreshing smile, “After all, at that time, my lord was only nine years old and had just killed all of his own vassals.”

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“…”

Regardless of Rishe’s silence, Oliver blurted out.

“Back then, I was also dispirited because I was injured and my knight career was cut short. My family nearly disowned me, and I didn’t care where I died, so I went to my lord’s side who had committed such an outrage.”

“…”

“Oh, have you ever heard about the case of the vassal murder?”

When Rishe shook her head, Oliver said to himself, “Hmm.”

“Then it seems that rumors are getting harder to spread around the castle. We must devise a way to make it spread a little more.”

“…”

There, the third knock of the day sounded.

“It seems that Rishe-sama is summoned. Let’s go. I can’t enter the shrine myself, but I’ll accompany you on your way.”

“T-Thank you…”

Rishe stood up from the chaise longue with some dismay.

— There were precedents about him murdering the emperor and rumors about him killing his mother. I’m not going to be surprised to hear whatever rumors there are anymore.

Oliver calmly responded to the priest.

Rishe shallowly sighed without his notice.

Even after what happened to Myria-sama and Leo, the biggest mystery is still His Highness Arnold…