Chapter 18: The North – 3

“Karmen definitely has something going on that I don’t know about.”

When Polarr cut down the demons and briefly spoke with her, she gave a meaningful smile to my reply, which could’ve easily come off as rude.

After that, she didn’t say much and started clinging to Ariana like yesterday, but something about it just didn’t sit right with me.

“Ace? What are you thinking about?”

“Ah, Saintess.”

While I was lost in thought about Karmen, Ariana asked with concern.

“It’s nothing serious. I was just thinking about Lady Karmen…”

“What?! Why?!”

“Huh?”

Ariana suddenly rushed over, clearly startled.

“Don’t tell me… are you interested in Lady Karmen?!”

“Saintess. I’m sorry, but that’s not possible. She’s not my type—I’m not into women.”

Since Ariana grew up as the Saintess, I guess she misunderstood and thought something was going on between me and Karmen…

“And please don’t say things like that so carelessly. Lady Karmen is the daughter of the Northern Archduke, and I’m just a holy knight from the slums.”

“Ah… I’m sorry…”

“It’s alright. You’re a proper lady too, Saintess. It’s not strange for someone to be interested in things like that.”

“R-Really…?”

Seeing her relieved expression, I smiled warmly once again.

And so time passed, and it was lunchtime.

“Um… Lady Karmen? You’re sitting a little too close…”

“Hm? Oh, don’t mind it~ But seriously, you’re so pretty no matter how many times I see you.”

“Th-Thank you…?”

Karmen sat not beside Polarr, but beside Ariana, and ended up sitting across from me.

Then, once again, she started acting like a total flirt with Ariana, and I seriously considered throwing my fork a dozen times.

“Sigh… Karmen. Why are you sitting there? The Saintess looks uncomfortable.”

“Sitting next to Dad is boring.”

“Still, it’s mealtime for the Saintess. Don’t make her uncomfortable—come over here.”

“Nope. I have so many questions I want to ask the Saintess.”

“Karmen…”

Karmen completely ignored her father Polarr’s words and stayed glued to Ariana’s side, firing off questions nonstop.

“What do you learn as a Saintess?”

“Isn’t that outfit uncomfortable?”

“What kind of food do you get as a Saintess?”

“I heard the Holy Kingdom encourages early marriages—so does that mean the Saintess is expected to marry even earlier?”

With the never-ending barrage of questions, Ariana could barely eat, answering one by one.

Just as I began to frown at the whole scene—

“Oh, and as a Saintess… are you and the Hero, y’know… like that?”

“Lady Karmen, just because someone is the Saintess and the other is the Hero, doesn’t mean they have to be involved like that.”

Ariana, who had been getting swept along by Karmen’s questions, immediately straightened up and answered firmly when that topic came up.

Even Karmen froze for a second at her tone, and so did I.

“R-Really…? Sorry. It’s just… in the past, lots of Heroes and Saintesses ended up married, so I wondered…”

Karmen, now visibly deflated, ate a few pieces of meat and seemed to regain her energy.

She picked up where she left off.

“So then… you’ve really never fallen in love with anyone, not even once?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Hmm… is that so.”

For some reason, Karmen’s gaze slowly turned toward me.

Why is she staring at me like that…

This doesn’t feel good.

“Then… what about him? You’re with him practically all day—don’t you feel anything?”

“W-What?! Ace?!”

Ariana flinched so hard she nearly jumped out of her seat, her face bright red.

Like a predator spotting a weakness, Karmen dove in immediately.

“Aha! I knew it! I mean, seriously—if you didn’t like him, you would’ve shown at least a hint of discomfort being around him all day! But in the past two days, not once did you look annoyed! In fact, you were smiling like you were happy the whole time! I totally called it!”

“N-No, I mean… of course, Ace is kind, considerate, and righteous, so I do think highly of him, but…”

At that moment, Karmen interrupted her.

“But you should think it over again, really. Men—ugh, they’re all just pride and power. The knights in our domain are like that too, so it’s not like he’s gonna be any diff—”

“That’s not true!”

Ariana cut in, loud and firm.

“Ace isn’t like that at all! He’s… He’s the hero who fought off a swarm of goblins all by himself just to protect his people since he was a child! And… even when I asked him to do something as big as becoming my personal holy knight, he agreed and took the exam without hesitation!”

“The fact that he passed shows he trained every single day with discipline! And even now, he practices every morning and comes to escort me… He’s more than just a man—he’s someone amazing!”

Huff… huff…

She was panting, probably from speaking so quickly.

Karmen grinned with a sly smile, and then.

“The way you talk about him… yeah, you definitely like.”

“Enough.”

I couldn’t take any more and finally stepped in.

“Lady Karmen. I believe you may be misunderstanding something. The Saintess and I maintain a strictly professional relationship. The Saintess brings hope to all, and I support her in that mission.”

“That’s it. At most, we could be considered friends, but there is absolutely—absolutely no chance of anything more.”

Of all the Heroines, Ariana has the lowest difficulty when it comes to being won over.

If Luin, the Hero, simply becomes a decent person, he would easily win her heart.

In short, as long as the world doesn’t fall onto the Demon King route, Ariana is destined to fall in love with Luin.

There’s no place for me in that story.

“And… Your Grace, the Archduke. If it’s not too rude, may I speak with Lady Karmen privately after the meal?”

“…Go ahead. I’ll talk with the Saintess for a while and provide escort duty in your place.
Also, can you forgive my daughter’s impoliteness?”

“It’s no trouble. Girls her age are usually curious about such things.”

With Polarr’s permission, we finished the meal in silence.

“Hey, where are we going?”

“I said, where are we going!”

“We’ve arrived.”

“This is?”

“My room.”

“What? You brat—don’t tell me you brought me here to.”

“As a holy knight, I swear to the Goddess that I have no intention of doing anything improper.”

“…Well, okay then.”

I led Karmen into the room.

Clack.

I locked the door to keep anyone from barging in, then turned to face her.

“Why’d you lock the door?”

“Because this needs to be done in secret.”

“What? Don’t tell me you’re gonna.”

I brought my hands together in prayer.

“I knew it! You’re gonna pounce on.”

“Let’s begin your confession now.”

“…Huh?”

Confession.

It works a little differently in this world compared to Earth, but the basics are the same:
confessing your sins without facing the other person directly.

“It would be better to use a confessional booth in a cathedral, but… there isn’t one here.
So we’ll do it like this instead.”

I pulled the blanket off and propped it between a chair and a bookshelf.

And with that, a makeshift wall was complete.

“Alright, please have a seat.”

Still kneeling, I gestured for Karmen to sit.

Though she looked reluctant, she followed my instructions for now.

“Ahem, this is my first time hearing a confession, so please forgive any inexperience.”

I closed my eyes and clasped my hands together while still on my knees.

“Now, please close your eyes and fold your hands as well.”

“…You’re seriously doing this?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Haah…”

Even as she sighed, I could hear the soft rustling of fabric beyond the blanket wall, a sign that, thankfully, she was following along just as I’d asked.

“So… what exactly do I do? For this confession thing.”

“It’s simple. Confess your sins to the Goddess.”

“Just… right here?”

“Yes. The Goddess will forgive your sins. So confess the ones you’ve never been able to tell anyone—to Her.”

Karmen clearly had something she was hiding.

She also acted like she disliked men.

When you want to understand someone’s troubles, there’s nothing more effective than a confession.

The only issue was whether she would confess in front of me, someone she’s only known for two days…

But fortunately, everything went according to plan.

“…Before the Goddess, I confess my sins.”

Karmen had accepted the confession process seriously.

***

At that very moment, inside a cave near the Icicle Domain—

“Ugh, it’s freezing! Freakin’ cold as hell!”

“Even so—achoo! We’re almost at the Icicle Domain. Although our sudden departure forced us to take a detour… thanks to your effort, Hero, we might actually arrive earlier than scheduled.”

“Tch! You think we’re early ’cause I tried hard? How do priests collapse from the cold like that?!”

It probably wasn’t the cold.

More like they hadn’t rested at all in nearly three weeks…

“…Most likely, sir…”

“What? Are you talking back to me now, High Priest?”

“Haha, of course not. I wouldn’t dare.”

To the Hero Luin’s complaints, High Priest Liv calmly treated his own arm.

It had been broken when Luin suddenly struck him during the journey.

“Huff… that damn Paladin of Temperance wouldn’t let me take a break for even a second…”

After meeting with Ferrantia, the Holy Knight of Temperance, Luin had planned to just train in peace at his lodging due to everything he’d been through.

But Ferrantia said even laziness must be tempered, and sent Luin straight to the North.

Simply because “the people of the North need you.”

Though Ferrantia was reassigned elsewhere during the journey, it was already too late—Luin had set foot in the North.

“Screw it, let’s see if I ever hold back anything again, damn bastard.”

And so, Luin’s swearing became even less restrained.