Volume 2 - CH 9

「Yumiela, do you have any plans for today?」

「No, I don’t think so, why don’t we go back to the territory soon?」

Patrick and I were discussing our plans for the day at the breakfast table. There’s nothing interesting happening in the royal capital so I want to leave quickly.

「I’m sure the messenger from the castle will arrive soon. You need to make an appearance in the royal castle, originally. So, don’t you have to do some work there?」

「I told you, His Majesty is busy and he won’t concern himself over a local noble like me.」

I know that I should go to greet the king and queen in the royal castle, but I don’t want to go if I can help it. I’m sure they know about my presence in the capital but I won’t move unless they contact me.

Patrick said in a dumbfounded tone.

「A mere local noble won’t be able to drive an army away alone.」

「Didn’t you just go off on your own? And I wasn’t alone, you and Ryuu were there too.」

「Well, visually Ryuu might have played a bigger role.」

「Visually? He was so cute that they lost their will to fight?」

Ryuu’s cuteness will make anyone love peace. But it’s so funny that the neighbouring country’s troops were so afraid of us that they withdrew. Am I still the reason why? They weren’t supposed to be afraid of Ryuu.

After gathering his thoughts, Patrick sighed.

「Yeah, I know that Ryuu have his cute side.」

「What do you mean with his cute side? Everything about him is cute.」

「…More importantly, will you visit the royal castle or not. The messenger will arrive today, so give it up.」

「Stop it, if you keep saying things like that, you’re going to jinx it.」

It will come if I think it will. I pray with all my might that no messenger will come from the royal castle.

Then a flustered Rita entered the room without knocking. She seems to be in a hurry.

「We have a guest.」

「Huh, is it from the royal castle?」

「No, it’s not—」

Okay, I thought I was done, but my prayer was answered. Thank God.

But who the heck came to visit? I was about to ask Rita about the guest identity when the mentioned guest entered the dining room on her own.

「I’m here to visit! I thought that if I visited early enough, Yumiela-san would still be at home! As expected, I hit the jackpot!」

Eleanora Hillrose, I had completely forgotten about her. I would rather go to the royal castle, please.

Okay, Patrick please send her away. I looked at him for help before he told Eleanora.

「Miss Elanora, I promised Yumiela that we would go out together today. If you refrain from—」

「Oh! It’s Yumiela-san’s date! You should have told me.」

How can I tell you when there’s no good timing to tell you. Okay, I managed to repel the troublesome young lady. I knew I could count on Patrick.

「That’s what I’m talking about, Eleanora-sama. But I’d love to see you again.」

「Of course, I won’t be a nuisance between your love! So, where are you two going? Um, in case you were wondering…」

Eleanora says, blushing. And this is coming from someone who had the audacity to say she’s going to marry the prince and then blush on the thought of a date. I’m starting to suffer second hand embarrassment.

We haven’t decided where to go so I gave her an appropriate answer.

「Let’s see… we were planning to stroll around the capital.」

「Both of you are going on a stroll? Riding carriages are nice but it’s also nice to walk together. The church’s neighbourhood is peaceful and lovely.」

「The church? I’ve never been there.」

「Eh?」

Eleanora’s suggestion surprised me. Come to think of it, I’ve never been to a church before. There must have been a small church in Dolknes town, but I’ve never been there either.

One of the popular beliefs in this kingdom is Sanonism, it’s a belief that worships the God of Light. There were also indigenous beliefs that worship the gods from major attributes, such as water and fire.

It’s not exactly a strict monotheistic belief, so there’s nothing wrong with faithlessness but the problem is—

「I can’t believe you’ve never been to church…」

Eleanora said this while covering her mouth with her hand in surprise. You don’t have to be that shocked…

I knew that Patrick wasn’t as religious as I am. But when I looked at him, he looked as appalled as Elanora.

「No way, Yumiela. You’ve has never been to church before?」

「Eh, never. Was it bad?」

「There are no reason not to, but that’s too…」

No, I don’t get a chance to go. What do you do when you go to church? Praying? Unfortunately, I have never prayed to God… except earlier. God, forgive me.

I didn’t expect to get that kind of reaction, so I’ll clarify myself.

「You know, I didn’t get a chance to go when I was little and there was no one to go with me.」

Oh, saying that made me sad.

Patrick took my right hand and grabbed it with both his hands. Eleanora also did the same to my left hand and said.

「I’ll accompany you!」

「Yeah, the three of us should go together.」

I’m lucky to have everyone who cares about my wellbeing. I just don’t want to go to God of Light’s church.

◆　◆　◆

The three of us were riding the carriage that Eleanora had come in to visit. I hold back my sigh, trying not to let them notice.

I have a bad feeling about Sanonism, God of Light’s church. I’m confident about being hated by people with light attributes. Light attributes are my weakness or Achilles’ heel.

「Am I going to be okay? I wonder if I will be purified and disappear.」

「You can relax. If there’s light, there would be darkness… eh? Well, the High Priest often said that kind of thing.」

I have no idea what you’re trying to say. Or rather, the High Priest? Does she have an acquaintance at such a high position?

「Do you go to church often, Eleanora-sama?」

「I’ve been going weekly without missing. I already know everyone there.」

It’s surprising to learn that Eleanora is a devout person. Then I turned my attention to Patrick as he said.

「I’ve only been to the church in the capital once. I used to go to the one in my hometown.」

「Why did you stop?」

「The church in the capital is too dazzling since it was the head church for Sanonism… unless you’re a noble it’s hard to pass through, also I don’t like the atmosphere.」

We’re going there, aren’t we? I’m starting to get nervous.

Eleanora looked outside the window and spoke.

「We’re almost there. Even though Patrick-san said that, the church is open to anyone who wants to come in.」

I also look out from the small carriage window. The magnificent building was so huge that I couldn’t see everything from the small window. Ohh, I’ve seen it from afar. So it was a church.

I can’t see how a commoner can get into that one. And I don’t want to go in there either.

As we stepped out of the carriage, Eleanora led us to the church’s entrance.

「Okay, here we go!」

I walked as slow as possible as resistance. I might as well watch them go inside and I’ll go straight home.

But Patrick was walking beside me. Stop it, what kind of a gentleman would slow down to accommodate a slow-moving damsel? If you’re a considerate man, shouldn’t you just move?

「What’s the matter, Yumiela? Do you really hate it that much?」

「Not really… Patrick will open the door for me anyway, right?」

「I could always open the door, but…」

He pulled up the chair for me and gave me his coat when it’s a little chilly. Huh, Patrick understands a woman’s heart. It’s not just him being nice. I like it.

If I went to church with that kind of fiance… eh? Isn’t this what you call a wedding?

It would be better to go in separately from Patrick to show that we are still different.

I quicken my pace—

「Ouch!」

「Yumiela?」

I banged my forehead hard on something. Somehow it was quite painful. Usually if I was being careless and bumped into something, the thing would break and I wouldn’t feel any pain or anything.

When I thrust my hand forward it was blocked by an invisible wall.

Patrick tried to follow me, sticking out his hand as I did, but his hand didn’t seem to touch the invisible wall. For some reason, he could move his hand.

Eleanora, who got tired of waiting for us, came back when we didn’t show up.

「How much longer will you have to keep me waiting for… Yumiela-san, you’re amazing! I didnt know you’re a great mime.」

「I’m not.」

Eleanora’s hand was also trying to reach the wall, but something didn’t prevent her from doing so.

Am I the only one who can’t pass the wall, or am I being rejected by the God of Light? Fine, I’ll accept the challenge.

「A wall that only Yumiela can’t get through, is this a barrier spell or something… Hey, what are you doing?」

「I’m just going to punch it a little.」

I don’t know what it was, but since I can touch it that means it has a form, which means I can punch it and since it’s punchable, it means I can break it.

There’s no way that I, Yumiela Dolknes, will be defeated by an invisible wall. This is a matter of pride.

As I turned my hand into a fist and held it up.

A young priest came rushing from the church while shouting.

「P-please wait a minute! I’m going to deactivate the barrier spell!」

But it was too late. I thrust my fist with all my power.