Volume 22 Chapter 3, Fiancée?

While Lirica was struggling in her mind, Kousuke suddenly realized something.

He was about to call out to Lirica to make sure what he thought was correct.

But he was interrupted by another voice.

“Alec-dono!”

A man’s voice calling out for Alec echoed through the temple.

All but Lirica and Sylvia were now wearing masks.

Normally, they would not have known that Alec was here.

Alec let out a sigh behind the mask he was wearing and then removed it.

“What can I do for you, Dion-dono? As you can see, I am trying to enjoy the festival right.”

Frowning, Alec spoke to the man he called Dion.

Dion approached Alec with three men in tow, all of them cronies.

“It’s nice to finally meet you. After all, you always say you don’t have time to see me.”

“I’m the acting governor of this city now, remember? I have to put my work first, you know?”

Dion had come to see Alec several times before.

Each time he had been turned down, but he refused to give up.

But that was not to imply that Alec had never met with him at all.

They met several times, but each time the conversation ended on a parallel track.

“So, you should be fine now, right? After all, you are enjoying the festival.”

“Are you telling me that I can’t even enjoy a date with my wife?”

Dion shrugged his shoulders, not caring about Alec’s cold expression.

“No, no. That’s not true. I just need you to make a little time for me.”

“All I’m hearing is that you still don’t understand how precious my time is. To me, time with my wife is extremely precious.”

“It can’t be helped. I too, believe time with you is extremely precious.”

Dion was behaving in a way that he never would have never acted to the Alec of the past.

After all, Alec was the third prince of his country.

But now, Alec was just a mere representative.

This was why he had this attitude.

“Alec-sama, who is this person?”

Sylvia, who decided that if things continued as they were, it would never end. Thus, she intervened and asked.

Dion looked at Sylvia with a surprised expression for a moment, then smiled.

“I beg your pardon for this. Beautiful young lady. I am the eldest son of the Duke of Viera of the Kingdom of Flores, and my name is Dion Viera.”

“I see.”

Sylvia only bowed to Dion and quickly turned to Alec.

“Did he have any particular request for you?”

She asked after judging Alec’s demeanor. Naturally, Alec immediately nodded.

“Well, it’s not a big deal. At least, not one that needs me to think about. I have been telling him that the answer will be the same, no matter how many times he asks.”

“You! Is that what you would say to your own daughter’s fiancée? I came all the way here to pick her up, and you say it’s not a big deal?”

“Fiancée?”

Sylvia already knew who he was referring to, but she pretended not to know and asked Alec.

“Ex-fiancee. That’s something that’s long since been cleared up.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah. And as soon as he found out that my daughter had a blessing, he turned around and wanted to get her back. It’s absurd, don’t you think?”

That explanation made perfect sense why they currently had this situation.

Certainly, if it was Alec, he should be able to handle all of this. Unfortunately, Dion had the backing of the Duke’s family, so he was unable to kick him out carelessly.

“I see, so that’s how it is.”

Sylvia nodded in agreement.

Everyone present was able to hear everything. Thus, they realized that it was foolish to take the other party seriously.

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“I, of course, did not want the engagement to be broken off, did I? So, it’s quite a misunderstanding to say that I called off the engagement.”

Dion said so brazenly, but unfortunately, no one except his cronies heard what he was saying.

“I see. I have nothing more to say to you. I’m going to ask you to leave.”

“What? How? This is not your office or your home, you know?”

Dion smiled, and his cronies behind him clicked their swords in a deliberate manner.

Alec saw this, and before he could say anything, Sylvia reacted.

“Refrain, you insolent ruffian! Where do you think you are!”

Normally, weapons were forbidden in a temple.

In a normal temple, if he had done what he just did, he would have been kicked out immediately.

However, Dion’s side did not lose their brazen attitude, as if they knew that there were no priests in this temple.

“Haha. If it were a normal temple, that language would be understood, but not here, young lady.”

“I see. So, you’re saying you’re not going to back down no matter what? I don’t care what happens, okay?”

“…What?”

At Sylvia’s words, Dion looked frightened for a moment.

“It’s true that there are no resident priests here, but don’t you understand that this is a special temple?”

“…What do you mean?”

“You know that this temple is blessed by the three Great Goddesses, don’t you? And it is the temple of the Tower, which is ruled by a special deity. Do you think you can get away with making a scene there?”

“You, you are just bluffing…”

“Do you want to find out for yourself if I’m bluffing or not? If so, try doing something.”

Dion looked puzzled as Sylvia calmly said so.

Dion could tell from Sylvia’s demeanor that she was no ordinary priestess.

“Who are you?”

“I’m sorry, I’m late to introduce myself. I am the chief priestess of this temple.”

Sylvia did not mention Kousuke’s name or her own.

That was enough.

“A priestess… That means…”

Normally, a priestess would refer to all women in the priesthood.

However, everyone present understood that in this case, the word priestess had an entirely different meaning.

The fact that she clarified her position, which should not be spoken of casually, made it clear that she was not lying.

“I don’t really care about what you think, but I won’t allow any more commotion in this temple, understand?”

Dion checked Sylvia again. [She just looks like a little girl.]

However, she certainly seemed different from the other priestess who was standing right beside her.

In his position, he had met many high-ranking priestesses, and the girl in front of him gave off the same atmosphere as them.

“…Tsk.”

Dion, who had unintentionally clicked his tongue, glared at Alec once more and then walked out of the temple with his cronies in tow.

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“Wow, that was wonderful, Sylvia-sama.”

Lirica, who had been watching the series of events, praised Sylvia as if she were impressed.

Sylvia just shook her head.

“No. I am not ready for that. Innately, I have to govern without revealing my position as a priestess.”

“But it is also true that you saved me. Thank you.”

Alec bowed his head in agreement as well.

“Yes, I suppose so. I was thinking of stepping out as well.”

Floria removed her mask as she said this.

“You shouldn’t do that. It will only make them feel even better.”

It was not hard to imagine what would happen as a result.

After all, not only was the God of this temple present, but there was even a messenger of God right next to him.

If they continued as they were, Mitsuki would have undoubtedly stepped forward.

Sylvia felt inwardly that her greatest achievement this time was that she was able to suppress the worse from happening.