Chapter 61 – Leave him to Enjoy it (2)

‘Right.’

I had no reason to be shocked or flustered.

I managed to look calm while greeting and being ignored by the Imperial Prince.

Even if I wanted to avoid him, I couldn’t do anything about accidental meetings like this since we lived in the same area.

All sorts of incidents were fated to happen when multiple families lived under one roof.

There were plenty of stories in the media about it.

< Under the same roof >, < High Kick! >, < Parasite >……

“Your highness.”
“Yes, Marquis.”

Marquis Duhem, who had been preparing for the ceremony, came over and whispered to me.

“His Royal Highness asked me to deliver a message.”

‘A message?’

I peeked toward Imperial Prince Cédric, who was standing at a distance.

He had his usual annoying stoic expression on his face.

The Imperial Prince and I were separated by the other priest who came as a witness.

The two who were making the Covenant of Paired Stars were at the center of the three witnesses who surrounded them in an arc.

“They asked me to be a witness first.”
“……”
“That is what he said… 30 seconds ago.”
“Did anybody ask?”

‘Oops, I accidentally said that out loud.’

I quickly wiped my face as if I didn’t say anything. The Marquis blinked a few times.

“Excuse me?”
“No, nothing. You don’t need to deliver my message.”
“I see. I understand.”

His light pink eyes gently curled up as he walked away.

I looked at him and the Imperial Prince in disbelief.

The anxiety in my heart from the Imperial Prince’s sudden appearance calmed down.

‘So what if you were invited first?’

I couldn’t believe there was a punk who asked to deliver such petty remarks. I also couldn’t believe there was a punk who actually delivered the message after being told to do so.

“Then, we will now commence the Covenant of Paired Stars. This is not the joining of two humans but two plates becoming one sacred vessel. The witnesses will guarantee the contractors’ faith while the Almighty God will test the contractors’ faith. First, Antoinette Duhem, daughter of the Almighty God, step forward……”

The Marquis smoothly commenced the ceremony.

I was pretty sure that he didn’t come up with the words as it was a holy ceremony, but it was amazing that he memorized all of it and didn’t need to look at anything even once.

I cast out my random thoughts and watched the Marquis’ sister, Antoinette’s, celestial covenant.

One of the Marquis’ attendants cautiously walked up and placed a single flower in between the two contractors.

The purple tulip was quite eye-catching.

An image brushed through my mind for a moment.

‘The royal gardeners are very busy right now because it is almost tulip season. I wanted to show you a purple tulip since you are from the Holy Kingdom, but……’

That was probably about a week after I transmigrated here.

A gardener for Juliette Palace had said that to me with an extremely disappointed expression.

I had not thought much about it back then, but it seemed as if the purple tulips had a religious meaning and were used in the celestial covenant.

The celestial covenant was something that only existed in the Riester Empire. There was no such thing in the Venetiaan Holy Kingdom.

Now I understood why the gardener wanted to show me the tulip.

“Please swear in front of the will of the Almighty God.”

The Marquis spoke.

Antoinette knelt down by the priestess’s foot.The priestess then created a small Holy Domain just big enough to fit the two of them.

I heard that the two contractors were childhood friends who had known each other since they were four years old. That might explain why they were chuckling whenever they made eye contact despite this being a celestial covenant.

It must have been funny to act serious around each other when they have seen all sides of one another.

“Ahem, ahem. The eldest young lady of the Marquis’ House of Duhem, Antoinette Patrick Duhem, requests a celestial covenant with you.”

The tips of Antoinette’s almond-shaped eyes twitched. She looked embarrassed and ashamed.

‘I guess you reveal your middle name during the celestial covenant too.’

“You will be my Holy Guardian Being and I will walk down the same path as your soul for all eternity.”

‘Ahh!’

She could only mouth how painful it was for her to say that.

The priestess who was listening to her seemed to be in pain as well as her fingers were twitching.

It made sense, since hearing or saying such things to your best friend would be extremely embarrassing.

Even I couldn’t help but chuckle.

“……Even on nights you cannot sleep and days you cannot run.”
“Ahem.”

The priestess receiving the vow covered her face with both hands.

“Marielle, don’t laugh!”
“Ah, I can’t help it.”

The priestess, Marielle, responded in a shaking voice.

Marquis Duhem smiled and continued with the ceremony.

I heard that the celestial covenant was an extremely holy ceremony, but the mood was quite light since the two of them could not be serious.

“Antoinette Duhem. As the Master of the Covenant, do you promise to do everything in your powers for the well-being of the Holy Guardian Being?”
“Of course. Similar to how I have filled Marielle’s hungry belly until now!”
“Antoinette?”
“I promise.”

Antoinette bit down on her lips.

I thought that she would be similar to Marquis Duhem since she spoke just as dramatically, but she seemed to know about shame, unlike her brother.

It was funny how she was saying whatever she wanted with a flushed face.

I read that the priest of the two contractors in the celestial covenant is called the Holy Guardian Being, or Holy Guardian for short.

The Imperial family and their collateral line are called the Master of the Covenant, or just Master.

The power in the relationship leans toward the Imperial family, so the titles seemed to reflect that.

However, the contract itself could not be created without the priest’s approval and it is only the Master who suffers if the distance between the two contractors becomes too large.

It oddly balanced itself out.

“Please stand up now. Will both of you close your eyes……”

We were now reaching the end of the celestial covenant. I was told it would be short. True to word, it seemed to have only been about 20 minutes.

It was nice that I didn’t have to give a gift or go to a banquet.

“I now proclaim that the two of you have become Religious Partners. May the Almighty God bless you both.”

The Marquis proclaimed with an excited look.

Priestess Marielle channeled her ether on top of her Holy Domain. And then…

– Shaaaaaaa-

The purple tulip started breaking into small pebbles of light.

This was the most shocking thing I saw today.

Unlike Holy Knights, priests could not kill any living being with ether nor could they give Divine Oracles to anything not alive.

However, a fresh tulip just disappeared from within the Holy Domain.

I quietly watched the golden pebbles of light rise up to the sky. Then this……

“The Almighty God has approved of your covenant. Congratulations, my dear sister. You too, Marielle.”

The Marquis’ warm voice wrapped around the two contractors.

I couldn’t help but gasp in shock after realizing what had happened.

This tulip was a way for the Almighty God to show her will.

The QNW world had a single god and her authority was shown throughout the entire continent on a daily basis through ether.

However, knowing that concept and seeing this invisible and omnipotent power accepting the tulip felt completely different.

It gave me the chills. I had never thought about it before, but the Almighty God was real.

I looked up toward the sky with that thought on my mind.

The symbol of the church of the Almighty God, the downward arrow, filled the space on the ceiling.

“It’s the first time we meet in here.”

I heard a familiar voice at that moment. I snapped out of my thoughts and turned my head.

The Duhem siblings and Marielle were hugging each other while the other priest who served as a witness had said his goodbyes and was getting ready to leave.

The Imperial Prince and I were the only ones left on the platform.

His orange Fanta-like eyes were observing me.

“Yes, your Royal High……”

‘No, that’s not true.’

I slightly frowned.

It was my first time seeing him in his grown form but I had met ‘Sadie’ here multiple times.

Why would someone who knows that say something like this……

It was obvious. He’s probably testing me since I stated that I know nothing about his Royal Highness.

‘What a persistent little punk.’

“It is. But it does not feel very different even seeing you in the temple, your Royal Highness.”
“……”
“I will make my leave first, your Royal Highness.”

I left the platform without even looking back.

I thought that the Imperial Prince might be clenching his fists but I was probably just imagining it.

Violence was forbidden inside the temple.

“Your highness, thank you very much for being a witness in today’s celestial covenant. Our Marquis’ House of Duhem will never forget your blessing!”

Marquis Duhem showed me respect with a face full of gratitude.

Antoinette and Marielle bowed to thank me.

The two friends seemed to find something quite funny as they were smiling nonstop.

“It wasn’t a difficult request. As for the two of you…… I hope you have a happy life of faith.”

I did my best to say something fitting the occasion.

Benjamin and Ganael, who were waiting for me in the pews, were getting ready to head back.

I saw something extremely amazing. Plus, the three of them, the Duhem siblings and Marielle, looked very happy, so I thought it was a worthy way to spend a weekend morning.

I lightly greeted David and the rest of the Imperial Prince’s attendants sitting on the other side of the pew and walked out of the temple.

*

“Holy Knight, Holy Knight, Holy Knight……”

I was crouched in a part of the Imperial Family Library, searching through the books.

I undid two of my shirt buttons because the days seemed to be slowly getting hotter. My sleeves were completely rolled up.

I got enough information about the divine items of the continent through < Kaboom! Yves’ Great Adventure >, so I was planning on looking up books about Holy Knights today.

I couldn’t ignore this information now that the two MCs of QNW had awakened as Holy Knights.

“It’ll probably be faster to ask Ganael for it. There’s nothing here.”

I sighed.

There were numerous books and quite a lot of information in the Imperial Family Library, but there did not seem to be many that suited my needs.

It was not because this was not a good library; it was because this was the Riester Empire.

No Holy Knights had been born in the Empire until recently. Priests were an organization with a different authority, for a lack of better words.

Furthermore, it had been about 30 years since the Empire’s relationship with the Venetiaan Holy Kingdom had been severed.

Books regarding the education and growth of Holy Knights or the relationship between Holy Knights and priests were extremely difficult to find.

The fact that the Book Ganael worked so hard to find for me, < Introduction to Ether ∙ Become a Holy Knight in 6 Weeks >, was released in the Holy Kingdom 40 years ago said it all.

“Ha……”

I plopped down on the ground.

I debated many times about asking the librarian, but I didn’t want to inform the people of the Empress Palace about my interests.

‘I think I’ve been looking for about two hours. Why can’t it just magically fall out or something?’

– Thud!

“Eek.”

I raised my head in shock. There was a thin book by my feet.

‘Did I say that out loud just now?’

“A fairy tale……”

I took a closer look to see that the book looked quite familiar.

I slowly picked it up.

< Kaboom! Yves’ Great Adventure – Yves Blanquer and the Phoenix Holy Knights Brigade >

‘What is up with the title? Is it a plagiarized book?’

‘Written by Archduke Yvelines for his beloved child.’

The handwriting on the back cover was the same.

I sat up and flipped through the pages.

The large text so that it would be easy for a child to read and the neatly colored cute pictures…

Everything seemed the same as the book about divine items. However, this book…

‘Yves, Holy Knights need a priest partner.’
‘Bullshit.’
‘No, it’s true. It will be difficult for them because they will be lacking ether if they don’t have a partner.’

It had information about Holy Knights!

It was so focused on the topic that I felt bad for thinking it was a plagiarized book.

I quickly looked toward where the book fell.

‘Did I not look over here?’

“Hello, your highness.”
“Ack!”

My heart felt as if I was on a Drop Tower ride.

I gasped and moved back until I hit my head on the bookshelf on the other side. Boom!

“Ugh!”
“Oh my, you must have been quite shocked.”

Christelle sounded extremely apologetic.

‘Of course I’m shocked! There was a blue eye on the other side of the bookshelf!’

“My apologies, your highness. I didn’t expect you to be so freaked out…….”
“I, I was not freaked out.”
“Yes, whatever you say, your highness. I thought that you were looking for books on Holy Knights so I pushed a book I recommend.”

She answered in a jovial tone.

I rubbed the back of my head and did my best to calm my breathing.

‘I knew that you can’t trust romance movies on TV. Meeting the MC in the library like this and having your heart beat wildly was something that could not happen.’

I thought that my heart would just stop.

“Young lady Sarnez, ahem. You are allowed to enter the Imperial Family Library as well?”
“Since last Monday. Her Majesty allowed me to do so in order to become a great Holy Knight.”

Christelle walked around the bookshelf to approach me as she answered.

Her pink hair that was pulled up in a bun that looked like a donut. It looked as if she was wearing a hat.

Her blue-gray eyes were refreshingly sparkling as usual.

I realized that I was so excited about the title of the Imperial Family Library that I forgot an important fact.

The Imperial Prince, and now Christelle, could also come and go as they pleased.

“It’s been a while, your highness. Have you eaten?”
“Yes. And yourself, young lady Sarnez?”

We asked about each other’s stomachs as if it was to be expected.

Talking about books came after that.

“I didn’t know that you were interested in Holy Knights, your highness. You haven’t observed his Royal Highness and my lesson even once.”

‘……Why does it sound like she has a bone to pick with me?’