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“—Please, oh stars. Let Jill know. Tell her about what happened today—this fateful day!”

In the third branch of the light meal cafe Letindüte, located in Cilento Central Capital, a petite girl with a bob haircut, Eren, was leaning out toward the window frame of a private booth, gazing up at the night sky. Her hands were clasped earnestly in a gesture of prayer, her expression one of pure devotion.

Incidentally, Eren—or rather, people in the western frontier village—weren’t particularly devoted to any specific religion.

Though technically under the influence of the Deva Kureha Faith, the state religion of the Graviol Empire, people would go to a Deva Kureha church when the need arose, like for blessings when a child was born, ceremonies for changing professions, receiving treatment through healing arts, or confessing sins. But since churches only existed in large towns to begin with, even someone like Eren’s father, Village Chief Aroldo Baresi, would only visit once every few years. And even then, only after preparing with a few villagers for a small expedition, or tagging along with a traveling merchant headed that way.

As for Eren herself, she had only been to church once, when she was very young. The only other contact was when an itinerant preacher would occasionally extend their circuit to the village. Her strongest memories were of the sweet treats they handed out, the sound of the hand-played accordion, and the stories from the Deva Kureha scriptures—full of heroic battles and tales of romance that appealed to both children and adults alike.

That was the extent of her exposure. In reality, the villagers’ lives were more deeply rooted in a simple form of animism and local guardian deity worship—namely, the awe and reverence for the Golden Dragon King, Nāga Rāja of the Tenebrae Nemus.

So naturally, even the form of Eren’s prayer and the way she clasped her hands were local, regional customs.

Eren’s anguished feelings were spun out into the sky full of twinkling stars.

“I really think Sir Lucas was doing his best. It’s been nearly a year since you disappeared Jill, and he’s been so consumed with worry, desperately chasing leads, even sacrificing sleep. Honestly… I even started thinking that maybe, just maybe, if it were him, I could accept you and him being in a ‘princess × prince’ kind of relationship… but—”

Eren cut herself off there, lowered her head, bit down on her lip, then suddenly raised her face with renewed determination and screamed into the night sky:

“—but I never imagined he’d break under the pressure and loneliness and switch to men!!”

“Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeehhhhhhhhhhhh?!?!?!”

In an instant, cries of shock echoed from both the annex and the main building of Letindüte, facing the open window Eren had shouted from.

Most of the shocked voices belonged to people in their prime years (with a ratio of about 3 men to 7 women), though among the women, the cries leaned more toward sorrow than surprise. Oddly, there were also a few women who seemed happy about it, and even some men squealing with excitement (disturbingly enough). Altogether, the mix of reactions caused the entire Letindüte structure to tremble—as if a bunch of little waves had come together to form a giant one.

And maybe it was just her imagination, but amidst the chaos, Eren thought she heard Lucas’s anguished scream—“That’s a total baseless lieeeee!!”—along with the sound of chairs toppling, dishes breaking, dogs barking, doors being violently flung open, a flurry of footsteps going in and out, desperate voices like “Is it true, my lord?!” followed by a frantic “It’s not!!” from the accused, and a heated exchange with his attendants rushing him at mach speed…

But Eren, too fed up and emotionally wound to care, pretended not to hear any of it and continued speaking to the stars.

“Indeed… today, Sir Lucas went to visit the Count’s estate, and he—he climbed the stairs to adulthood… in the most wildly unexpected direction!!”

Lucas had seemed distant in the carriage ride back, like his mind was elsewhere no matter how much she talked to him—and on top of that, he now carried a scent of musk that definitely hadn’t been there before he left.

That’s when it clicked.

It was the same fragrance worn by that agelessly handsome steward of the Count’s household.

In other words, there had been a moment—close enough for the scent to cling to him—where something had happened between them while Eren’s attention had been diverted. She hadn’t seen it with her own eyes, but from what she’d heard from the worldly-wise Emilia or gleaned from those thin books she’d borrowed… She had a pretty good idea.

Eren, caught between mistrust and the unwillingness to believe Lucas, of all people, could ever do such a thing. She had been watching him in the carriage, sitting across from her.

Luke was in a daze—yes, that was what they called “the Sage’s Time,” wasn’t it? She understood—and Eren, caught in a swirl of suspicion, made for a very tense atmosphere inside the carriage.

Even as her mind swayed between belief and doubt, Eren reminded herself that they were both in love with the same princess (Jill). Rivals, in a way. Could she really believe that this person—her rival—had just fallen, no, been taken, just like that?

But still… could someone so earnestly devoted to Jill really have switched to men, of all things?

No… but then again, people do say that the more serious someone is, the harder they fall once their restraints break. And besides… what if he was told…

‘Fufufufu, my lord, it’s infidelity if it’s with a woman, but if it’s with the same sex, it’s merely the extension of friendship,’

And then, our clueless—no, naïve—Sir Lucas, convinced with a line like that, might have just gone, ‘I-, is that how it is?’ and accepted it wholesale, surrendered to pleasure, and totally lost sight of Jill, ending up lost in some decadent love affair—!?

“—Is that what happened to you, Sir Lucas!?!”
“Whoa! You startled me! Wh-what’s the matter, Eren? Why the sudden yelling!?”

Startled by her outburst, Luke practically jumped off his seat in the carriage.

“…Forgive me. I must be a little tired. But Sir Lucas, you’ve also been awfully quiet for a while now—are you feeling unwell?”
“………”

At once, Luke averted his gaze in flustered panic. The way he did it practically screamed I’m hiding something incriminating, and Eren’s suspicion deepened even further.

“N-no, it’s… it’s nothing. I’m sorry.”

He wanted to talk but couldn’t. His demeanor practically broadcast I’ve been told to keep my mouth shut, and though Eren felt an itch of unbearable frustration at not being able to press him further, her position kept her from prying. Still, she stared at Luke, studying him as though weighing his worth.

Uncomfortable under her gaze, Luke turned his eyes away again and murmured under his breath:

“…I never imagined the butler would have a body like that… dark and hard… and then told me to keep it a secret…”