Chapter – 20
Was it too sudden?
The Saintess’s eyes widened like those of a startled deer.
Clearly flustered, she answered with an odd question.
“R-right now?”
Of course right now, woman.
He wasn’t sure what was so funny about that, but a laugh slipped out anyway.
As Alesto chuckled softly in amusement, Asha’s face flushed red.
Good heavens.
The sight of a fox-like handsome man gazing at her, eyes curving gently as he laughed, was truly a spectacle.
Was it just her imagination, or did it feel like she was being enchanted?
His face is seriously unfair.
After laughing in a low voice, he brushed his eyebrow lightly and, as if embarrassed, smiled before asking again.
“Do you only want to hold my hand?”
Thump.
No—“thump” was far too small a word.
Asha’s heart pounded wildly in her chest.
“And you, Miss Asha?”
A pleasant tremor tickled at her heart.
How should she answer?
She did want to hold his hand… but perhaps she’d missed the right timing to respond.
Her eyes darted around before she cautiously lifted her head—and locked eyes with Alesto.
At that moment, he shifted his body and swiftly moved to sit beside her.
In an instant, the man was much closer.
His scent, slightly stronger now.
The woman breathing carefully, as if afraid to disturb the air.
And then his left hand extended toward her.
“Your hand. May I?”
His voice, low as though underground water might burst forth at any moment, was simple and polite.
Asha raised her right hand and placed it atop his large one.
Perhaps because she was nervous, her hand trembled slightly—but he didn’t seem to mind.
The moment her hand touched his, his fingers slipped between hers, interlacing them.
They were only holding hands.
And yet—
The gentle pressure made her feel as though she couldn’t move at all.
She tried to cool her flushed cheeks with her free hand, but it wasn’t easy.
The two of them didn’t say a single word until they arrived at Blossom.
But surprisingly enough—
That awkward, nerve-wracking silence… felt rather nice.
Asha didn’t know it, but she had been the most talked-about woman at the ball that day.
It had started the moment she appeared with the towering Gerald Burns behind her like a personal guard. But to enjoy the party in such an intimate manner with the Crown Prince?
Moreover, just as the Crown Prince appeared in Astro Hall and spent time closely with a woman, a rumor of unknown origin began spreading among the observing nobles.
That Miss Asha of the Herman family was staying in a chamber at Blossom Palace—one of the royal chambers of equal rank to the one occupied by the Crown Prince’s most beloved sister.
When rumors about Blossom spread, there was only one possible reason.
The rumor was being spread by the will of the Crown Prince himself.
In other words, it was no different from Alesto S. Burns, Crown Prince, publicly declaring that Miss Asha belonged to him.
When Cedric heard this rumor, his heart felt unsettled—even though he already knew about their relationship.
The moment he boarded the carriage back to his townhouse, he loosened his cravat.
Unlike his fatigue-worn expression, the steward seated beside him wore a beaming smile.
“It was truly a rewarding day, my lord! When you suggested preparing for maritime trade, I wondered how you planned to accomplish it—but the answer was here in the capital!”
Even as Cedric removed his jacket, unbuttoned a few buttons of his shirt, and opened the carriage window to let in the cold air, the steward continued without pause.
“Meeting Count Curtis in particular was most fortunate. I’ll organize the key points from today’s discussion and submit the documents tomorrow. Ah! Did you perhaps see Lady Cecilia of the Eard family earlier? She looked like a goddess reborn! I’ve never seen such a beautiful woman in my life. How about visiting the Eard estate tomorrow?”
For a man of marriageable age, visiting an unmarried lady’s estate without prior arrangement was a privilege reserved for ball season.
But Cedric, as if completely uninterested, leaned his head against the arm resting on the window frame and closed his eyes.
“No.”
The steward, taken aback by the unexpected response, quietly inhaled. He looked at Cedric’s back with pity before letting out a silent sigh.
Then, as if nothing had happened, he brightened again.
“You must be quite tired today. Rest well—we can talk tomorrow. Just in case, I’ll have a bouquet prepared! Work is important, of course, but the original reason for coming to the capital was marriage, after all!”
The longer the steward talked, the more unbearable Cedric found himself.
He had come to the capital to find a bride.
And yet his eyes had been busy chasing after Miss Asha—who had already become another man’s lover.
He had never felt so foolish in his life.
Of the maids assigned to help Asha prepare for the ball, three remained as maids of the Almond Chamber.
The lowest-ranked Gray Owl didn’t know the identities of the others, but Ruby suspected that the newly assigned maids were likely Owls as well.
In any case, with new maids joining, Ruby naturally stepped away from menial tasks and became a proper chambermaid in charge of the three.
She entered carrying an armful of letters addressed to Asha.
As expected, dozens of invitations had arrived.
Sitting beside Asha with visible excitement, Ruby began listing the senders one by one.
“…Countess Pamela, Viscountess Kilshteit, Hasler—oh my goodness, nearly half the nobles of the capital have sent invitations to you, Miss Asha.”
The one being invited, however, looked indifferent.
Asha lay sprawled across the drawing room sofa, staring blankly out the window at the sky—but her mind was filled entirely with the priest she had seen at the ball.
Was it because everything had happened so suddenly yesterday?
At the time, it had felt natural—natural enough that she hadn’t questioned it at all.
But now that she thought about it, the strange sensation—as if the world had briefly turned black and white—and the priest vanishing in the blink of an eye felt terribly unnatural.
Of course, the feeling itself could be explained. She had come from another world, after all. Perhaps such sensations simply surfaced from time to time.
The priest disappearing was similar.
It had seemed as though he vanished like smoke—but hadn’t she taken her eyes off him when Alesto suddenly appeared?
The ballroom had been crowded, and the priest had worn plain white robes that didn’t stand out. Perhaps she had simply lost sight of him.
Then what about the voice in her head that had said it was nice to see her?
Maybe she had been intoxicated by the mystical atmosphere and imagined it.
She had drunk a little, after all.
And yet the suspicion lingered.
Was he a god?
It sounded absurd—but not entirely impossible.
After all, there was a Saintess in this world. A temple. And she herself had come from another world.
There was no guarantee that gods didn’t exist.
Which led to a dilemma.
Should she visit the temple and confirm it?
Or should she simply ignore it and continue living as she was?
Of course, she couldn’t leave the palace right now—but assuming she had to choose between the two:
If she went to the temple and confirmed that the priest from the ball was truly a god—
Would he really have come just to see her face?
Not a chance.
In novels, when gods appeared like this, they always made unreasonable demands.
You came to this world for a reason, so for the sake of the world, do this and that…
Just thinking about it made her tired.
On the other hand, if she pretended not to know and continued living quietly—
It’d be a bit unsettling… but that’s all.
Asha decided to live comfortably.
If he really was a god, he’d make contact again somehow.
There was no need to invite trouble herself.
Avoid it for as long as she could.
“Oh? There’s an invitation from the temple too.”
At the unwelcome news, Asha bolted upright and quickly held out her hand to Ruby.
“Give it to me.”
Without suspicion, Ruby handed her the temple’s invitation.
Asha strode straight to the fireplace—
And tossed it in.
“L-Lady Asha?”
Ignoring Ruby’s startled voice, Asha used the poker to stir the paper as it burned brightly.
“From now on, any mail from the temple—dispose of it without telling me.”
It felt like things were about to become very troublesome.
