Chapter 104 - Festival - 2

A week had passed.

In other words, the festival had arrived.

Renée steadied her breathing, feeling the tremor that had been scratching at a corner of her heart turn into a violent earthquake.

Her second date with Bera.

They had intertwined their fingers on their first date at the library, so this time she would take things further!

Clenching both hands with that resolve, Renée jerked her head up at a knock on the door.

KNOCK, KNOCK

"Yes!"

After her reply, the door clicked open and four novice priests, including Hella, entered the room. Annie, the liveliest of the four, spoke first.

"Saintess! Today's the day, right?"

"Ah, yes...!"

Renée's cheeks reddened, and she lowered her head. She looked shy, and somehow delicate as well.

Annie shivered as the sight sent a pang through her heart, then continued with a resolute expression.

"Just trust us! Today, we'll knock Sir Bera flat on his—!"

"Annie, watch your language. That choice of words is vulgar."

"Yeah, yeah."

Annie pouted and glared at Hella.

'She's become so boring after spending all this time with Sir Bera.'

Before leaving the Holy Empire, Hella had been such a quirky, entertaining person. Did people's surroundings really shape them? After traveling with a boring man, she seemed to have caught his dullness.

"Um, please don't fight..."

"Oh, we're not fighting. Now, come over here. We've got lots to do to get you ready!"

Hella gave a disbelieving chuckle as Annie abruptly replaced her scowl with a smile and approached Renée.

Should she call that consistency? Or a complete lack of improvement?

Hella shook her head, thinking that her colleague, whom she had not seen in months, was far too immature.

Only the other two novice priests, watching from a step back, knew that these two women who regarded each other with such disdain were really two of a kind.

* * *

"Are we done?"

"Not yet! Not yet, not yet! Just let me finish this!"

Renée's expression grew gloomy.

An hour and a half had already passed. Thanks to Annie's overflowing enthusiasm, she had spent all that time getting dolled up. Fatigue was beginning to set in, and she murmured a complaint.

"It's all going to get messed up when we walk around anyway..."

Couldn't they just call it good enough and leave? That was what she meant, but—

"You don't understand!"

Annie cried out as though scolding her.

"Saintess! You'll never capture Sir Bera's heart with that attitude!"

Annie clenched her fist tightly, her eyes shining with passion as she continued.

"Getting messed up while walking comes later. When you first meet him, you'll be all dressed up just like this! That's what matters! It's your first impression, your first impression! Now, Saintess, imagine it. You open that door, looking your very best, and Sir Bera is waiting outside. He sees you and clutches his heart in shock!"

Bera, shocked.

Renée, who had gone rigid at Annie's intensity, let her imagination take flight at those words.

She had plenty of material to work with. All she had to do was recall Bera's reaction a week ago, when she had sat in his arms under the pretext of learning swordsmanship.

The way he had flinched and grown flustered had somehow made her feel victorious, and the corners of her mouth had kept rising.

Completely won over by the suggestion that Bera might react like that again today, Renée straightened her back with a serious expression.

Easily swayed as she was, she took on the same resolute look as Annie, her enthusiasm burning anew.

"P-please help me!"

"Of course! Just trust me! I'll make sure you win him over today."

Annie answered with the most serious expression she had ever worn in her life.

An outsider might have asked whether this level of enthusiasm was a bit excessive. Annie, however, was thinking that even this was not enough.

'I just know she'll spend the whole day being bashful again.'

She had served Renée for three years. She knew exactly how it would go without even seeing it.

Why was she so shy? The mere mention of Bera's name made her jump. Holding his hand left her as stiff as a chrysalis, and once they actually started talking, she even forgot how to speak.

Annie did not want to watch that frustrating spectacle anymore.

'At this rate, I'll die of frustration before those two get together.'

That simply would not do. Since Renée had no intention of charging ahead herself, Annie would have to give her a push.

Confidence? How could she possibly lack it? The number of men she had gone through was already in the double digits.

An expert at handling men, Annie set her hands to work again, determined to pour every bit of her accumulated experience into today.

"Saintess, you remember everything I told you, right?"

"Yes...! Keep my back straight, tilt my head down about thirty degrees from straight ahead! And..."

"Show your dimples when you smile! And take the smallest steps you can! Your neck is lovely and straight, Saintess, so keep showing it off! We deliberately picked a coat one size too big, so try to hide yourself inside it as much as possible! That'll bring out his protective instincts!"

Renée nodded over and over, her face set in intense concentration.

And so, swept along by Annie's enthusiasm, Renée listened to a lecture on seduction that lasted well over an hour—and forgot ninety percent of it.

* * *

KNOCK, KNOCK

"Saintess?"

"Yes, I'm coming!"

Standing outside Renée's room, Bera took a step back at the voice from within and stood up straight. His expression was a little less composed than usual.

There was only one reason for it. Going to the festival alone with Renée had made him nervous.

It was a reaction he had not even recognized himself.

All he knew was that he felt uncomfortable and awkward. Those thoughts kept circling in his head as he absently rubbed a fingernail with a fingertip.

CLICK

The door opened.

"I'm sorry. Have you been waiting?"

"Not at—"

Bera lifted his head at her voice and caught his breath when he finally saw Renée.

This was the second time since the library. No... she had put so much more effort into her appearance than she had then that, for a moment, his thoughts came to a complete halt.

She wore a white blouse and a long sky-blue skirt, with a large navy coat draped over her shoulders, enveloping her snugly.

The outfit could be called neat or elegant. Either way, it was unmistakable that she had dressed up.

After lingering on her clothes for a moment, Bera looked at her face.

Her long, even lashes fluttered above her lowered eyes.

Unlike usual, her snow-white hair fell in soft waves. She had tucked it behind her ear on the left side only, exposing the slender, pale curve of her neck, which drew his gaze for no particular reason.

"Bera?"

Startled by her voice, Bera froze and continued his answer.

"I haven't been waiting at all."

At that reaction, and the stiffness she could hear in his tone, Renée cheered inwardly.

'It worked!'

It seemed that her "first impression," as Annie had called it, had done its job.

Exhilaration welled up in her, making her tighten her grip on her cane. She struggled to suppress the twitching corners of her mouth, then held out her free hand to Bera.

"Shall we go, then?"

"... Yes."

Their hands met.

Renée gently slipped her fingers between his and clasped his hand. She felt his grip tighten in response.

TAP

As Renée tapped her cane against the ground, the two began to walk.

"Where are we going first?"

"... We have some time before the night market opens, so I thought we could eat first. I know a good place, and I've made a reservation there."

"A reservation?"

When had he found time to make a reservation? As surprise spread across Renée's face, Bera answered.

"I had some business nearby, so I took care of it while I was there."

It was a lie.

Several days earlier, he had risen at the crack of dawn and run all the way to Fifth Avenue to make a reservation. When told that they were fully booked, he had obtained the contact details of people who had reservations and paid extra to secure a table from them.

His pride would not allow him to admit that, however, so he added as casually as he could,

"Fortunately, there was exactly one table left."

"How lucky."

Renée smiled, focusing on what she could sense in his voice.

'He's nervous.'

Bera was nervous. She was not the only one. They were both conscious of each other now.

A thrill ran down her spine at the realization that Bera was finally beginning to see her that way.

At the same time, a small part of her felt resentful. Remembering how she had agonized alone all this time made emotion surge up unexpectedly.

With it came a mischievous urge.

'Let's make him a little more nervous.'

She wanted Bera to suffer just as much as she had on her own.

With that thought, Renée tapped the back of Bera's hand and asked, laughter coloring her voice,

"Bera, don't you have anything to say to me?"

Didn't he have any thoughts about the way she had dressed up?

That was the intent behind her question, and Bera grew even more rigid.

All he had to do was say, "You look beautiful," as he always did. Yet somehow, he could not manage it.

Wouldn't it sound like he was flirting? Wasn't "You look beautiful" far too cheesy?

Surely there was something better he could say.

Something that would let him compliment Renée's appearance plainly, without sounding cheesy or flirtatious...

Bera bit his lip as the thoughts passed through his mind. Unable to come up with a solution, he broke into a cold sweat.

"Nothing?"

Her voice reached his ears.

Her prompting flustered him.

In the end, Bera let the words slip out in a trembling voice.

"... You look beautiful."

He had gone and said the very cheesy thing he had hoped to avoid.

He felt utterly defeated.

Bera worried that Renée might misunderstand his intentions. Fortunately, that concern proved unnecessary.

"D-do I...!"

At his reply, Renée felt her heart drop with a thump.

Her face burned, and every fine hair on her body seemed to stand on end.

For some reason, the tremor in Bera's voice and his momentary hesitation had sounded like sincerity to her.

"A-ahem...!"

Renée cleared her throat needlessly and lowered her head.

She struggled to calm her pounding heart.

Meanwhile, she was recalling what Annie had told her just before she left.

["Do you understand, Saintess? You have to look relaxed! Even if you aren't relaxed, you have to pretend you are! 'I don't need you! You mean nothing to me!' Give him that impression and make him desperate... What? He doesn't mean nothing to you? Oh, you're driving me mad! I said pretend. Pretend!"]

Pretend to be relaxed. Make him desperate.

"Bera."

"... Yes."

"What are you wearing today?"

Back straight, head tilted slightly down, neck extended to show it off.

As she asked her question, recalling each thing she had learned, Bera's pupils trembled faintly.

Her movements were truly awkward, yet even that awkwardness became beauty in his eyes, thoroughly unsettling him.

Watching her snow-white hair shift out of place, Bera opened his mouth as if entranced, only to swallow his words again.

'How...'

How should he answer? That was what troubled him.

How was he supposed to explain what he was wearing today, what he looked like, and why he looked that way?

Would his explanation sound like needless boasting? Or would it make him seem too drab?

His gaze wandered again with these pointless worries. Struggling to compose himself, he answered.

"... I'm dressed casually. A shirt and trousers, with a coat over them."

"What colors?"

"The shirt is white. The trousers and coat are black."

"What else?"

"... I left the Holy Sword behind because I thought it would attract attention. Instead, I have a dagger concealed inside my coat."

After saying that, Bera paused to steady his breathing. Looking off into the distance for no particular reason, he added,

"The dagger you gave me, Saintess."

A small smile appeared on Renée's lips.

It came from the satisfaction of knowing that he kept her gift close to his chest.

"... How lovely."

She had left out the subject.

Naturally, Bera's confusion deepened.

Did she mean the dagger was lovely? That keeping it close to his chest was lovely? Or... was she calling him lovely?

He did not know.

Whatever she meant, for now—

"... I'm honored."

He was very honored indeed.