Chapter 15: Shadows of the Saintess.

The wheelchair’s arrival has greatly expanded my range of movement.

Today, too, I sit in the glass-enclosed conservatory surrounded by garden flowers, reading a book.

On fine days like this, warm sunlight pours through the glass.
The small tea table here has become my usual spot.

I lift the teacup Sara left for me and take a sip.
The rose tea His Highness sent has rose petals blended into the leaves.
The flower’s elegant fragrance and gentle sweetness calm my heart, granting me a soothing moment.

“Still… he really hasn’t come lately, has he?”

My thoughts drift to the sender of this tea.

His Highness said he wouldn’t be able to visit for a while—and true to his word, he hasn’t appeared these past few weeks.
In his place, letters arrive along with tea leaves like these and books he thinks I’ll enjoy.

Incidentally, since he hasn’t shown himself, I’ve begun to wonder whether the engagement dissolution talks are progressing.
Father once said the engagement would surely be broken off after this incident.
When I asked him about it, he only replied,
“Negotiations with His Majesty are proving difficult.
Don’t worry—Father will never let anything bad happen to you. Leave it to me.”
The conversation left me feeling unsettled.

With a body like mine, becoming Crown Princess is impossible anyway.
What exactly are they all thinking?

The more I learn about His Highness, the closer we grow, the less I understand what I should do.
Before, all I saw was the Crown Prince: his perfect features, his royal mana, his exceptional intellect—nothing more.

But lately… it’s different.

That shy, bashful look.
The anxious crease of his brow.
The way he scrunches his face when he laughs.
All of them were expressions I’d never seen before.

And that face he made the other day—the one filled with some kind of resolve.

What was that?

I try to think deeper—then catch myself.

No. No. I mustn’t think like this.

I shake my head several times and take one deep breath.

Once the Saintess appears, His Highness will naturally turn to her.
For the one destined to guide this kingdom, the compassionate Saintess belongs at his side.
That’s the way it should be.

Not someone like me—who has lost all mana.

In that case… I don’t want to think about anything.
I don’t want to know this new version of him.

I forcibly seal away the budding emotion rising inside me and lock it tight.

“Miss.”

Sara’s gentle voice pulls me back from the darkening spiral of my thoughts.

“It’s about time we returned.
Bruyette-sensei will arrive soon, I believe.”

“Yes… Sara, please take me back to my room.”

“Of course.”

Sara smiles softly, moves behind me, and begins pushing the wheelchair slowly.

♢

“Marcel-san, your last assignment was very well thought out.
You’ve clearly studied this country’s climate and crops in depth.”

“Thank you, Bruyette-sensei.
The book you lent me was so easy to understand—it really helped.”

One more thing has changed these past few weeks.
The private tutor His Highness arranged—Bruyette-sensei—now comes three days a week.

She has vivid red hair styled in a flawless chignon without a single stray strand, and she wears thin silver-framed glasses.
She used to serve as assistant director at the National Institute of Magical Research—an exceptionally capable woman.

She’s strict at times, but she always teaches until I fully understand the difficult parts.
The assignments she gives are fascinating and teach me so much.

“Now then, today we’ll discuss the relationship between this country and spirits.
Marcel-san, please explain what you know about spirits.”

Bruyette-sensei opens the magic history textbook and sits in the chair beside me.

“Yes.
It’s known that spirits usually live in groups according to their attributes.
Also, ordinary spirits can only be summoned during the Spirit Summoning Ceremony.”

“Correct.
And what happens during the Spirit Summoning Ceremony?”

“When a spirit that matches your affinity responds and appears, you give it a name and receive the loan of its power.”

This part I know well from my previous life.
Back then, during the ceremony, I summoned a mid-tier water spirit.

A large, adorable creature that looked like a pale blue dog.
High-tier spirits can speak, but ordinary ones like him only barked “Woof woof” like a normal dog.

Spirits are capricious by nature.
They usually stay in their own realm and only appear occasionally, as though suddenly remembering you.
But the power they lend is connected through the contract between spirit and summoner—so distance doesn’t matter.

For someone without mana like me… it’s painful, but… I’ll probably never see that child again.

“Exactly right.
Now—what are the exceptions?”

“Exceptions are the Spirit Kings.
Spirit Kings already have names and rarely appear before humans.

However, the Light Spirit King occasionally bestows its blessing upon those with souls that draw its compassion.”

“Yes—that’s the Saintess.
The last time the Light Spirit King appeared before a human was three hundred years ago, so the Saintess from three centuries ago is considered the most recent.

Moreover, the Saintess is treated as a symbol.
Why? Because humans are creatures of desire.
If power is spread too widely, people become dependent on it.
Therefore, the Saintess’s power is kept secret from everyone except the royal family.”

At Bruyette-sensei’s words, my eyes widen in shock.

If what she says is true… then the Saintess isn’t merely a symbol?

At the academy, the blessing was taught as a protective power the Light Spirit King grants to humans it favors.
It has no effect on others.
Even if the individual herself has no power, the very existence of “the Saintess blessed by the Spirit King” holds meaning.
It symbolizes that the spirits are watching over this country.

That’s why people revere and have faith in the Saintess.

But… if that’s not the case?

The relationship between ordinary spirits and humans is a contract.
But the relationship with the Spirit King is a blessing.

Indeed—the terms are deliberately different.

If that’s intentional…

“Sensei… what exactly is the Saintess’s power?”

“That, even I do not know.
No one outside the Saintess and the royal family knows its true nature.”

“Was it really all right for me to hear this?”

“Yes.
I trust you won’t misuse it.
And without knowing what the power is, there’s no way to use it anyway.”

I sit stunned by her words.
Sensei calmly continues the lesson, moving on to the topic of spirit realms.

But the earlier conversation about the Saintess lingers in my mind.
Even after class ends, I keep replaying her words over and over.

Perhaps I thought about it too much—
because that night, I came down with a high fever and took to my bed.