Translator and Editor: Maru and Tea

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Chapter 86

What could be more troublesome than this?

“What exactly do you need from me?”

“Rest assured. I’m just checking something.”

“Checking?”

“Yes. I’ll tell you the details later.”

“…First you gave me the medal, and then you asked for a favor….is there anything more troublesome than this?”

“You don’t have to do it if you don’t want to. The reason I gave it…..”

He looked alternately between me and Rere as if feeling sorry for us. For a moment, I wondered if he caught my lies or if he noticed that Rere was sick, but it was actually the opposite.

“About what you said back then…..I pray for the Duchess to remain in good health. I just want the peace in this family to stay as it is now.”

He was actually worried about me. He was afraid that Rere would lose the mother figure that she admired.

“If you feel burdened with my kindness, you can think of it this way.”

“What is it?”

“I have lived my life in the temple for a long time, yet you were the first to give me coins. It’s my reward for those who give unconditional kindness to others.”

Looking at him trying to convince me in case I was still burdened by his kindness, I felt there was nothing else I could say.

“I see. Thank you. I’ll do my best to help you.”

He smiled, and then stood.

“I have to take my leave now.”

“You’re leaving already?”

“I didn’t mean to stay long. Then, I hope to see you again soon, Princess.”

“Yup!”

As if his original purpose had been fulfilled, he walked out without hesitation.

“Rere, shall we see him off until the entrance?”

“Okay! Sounds good!”

Rere shouted with twinkling eyes and stretched out her hand.

“Let’s go!”

“Are you going to see me out?”

He was about to open the door, but he couldn’t hide his surprise.

“You even gave me this medal, so this much is nothing.”

“Oh, thank you very much.”

When Rere lifted the medal slightly, the High Priest smiled satisfactorily. I went ahead and opened the door for him.

The guard waiting outside approached him with a look of great surprise.

“Are you leaving already?”

“I’m done with my business.”

“I thought you’d stay longer.”

“Hoho. No way. Rather, I have to go to another duchy.”

“Are you worried that rumors will spread if you only visited here?”

The guard looked at us following them with a troubled expression.

“Yes.”

“I don’t know why you care so much about them.”

“I really need the Duchess. And if you don’t like everything I do, I’ll use another guard next time…”

Only then did the knight shake his head in a hurry.

“You mustn’t do that. There’s no one you can trust in the temple.”

“Hoho. I think it’s better to have unreliable people than getting bothered by you.”

“….Your Holiness.”

“So don’t bother me too much. This old man will die faster listening to your nagging all the time.”

The knight, Lloyd, finally sighed and shook his head.

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Hoho. You know I like you so much, right? To the point I want you to stay by my side until I die. So I want you to go easy on me a little bit.”

“I’ll be careful in the future.”

“Still, don’t be too stiff, either. That’s boring.”

His face stiffened, probably wondering which rhythm he was supposed to follow.

Observing them from behind, they seemed to have an interesting relationship.

“Then, I’ll take my leave.”

“Yes,”

After bickering for a while, they moved as if they had made up their mind.

The servant walked ahead to guide us, followed by the priest and his guard in the middle and us in the back.

We didn’t interact much after we came outside. I could feel the clear boundaries as if he purposely tried to distance himself from us.

‘I’m sure he’s doing this on purpose.’

As I was busy looking at the High Priest’s back, Rere, who had been fiddling with the medal, held it out to me.

“But Big Bunny, this thing looks really pretty. What if he gave this to us by mistake?”

Rere whispered, perhaps worried that the High Priest might hear it.

“No way.”

“But we should hide it just in case. Get your head down a little, Big Bunny.”

When I lowered my head, Rere hung the medal necklace around my neck.

“Rere?”

“You look like a person who won an award at a big competition!”

When I first received the medal, I thought to myself that the size was quite considerable. Rather, anyone would think it was unusual if I wore it around my neck like this.

Rere narrowed her eyes, perhaps thinking the same thing as me.

“Hmm, I don’t think this looks good.”

“Then why doesn’t Rere keep it instead and give it to Mom later?”

“Good idea!”

Rere clapped her hands in delight and removed the necklace hanging on my neck.

“Will you take care of it, Rere?”

“Yup!”

Meanwhile, we arrived at the main gate of the Duke’s castle. Only then did the High Priest turn to us.

“Then I will take my leave. I’ll see you at the temple next time.”

“Thank you for today, Your Holiness.”

“I’ll see you later, Princess.”

“Yeah! Bye!”

After the brief farewell, the High Priest climbed into the carriage with his guard. As if he had something urgent to do, the coachman quickly set off as soon as he got into the carriage.

And that’s how they finally moved away.

After we watched them for a long time, we were about to return to the castle, but then.

“Oh my goodness! Leona! You’ve finally come out!”

Someone ran toward us in a hurry. It was my mother.

To be exact, Leona’s mother.

“….I’m sure I told you not to come again.”

“How can you say that? I know very well that you don’t mean anything you said to us.”

“Who said I don’t mean it? You should return before you create more trouble here.”

It angered me that Rere had to witness the ugliness of my family.

“Oh my. Aren’t you the princess?”

But there’s no way that Rere reacted to her advances kindly. She smacked Mrs. Selen’s hands that were about to reach her.

“How dare you touch me!”

“Huh…?”

“Get lost.”

“Haha…this child is very bold, I see.”

“She simply speaks my mind. Leave. Don’t come here ever again. Next time I will ask the knights to kick you out as soon as they see you.”

“W-Wait! Please listen to me. Your father has been ill since that day. At this rate, he will fall into depression because the debtor comes to our house every day.”

But her words didn’t affect me at all.

“So what? Why do I need to be involved in something that you brought upon yourself? Instead of me, why don’t you make your perfectly healthy and capable daughter work?”

“Are you asking my precious Jane to do your chores?!”

“….Precious, huh? I guess there must be a precious and not precious daughter in your eyes.”

“Anyway…yeah. That’s right. You’re right.”

Leona’s mother stared at me with tears in her eyes and nodded eagerly as if she had finally made up her mind.

“That’s why I’m trying to find her a job.”

“Good for you.”

“That’s why I came here. How come a duchess doesn’t have a maid? Normally, the wives of a noble family take a maid to be their helper. But no maid could be more perfect than Jane! Can you use your power to make it happen? Please?”

“Ah, so you ask me to hire her as my companion and pay her a hefty sum of money?”

She nodded urgently.

“Do you really take me for a fool? I’m sure she will act like a Madam once she comes in.”

“That won’t happen at all. Your sister is reflecting on herself, too.”

I briefly thought about bringing Leona’s sister in and torturing her as much as Leona had suffered. But it was a bad idea, because I would only end up feeling frustrated by her behavior.

“Don’t even dream. Even if she has reflected, I don’t feel like doing that at all. So just leave. I will not grant you any chance to talk with me from now on.”

“…Do you think you’ll be happy leaving your family like this?”

“Yes. Very much. I’m very, very happy. Now and in the future. So just leave.”

I turned around, but Leona’s mother moved fast to grab Rere’s hand.

“Princess! Please persuade my daughter….!”

But before she could even grab her, Rere screamed.

“Get out of here! Why are you bothering my mom?! What are you doing, knights! You have to get rid of this beggar fast!”

“I-I’m sorry. We will remove her right away.”

Rere was still fuming as she looked at Leona’s mother.

“Haa…how on earth…..how can you do that to me? You’re my daughter’s child! That means I’m your grandmother. Grandmother!!”

“Stop saying nonsense! If I hear you one more time, I won’t let you slide!”

Only then did the knights move in a hurry to drag Leona’s mother away.

“You’ll regret it! You wench! I’m the one who raised you!”

I didn’t want Rere to hear bad things, so I smiled brightly and took her inside.

“What should we play today? It’s raining, though.”

“Big Bunny.”

“Yeah?”

“If you’re having a hard time, you can just let it out.”

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