After His Majesty the King regained consciousness, we were all asked to leave the bedroom for the time being. It seemed His Majesty the King would be undergoing a medical examination by a doctor. Only Prime Marquis remained in the bedroom, while everyone else, including the princes, left the room.
“Well then, I guess I’ll go and disband the army I gathered just in case,” Prince Brute said, making such a dangerous statement as he left. He said it jokingly, but I wonder… I felt the same kind of inscrutability from Prince Brute as I did from Prince Lucas. He seemed carefree, but also shrewd.
“Roan, let’s withdraw the Knights Order we deployed as well.”
“Yes, sir!”
Following Prince Lucas’s instructions, Roan-san signaled to another Knight waiting in the hallway. He was also quite sharp. It seemed that Prince Lucas’s Royal Knights Order and Prince Brute’s Royal Army had been glaring at each other beneath the surface.
The situation was far more tense than I had imagined. If His Majesty the King had died, it might have led directly to a civil war…
The reason that didn’t happen was thanks to the efforts of the two Holy Maidens.
“We did it, Lecty!”
“Y-yes, Rosalie-san!”
Lecty and Rosalie exchanged a high-five. It seemed that a friendship had blossomed between the two of them after working together to save His Majesty the King. Rosalie had also quickly become friendly with Rouge, so she must be good at making friends.
“Well, well, you’ve lived up to your reputation, Lecty-san,” Cardinal Malicious said, addressing Lecty with a gentle smile like a kindly old man.
“How about it? If you’re willing, why not put your power to use in the Divine Blessing Church?”
“Oh my! What a wonderful proposal, grandfather! Lecty, let’s spread the will of God to the world together!”
“E-eh!?”
Receiving invitations from both of them, Lecty, having forgotten where she had left her earlier bravery, looked around in a fluster. She seemed to need help, but before I could move, Lily rushed to Lecty’s side.
“I apologize, Your Eminence Cardinal Malicious. This child has just enrolled in the Royal Academy, so you will have to wait at least three more years.”
“Is that so? Then please consider it as a career path after graduation.”
Cardinal Malicious bowed his head and turned on his heel. Prince Slay was standing with his arms crossed, looking displeased, where he was headed. He might have thought that Lecty and Prince Lucas had taken half of his credit.
“Well then, I’ll be going now too. Lecty, Rouge-sama, and Hugh-sama too! I look forward to seeing you again!”
Rosalie waved her hand vigorously, saying “Bye-bye!” as she left towards Prince Slay and Cardinal Malicious.
“Th-thank you, Lily-chan.”
“You’re welcome. I’m sorry, was I being meddlesome?”
“No, no. I’ve been helped many times by the church’s soup kitchen… but I don’t think I want to work at the church right away…”
Lecty glanced at me, as if trying to gauge my reaction. I wonder what it is?
“Hehe, I see. Well, I think it’s not a bad option for a career path after graduation, but there’s no need to decide on such a thing now. Let’s enjoy our academy life for now, shall we?”
“Yes!”
Lecty nodded energetically at Lily’s words. She should be tired from treating His Majesty the King, but she seemed fine. If anything, it might be Rouge who was tired.
“Are you okay, Rouge?”
I asked Rouge, who was clinging to my right arm. Rouge, who had been silent since earlier, finally raised her face when she heard my voice.
“Fue…?”
No, it’s not “fue”…
“Hey, are you really okay…?”
It would be fine if she was just spacing out because she was relieved that His Majesty the King had recovered safely, but she was too out of it. Her face also seemed a little red.
“Yeah, I’m fwine… I just got a little spaced out after I felt relieved…”
“Rouge, please stay still for a bit.”
I bent my knees to meet Rouge’s gaze, and then placed my hand on my forehead and Rouge’s forehead. …Yeah, Rouge’s forehead felt a little warmer. I don’t think she had a high fever, but she probably had a slight one.
“Prince Lucas, it seems Rouge has become tired, so I’d like to let her rest for a bit.”
“Is it a fever from exhaustion…? I understand, let’s have her rest in the room from earlier for now.”
At Prince Lucas’s suggestion, we decided to return to the reception room. However, we had walked quite a distance to get here… We also had to go down the stairs, and I was a little worried about making Rouge walk in her current state.
“Rouge, hold on tight.”
“Fwe… kyaa!”
When I picked Rouge up and stood up, she let out a short scream and gripped the collar of my uniform tightly.
Rouge’s body was much lighter than I had imagined. My current Skill is Firekinesis, so I didn’t have the benefit of Physical Enhancement, which made me uneasy, but at this lightness, it should be fine.
Lily wouldn’t have been able to do this… I thought, and when I glanced at Lily, she gave me a smile. …Yeah, I’ll try not to think about that again.
“Hugh, put me down. It’s embarrassing…”
Rouge’s face turned even redder, and her sapphire eyes became teary. She clings to me all the time, but being carried like a princess is embarrassing for her…
“Just bear with it for a little while.”
“Muuu…”
Rouge puffed out her cheeks as if in a last act of resistance. She’s really cute, seriously…
I carried Rouge in my arms all the way to the reception room. Along the way, Lecty used Heal and Cleanse, but they didn’t seem to have much effect on Rouge’s fever.
“No way… My Skills can’t even cure it!”
“No, I think she’ll probably be fine…?”
It’s probably a psychosomatic fever, so Lecty’s Skills won’t work.
In my previous life, I was plagued by fevers caused by overwork and stress right before I died. The cause of the fever wasn’t inflammation, so even if I took antipyretics, the fever wouldn’t go down, and I remember it being hell because I was so tired but couldn’t rest because it was just a slight fever.
Well, she shouldn’t be as severe as I was in my previous life. If she rests for a bit, her fever should go down.
We arrived at the reception room, and I laid Rouge down on the sofa. Rouge had fallen into a peaceful sleep while I was carrying her. Maybe she was also sleep-deprived and tired.
“Hugh, Miss Lily. I’d like to talk about the future. Could you spare me a little time?”
As soon as I laid Rouge down on the sofa, Prince Lucas called me out. I wanted to stay by Rouge’s side until she woke up, but it couldn’t be helped. Lecty, Alissa-san, and Merry stayed in the room, so I left Rouge in their care and moved to another room.
The room across the hallway was almost identical, and Roan-san stood in front of the door. Only Prince Lucas, Lily, and I entered the room.
Prince Lucas, who sat on the sofa opposite Lily and me, said as soon as he opened his mouth,
“I’m sorry, I misread Prince Slay’s movements.”
He bowed his head to us.