Backstage. A ridiculously huge carriage is parked there like a brick wall.
Even though the makeshift stage isn’t that big, this carriage is easily on par with it in size… I mean, it’s at least five or six times the size of a regular carriage.
“At this rate, just driving this thing down the road must be a nightmare.”
That was my first thought when I saw it.
Maybe they made it this big so it could double as a rest area or something.
And honestly, if you’re trying to announce the Saintess’s arrival, going big like this just fits the vibe.
Anyway, one thing’s for sure—Lilith is definitely inside that thing.
So I walked up to the carriage and knocked on the firmly closed door. Soon, it opened, and the priest I saw earlier stepped out.
“Who are you?”
From a distance, he just looked old, but up close, despite his age, he had a strong presence and seemed pretty sharp.
“I’m sorry, but the Saintess is in need of rest right now…”
“Long time no see, Grandpa Cordas. So, being a priest suits you better than being a butler, huh?”
“…Your Highness, the Princess?”
“Yep, it’s me.”
Hmm… Listening to them, it seems like they know each other.
From Seria’s tone and her casual attitude, they must’ve been pretty close. Wait, did someone really go from being a Royal Palace butler to a priest?
I don’t remember this from the game. Then again, if they included every little detail like this, the game’s file size would’ve gone insane.
“You’re still doing this kind of thing even out here? I guess taking care of people really is your calling.”
“It seems that way.”
“Then why’d you suddenly quit being a butler? Do you know what a mess it was when they had to pick a new butler for me?”
“Hahaha, even an old man like me has things he wants to do sometimes.”
The old man, called Cordas, chuckled as he said that.
Then he subtly shifted his gaze to me standing beside them.
“And the person next to you is…”
“She’s my friend from the Academy.”
“I’m Rudion.”
“Hoho, no need to bow to an old man like me.”
I reflexively bowed to greet him, and he said that.
But come on, that’s just not right. The age gap is huge.
As a Korean steeped in Confucian values, treating a gentle old man like this poorly feels almost like a sin.
Anyway, after finishing the greetings, Seria casually brought up the main point.
“I need to talk to Lilith, so could you give us some space?”
“Of course.”
“If you’re friends of the Saintess, even God would welcome you.”
“If you keep showing off that you’re a clergy, I’ll drag you back by force, so you better know that.”
“Oh my. Please forgive me for that much.”
The negotiation was quick. It wasn’t really a negotiation to begin with since it was just friends meeting up.
Passing by him, who was practically fleeing from Seria’s playful threat, I went straight into the carriage.
“It looks bigger inside than it did from the outside.”
The interior of the carriage I boarded was indeed spacious, surpassing the role of a mere means of transportation.
If the Royal Carriage I recently rode was a supercar, this one felt more like a camper van.
It was like a whole room of a building had been moved here, making it possible to live inside. Wow, what a grand treatment.
But no matter how big it was, I couldn’t avoid facing Lilith as soon as I entered.
Seeing us, Lilith jumped up as if a thief had broken in.
“You… who are you? How did you get in? Where’s Cardinal Cordas?”
She must have gone out at the knock, expecting her attendant, but was quite surprised to see us instead.
But… Cardinal?
“Seria, was that person earlier a Cardinal?”
“Now that you mention it, I heard he was recently appointed.”
“How long has it been since you quit being a butler?”
“About 4 years?”
Wow. So he became a Cardinal in at least 4 years?
As expected from someone who worked at the Royal Palace…
I had no idea why such a person didn’t appear in the original story.
“What are you guys chatting about so casually after barging in?!”
Well, that’s that. As Lilith said, it’s not polite to chat among ourselves in such a situation.
First, I went inside and sat on a plush-looking sofa. Seria also followed and sat next to me.
“Why are you sitting down without permission? Aren’t you going to leave now?”
She seemed to want to kick us out.
But unfortunately, we had no intention of leaving quietly.
“Wow, Saintess Lilith. Your performance was amazing.”
“Right. The people’s reactions were really good, it must be because you’re the Saintess.”
“…Wait. Can we not talk about that?”
“Seria, what do you think about the clothes Lilith is wearing?”
“I’ve never seen anyone pull off that nun outfit so well. Although now she’s back to being the usual Lilith.”
“Exactly, right…?”
I wanted to mess around more, but since Lilith seemed serious about shooting something, I had to stop.
After taking a moment to calm down.
Lilith plopped down on the opposite sofa, let out a sigh, and started talking.
“Anyway. Why are you two wandering around here? Are you on a date or something?”
“Well, at first glance, it might seem like that.”
“What do you mean ‘at first glance’? It’s obviously a date to anyone who sees it.”
“Yeah, to anyone who sees it… Wait. Seria, aren’t you embarrassed?”
The original goal was to tease Seria, so I steered the conversation in that direction, but surprisingly, Seria was no longer affected by such attacks.
In fact, she boldly broke through, leaving Lilith, who had intended to tease her, in confusion.
“…Come to think of it, you said you went to the Royal Palace. Hey, Rudion. Be honest. What did you do there?”
“I didn’t do anything.”
“Something must have happened for Seria to act like that. Tell me what happened right now!”
“Really, nothing happened.”
I went and sparred with the knights, destroyed a magical gem that was a treasure of the Royal Palace, dealt with some demons that appeared, and incidentally prevented the apocalypse… But I can’t go around bragging about that, can I?
So, excluding all that, nothing really happened.
But Lilith, who couldn’t believe my words, started pressing even more persistently, and in the midst of that, Seria dropped a bombshell.
“That’s right. Nothing much happened. Except for my parents acknowledging Rudion, nothing really happened. Right?”
She said it nonchalantly and smiled at me.
She acted natural, but I could tell. She’s just saying it like that to mess with Lilith.
Well… If the Emperor heard this, he might clutch his chest and collapse, but it’s not exactly a lie.
So I nodded to Lilith, who was looking at me with disbelief, to confirm that it was true.
Lilith couldn’t close her mouth in disbelief.
“No way. Really?”
“Really.”
“No way! Really, really?”
“Really, really.”
Why do you keep asking if it’s real if you don’t believe it?
It felt like we were going to get stuck in an infinite loop, so before ‘really’ became three times, I changed the subject.
“By the way, have you had lunch yet?”
“Why are you changing the subject so casually? I haven’t eaten yet.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Usually, Cardinal Cordas brings food from around here…”
“If you bring it, I’ll eat it…”
Lilith muttered to herself and started looking outside the carriage.
Seria, noticing something, magically flung the carriage door open and shouted.
“Grandpa Cordas!”
“What is it?”
Even though it wasn’t a loud voice, the immediate response clearly suited someone in the role of a butler. Though, of course, he’s a Cardinal now…
Seria got straight to the point without any small talk.
“I’m going to have lunch with Lilith and then come back.”
“Very well.”
And just like that, Lilith’s next schedule was decided in an instant. Having lunch together.
“Shall we go then?”
“Let’s go.”
“Wait a minute. I’m dressed like this, where are we going? I’ll change and come out, so wait outside.”
“Why? It looks good on you.”
“Right. You could just go like that.”
“I’m really getting angry. Get out now!”
In the end, they had no choice but to wait outside the carriage for Lilith to change her clothes.
A little while later. Walking down the street with Lilith, who had changed into casual clothes, Seria suddenly poked Lilith’s arm with her finger.
“Hold on. Lilith, someone’s following us.”
It seemed like someone was stalking them.
But hearing that, Lilith didn’t seem surprised and calmly replied.
“That’s normal. They think I’m really a Saintess.”
It seemed like this kind of thing was part of her daily life.
But… you really are a Saintess, aren’t you?
Seria also seemed to feel the same way and blurted out a question.
“You really are a Saintess, right?”
“…Yeah. I am a Saintess.”
You should at least be aware that you’re a Saintess.
Anyway, the important thing now was that someone was following them.
It was a very dangerous situation. Not for us, but for the stalker.
Well, according to Lilith, they’ve been following her around for a while… but now the situation is a bit different. The Saintess has the Princess by her side.
If they get caught, who knows what kind of punishment they’ll face.
But it’s not like the Saintess or the Princess can just go and fight a civilian, right?
So, I decided to step in and handle it myself.
If I leave it alone, it might just end up being a nuisance during lunch, and with my fixed stats, I should be more than enough to handle a civilian.
It didn’t take long for me to realize how wrong that thought was.
