Part 1: Saintess Candidate Arc

9. The Saintess’s Work (4)

Translated by: S3

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The midday bell rang, and as usual, Lily headed to the dining hall to have lunch with Noah. Noah was in an extremely good mood, just as he had been when they came to work that morning.

「I’m relieved that Lily has been so proactive in taking on the work here in the royal capital.」

Noah continuously praised her for getting along well with Daniel. He praised her so much that it seemed suspicious, and Lily started to feel anxious.

「Why are you praising me so much?」

「Why? Well, I shouldn't say this too loudly, but Daniel-sama is extremely selective about people. He's fired quite a few people so far, and Lily is the only one who has lasted this long. I'm proud of you.」

「He doesn't seem like such a temperamental person to me.」

To Lily, Daniel was a reliable, approachable adult male.

Honestly, she felt she had to be far more careful around the cranky old man at the Western Fortress.

「Lily is good at getting close to people. Even Arthur-denka has a good impression of you.」

「Is that so?」

She had very little contact with Arthur, so she had no idea.

「Cousin Noah. Could you please give Arthur-denka this item and the paper detailing the progress up to today’s lunch?」

「Understood. You know, Lily’s candy is really popular.」

「It's strange, since there are so many other delicious things in the royal capital.」

Lily’s special 'Blessed Candy' had been requested regularly by Arthur, and since Noah gave his permission, the supply continued. Incidentally, Noah was in charge of all deliveries. She had also asked him to handle all her work reports, which made things very easy and was greatly appreciated by Lily.

「How about you go and report directly just once? The other Saint Candidates come to report almost every day.」

「Then I definitely won't go. Because he said at the beginning that he was busy and wanted reports submitted through documents.」

She didn't know why the other two were reporting directly, but Lily felt a written report was sufficient and had no intention of going.

Furthermore, she was currently entering a self-imposed busy period to finish the decursing before Daniel’s next task began, so she didn't want to take on any extra work.

「Speaking of which, the Festival of Flowers is coming up soon, isn’t it?」

Saying that, he placed a small box with a little ribbon on the table.

「What is this?」

「It's the traditional hair accessory for the Festival of Flowers. Make sure you wear it on the day of the festival.」

「! That wasn’t my intention. I only asked you to take me to the Festival of Flowers as compensation for breaking a promise. I cannot accept the hair accessory.」

Lily instantly remembered the meaning of the hair accessory for the Festival of Flowers and tried to decline. It carried quite a heavy meaning.

The Festival of Flowers was one of the five major festivals held in the Holy Aurum Kingdom. It was a celebration held to coincide with the spring full moon.

Subsequently, the festivals of the Summer Solstice, the Harvest, the Requiem, and the Snow were held as the seasons changed.

Each of the five major festivals had a different purpose, but there was also an enduring anecdote that the Founding Holy King wooed the Saint by continuously giving her gifts, making promises to attend the festivals, and confessing his feelings.

—Send her a hair accessory and invite her to the Festival of Flowers; you will meet her with her hair beautifully styled.

—Send her a necklace and invite her to the Summer Solstice Festival; she will smile for you.

—Send her a bracelet and invite her to the Harvest Festival; your hearts will connect.

—Send her an anklet and invite her to the Requiem Festival; you will bind her to you.

—Send her a ring and invite her to the Snow Festival; she will pledge eternity.

This poem about the Holy King’s successful courtship had become established because it served as a good excuse for young men and women who were hesitant to confess their feelings.

Among commoners, it was fashionable to follow the poem by giving gifts, inviting someone to a festival, and becoming lovers.

Among nobles, a set of jewelry made with matching gemstones would be sent as an engagement gift, to be worn at the ball they attended together, or sent as betrothal gifts to be worn at the wedding ceremony.

Regardless of class, it was still, both now and in the past, a highly effective tradition for bringing the love between young men and women to fruition.

When Noah said he would do anything she asked, Lily had asked to be taken to the Festival of Flowers.

She had only meant for him to come as her escort, and she hadn't anticipated something like this.

「It's fine. It doesn’t have a deep meaning; I just want to enjoy it.」

Noah wanted to create a production that would allow Lily, at her age, to thoroughly enjoy the royal capital's Festival of Flowers, which is why he prepared the hair accessory. Besides, as her cousin, didn't he want to take the beautifully dressed Lily out?

「The man can simply choose not to send the next gift, or the woman can choose not to wear the gift, to refuse without causing offense. There is no need to overthink it.」

Opening the presented box revealed a hair accessory woven with small flowers made of rose quartz, garnet, and crystal beads. It was a design perfect for the Festival of Flowers, the kind that a young girl would love.

「Cousin Noah, do you always do things like this?」

The practiced ease of his actions made Lily worry that Noah might have a specific romantic interest. She worried that if she misunderstood, she might deeply hurt the person Noah truly cared about.

「Of course not. I don't have a partner, nor do I have any chances to meet one. This is only for you, Lily. It’s a reward for working so hard, okay?」

She wished he wouldn't say such sweet words with such a dazzling smile all of a sudden. Even though she knew it was a joke, her face flushed with embarrassment.

「I'm looking forward to the Festival of Flowers.」

Lily nodded faintly, still looking down.

After lunch, Noah walked toward a certain location. He arrived to find Poppy, one of the Saint Candidates, hiding between a wall and a pillar, holding her breath.

「Poppy-san. Please do not ambush Arthur-denka in a place like that.」

「Kya! Oh, it’s just Noah-kun. Don’t surprise me!」

Though he thought it was more surprising for a Baron’s daughter to act like a suspicious person, Noah offered his hand to Poppy.

「Reports to Arthur-denka are fundamentally submitted in writing. He is busy today, so I will take it. Please hand it over.」

When he spoke in a firm, slightly harsh tone, Poppy reluctantly handed the documents to Noah.

「Honestly! I was going to hand over the documents and then ask Arthur-sama to listen to what I had to say!」

Noah ignored Poppy's complaints and took the documents.

「Your things to say are written in this document, are they not? They are not necessary. Please refrain from this.」

「Honestly! You just don't get it. The documents only detail the treatment. But the people who come to the church tell me all sorts of stories, and I want to report those. I wrote them in a document once, and I was told they weren't necessary, but I think it’s important to know them.」

「If His Highness said they weren't necessary, then they are not.」

「I don't think it's good to make a judgment without listening.」

Poppy insisted they were necessary, but they were minor details like which family's cat had gone missing or that a children’s specific illness was starting to spread. These were not matters for the Crown Prince of the country to deal with, and since these kinds of issues were endless, they would cause delays in other work and create new damage.

「In that case, if you compile them separately, I will read through them.」

「Really! But I really want to report them directly to Arthur-denka.」

Because they are important, Poppy insisted, refusing to compromise on the importance of those matters.

While they might be serious problems for the individuals involved, they were not issues that needed to be handled via Arthur.

If problems of that nature were genuinely present, it would be efficient for Noah to read through them and report only those he deemed necessary.

「I must repeat, His Highness is busy. Are you trying to work him to death?」

「I don't mean that! Fine, I understand. I'll compile them separately and hand them to you starting tomorrow.」

Saying that, Poppy huffed away in a fit of pique.

(Ah. My workload is going to increase. It can't be helped, though…)

Noah slumped his shoulders but moved on to his next destination. There, Olivia was standing, just like Poppy before her. Olivia, too, was waiting for Arthur every day because she wanted to report to him verbally.

「Olivia-sama—」

And so, Noah had taken it upon himself to deal with both Poppy and Olivia to lighten Arthur's burden.

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