Chapter 115:  The House of Baron Roger (4)

The appearance of a celebrity I had only ever seen in the papers or in paintings.

Because of that, the eyes of many men who had come to the Academy festival sparkled.

The Saint’s beauty had long been renowned.

“What the— Is it true? Did Her Holiness actually join in?”

“As expected of the Imperial Academy Festival, you get to see famous people too…!!”

The desire to serve her even just once.

Drawn by that desire, male students began to pour out in droves.

I blinked, surprised by how wildly popular she actually was.

Then Sonia, who had been watching me with narrow eyes like a mountain fox, gave me a push and I ended up stepping out into the event grounds as well.

“Surely, you’re not planning to leave Her Holiness in the hands of complete strangers, are you?”

“I’m also a complete stranger…”

Just as I was about to refute, Sonia pointed toward the event area.

And so, I had no choice but to turn my head toward the courtyard.

“Ahh—. As expected, with Her Holiness making an appearance, the prestige of the event has truly risen!!”

Istina smiled benevolently at the men, who admired her from afar, unable to muster the courage to approach.

But with her eyes half-closed, she was sneaking glances at me.

“Now then, let’s see which knight will be chosen by Her Holiness…!!”

The spectators surrounding the event ground all turned their gazes toward Istina in unison.

There was a sense of curiosity as to whom she, with her saintly looks that suggested she had never even held a man’s hand, would choose.

“I came out by mistake, but I didn’t expect so many people to gather like this…”

With an apologetic look, the Saint lifted her long sleeves.

Then, covering her lips, she looked at me demurely.

“Still… wouldn’t it be better to rely on someone at least vaguely familiar?”

Istina slowly raised her finger and pointed at me, standing among the participants.

At that, all the men looked at me with eyes full of resentment.

“……”

Just like that, I had become the public enemy of all.

However, if I refused in this situation, they’d only drive me further into a corner with the attitude of ‘How dare you reject Her Holiness’s choice?’

So I made up my mind to finish the game quickly.

“Phew… You stepped forward on purpose, didn’t you?”

I walked up to Istina and asked.

In response, the Saint fiddled with her silver hair and replied with a coy tone.

“No, I didn’t know I was stepping on a trap square—.”

Leisurely, she clasped her hands behind her back and swayed lightly to the rhythm.

For Istina, I gently bent one knee and raised both arms toward her.

“Come on, let’s get this over with.”

“…?”

I had thought she had subtly stepped up because she wanted the drink reward.

But when I gestured for her to get into my arms, the Saint looked slightly flustered.

“Huh… wasn’t I supposed to be carried on the back?”

“In our festival, we carry from the front. Didn’t you know?”

Carried from the front.

In other words, it meant holding her like a princess out of a storybook illustration.

At that, the Saint's smooth lips parted slightly.

“Come now, please get in my arms. We’re the only pair still unprepared.”

This time, I spoke calmly, my expression indifferent as I made the request.

In response, the Saint gathered her thick silver hair with both hands, draping it like a curtain.

Hurriedly, she glanced to the other side.

And then she spotted Sonia and Ronie, already comfortably in position.

“Isn’t she heavy? If it’s hard, you can take it easy or just give up.”

“Nope, not at all!! She’s lighter than the sandbags I usually drag around!”

Surprisingly bold for seventeen-year-olds in their prime.

The Saint’s face flushed red, as if she had just witnessed something indecent.

“How can they do it so easily...?”

As Istina murmured to herself,

I gently tapped her leg with my finger.

“……!”

Though she carried herself with the dignity of a cold empress in planned situations,

she revealed a human side when caught off guard.

“Well then, I’ll lift you now.”

“P-please be careful.”

I wrapped my hands behind her knees,

and with the other hand supporting her waist, lifted her lightly.

“Huup……!!”

Perhaps because of the sensation of being lifted into the air,

the Saint instinctively wrapped her arms around my neck.

The other men watched that scene with envious sighs.

“You’re lighter than I expected.”

I held her body, wrapped in her Saint’s robes, with both hands.

At that, Istina stared up at me blankly, then said something offhandedly, perhaps from awkwardness.

“Then... are you saying I normally looked heavy?”

“You didn’t look light.”

I looked down at her with a face completely free of malice.

As she was being held, the fabric of her Saint’s robes had fallen downward, accentuating her figure.

She clearly wasn’t the slim type.

Of course, her waist, wrists, and forearms were slender and delicately shaped, creating beautiful curves.

“It must be the weight of my steadfast faith.”

The Saint closed her eyes gently and maintained her composure.

At the same time...

She slyly opened her silver eyelids and snuck glances at my arms.

Especially toward the parts where the veins stood out.

‘She must be worried I’ll find her heavy.’

Still, I had been considered fairly skilled during my academy days.

Taking a deep breath, I focused, eyes sharpening like they had during my cadet years.

“Now then, we’ll begin the match by counting out loud!!”

As the announcer shouted, the crowd roared with cheers.

Ronie and I looked at each other, silently agreeing to a fair contest.

And then—

―――――!!

At the same time the student announcer set off a firework,

the game began—my first one with a woman in my life.

“One, two……!!”

Each time I bent my knees, I could feel the Saint’s soft skin brushing against my thigh.

I focused every muscle in my arms and legs to avoid any rough impact.

“Eleven, twelve……!!”

Istina looked up at me blankly, not even twitching an eyebrow as I held her.

Then, she released her arms from around my neck and folded her hands together neatly.

“Thirty-four, thirty-five……!!”

Voices of agony began to rise around us.

My body heated up more and more, and sweat started to form on my forehead.

“……”

Istina, too, must have felt the heat—her Saint’s robe, where it touched my arm, had begun to cling damply.

Yet, she made no comment whatsoever.

“Fifty-one, fifty-two……!!”

She simply stared up at my jawline.

“I can’t go on!!”

“Ughhh……!!”

Eliminations began to occur one after another.

The non-cadet students had already collapsed with their legs giving out.

Before I knew it, only five of the original twelve contestants remained—me, Ronie,

two who appeared to be knight cadets, and one senior student in their final year.

‘The cadets won’t last much longer, but that senior’s going to be trouble.’

While keeping my face emotionless so Istina wouldn’t be uncomfortable, I analyzed the remaining competitors.

Meanwhile, a hot drop of sweat rolled down my jawline—

and landed on the bridge of Istina’s sharp nose.

“……”

Istina absentmindedly brushed the droplet off her face with her hand.

Then, without realizing it, she brought her fingers to her red lips and tasted it.

“Seventy-nine, eighty……!!”

Soon after, her awkwardness faded, and she gazed at me with a serious expression.

Then she spoke to me gently.

“If it’s too hard, you can stop, Roger.”

She must have felt the heat of my breath, because she turned her head slightly.

Then, perhaps feeling hot herself, she gently brushed aside her now-clinging bangs.

“If it’s about whiskey, we can just buy dozens of bottles……”

“No.”

I responded firmly to the Saint’s quiet murmur.

My gaze stayed fixed straight ahead.

“This is your first festival, isn’t it?”

Thinking about it, this event must have held deep meaning for Istina.

Unlike me, she had spent her whole life in a dull cathedral.

She had wasted her teenage years—when she should have been out having fun—so this must have been why she joined the game.

“A perfect leader also needs to know how to have fun.”

I understood that feeling well.

In my childhood, I attended the Academy to become a knight.

And even after turning twenty—an age of freedom—I devoted myself to the Grand Duke’s house for the sake of my family.

“That way, you don’t end up alone.”

“……”

At those words, Istina’s long, captivating eyes widened dramatically.

As if I had seen straight through the solitary life she had endured all this time.

“We’re down to the final few! Only Roger’s team and Tiber are still standing!!”

Ronie’s face had turned bright red, like a tomato.

The senior student had also begun to gasp for breath with increasing difficulty.

“Ronie, if it’s too hard, stop. What will you do about the next match if you collapse now?”

“It’s fine, I’m fine……!! This much is nothing……!!”

The crowd burst into hearty laughter as they watched the struggling contestants.

Some female students, on the other hand, watched with concern, wondering if someone might collapse.

“We’ve passed a hundred. Let’s go straight to a hundred and one!!”

Ronie’s legs were shaking like crazy.

He’d thought his body had been well trained from years of discipline.

But even so, doing more than a hundred squats while holding Sonia seemed impossible.

“Sigh.”

The red-haired female knight let out a short sigh at the sight of the foolish guy.

Like a wife looking at her hopeless husband.

It seemed Sonia had decided she needed to do something—for the sake of her teammate’s next match.

Eventually, she...

Gently tugged Ronie’s tie toward her.

Bringing his face close to hers.

“……!”

Startled, Ronie seemed to lose all strength in his legs and collapsed with a thud.

At that moment, the announcer shouted as if he had been waiting for it.

“Oh! We finally have a dropout!! Ronie Julius takes 3rd place!!”

My younger brother blankly stared at the female classmate who had taken him down.

“Why… why’d you do that…? I could’ve done four more…”

Then Sonia, gazing steadily at him, wiped the sweat-covered forehead he had.

And with arms crossed, she spoke with a look of mild exasperation.

“I enjoy beating you in sparring more than receiving a prize sword from you.”

“……”

Ronie didn’t respond to her words at first.

Then, realizing what she truly meant, his face turned red.

As if he had received a reward more valuable than winning.

“Now, only two remain!! Roger Julius, the man praised by the Emperor, and Tiber!!”

My expression finally began to crumble.

Even for me, holding a woman over 50 kilograms and doing 110 squats was pushing it.

“Huuuugh……!!”

“Damn, what’s with that guy’s stamina!?”

The graduating student, dressed in a suit, sighed, realizing my strength was comparable to an Academy professor.

He clenched his teeth and squeezed out every last ounce of strength he had.

So did I.

Dragging our ruined bodies, we raced madly toward the finish line.

And at last, the moment we neared the end—

“Aaaaah—!! Both are collapsing at the same time! Only one left—number 119!! If they hit 120, they win!!”

The Saint must have felt my legs trembling like mad because she once again gently wrapped her arms around my neck.

Tiber’s fiancée also braced herself, shrinking her shoulders as if to prepare for a fall.

Tiber, clearly at his limit, stared at me, trembling.

It looked like the moment I fell, he’d go down right after.

I caught the look in his eyes with my own pitch-black gaze.

“The final one hundred and… twenty……!!”

At the moment the announcer shouted—

Our knees hit the ground at the same time.

“Both have collapsed at once! Who’s the winner?!”

However—

“L-Lord Roger Julius has one knee still up. He’s holding on!!”

I had focused the last of my strength into my left knee.

Meanwhile, the senior student, who everyone thought might outlast me, collapsed fully onto the floor.

“That means the winner is Roger Julius!!”

――――――!!

The crowd erupted in loud cheers.

The men who had hoped I would win, since I had been chosen by Her Holiness,

showered me with applause, apparently satisfied with my stamina.

“Huuuuu…….”

Only after the win was confirmed did I finally let my other knee drop to the ground.

At that, Istina quickly slid down her legs and straightened her posture.

“You did amazing, Roger……”

With a sincere gaze, the Saint expressed her concern for me.

Her silk Saint’s robe was soaked through and clinging to her body.

But Istina didn’t seem to care.

She simply clung gently to the back of my neck, staring directly into my face.

“I feel like I’ve received a gift that’s far too precious.”

Her gaze, once impish, had now turned pure and serene.

Just as one would expect from someone bearing her title.

“Thank you, truly.”

Istina reached out and brushed aside my damp bangs.

Then, as naturally as breathing, she caressed my cheek.

“It was nothing.”

The crowd looked on, eyes fixed on us.

Among them were people who looked like reporters, sketching furiously.

But then...

Despite this being the Imperial Academy in the capital, I noticed people wearing the golden lion badge and the black lion badge.

They weren’t smiling at all, even in this festive atmosphere.

Instead, they rapidly spun their pens, and when they sensed my gaze, they slipped into the crowd and disappeared.

“……”

Because Istina was still stuck close to me, I couldn’t track where they went.

All I could do was stare at the Saint, who was tenderly wiping the sweat from my arm—almost excessively.

「――――――」

A single, finely rendered drawing.

A man holding the Saint in his arms, his expression resolute.

It was quietly laid on a desk.

Inside the Grand Duke of the North’s residence, and also in the Western Grand Duke’s villa.

“……”

Echina picked up the drawing with a cold, expressionless face.

Helena, too, stood with arms crossed, gazing down at the frustratingly well-drawn artwork.

With lifeless eyes.

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