The Power of the Saint is All Around (LN) - Volume 6 - Chapter 1

Act 1:

The Guest from Abroad

AFTER MY HIGH SOCIETY DEBUT as the Saint herself, I returned happily to my peaceful life at the research institute. Then, one day, I was summoned to the palace.

I was riding in a carriage in which an official from the palace had arrived at the institute, and beside me was Johan Valdec, the institute’s head researcher. Everyone was silent. Perhaps this had to do with the fact that this official wasn’t the one we usually dealt with. It was like when you have to ride in an elevator with both an acquaintance and a stranger.

I gazed absentmindedly out the window of the carriage, ruminating over the reason I had been summoned. Surely it had something to do with my role as the Saint. Maybe it was about the tea party and ball invitations Johan and I had been discussing right before the official had showed up. 

However, this guy’s behavior has been too unusual for that to be the only thing… I mean, if that were the case, why would he need to bring Johan with me? 

But then, why else would I possibly be summoned to the palace? My mind churned over possibility after possibility as we made our way to our destination.

Once we reached the palace, we were immediately escorted to the king’s office. I exchanged a look with Johan. Normally, we were taken to a different room for meetings with the officials with whom we were familiar. This time, we didn’t have even a moment to say anything before we were ushered into a new room—one in which we found both the king and the prime minister waiting for us.

What in the world could this possibly be about? I felt a twinge of anxiety at seeing both of these very important people.

“Thank you for coming. Please have a seat.” The prime minister motioned us to sit on one of the sofas.

“Yes, sir.”

Johan and I took our seats as the chamberlain prepared tea for us without a moment’s delay. The delicious smell of the brewing tea leaves wafted through the air, but considering the situation, I didn’t have it in me to look forward to sipping it.

The king and prime minister look calm as usual, but whatever this is about must be a big deal, right? My heart pounded as I wondered what they were going to say.

The king began with small talk. “I would like to thank you for agreeing to go through with your recent debut ceremony, as well as for attending the ball.” 

I was in torment. Was I supposed to thank him for inviting me? I couldn’t come up with any other tactful thing to say. So I went ahead and thanked him as well, taking care not to let my pitch rise in such a way that it sounded like a question.

The king smiled stiffly. “Has anyone tried to get in touch with you since then?”

“At present, I have yet to be contacted by anyone I do not already know.”

“That’s good to hear. Please do let us know if anyone bothers you so that we may take care of them.”

“Thank you,” I said. Huh. That makes it sound like Johan was wrong when he posited that the king was already taking measures to prevent people from contacting me.

The prime minister then offered a supplementary explanation. Johan had indeed been right after all. The palace really was acting as the main point of contact for the Saint’s social life. All the nobles knew this, so all invitations to me were sent to the palace first.

Incidentally, this was the norm. In the past, some Saints had been born to commoner families. As a result, they hadn’t had anyone to act as their support in high society, so for generations, kings had performed the role of the Saint’s formal guardian.

Since I was someone summoned from another world, were they just defaulting to the same protocols they undertook for commoner Saints?

The prime minister offered to forward the invitations to the institute if I wanted to sort through them myself from now on, but I politely declined. After all, I had no idea how to judge a person’s intentions—and whether I ought to get to know them—from their name alone.

While I had been taking a ton of classes at the palace, I still had a great deal to learn. Not to mention, I had zero interest in getting involved with the politics of high society. All I wanted to do was work at the institute, support myself as much as possible, and when I was called upon, perform the duties that only the Saint could perform. 

I told the prime minister as much and requested that they continue to deal with the invitations for me.

But did they really summon me here today just to explain this to me? I wondered as I sipped my tea.

The prime minister had finished his explanation, so now the king spoke again. There was something much tenser about his demeanor, which told me that we were finally about to get to the real reason for our meeting. 

“As it turns out, a student from abroad will be coming to our kingdom, and I hoped the research institute would lend us their aid in this matter.”

“What do you mean?” Johan asked, a confused look on his face.

Like, let the kid come check out the institute? I thought. Then again, if that was all this was about, there would have been no need for me to be present.

The prime minister followed up with an explanation. The student coming to the kingdom to study was a prince of another country, one that had dealings with Salutania. However, they had never practiced such an exchange with this country before, and moreover, they had received the request only recently. This prince was apparently fascinated with the various cultures and technologies of other countries, and he had studied abroad in other places already. So, while generally speaking he would be studying at the Royal Academy, he had also requested permission to take a tour of some Salutanian research facilities.

The research facilities in the palace were all developing cutting edge technology, so they housed a great number of things that the Salutanian government wished to keep away from foreign eyes. However, due to this guy being a prince and all—and because they wanted their relationship with this other country to remain amiable—they had decided to let him see what they deemed to be permissible.

That was where the Research Institute of Medicinal Flora came into play: we were among the chosen facilities. We only had to show the prince what we felt we could, just as the other research facilities had been instructed to do. 

But, well, then there was the problem of me.

The prince likely knew of the Saint’s existence. However, they suspected that he didn’t know of my specific abilities or anything. They wanted to conceal my powers as much as possible, so they meant to ensure that I didn’t come into contact with the prince.

So, what were we all to do? That was the true purpose for this meeting and my attendance.

The king and prime minister suggested that it would be a good idea for me to stay in the palace for the length of the prince’s visit—and moreover, that I shouldn’t go to the research institute at all while he was in the kingdom. However, that wasn’t realistic. Plus, I had herbs to grow at the institute’s gardens, and I wanted to check up on them.

However, I couldn’t think up a better solution right off the bat, at least not on my own. I figured it might be better to mull it over some, discuss it with Johan, and try to devise a strategy for navigating this situation together. Johan seemed to have the same idea as well, and we all decided that we would reconvene at a later time.

The meeting was over, but I had a question for the king. “By the way, what country is this prince from?”

“Zaidera.”

The name sounded somewhat familiar. A cold sweat slid down my back as I wondered if I was thinking of the right country.

***

Not long after our meeting at the palace, all the facilities that needed to know about the Zaideran prince’s visit were told of it. They were also informed that the royal family would be inspecting each facility, so everyone was busy getting ready.

The first thing every facility had to do was clean everything from top to bottom. All I could do was chuckle tiredly at the thought.

Of course, we had to do that as well. We were tidying under the pretense that someone of high standing was coming to visit, but really the priority was hiding any documents that we didn’t want someone from a foreign royal family to see.

There was indeed confidential information contained in the documents that were scattered all around the institute. We were a leading research facility, after all. To the trained eye, even our minor scribbles could be considered valuable. We couldn’t leave such documents in a place where the prince might just casually pick them up to read.

Everyone knew this, and even the people most unmotivated in the organizing and cleaning department were putting their all into tidying.

Jude and I were busily sorting documents when he suddenly asked, “Hey, Sei?”

“Yeah?”

“They said that it’s a prince from Zaidera who’s coming here, right?”

“That’s what I heard.”

“Isn’t that the same country where that captain we met in Morgenhaven was from?”

Captain Ceyran and his crew were from Zaidera. They had treated us to Zaideran cuisine, and in return, I had taught them how to make a type of preserved food. It hadn’t been too long since we met, but it was already a fond memory.

My thoughts drifted toward the circumstances of my first meeting with Ceyran. He had been looking for a potion to give to a member of his crew, one who had been in an accident. I had wound up giving him a high-grade HP potion I’d made.

You read that right: one I’d made, i.e., a potion afflicted by my fifty-percent-bonus curse. I had no regrets about giving it away, since it had managed to cure the crewman’s injuries. However, I was beginning to feel a bit uneasy now that I’d heard that a prince of Zaidera was coming to visit.

I felt guilty about all this for some reason, and I responded as if this had only just occurred to me. “I think you’re right, now that you mention it.”

Jude squinted at me. “You don’t think it’s possible that he found out about Ceyran and the potion, do you?”

“Don’t even say that.”

I’d had the same exact fear during the meeting at the palace.

We didn’t yet know for sure whether these events were linked, but the corner in my mind from which creeping thoughts emerged whispered that the likelihood was high.

But we still don’t know for sure yet… A cold sweat once more gathered on my back, and I froze.

The sound of Johan’s voice snapped me out of it, though. “Why are you just standing there?”

“Oh, sorry.”

I assumed he would move on once he saw me go back to cleaning, but he didn’t. I looked up curiously to find him wearing an indescribable expression on his face.

“What’s this about a potion?” he asked.

“Uh…”

Johan had overheard Jude’s ponderings. Not all of them, just one of the most important parts. I glanced at Jude, and he grimaced the grimace of a culprit who’d been caught red-handed.

However, there was no point in trying to lie about it now. I resigned myself to my fate and told Johan everything that had happened in Morgenhaven, including the events that had led me to become acquainted with the crew of the ship carrying the ingredients I had sought. It wasn’t easy to admit it all, but I figured it would be best to come clean to prevent potential problems in the future.

Johan sighed with a weak smile. “I suspect that might have something to do with this visit too.”

“So you agree then.” I felt bad; it seemed like I was always causing trouble for Johan.

“I’m sure His Majesty assumed the same.”

“How would he know?” I asked.

“You had bodyguards with you, remember? No doubt they reported the events that unfolded to the king in full.”

“That would make sense.”

Both Jude and I nodded.

Our bodyguards had been knights from the Third Order, with whom I was on familiar terms. Despite that, there was no way they wouldn’t report this sort of thing to the king. It wasn’t like I had specifically ordered them to keep the details of our excursion a secret either.

“Then it probably would be best if I’m not here while the prince is visiting,” I said.

“We don’t know if he’s specifically after your potions or not. But he is a royal. I’m sure we’ll be warned ahead of time when he’s planning to come, so all you have to do is be strategically absent on that day.”

“That’s true.”

Based on this conversation, I realized the king and prime minister’s recommendation probably was for the best; it would be better if I weren’t at the institute when the prince came to observe. While there was a possibility that he wasn’t specifically interested in potions like the one I’d given Ceyran—i.e., the potions I specifically made—it was safest not to take any unnecessary risks.

After much thought, I decided that for the time being, I’d move to the palace and commute to the institute. This made for a decent compromise with the king.

Johan was right that there would be prior warning before the prince’s arrival. The palace officials were actually drawing up a schedule in advance, determining when the prince would visit each research facility. I would simply come to work on the days when he wouldn’t be at the institute.

This arrangement would last only for the period of time during which the prince was studying in Salutania. I had no intention of making this a permanent move, and I planned it so as to mitigate the effects it would have on my work as much as possible. I had no choice but to forsake my research when it came to monster-slaying expeditions, but I hated the thought of letting anything else impact my principal occupation.

It wasn’t just that I wanted to watch the progress of the rare herbs I was growing, I swear!

***

“Good afternoon, Sei.”

“Oh, Liz. Good afternoon.”

Several days after I had told the palace my plans for the prince’s stay, I bumped into Liz in the library. We met for tea at the palace rather frequently, but I felt like it had been a while since the last time we saw one another among the books.

“It’s been a while since we ran into each other here,” Liz said.

“Yeah.” I smiled at her, pleased to hear we were on the same wavelength.

“By the way, have you heard the news?” she asked.

“About what?”

“About the incoming student from Zaidera.”

Ah, so she had heard about it now.

According to Liz, since the prince was going to be staying at the Royal Academy, the student council had been informed of his visit.

“You guys have a student council?” I was surprised to hear that and asked for more details, even though it drew us away from the main subject.

“Yes. It’s basically run by high-ranking nobles from the senior class.”

“I see.”

When she says “basically,” does that mean that, if there’s a royal attending the academy, they become president no matter what year they are? I decided to put this thought aside for the time being and returned to the real topic of interest: the prince.

According to Liz, since their new exchange student was a prince of another country, a member of the royal family would be taking care of him at the academy as well. She was referring to the second prince, Prince Rayne, who was a member of the senior class as well as the president of the student council. The student council handled numerous matters, with Prince Rayne at the lead.

As it so happened, Liz was the vice president. She had to act as the prince’s hands and feet, dealing with all sorts of things. Now she was busy securing a number of arrangements for their new student.

“That sounds like a whole lot of work. I know you’ve got this, though.”

“Oh, thank you. How are things on your end? The prince wishes to visit the research facilities as well, doesn’t he?”

“So it seems. We’re having to get all kinds of things ready in preparation for his visit.” I shrugged wearily, making Liz giggle a little.

At first, I’d thought it would be just tidying the institute and making adjustments to what projects we had in open view, but it had turned out to be a whole lot more than that. Because we were going to have a noble visitor from abroad, we wound up being tasked with other duties, such as repainting the outer walls. Johan decided who would work on what, gave them a budget, and left the people in charge to get it done as fast as they could.

Liz nodded sagely. “As I hear it, it’s about the same everywhere else.”

Even the buildings at the academy were being repaired. Since the academy was bigger than the institute and the prince was going to be staying there more often than anywhere else, they really had to have their work cut out for them. I empathized with the people laboring away to make everything look just right.

“I wonder what this prince will be like,” Liz mused.

“Probably the serious type? He’s actually coming all the way to another country to study, after all.”

“That would be ideal, if so.”

“Is that not always the case?”

“Well, at times, nobles may find themselves…inconvenienced in their home country. At such times, they might take themselves to other countries for a while, until they deem it safe to return.”

“Ohhh.”

I could totally see that happening. In that case, it was entirely possible that all this talk of studying abroad and wanting to observe other cultures was actually a pretense. 

I really hoped he was a genuinely studious kind of guy, though. I feared for what Liz would have to deal with if he wasn’t. He might not even get along with her, let alone Prince Rayne.

More than anything, I prayed Liz and her peers were able to establish a good relationship with the prince while he was here.

***

The days grew warmer, and it was very nearly summer when the Zaideran prince arrived with his entourage. Although he was the one studying abroad, he wasn’t the only one who came. Whenever a person of high position traveled, it was customary for them to bring attendants, so it was a rather large group.

Later, I heard from a maid that the capital had been all abuzz during the procession of Zaideran carriages. There had been much revelry to celebrate the arrival of a noble visitor from abroad.

Having traveled such a long way, the prince and his retinue were to rest for the evening and have an audience with the king the following day. As I held a social status equal to the king’s, I was expected to attend this audience as well.

There had been a great deal of back and forth in the days leading up to this event, with people debating whether they should hide my existence or show me off for sake of formality. In the end, they determined that the people of Zaidera probably knew of me and decided to go with the latter. I would attend only the first and final audiences, however, and I was assured that all I had to do was stand there looking Saintly.

I had no problem with that, since it meant that I wouldn’t have to attend the ball they would be holding in the prince’s honor that evening. Having a guest from abroad really was a big deal; they needed to hold a special event to commemorate it.

Some of the palace’s staff definitely wanted me to attend the ball as well, but I planned to politely decline. I felt a bit nervous doing so, but that anxiety ended up being a waste of energy on my part. It turned out that I didn’t even need to turn anyone down—the prime minister had done that for me.

Good job, Prime Minister!

Now I had to contend with the audience itself. It was being held in a public location, so I had to arrive at the palace early in the morning to get all dressed up, just like I had for my debut. My maids were the ones who dolled me up, so I just had to do as they said.

I decided to wear the same robe I’d worn for my debut ceremony. Nobles liked to have new clothes commissioned for every event, and given this precedent, those in the palace were delightedly anticipating what new robes I might show off for my next function. However, as a born commoner, that felt like a waste to me, so after an exhausting debate, I managed to turn down the offer.

My maids frowned at the idea of recycling the same outfit, but I got them to compromise by agreeing to change up my accessories. The biggest change was the addition of a white veil. Although I would be in attendance as the Saint, the higher-ups didn’t want the prince to see my face, so they had suggested I wear it. It was an exceptional item, made of elaborately knitted lace, so it entirely hid my features when I wore it. The bottom was embroidered with myriad gems so it wouldn’t fly up even if the wind blew.

These gems actually held a secret within them: they were enchanted with a magic that made it difficult to tell the color of my hair and shape of my features through the gaps in the lace.

As it turned out, Grand Magus Yuri Drewes had enchanted them himself, and with great care. No one had ever thought of devising this kind of enchantment before, so he had gleefully embarked on the project once he got the general gist. Normally, they would have had to conduct some investigation to ascertain what element of magic was necessary for this kind of enchantment, but as Yuri was able to use all elements, he wasn’t hampered by such complications.

Incidentally, after it was completed, I heard that it had been made using Dark Magic.

The veil sounded really useful and all, but its one weakness was that it was difficult to see through on my side as well. Therefore, I needed someone to escort me to the venue.

I was pretty much ready, so I had some tea that my maid Mary had made while I waited until it was time. It wasn’t long before a knock sounded at the door.

The maid standing next to the door received the visitor and told me that my escort had arrived. “Knight Commander Hawke of the Knights of the Third Order here to see you, my lady.”

“Thank you. Please let him in.”

I was only a little surprised to hear it was him. I had assumed that they would send a knight from the First or Second Order, like they had for my debut. I had been a bit nervous about having to hold the arm of someone I didn’t know, so I was just a little elated by this development.

Albert came into the room wearing a much more striking uniform than he typically wore. This event probably demanded the extra mile in terms of decorum. Combined with his noble bearing, it felt like he was two times more sparkly than usual.

He greeted and complimented me like he always did. For once, I was able to handle it. As of late, I had started to become accustomed to compliments. I was also able to wear a smile that didn’t look forced as I thanked him. 

Thank you, Lady’s Day lessons! 

I mentally did a victory pose in recognition of what a good job I had done—but perhaps I shouldn’t have let my guard down.

It was finally time to go, so I donned my veil.

One of the maids, who was in her late teens, gave me a delighted smile. “You look like a bride.”

Indeed, I was wearing all white as well as a veil. I really was the image of a bride. …And that’s why it was a mistake to look Albert’s way when I nodded in agreement.

At first, we just stared at one another in astonishment. However, Albert’s expression soon softened, and a gentle smile spread across his lips. I…had a bad feeling about this. I could tell from the look on his face that he was planning something.

That was when he struck. “Then that would make me the groom, yes?”

I took a moment to think this over. I’m the one wearing white. That makes me the bride? And…he’s the groom? Wh-what did he just say again? 

These wild thoughts whirled in my mind, leaving it all fuzzy static.

Reflecting on the moment now, I should have just said something exasperated like “Yeah, right.” I bet I would have too, if it had been anyone else. But this was Albert we were talking about here.

I felt my cheeks grow hotter and hotter, and I kept coming up blank in terms of responses.

Albert smiled even more sweetly, seemingly satisfied that his plan had worked, based on my reaction.

I got the feeling that the maids were letting out a mute, soundless scream.

“Sei?”

I felt entirely overpowered as Albert leaned in to take a closer look at my expression. My shoulders shook against my volition.

Is he expecting me to say something now?! I was caught in quite the predicament—my response had already been far too delayed.

As someone with zero experience in romance, I had no idea how to react in this kind of situation.

Mary, apparently unable to watch this situation continue, came to my rescue. “Forgive me, but it’s about time to go.”

“Ah, you’re right. Let us be off then.” Albert looked a bit disappointed, but he smoothly nodded at Mary’s words.

“Y-yes.” I sighed with relief as I placed my hand on Albert’s outstretched palm.

I gave a slight bow to Mary to express my gratitude, at which her eyes softened.

After we got out to the hallway, Albert switched into work mode and didn’t try to tease me any further than he had. He now wore a nearly blank expression and had a stiff look about him.

This was a secret, but my heart skipped a beat to spy him wearing such a stoic expression; I normally didn’t get to see him like that.

We arrived at the venue and found that many people were already present. I followed Albert’s lead to the spot we were told to stand. It was near the platform where the king would be positioned—in other words, the seat of honor. However, we didn’t go up on the platform but rather stayed a level below it. Based on my social status, this was theoretically unacceptable, but I really didn’t want to stand out too much, so the officials had allowed it.

At first, they had planned to have me stand on the platform with the king and prime minister. But I had insisted, since all we had to do today was make the prince aware that I was in attendance. Truthfully, I had hoped to be in the crowd with the other ministers, but they had immediately shot down that idea.

Having arrived at my designated position, Albert stepped away from my side for the time being. Being a knight commander, he was to stand with his peers. Nevertheless, we weren’t too far away from one another.

After a bit of waiting, the master of ceremonies announced the entrance of the guests from Zaidera. The doors opened and the prince entered, followed by his retinue. The person walking in the lead was no doubt the prince himself.

For some reason, a murmur ran through pockets of the crowd as he entered. I didn’t understand why until he got closer. I couldn’t really make out his features through the veil, but I could tell the color of his hair.

In Morgenhaven, the Zaiderans I had met had mostly had black or dark brown hair. In this regard, the prince was the same. I had also heard that he was sixteen years old and that his name was Ten’yuu. He was the son of the emperor’s seventh concubine and the eighteenth imperial prince.

As one might imagine from hearing the word “concubine,” Zaidera practiced polygamy. Therefore, their royal family consisted of many more imperial princes and princesses than that of the Kingdom of Salutania.

Prince Ten’yuu wasn’t very tall, compared to the people of Salutania. However, judging from the other people accompanying him, he was probably of average height. He did seem a bit thinner than his compatriots, though.

That didn’t matter so much. What really stood out to me were the large, round glasses he wore. At a glance, I would have assumed he was one of the researchers in his retinue instead of the actual prince. I imagined this was the reason I had heard the crowd whispering.

The high-ranking nobles around me didn’t react at all, which didn’t surprise me in the least. While this was unexpected, Prince Ten’yuu did seem to truly be the serious type, based on his appearance.

The prince delivered a proper greeting to the king during the audience. He seemed quite composed for someone his age. 

I hoped that Liz and her peers at the Royal Academy would be able to get along with him. I really, truly hoped so.

And so, the audience came to an end without any problems. Once the prince and his retinue left, we made our way out of the hall as well.

There was to be a banquet later that night, but I wouldn’t be attending. If all went according to plan, the next time I saw Prince Ten’yuu would be during his farewell audience with the king.

Now all I had to do was hide and not be found.