Chapter 27
“All of them?”
“No way.”
“The Captain of the Guard is actually going to do it himself?”
The people murmured among themselves, but Elise did not stop.
Everyone in the Empire knew that Leonhardt, the hero of Arianth, was a proud man.
And then there was his sense of taste.
As the eldest son of House Gelina, everything Leonhardt wore tended to become fashionable throughout the capital.
So the idea of him actually purchasing handmade goods sold on the street was almost unimaginable.
“Oh, and one more thing.”
Her eyes curved slightly.
“Please apologize properly to the artisan who was hurt by what you just said. If you’ve become the Saintess’s fiancé, then at the very least, you shouldn’t look down on the people of your own country.”
“Lady Elise.”
The muscles in Leonhardt’s face twitched faintly.
His voice was low, but it clearly carried confusion and embarrassment.
“Doing something like that here…”
“Why?”
Elise smiled innocently.
“Did I ask for too much? I’m only asking you to buy a few things.”
The question was all the more cruel because she asked it with such an innocent expression.
Every gaze around them turned toward Leonhardt.
Would he accept?
Or would he refuse?
The moment he refused, both his proposal and his declaration of love from earlier would become lies.
What kind of man could claim to love his fiancée if he could not even grant her first request?
Esit clenched his teeth.
Ian clicked his tongue irritably.
And Leonhardt knew in the end.
He had no choice but to accept.
“…Very well.”
The answer finally came after a long pause.
Elise smiled with obvious satisfaction.
“As expected, Leon is so kind.”
For some reason, the word kind sounded more like mockery than praise.
Leonhardt approached the stall with heavy steps.
The artisan was trembling nervously, watching him cautiously.
Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined that the hero of Arianth would actually stand before his humble stall.
“Y-you can just look around if you’d like…”
“No.”
Leonhardt replied through clenched teeth.
He pulled a heavy pouch from his waist and placed it on the stall.
Clink.
The sound of gold coins striking one another made the crowd hold its breath.
“I’ll buy everything here.”
“Gasp…!”
“And…”
His jaw tightened.
“I apologize for my earlier rudeness.”
The elderly artisan stared up at him with wide eyes.
The people around them were no different.
The Golden Lion of Arianth, the hero of the Empire, was apologizing to an unknown artisan in the middle of the spring festival.
Watching the scene, Elise felt a refreshing sense of satisfaction.
Yes. This is the feeling.
Leonhardt even lowered his head in the end.
His lips were clearly stiff, but that did not matter.
What mattered was who this arrogant man was bowing his head before.
The artisan hurriedly waved his hands.
“N-no! How could I possibly accept an apology from the Captain of the Guard…!”
“Please accept it.”
Elise spoke gently.
“My fiancé was the one who was at fault.”
Her words caused another stir.
The Captain of the Guard’s dignity had been utterly shattered.
And yet the very person who had destroyed it was smiling with the most innocent expression imaginable.
Ian eventually let out a hollow laugh.
“Incredible.”
“Shut up.”
Esit growled under his breath.
He was hardly pleased with the situation either.
But if he intervened recklessly now, there was no telling what Elise might say next.
She did not stop there.
“Oh, right.”
She turned her head again, this time looking toward a stall selling ice-coated strawberries. The owner’s expression had also become tense.
“Leon.”
“…Yes.”
“May I ask one more favor?”
“Ask anything.”
His pride had already been crushed as thoroughly as possible.
Leonhardt calmly looked at Elise.
“The ice strawberries you said were too vulgar for a Saintess to eat.”
She smiled brightly.
“Try one.”
“……”
“They’re really delicious.”
This time, the people around them were barely managing to suppress their laughter.
Leonhardt’s face slowly turned red.
What kind of image did he normally have?
Pure, noble, and strict—the dignified Captain of the Guard.
And now he had to eat the very street food he had looked down upon in front of all these people.
“Why?”
Elise tilted her head.
Then she immediately walked over to the stall, picked up a skewer, and held it out to Leonhardt.
“Do you dislike even things I recommend?”
“How could I?”
He spoke through nearly clenched teeth as he accepted the skewer of ice-coated strawberries.
Crunch.
The sound of the thin layer of ice breaking seemed unusually loud.
Leonhardt slowly chewed the strawberry.
Refreshing juice filled his mouth.
It wasn’t bad.
No, honestly, it was actually quite good.
But the taste wasn’t the important thing.
The problem was that he now had to take back what he had said in front of countless people.
Elise smiled.
“How is it?”
“……”
“It’s delicious, isn’t it?”
He did not answer immediately.
But he knew perfectly well that he needed to answer quickly.
“Yes.”
The short, stiff reply finally escaped Leonhardt’s lips.
But that one word was enough.
Elise nodded and turned toward the crowd.
“That’s a relief.”
She smiled as though she were genuinely delighted.
“Heroes really are different. They know how to admit their mistakes right away.”
The moment she said that, scattered applause broke out among the crowd.
Some people laughed.
Others admired him.
Some looked thoroughly satisfied by what they had just witnessed.
Leonhardt endured all those gazes without saying another word.
Because he was the one who had created this situation in the first place.
“This could have turned into quite a disaster.”
After the commotion had subsided slightly, Esit finally stepped forward.
He put on a gentle smile, as though trying to smooth things over.
“But since this is a joyous occasion—their engagement—we should all take this opportunity to offer our congratulations.”
On the surface, it sounded perfectly natural.
But Elise knew what he was doing.
He was trying to pull the situation back under his control.
“That’s right, Esit.”
She smiled sweetly and cut him off.
“We should congratulate them.”
Then she continued slowly.
“But not just congratulations. As the Emperor, shouldn’t you…”
Esit’s gaze wavered for a moment.
“…bless us as well?”
“Officially.”
Elise deliberately looked around at the people gathered there.
“Tell everyone here that this engagement has received the blessing of the Imperial Family of Arianth.”
For a moment, Esit felt his breath catch.
This was not a blessing.
It was a shackle.
The moment the Emperor personally acknowledged the engagement in front of everyone, it would no longer be a matter of private feelings.
It would inevitably complicate matters when the time came to deal with Elise in the future.
But how could he refuse?
An Emperor refusing to bless the engagement between the Empire’s hero and its Saintess would become a laughingstock.
Esit stared at Elise for a moment.
She was simply smiling.
With the face of such an innocent and virtuous Saintess.
But Esit could now clearly feel the sharp intent hidden behind that smile.
“Of course.”
Even while gritting his teeth, he maintained an elegant tone.
“As the Emperor of Arianth, I bless the engagement between Saintess Elise and the Captain of the Guard, Leonhardt.”
The people erupted into cheers.
Hearing them, Elise slowly lowered her eyes.
Good.
She had successfully bound one more person.
This engagement now bound not only Leonhardt, but the Emperor as well.
Ian frowned as he watched.
For some reason, he felt even more irritated.
This woman was clearly smiling, yet she did not look happy at all.
Rather…
She’s setting the board.
The sensation that she was looking down from some impossibly high place, watching everything unfold beneath her, was so vivid that it sent a chill down his spine.
Ian suddenly looked again at the cheap bracelet around Elise’s wrist.
It was nothing more than a few glass beads.
And yet, strangely, its glitter seemed almost as though it were mocking them.
Feeling unsettled, he could do nothing but frown.
