SWGL 09

Chapter 09

After that, the volunteer work came to an end without much incident. Lumiella also stopped picking fights with me and quietly focused on her work.

When we returned to the temple, Nora greeted me with an extremely excited expression.

“The dresses His Majesty sent have arrived!”

“Dresses?”

“Yes! Every single one has a design that suits the Saintess so well. I’ve been eagerly waiting for you to come back!”

“But why did he suddenly send me dresses?”

When I asked in bewilderment, Nora looked slightly shocked.

“You didn’t forget, did you?”

“Forget what?”

“Next week is the anniversary of the Saintess’s engagement to His Majesty!”

Ah, right. Only then did I recall the memory I had buried away somewhere in the back of my mind. It was around this time of year.

“It’s not even our wedding. Why are they making such a big deal out of an engagement anniversary?”

“What?”

Nora stared at me as if she couldn’t believe her ears. I smiled and shook my head as if telling her to forget what I had said.

Knowing that the man would eventually announce our broken engagement and send me to the guillotine made the whole thing feel even more excessive and ridiculous.

“Now, Saintess. Let’s start with this pink dress…”

“That one looks good. Let’s go with it.”

I answered after barely looking at it, and Nora asked with a bewildered expression,

“You’ve never been particularly serious about choosing dresses, but… you’re being especially careless this year.”

“That’s because they’re all pretty. Don’t you think so too?”

“Even so, trying them on is a completely different matter!”

“What is going on?”

A low voice made me flinch. When I turned around, Formoso was walking in.

Even though he was the Archbishop, he was awfully casual about entering the room of a grown unmarried woman.

“It’s nothing, Archbishop.”

“I heard His Majesty sent dresses.”

Ah, I had a feeling this was going to become troublesome.

“The Saintess picked the pink one without trying on a single dress.”

Nora, weren’t we on the same side?

“My.”

Formoso clicked his tongue softly before smiling with his eyes and asking me,

“Would you not try it on at least once, for the sake of His Majesty’s sincerity? Of course, I understand that you may be tired.”

“I suppose, but I…”

“I’ll take a look.”

At Formoso’s words, I stared blankly for a moment before bursting out laughing.

“Shouldn’t Your Grace be spending your time on more important matters instead of worrying about something so trivial?”

“Trivial? It concerns the Saintess.”

As he said that, Formoso openly sat down in a chair I hadn’t even offered him.

Nora gave me a triumphant look and pushed the pink dress toward me.

“Haa…”

Out of courtesy, I decided to try on at least one dress. Besides, I had to check the size anyway.

“Isn’t it pretty?”

After putting it on and standing in front of Formoso, I asked him as if to say, Are you satisfied now?

Instead of answering, Formoso kept his eyes fixed on me.

His silence suddenly felt burdensome, so I hurriedly broke it.

“I didn’t choose it the moment I saw it for no reason.”

“Your taste is certainly remarkable, Saintess.”

Formoso nodded before asking,

“But why not try on one of the others as well?”

“Isn’t this one pretty enough?”

“There may be an even better choice among the others.”

“It’s fine. I’m planning to dispose of the remaining dresses I haven’t worn and donate them.”

Formoso looked slightly taken aback.

“You mean the dresses His Majesty sent?”

“Is there a problem with that?”

“No, that’s not what I meant…”

Formoso hesitated for a moment before continuing.

“You seem a little different. In the past, you would keep the dresses His Majesty sent in your wardrobe and wear them for years.”

So he finally noticed that I had changed.

And of all things, he noticed because I was getting rid of dresses from my fiancé, whose feelings for me had already faded.

He was surprisingly perceptive in an unusual way.

“Did something happen between you and His Majesty?”

“No. I just thought it was wasteful.”

“I see…”

Formoso nodded with a strange expression, and I stared at him pointedly, silently suggesting that it was time for him to leave.

Only then did Formoso realize that he had stayed too long and let out a sigh.

“I’ve bothered someone who is already tired for far too long.”

“Not at all, Archbishop. Have a peaceful night.”

[Lie Gauge +0.1%]

[Current Gauge: 2.0%]

Does even this kind of polite farewell count as a lie?

Of course, I did wish that man would never have anything resembling peace, but still.

In any case, thanks to him, today’s results weren’t bad.

There probably wouldn’t be much of a chance to increase the gauge until the engagement anniversary party next week.

On days when I had public engagements, I needed to fill the daily limit as much as possible.

“How are you going to prepare the engagement anniversary present?”

Meanwhile, Nora was still stuck on the same subject.

Justitia prepared presents twice every year for her fiancé: once for his birthday and once for their engagement anniversary.

“I’m not preparing one this year.”

Nora’s eyes widened.

“Did you have a fight with His Majesty?”

“Do you really think I’m in a position to fight with him? I’m just short on time.”

“You really have changed, Saintess. Normally, you would have stayed up all night to prepare a present…”

As if I would stay up all night preparing a present for a man like that.

I’d rather sleep.

“I’m afraid I might overwork myself and end up giving him a terrible present. What if that hurt His Majesty’s feelings? What could be sadder than that?”

[You have exceeded today’s limit.]

I really shouldn’t have said that thing about the Duke being kind earlier.

I regretted it intensely.

After that, time passed sluggishly.

Surprisingly, I had absolutely no reason to lie while going back and forth between the temple and the slums, so I didn’t even get to see the status window for an entire week.

“Saintess, you look rather determined today.”

Today, no matter what happened, I was going to fill that 1%.

“That’s because I’m nervous about seeing His Majesty again after such a long time.”

[Lie Gauge +0.1%]

[Current Gauge: 2.1%]

A good start.

I couldn’t hide my excitement as I finished getting ready.

“I suppose so. Both of you are busy with your own affairs, after all. But considering that, you chose your dress rather quickly…”

“Let’s go, Nora. We’ll be late.”

Before perceptive Nora could notice anything strange, I took her outside with me.

Cassandro, who had been checking the carriage with his back turned toward us, turned around and met my eyes.

It was my first time meeting him while dressed up so carefully, so I smiled somewhat awkwardly and greeted him.