Vol 4. Chapter 26: Lady Saintess Is Into This??

In the future, she absolutely would not allow the same thing to happen again.

This time, she would protect Lady Saintess no matter what.

Fennia swore it silently in her heart.

“Very good.” Luna received Fennia’s resolve, and she appreciated someone like that—or rather, only someone like that might have the ability to help Lady Vanessa in the future.

But Luna didn’t slack off either. She trained Fennia for several days in a row. After each session, she checked Fennia and healed her.

From Luna’s observation, Fennia’s physique really was different from ordinary people. Her stamina recovery was so exaggerated it was ridiculous. The marks left by training—after healing, there wouldn’t even be a trace the next day. Like one of those wobble toys: you think it’s going down, you knock it over hard, and with a POP it stands right back up.

“The training intensity will increase step by step from now on. Miss Fennia, you should prepare yourself mentally. And while keeping the intensity, you also have to keep up with your studies. You can’t fall behind academically either.” Luna took a light sip of tea.

“Yes. I’ll be in your care from now on, Lady Luna. Please guide me.” Fennia said solemnly. She didn’t think it was bitter or tiring. For the eldest young lady of the Haukekai Family to personally guide her training was already an immense honor. She was deeply grateful to Luna, and even more grateful to Lady Vanessa—without Lady Vanessa, she wouldn’t have gotten training like this.

“Mm-hm. Alright—your dishes are here too. Miss Fennia worked hard today. Reward yourself properly.”

“Yes! Thank you, Lady Luna.”

“By the way—earlier, didn’t you ask me whether I had someone to give chocolate to?” For some reason, mischief flickered in Luna’s platinum-cross eyes, as if she’d suddenly spotted something extremely interesting.

“Huh?” The turn in Luna’s topic left Amisha Merif and Fennia completely lost.

“I forgot to answer you clearly earlier. Since we should put our work first now, if I made chocolate today... I think I would give it to Lady Saintess.~”

“Wah—what?!” Fennia’s eyes went wide, stunned, while Amisha Merif hugged her staff and quietly stared at Luna.

“B-but... Ainolin Festival chocolate isn’t supposed to be for—”

“For someone you love, right? But I love Lady Saintess. Isn’t that correct?” Luna’s half-smiling expression made it impossible to tell whether she was serious.

“Huh—HUH?!” Even Fennia, who understood nothing about romance, was struck dumb by that. Beside her, a faint blush floated up on Amisha Merif’s porcelain-like cheeks.

“What? Why are your reactions so big? As a believer and subject who has already sworn loyalty to Lady Saintess, saying I adore Lady Vanessa, and adore the goddess—there’s no problem with that, is there?~” Seeing how naïve the two of them were, Luna propped her head with one hand, amused. “Don’t you love Lady Saintess too?”

“Uh... I guess that’s true.” Fennia thought about it and decided there was nothing wrong with it. Then she said seriously, “Yes. Amisha and I both love Lady Vanessa.”

“Little Fennia!” Amisha Merif scolded her shyly. Even if nobody else heard, her skin wasn’t thick enough for that.

“What’s wrong with it? We swore loyalty to Lady Saintess. Of course we love Lady Saintess. Why is that something to be embarrassed to say?” Fennia wore an expression like isn’t that how it’s supposed to be, leaving Amisha Merif with no idea what to say.

“Come to think of it, if that’s the case, shouldn’t we all make chocolate and give it to Lady Vanessa?” Fennia slapped her forehead, and her “I’m thinking hard” power activated again.

“I don’t think that’ll be necessary.” Amisha Merif didn’t know what to say, but Luna spoke first, her tone playful as her star-like eyes glanced toward a certain direction. “Looks like someone is already with her tonight.”

“Huh?” Both Fennia and Amisha Merif looked confused, then turned toward where Luna was looking—only to discover a familiar blue figure walking into the restaurant with a silver-haired elf boy.

“That’s... Lady Saintess? And the one beside him is...?” Amisha Merif stared in surprise. She hadn’t expected to see Vinny at this time, in this place.

“Huh—huh? Why is Lady Saintess dressed like that??” Fennia stared at Vinny’s outfit. She recognized it was him, but her thoughts jammed. She’d never seen Vinny dressed like that before. It was clearly strange... yet somehow, there was a hard-to-explain sense of it being... reasonable.

“What’s strange about it, Little Fennia?” Amisha Merif seemed to understand something and shook her head. “Lady Saintess... maybe only during a holiday like this can she dress like that.”

“Huh... so that’s it.” With Amisha Merif’s reminder, Fennia suddenly understood.

After all, Lady Saintess had to hide the fact that her bloodline had awakened. So she had to disguise it—disguise herself as someone who still had a dead bloodline, and also as a man.

“Lady Saintess... that’s so pitiful.” The moment Fennia thought that through, she murmured.

“Yes...” Amisha Merif murmured too, sounding moved. “Only when it’s a festival does she get the chance to be a girl again for a few days.”

Thankfully, Vinny didn’t hear their conversation. Their table was a bit far from his, tucked in the corner. He wouldn’t notice them. Otherwise... if Vinny heard that, his feelings would probably get complicated again.

“Pfft.” Looking at Vinny, Luna couldn’t help letting out a soft laugh for some reason. “Lady Saintess’s current state should be a boy, that’s true... but how should I put it~?”

“Maybe that really is the bloodline of the Dawn Goddess... Even as a man, she’s so elegantly graceful.”

“This is my first time seeing Lady Saintess dress up like this.” Fennia stared straight at the two of them as they took their seats in the distance.

“So pretty... it’s completely two different styles. So Lady Saintess is this beautiful when she dresses like a girl?” The moment Fennia said it, she realized it sounded a bit... off.

“So what is Lady Saintess doing?” Amisha Merif suddenly asked the soul-piercing question.

“Why even ask? He’s obviously eating with someone.” Fennia looked like she was thinking Little Amisha, are you dumb?

“Little Fennia, I know they’re eating. I’m asking why Lady Saintess picked today specifically—and dressed like this—and asked a boy out to eat.” Amisha Merif pressed a hand to her forehead.

“Huh? A boy?!” Fennia froze. “That silver-haired elf... isn’t that a girl??”

“Little Fennia, did you forget? That elf gentleman is Lady Saintess’s male elf roommate—Dale.” Amisha Merif sighed lightly.

“Oh—ohhh!” Fennia reacted instantly. “Right! No wonder he looked familiar. So it’s him. I didn’t recognize him at first glance.”

“But what’s strange about that? Isn’t he Lady Saintess’s roommate? Is it weird for two people to go out for dinner?” Still not getting it, Fennia couldn’t understand the problem at all, leaving Amisha Merif and Luna silent.

“Little Fennia, think. What day is it today? And it’s already way past dinner time. You’re the one who trained late today, so we came out to eat. Aside from that, what other students would ask someone out this late? Look—are there any other people in the restaurant?” Amisha Merif said, a little speechless.

“Oh...!” Fennia’s red-bead eyes widened. “You’re right...! Then... those two came out to—??”

The three of them fell into sudden silence.

The reason those two were here this late was obvious.

A date.

“Then... do you think there’s a chance Lady Saintess made chocolate today and gave it to that elf named Dale??”

“......” Luna and Amisha Merif both looked at Fennia at the same time, and neither of them spoke.

“W-what? Did I say something wrong again?” Fennia swallowed and looked at Amisha Merif, then at Luna. Just as she was about to say something else, Luna lifted a hand to stop her.

“Little Fennia, stop talking. You’re too loud. They’ll hear you, and then we won’t be able to hear what Lady Saintess is saying.” Amisha Merif stared intently at Vinny’s table.

“Ah—uh, okay.” Fennia hurriedly shut up and followed the other two, focusing as well, watching the two at Vinny’s table.

But looking at Shicodale sitting across from Vinny, Fennia felt confused.

“I thought that moon-elf pretty-boy roommate was really pretty the last time too. Don’t tell me Lady Saintess is into that?” Fennia said in disbelief. “Are they on a date? And... does Lady Saintess like boys or girls, anyway?”

That question honestly stumped both Amisha Merif and Luna too, because they felt like they couldn’t answer it either.

If she liked girls... then Lady Saintess herself was a girl. But if she liked boys... that also felt not quite right.

The three of them stopped talking. All their attention was on Vinny and Shicodale. Clearly, all three of them were deeply invested—so much so that they forgot to eat.

“Little Fennia, what are you doing? You’re too high up—lower your head!” Seeing Fennia actually climb up onto the divider between tables, Amisha Merif hurriedly poked her from behind with her staff, whispering.

“Huh? Oh—I can’t see.”

“Even if you can’t see, you can’t do that! What if you get spotted??”

“Uh... but... aren’t we kind of... spying on Lady Saintess’s private life? Isn’t that... not very good?”

“Of course it’s fine.” Luna blinked her beautiful platinum eyes and laughed softly. “And how is this spying? We’re concerned about Lady Saintess. We’re afraid she might do something irrational. Isn’t that correct?”

“Huh... yeah, that makes sense?” Fennia nodded.

“Lady Luna, what do you think?”

“Hard to say.” Luna shook her head, her gaze unclear with meaning. “Even if Lady Saintess is a girl, this current posture is genuinely a boy.”

“Ah... so that means...?” Fennia’s mouth fell open.

The one sitting there could, in a certain sense, be... two boys??

Fennia felt her brain turn into a mess. She couldn’t think anymore.

The three of them stayed silent and watched Vinny and Shicodale eat through the whole meal.

During that time, the food at their own table went cold—and then Luna realized something bad.

Sure enough, the server eventually walked over to them. They had been sitting there for a long time without eating, so the server had to come check whether they needed anything.

“Hm?” The movement also caught Vinny’s attention, and he noticed the server heading toward the corner table.

This late, there were other people eating out at the same time as them?

Or were they having late-night food?

He looked over curiously, but didn’t stare for long before withdrawing his gaze. Staring at strangers would be rude.

“Vinny, what is it?” Shicodale asked.

“Nothing. I was just curious that someone else is eating this late too.” Vinny shook his head.

“Ack!”

Just then, a sound from that corner table drew Vinny’s attention again.

“??” Vinny frowned. That voice sounded a little familiar... but it was too brief, and he couldn’t remember who it was.

Seeing that the corner table had no further movement, Vinny found it even stranger.

But in the end he still withdrew his gaze, because their dishes arrived at that moment.

On the other side—in the corner—the three of them had ducked their heads behind the divider right when they sensed Vinny looking over.

Fennia, broad-brained as ever, didn’t react in time. Amisha Merif anxiously lifted her staff and lightly knocked Fennia on the head from behind.

That sound just now had naturally been Fennia.

“Excuse me—do you need anything else?” The server walked up to their table. She found the three of them a little strange, but didn’t ask. After all, she recognized Luna—she was the eldest young lady of the Haukekai Family. She definitely wasn’t some suspicious weirdo.

“No. When we’re finished, we’ll call you to settle the bill.” Luna spoke, but she deliberately used a different voice, without hiding it at all.

“Okay. Understood.” The server nodded and left.

And after hearing that unfamiliar female voice from the corner, Vinny no longer had any suspicions. He continued eating with Shicodale.

In the end, the three of them watched Vinny and Shicodale finish their meal and leave. The whole time, the two of them didn’t interact at all—not even holding hands when they went out.

After watching the full process, Amisha Merif wore a deeply puzzled expression and couldn’t help saying, “Were they really on a date? It doesn’t feel like it.”

“No idea.” Luna crossed her white-stockinged legs and shook her head, watching the server in the distance clear dishes.

Maybe it really was just a simple meal with a roommate.

But if it was that simple, it also felt impossible.

Because... why would you dress up like that just to eat??