As Lirica was struggling with her inner conflict, Kousuke suddenly noticed something.
He tried to call out to Lirica to confirm if his intuition was correct.
However, he was interrupted by another voice.
“Lord Alec!”
A man’s voice calling out to Alec echoed within the temple.
Everyone present, except for Lirica and Silvia, was currently wearing masks.
Normally, Alec should not have been recognized here.
Alec, from within his mask, sighed inwardly and then removed it.
“Lord Dion, what business do you have? I am enjoying the festival.”
Alec spoke to the man he called Dion, frowning slightly.
Dion approached Alec, accompanied by three men who looked like his entourage.
“I’ve finally met you. You always refuse to meet me, saying you’re busy.”
“I am the magistrate of this town now, you know? Prioritizing work is only natural.”
Dion had been persistently seeking an audience with Alec for some time.
Despite being rejected each time, he had not given up.
However, it wasn’t as if Alec had never met him at all.
They had met several times, but each encounter had ended in a stalemate.
“Then you mean you’re free now? After all, you’re enjoying the festival.”
“Are you saying I shouldn’t enjoy a date with my wife?”
Dion shrugged off Alec’s stern expression as if it were nothing.
“No, no. That’s not it at all. I just need a little of your time.”
“It seems you still don’t understand that my time with my wife is extremely precious.”
“I understand that. After all, your time is precious to me as well.”
Dion was behaving in a manner that the former Alec would never have tolerated.
After all, Alec had been the third prince of his home country.
But the current Alec was nothing more than a magistrate, and that was precisely why Dion was acting this way.
“Lord Alec, who is this gentleman?”
Silvia, judging that the situation would otherwise remain in a stalemate, intervened and asked.
After looking at Silvia for a moment with a surprised expression, Alec smiled.
“My apologies. Beautiful lady, I am Dion Viera, the eldest son of Duke Viera of the Florece Kingdom.”
“I see.”
Silvia bowed slightly to Dion and immediately turned back to Alec.
“Do you know what his business is?”
She asked, sensing it from Alec’s demeanor, and he immediately nodded.
“It’s nothing serious. I’ve told him that no matter how many times he asks, the answer will be the same.”
“You! Are you saying it’s not a big deal when your own daughter’s fiancé has come all this way to see you?”
“Fiancé?”
Silvia immediately understood who he was referring to, but she pretended not to know and asked Alec.
“It was an *ex*-fiancé. That was dissolved a long time ago.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. Moreover, the moment they realized our daughter had a blessing, they completely changed their tune and wanted to rekindle the engagement. It’s ridiculous, I can’t be bothered with them anymore.”
With that explanation, the situation became completely clear.
Indeed, anyone, not just Alec, would find it unbearable.
However, unfortunately, Dion had the backing of the Duchy family, so they couldn’t simply dismiss him.
“I see, so that’s what it is.”
Silvia nodded, seemingly convinced.
Everyone present had heard what they wanted to hear.
At the same time, they understood that it was foolish to engage with him seriously.
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“I never wished for the engagement to be dissolved in the first place. Therefore, talk of breaking off the engagement is a complete misunderstanding.”
Dion stated shamelessly, but unfortunately, no one present, except for his entourage, was listening to him.
“I see. I have nothing more to say to you. Please leave.”
“Oh? How will you make me? This is not your workplace or your home, is it?”
As Dion said this with a smile, his accompanying entourage ostentatiously clashed their swords.
Before Alec could say anything upon seeing this, Silvia reacted.
“Desist, you impertinent fool! Do you know where you are?”
Normally, the use of weapons was forbidden within the temple.
In any ordinary temple, such an act would have resulted in them being thrown out.
However, Dion’s side did not falter, seemingly aware that there were no clergy present in this temple.
“Hahaha. In a normal temple, your words would carry weight, but this is different, young lady.”
“Is that so? You won’t back down no matter what? Then, you’ll have to deal with the consequences.”
“……What?”
Dion showed a momentary flicker of fear at Silvia’s words.
“It’s true that there are no resident clergy here, but can’t you understand that this makes the temple even more special?”
“……What do you mean?”
“You’re aware that this temple is blessed by the Three Great Gods, aren’t you? Furthermore, this is a temple located at the foot of the tower ruled by the Main God. Do you think you can cause a disturbance here without repercussions?”
“Th-that’s just bluster…”
“Would you like to verify for yourself whether it is bluster or not? If so, I have no objections.”
Silvia stated this with unwavering calmness, leaving Dion looking bewildered.
He sensed that Silvia was not an ordinary shrine maiden.
“And you are?”
“My apologies for the late introduction. I am the shrine maiden of the Main God of this temple.”
Silvia deliberately chose not to reveal either Kousuke’s or her own name.
It was sufficient as it was.
“Shrine maiden… that means…”
Normally, “shrine maiden” referred to all female clergy.
However, everyone present understood that in this context, “shrine maiden” held a completely different meaning.
The fact that she had clarified a position that should not be easily uttered made it clear that she was not lying.
“You’re welcome to think what you wish, but no further disturbances will be tolerated in this temple.”
Dion looked at Silvia again when she said this.
To him, she appeared to be just a young girl.
However, he certainly felt a different aura from her compared to the other shrine maiden standing nearby.
Due to his position, he had met many high-ranking clergy members, and this young girl exuded the same aura as them.
“……Tsk.”
Dion clicked his tongue involuntarily, shot Alec a glare, and then led his entourage out of the temple.
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“Th-that was amazing, Lady Silvia.”
Lirica, who had witnessed the entire scene, praised Silvia with admiration.
Silvia simply shook her head.
“No. I still have much to learn. Ideally, I should have resolved this without revealing my position as a shrine maiden.”
“But it’s also true that you saved us. Thank you.”
Alec bowed his head in gratitude.
“Yes, it’s true. I even considered stepping in myself.”
Floria removed her mask as she said this.
“It would have been better not to. It would only have emboldened them further.”
It was not difficult to imagine the consequences.
After all, the Main God himself was present, and the spokesperson was right beside him.
If it had continued, Mitsuki would undoubtedly have appeared.
Silvia thought to herself that preventing that was the greatest achievement this time.
Upon finishing the writing, I realized something.
Kousuke was practically invisible.
Well, if he had intervened too much, it would have only made things more complicated, so I decided to have Silvia resolve it alone.
The reason Dion backed down so easily is that he is a person who can read the air properly.
It shows he’s not just the heir of a duke’s family for show. Despite his frivolous appearance.
