After exchanging glances and confirming everyone shared the same opinion, people slowly prepared to convey their message. But the man watching them spoke first.

“Surely you’re not saying you can’t handle motionless monsters. Melissa tried to cast a barrier spell for all of you despite her body being in this state.”

His sharp tone made people flinch.

The most startled was the priest who had been urging Melissa. The man’s eyes were directed precisely at him.

When everyone’s gaze followed toward him, the priest’s face turned bright red. The shame that came with the thought of having his faults exposed transformed into a somewhat different emotion and shot off in an unexpected direction.

The priest looked at the collapsed Melissa.

“Bu, but she’s Lady Lucid, isn’t she? She received the blessing of the main deity Hagios! Then she should save us! She just did what was expected of her!”

At the priest’s words, people quietly rolled their eyes.

They stood at a crossroads of choice.

Whether to view Melissa Lucid as an ordinary woman who had just come of age, or as Saintess Lucid who embraces others while enduring all pain.

People made their choice before long.

In fact, there was no need to ponder. Any slight pang of conscience silently disappeared under the convenient sentence: ‘Lucid is a blessed being unlike other humans.’

As if it had never existed in the first place.

“Th, that’s right! She should protect us weak ones!”

“Lady Lucid came to the north for that purpose in the first place! If she had used precognition before we even asked, this wouldn’t have happened!”

“Honestly, isn’t this Lady Lucid’s fault?”

The surroundings instantly became noisy.

Everyone clamored that it wasn’t their fault.

Amidst this, the man slightly raised the corner of his mouth.

“……Ha.”

A small laugh burst from between his lips.

The man’s face was incomparably colder than moments before. His hands holding Melissa tightened.

“Indeed. Nothing has changed from before.”

He murmured quietly and swiftly turned his body.

It was a gesture indicating they weren’t worth responding to.

The people who had been clamoring all looked at the man’s back. The priest who had spoken first did the same. Frozen in place, he only came to his senses after the man had taken a few more steps and opened his mouth.

“Bu, but who are you?”

The man stopped again and turned his head.

With that movement, his black hair swayed slightly.

“Ah. I forgot to introduce myself. I’m a mage sent from the Magic Tower for support.”

The man spoke in quite a friendly tone.

He had already erased the cold expression from before.

“My name is Edgar Shortiras.”

* * *

“Why on earth…… still……”

“Don’t worry…… she’ll wake up soon……”

“But……”

The murmuring voices settled in her ears.

Melissa frowned. She couldn’t understand why people were being so noisy next to someone who was sleeping. She just wanted to sleep a bit more.

‘It’s been so long since I slept this well.’

Moreover, though she couldn’t remember clearly, she seemed to have been having a very good dream. Good enough that she didn’t want to wake up.

She really wanted to sleep more.

Melissa instinctively moved her body to cover her ears and burrowed into the pillow. Burying her face in the soft place made her feel much better.

She could have drifted back into a comfortable dream if only someone’s voice, seemingly excited and increasingly familiar, hadn’t been heard.

“Lady! Are you awake?”

When Melissa slowly blinked her eyes, the person who had been pacing anxiously around the bed rushed to it. A glimpse of brilliant gold flashed in her vision.

Indeed. It was Lloyd Helia Artzen.

“……Your Highness, please wait. Just be quiet for a moment…… my head is ringing because I just woke up……”

“Ah, I’m sorry. Are you alright?”

Lloyd asked in a slightly lower voice.

His large hand wrapped around Melissa’s hand, which had been stretched out on the bed. Melissa felt that warmth and rolled her eyes to look at Lloyd.

He still had an anxious expression.

Melissa was about to open her mouth again when Lloyd bent at the waist and placed his other hand on her forehead. After staying like that for a moment, he murmured quietly.

“At least there’s no fever. That’s a relief.”

Lloyd sat down beside the bed.

Since they were still holding hands, his trembling was transmitted directly to her. It was just like when she had collapsed at the Shortiras ducal mansion six years ago and woke up in the imperial palace.

Melissa moved her lips for a moment, then cleared her throat a few times before speaking.

“Were you worried?”

“Are you asking the obvious? When I arrived in the north and heard you had collapsed, I was so shocked……”

Lloyd stood up, bursting with anger, then closed his mouth with a face that seemed to realize his mistake.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t get angry at someone who’s sick.”

“It’s okay. You’re just worried about me.”

Melissa answered quietly and raised her body slightly.

Lloyd seemed concerned even about this small movement, so Melissa had to continue showing she was fine. After a brief tussle, she turned her head and saw a window with slightly drawn curtains.

Outside, it had already grown dark.

“How long was I unconscious?”

“About half a day.”

Lloyd spoke again with a hardened face.

It was a similar expression to when Melissa had jumped trying to escape from the Shortiras ducal mansion.

“While you were unconscious, the coming-of-age ceremony was completed successfully. I suggested postponing it given the situation, but the priests made such a fuss saying they couldn’t ruin an event receiving the main deity’s blessing……”

“I see.”

Melissa had nothing to say, so she just answered like that and sat quietly. But Lloyd didn’t seem to like this response.

His voice sank lower than before.

“This isn’t something to just acknowledge and move past casually. Aren’t you angry?”

“Why should I be angry?”

“I heard it as soon as I arrived. When the monsters attacked, a priest treated you badly.”

Ah, Melissa let out a small exclamation.

Apparently, someone had witnessed that scene. Well, with so many people around, it was likely someone saw it despite the chaos.

But even so, Melissa’s expression remained unchanged. It stayed calm and peaceful.

Though she momentarily felt upset at the time, she had experienced such treatment countless times before. It wasn’t an event significant enough to dwell on for long.

“He was probably in a hurry. Monsters were invading.”

“No matter how urgent, there are things you can and cannot do. I heard you were in so much pain you were about to collapse? And you eventually fainted like this. How could he hold onto someone in that state and demand to be saved?”

“Because I’m from the Lucid clan.”

“That makes it even more nonsensical. How can they proceed with the coming-of-age ceremony as if nothing happened when the person who tried to save them collapsed, when you haven’t even woken up yet? Is this normal?”

“Your Highness. Please calm down……”

“And why are you so calm?”

Melissa moved her lips but then closed her mouth.

The eyes looking at her had already filled with tears.

“Why do you have an expression like it’s all so natural? Every time you do that, I……”

Lloyd twisted his face in pain.

Melissa secretly let out a small sigh.

She had forgotten that Lloyd was a person with a tender heart matching his kind nature. It was obvious how today’s events would appear to him.

‘But I can’t cry now over something I’ve experienced hundreds of times more.’

With potentially worse things waiting, no, certainly waiting, she didn’t want to waste emotional energy unnecessarily.

But she couldn’t leave Lloyd as he was, so Melissa lowered her eyebrows slightly and said,

“Your Highness, I’m fine. My reasons for coming to the north included not only escaping the Duke of Shortiras’s influence but also helping the people of the north. I came prepared for things like this.”

“……”

“And you’re worrying about me like this. To receive the Crown Prince’s concern… what greater honor could there be? So I’m satisfied with this.”

Melissa responded casually and tried to get up. But because her body lacked strength, she stumbled slightly, and Lloyd sighed and approached her.

“Don’t move. You’re still a patient.”

“I feel suffocated just lying down. I’ll just stand still, so please help me a little.”

Lloyd shook his head saying no, but stopped when his eyes met Melissa’s. With a small sigh, he supported her arms and shoulders to help her get up easily.

“Who could stop you?”

“By the way, Your Highness, is it okay for you to be here? You must be tired having just arrived in the north, so go and…… Ah.”

Melissa’s brow furrowed.

Perhaps because she had overused her magical power earlier, her arm felt numb.

The tingling pain that started at her fingertips traveled up her arm to her shoulder. Lloyd’s face instantly hardened when he heard her groan.

“……Who’s worrying about whom right now?”

This is really frustrating.

Lloyd, who had spoken through gritted teeth, wrapped his arm around Melissa’s shoulders and sat her back down on the bed.