Althea: The Legendary Saintess [Shoujo]

This is a story about someone who observed Althea from a distance when she visiting the royal palace.

On that day, Prince Siegfried, the crown prince, unexpectedly found himself with free time as the Royal Studies class scheduled for the morning was canceled. Furthermore, he was not particularly fond of the dance class scheduled for the afternoon.

The dance class encompassed not only the art of graceful dancing but also lessons on etiquette and escorting women. While Siegfried had no issues with practicing dance and proper behavior, learning about escorting women weighed heavily on him, especially since he disliked dealing with women.

Siegfried was known as the Empire's ''Butterfly'' and was loved by the women around him from an early age due to his beautiful face that resembled his mother's and his status as Crown Prince.

　The women who came to his side took every opportunity to hug him or pat his head. When he was young, he thought that he was simply being loved, but after he activated his magical powers at the age of 6, the way they hugged him and touched him began to change.

　As a reward, the etiquette teacher hugged him and stroked him all over.

　A girl of the same age almost kissed him, and a maid once pushed him down.

　For women, a ''beautiful crown prince'' alone is attractive enough, but with the addition of ''high magical power'', it seems that they are doing various outrageous things to get their hands on the young crown prince.

　Fortunately, these disasters that befell Siegfried were prevented at the last moment by the chamberlain, Carom, but after living like this for almost a year, his feelings towards women other than his mother... He had become a terrifying being.

That's why I can't imagine myself  "escorting a woman,'' and I don't want to, so the thought of learning about escorting is depressing.

In the morning, perhaps due to a disrupted schedule, Siegfried, who was not particularly in the mood for dance class more than usual, decided by chance to stroll through the royal garden he usually only admired from a distance, trying to distract himself a bit from the surplus of time.

In the royal garden, various flowers were planted, but the roses were particularly splendid at this time of year. One section of the garden was planted exclusively with roses, and the unique "two-colored roses," which could only be seen in this garden, were in full bloom. These roses had petals alternating between light pink and light sky blue, or light pink and white, or light sky blue and white – a very rare and precious variety only found in the secret royal garden, dependent on the mood of the roses each year.

This year, Siegfried's favorite combination of "light sky blue and white" roses was in bloom. To dispel his gloomy mood, enticed by the clear sky outside, Siegfried headed alone to the secret garden. Little did he expect to encounter someone else there...

Upon reaching the entrance of the garden, Siegfried sensed someone in the depths.

Someone's here...? This place should be off-limits to anyone except those from the royal family without the king's permission...

With caution, he advanced towards the area where the two-color roses were blooming, only to witness a silver-haired girl kissing one of the roses.

A girl? Why is she here? And kissing a rose, of all things...

Feeling a bit suspicious, Siegfried observed the scene. After the silver-haired girl kissed the rose, she smiled.

"!!!"

Upon seeing the girl's smile, warmth rushed to Siegfried's cheeks, and he instinctively turned away.

What's this feeling?

Clasping his cheeks with both hands and bewildered by this newfound emotion, he took a deep breath, looked up, and found no one there. He hurriedly approached the spot where the silver-haired girl had been, but there was no one around.

Gently shaking his hands over the rose the girl had kissed,

Who was she, after all? This place should be accessible only to the royal family, yet she appeared and disappeared so suddenly. I should ask Father about it later.

Lost in his thoughts, almost unconsciously, Siegfried kissed the rose.

Suddenly coming back to his senses, Siegfried, now blushing again, knelt there alone until the heat faded from his face.

Later that night, during dinner, Siegfried abruptly asked Adrian a question.

"Father, today, in the special royal garden... I saw that girl. Do you know her?"

"Hmm! When was this?," the king coughed and drink some water.

"Around 10 o'clock, I believe."

"Hmm... Around that time, Miss Cassandra from the Ministry of Magic was probably 'testing a new spell' in the inner chambers."

"A 'new spell'? What was it about?"

"Oh, I think it was something like 'summoning fairies'... Well, in reality, she couldn't actually summon them. But perhaps, she was trying to call the 'garden fairies' outside? If that's the case, then the spell was a success."

As the king started mumbling, Siegfried fell silent, sighing.

'Fairies,' huh? I had hoped it might be some secret visitor for Father, but... What am I expecting? But still... 'Fairies,' if that's true, I might never meet her again...

Observing his sighing son, Adrian grinned.

"What's the matter, Siegfried? Sighing like that... By the way, what kind of 'girl' did you see today? You didn't get a good look from a distance, did you?"

"What kind of 'girl'?... I couldn't see well from afar, but she was kissing a rose. Her silver hair was quite impressive."

"Was she cute?"

"C-Cute? I said I couldn't see well from a distance. I was just... surprised that someone unknown was in the garden. If she's a 'fairy,' then I understand. Miss Cassandra would surely be delighted to know her new magic was successful."

Saying this, Siegfried's cheeks appeared slightly reddened.

After dinner, Adrian, alone in his room, savored the joy of the moment.

There was no doubt that Siegfried had seen Althea.

At the very least, his son harbored a drop of affection for her.

A son who had become wary of women due to repeated advances and had given up on a happy future was now, perhaps, developing feelings for the girl he desired.

If possible, he would have liked to reveal the truth. What were his son's feelings, and who was the person he saw? However, this audience was conducted in 'secret,' so he couldn't disclose it. What a pity.

Thinking about the amusing reaction Siegfried might have when he met Althea again someday, Adrian, inappropriately, considered asking Miss Cassandra to coordinate the story of the 'new spell.'