Fiancée of the Wizard

Volume 3 Chapter 3 Part 2

I wanted to make that premonition into reality.

Unlike the vast majority of nobility, His Highness Klanven was able to handle some of the daily routines on his own, like for example dressing up and bathing, but when it comes to everything else he needed help like any other noble.

No, no, no. Seeing that I already decided to accept the duty as Klanven’s caretaker, I wanted to do my job properly without voicing any complaints all the time. However, it would certainly save the both of us a whole lot of time if he was more of a self-reliant person. He must have known that, for he was smiling apologetically this whole time.

Now that I have officially taken the role as His Majesty’s caretaker, it would be totally unbecoming of me to complain about every single hardship that was thrown at me, and I needed to focus as to carry out my duties accordingly.

Although the man was also at Klanven’s side disguised as Edilka Vince, he still had his duties as the Court Magician to take care off. And no matter how much other wizards were working, there were still things that only that man could do. Therefore, he couldn’t be present at His Highness’ side at all times. And even though he knew that it couldn’t be helped in any way, this situation was clearly annoying him.

Whenever he had to leave his post briefly for his other duties, that man was visibly irritated. Moreover, I was concerned that if he was to be so irritated all the time, it could have a negative impact upon his health and duties at the court.

And just like that another day was coming to an end. The royal duties of His Highness were finally over, and he was now resting inside of his private chambers. It was then when that man came into the chamber and lowered his head.

「Your Highness, I am terribly sorry to ask you this, but I would like to receive permission to leave my post for a while.」

「Ahh, some urgent matter than needs attending to? Sure, I don’t mind.」

When the man asked Klanven for permission he gave the man his approval without giving the matter much thought, which in turn threw me into this complicated state of mind. There must have been some serious reasons or circumstances behind that man if he was asking for permission to leave his post.

However, while taking a sip of his milk tea, Klanven smiled at the man in a gentle manner as he said.

「You can go. I have Filmina here with me, so I’m going to be fine. No need to worry.」

「…… Again, I am so terribly sorry for this.」

For a short moment the expression on that man’s face was something of a “What do you mean you are going to be fine?”, but in the next moment it vanished without a trace, a completely expressionless look coming in its place. He may have looked calm, but it was clear to see that the man was frustrated beyond belief.

But, Klanven seemed to be perfectly fine with this situation, a smile never fading from his lips, contrary to my somewhat melancholic feeling.

「For someone from the Black Lotus Court he still seems rather nervous.」

When Klanven said that, my hands which were pouring him tea into his cup came to a sudden stop. According to his words just now, it may be so that he wasn’t so sure that everything would be fine. But no matter how you decided to put it, the results would still be more or less the same. Then, Klanven stared into his cup with a half-closed eyes.

「That’s a rather bad habit to have, Your Majesty.」

「When you are in such a position as mine, there aren’t that many things that you might consider to be entertainment. So when I find something that brings me joy, I tend to devote my whole energy to it. Or maybe now that you are here, will you entertain me for a while?」

Your Highness, I know that you may be bored, but as an important man of this country and the great Priest that served the Goddess in the Great Temple, someone respected by both nobility and the people, I would like you to not say things like that to a married woman, not even as a joke. I try my best not to say those things out loud as I avoid Klanven’s gaze.

「Your Majesty, please promise me that you will refrain from saying such things.」

「Unfortunately, I cannot do that.」

「……」

He may have had a charming smile and mannerism befitting of a Priest, but the truth is, Klanven had quite the character on the inside. He may have looked old, but mentally he was still in his prime. That is why he enjoyed teasing people so much. Knowing that you were always on the palm of his hand, it was very difficult to not play along and to put him back in his place.

But sadly, this wasn’t the only cause of stress that was coming with this job.

For example, the following happened when Klanven was changing his clothes. I had to leave the room for what was only like a second, and when I would return he would show me his empty tea cup, which was full but a moment ago, demanding another cup just like a child throwing a temper tantrum. And since there was no more water in the pot, I had to leave the chamber again and go get a new water just for that. It was difficult, to say the least.

「Umm, perhaps …」

「Are you talking to me?」

Suddenly I heard a voice behind my back and come to a halt. Looking back, there were a few girls coming through the corridor, accompanying a noble woman dressed in a fancy dress with lots of frills and lace. That woman was looking straight at me.

The group came closer to me and surrounded me, effectively pushing me against the wall. The girl at the front came even closer to me, seeing as though she must have been the group’s leader, and put her hands right in front of her while making a pleading expression.

「Umm! Are you the one who’s been charged with taking care of His Majesty Klanven?」

I had to blink a few times. It is true that I am now the caretaker of His Majesty, but most of all I was known as the wife of the Court Magician, Agedilus Von Lancent. That fact was well known throughout the social world, but my face, on the other hand, was not. So these girls probably didn’t know that I was that man’s wife. That’s why they were acting so overly familiar with me. At least I think that was the reason.

「Yes, that’s right. However……」

So what if I am? But before I could answer like that, the girl’s hand fly forward and enclose around my own hands. Although surprised at her sudden behavior, I could only look back at the girl who’s been shaking my hands vigorously right now. Then the other girls urged her and she opened her mouth in a hurry.

「If possible, I would like you to tell me everything that you know about that knight that was recently appointed as His Majesty’s guard!」

「You mean…… Edilka-sama?」

It was a dangerous situation. For a moment out there I was about to call Edilka-sama by his real name. Luckily, the girls failed to notice that, being busy saying stuff like: “Ah, so his name is Edilka-sama!”, or “What a wonderful name that is!”.

And just like that I noticed that their target was not His Highness, but the knight Edilka Vince. I see how it is. They didn’t have enough courage to go and ask him directly, and so they came to me to get some intel first.

Oh my, how cute of them. It’s a small wonder, since the blonde knight wearing his elegant uniform was quite an eye catch around the court. Of course the people would notice him. Even though only a few people knew about the knights serving as guards to His Majesty, there was already a fan club of girls dedicated to Edilka-sama.

「I am terribly sorry, but when it comes to Edilka Vince-sama, I cannot help you. Aside from his name, I don’t know anything about him.」

After all, Edilka Vince is nothing more but a front. From his name alone you could probably guess that he wasn’t from a noble house, but that’s about it. You could probably learn more about him if you were to ask directly, but doing so was probably way beyond the capabilities of those girls. Especially if they were to do so while being alone with him.

「Is, is that so?」

Hearing my answer, the girl looks down, clearly disappointed.

I managed to drive my point across, but the result was quite shocking for me. I never would have thought that something like that might happen.

My only consolation was that it would happen only once and never occur to me again. I was wrong. Not only those young ladies, but also men and women of the castle, government officials, doctors, magicians, all of them would sometimes speak to me when I was alone. Each and every one of them wanted to know a thing or two about Edilka-sama, and every single time I had to disappoint them. Even if I knew something about him, there was no reason for me to tell them.

I thought that by keeping the information about Edilka-sama to myself, his popularity amongst the people would surely die down after a while. But that was also wrong. It was quite the opposite, actually. His “Mysteriousness and wonderfulness” boosted his popularity even more, to the point where I didn’t know what to do with it anymore.

Again, this was only a subject of rumors. Just like that, a few days have passed. The preparation for the upcoming festival were all going full steam ahead. Right now, I was pouring His Majesty a cup of his favorite tea, all the while letting out a deep sigh.

「Why such a long face? It is sad to watch, so please cheer up. It’s such a waste to see such expression on a pretty face.」

「……」

Even if it was a compliment, for me it didn’t sound like such, not in the least. For now, I wasn’t really in any kind of mood for jokes, and as I continue to pour the tea into the cup my face was retaining its sour expression and my sighs would not stop. Ahh, how do I miss the peaceful days back at the house.