Estelle must have said something, or perhaps getting sick leave from the academy was just that simple, but my and Iris’s requests for leave were approved without any verification.
“Wasn’t there anything they asked you to submit?”
In my past life, whether it was work, part-time jobs, or school, you always had to submit some form of documentation if you were sick, so I asked Estelle just in case.
“No, they just said they’d take care of it.”
Her reply was that they’d handle it on their own.
No matter how I looked at it, it seemed like this was because Estelle had said something.
On top of that, one of us was Iris, the Crown Princess of the Ermunt Empire, right?
For a commoner like me, it probably wasn’t too difficult to tag along and get things sorted out.
“Anyway, for now, I’ll try moving to the coordinates Estelle gave us, but honestly, I’ve never done long-distance teleportation like this before, so I’m not sure if it’ll work.”
Long-distance teleportation magic, huh.
The farthest I’d ever teleported was from the dormitory to the training grounds.
From here to the Holy Empire was likely hundreds, if not thousands, of kilometers away. Honestly, I wasn’t confident it was possible.
“If it’s you, Sir Theo, I’m sure you can do it.”
“Honestly, if Sir Theo can’t do it, then no one can. Iris, just hold onto my hand.”
The two of them seemed to bicker as usual, but their tone toward each other was much softer than before.
At this rate, I thought I might actually get to see these two start dating someday, and the thought made me smile warmly.
“Then I’ll go ahead first. Just in case Sir Theo makes a mistake while teleporting, I’ll need to come get you.”
Estelle confidently declared that such a thing wouldn’t happen, but she also understood the need to prepare for even the slimmest chance of it, so she decided to go ahead first.
“Alright, see you in a bit.”
I agreed that this was the better approach.
Estelle was someone who used teleportation magic with complete ease. She had also traveled back and forth between the Holy Empire and the Ermunt Empire countless times using this magic, so there was no reason to worry about her.
The one to worry about was me.
Once Estelle and Iris disappeared from sight, I focused on the coordinates Estelle had given me and began casting the teleportation spell.
“Let this work…!”
For this spell, I decided its name would be “Let This Work”.
Honestly, it felt a bit silly, but who cares?
What felt even sillier was the state of my system window.
With unnecessary nerves building up, I tightly shut my eyes and then opened them again.
“Ah! Welcome, Sir Theo!”
“Welcome. I had faith you’d pull it off.”
The figures of Estelle and Iris, who had disappeared just moments earlier, reappeared before my eyes.
Oh, this wasn’t so bad. I felt no nausea or anything!
It certainly seems that the fact that I breathe and refine my magical power every day is helping.
“Whew, I was a little nervous. I was seriously worried I might suddenly end up at some border checkpoint and face weird inspections.”
If I had really miscalculated and landed at a border, I would’ve ended up as an illegal immigrant until Estelle came to rescue me, so that was definitely the most nerve-wracking thought.
“Haha, Sir Theo, you worry too much. Anyway, it’s both of your first times in the Holy Empire, right? Welcome! This is the famous Saintess’s room here in the Holy Empire. It’s Estelle’s room, to be exact!”
No wonder the coordinates were so precise. It turned out we were teleporting straight into her room.
With this level of magic, I couldn’t help but think the Holy Pope would have already noticed.
Teleportation magic wasn’t some cartoonish ability where you could move without anyone realizing it; it released a massive burst of magical power, so it was impossible to go unnoticed.
“Well, I’ll go have a quick word with him, so the two of you just rest here for now.”
Estelle who was fully aware of this fact simply said she’d speak to the Pope and left without further explanation. Iris and I nodded in agreement.
“But don’t have too much fun without me while I’m gone!”
For some reason, her parting words had a jealous undertone. Watching her close the door and disappear, I couldn’t help but think there was still a long way to go.
“Haha, Estelle is almost too fond of us. It’s really something.”
Still, if I pushed things too far, it could become burdensome for both Iris and Estelle, so I tried to keep my response as vague as possible.
“Well, it’s probably you she likes the most, Sir Theo.”
“Oh, come on. It’s not like I’m the only one she cares about.”
Though neither of them had openly expressed their true feelings yet, it was obvious these two were meant to be together.
The two of them needed to grow closer than they were with me, and honestly, I already knew they sometimes met separately without telling me.
“Still, to think that the first place we’d visit in the Holy Empire is the Saintess’s room. I never could have imagined this,” Iris said, glancing around the room and shrugging her shoulders.
“Right? I assumed our first stop in the Holy Empire would naturally be at an immigration checkpoint.”
Who would have thought that my first visit to the Holy Empire would involve an illegal teleportation?
Of course, once Estelle smoothed things over, it wouldn’t technically be an illegal visit.
“Now I’m wondering if we should’ve gone with her after all.”
“Huh? What brought that up all of a sudden?”
I raised a question, noticing the slightly serious look on Iris’s face.
Wasn’t it stranger for us to tag along when the Saintess was meeting the Holy Pope?
“It’s just… I can’t stop thinking about how upset Estelle looked yesterday before I suggested that you and I come with her.”
“Estelle was upset?”
“Yes. But as soon as I proposed that the three of us go together, her expression lightened up right away.”
Wait a minute, doesn’t this mean they were meeting without me again yesterday?
So that’s why the two of them suddenly came to me with the idea of going to the Holy Empire. It turns out they’d already discussed it beforehand.
Wow~, these two really are getting along well.
But still, that’s a separate matter altogether.
Estelle’s reasons for being reluctant to visit the Holy Empire alone were difficult to guess.
In the game, there hadn’t been much revealed about the backstory or past of either Estelle or Iris, so I didn’t know much about those parts either.
“Hmm, could it be that her relationship with the Holy Pope isn’t very good?”
Unlike Iris, who was the Emperor’s daughter, the Holy Pope and the Saintess weren’t even related by blood.
Since their connection was only defined by their respective positions, it wouldn’t be surprising if their relationship was strained.
“That could be the case. Even I, as his daughter, am not particularly close to my father, so Estelle, who isn’t even the Holy Pope’s daughter, probably feels even more distant.”
Huh? Iris wasn’t on good terms with the Emperor either?
“Are you not that close with His Majesty the Emperor, Iris?”
“Well, yes. We look like a harmonious father and daughter from the outside, but… I don’t know; things have been pretty awkward since my mother passed away.”
Ah, that made sense. The current Empress had taken her position immediately after Iris’s biological mother, the former Empress, passed away due to illness. It wasn’t hard to see why their relationship might not be great.
If it were me, and my mom passed away only for my dad to instantly seat a stepmother in her place?
Yeah, I’d probably cut ties in an instant.
“Well, I’ve come to accept that some things are inevitable. Still, I can’t help but feel I understand Estelle’s feelings a little better now.”
“You two certainly seem to have a lot in common.”
I believed that people were naturally drawn to others who resembled themselves.
I thought the two of them were somewhat alike, but seeing a different side of her stirred a flutter in me. When people share similar traits, it’s easier to empathize and understand one another, which makes falling in love under such conditions all the more natural.
Well… while it might be true that their unfortunate circumstances provide a good backdrop for romance, saying it outright felt like it would be rude to the two of them, so I kept that thought to myself.
“Shall we sit down and wait for now?”
“Ah, sure. Sir Theo, please have a seat.”
Watching Iris pull out the chair in front of the tea table for me made me feel a little strange, like our roles had somehow reversed.
…Wasn’t this the kind of thing a man was supposed to do for a woman?
“Ah, ahem. Thank you.”
Of course, rejecting her offer and awkwardly saying, “No, no, let me pull the chair out for you instead!” would’ve been ridiculous, so I just sat down quietly.
“This room definitely feels like it belongs to someone with the second-most power in the Holy Empire. There are so many luxury items around.”
Iris remarked as she looked around the room.
“Luxury items?”
I couldn’t see anything that struck me as particularly extravagant, so I asked curiously.
“Yes, even the rug we’re standing on is a high-end luxury brand. The furniture, the wallpaper, the flooring. Everything here is luxurious.”
What? Really?
“It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that almost everything in this room is a luxury item.”
Estelle had a surprisingly modest and unpretentious personality that didn’t quite fit her position, which I found rather unexpected.
“Perhaps it wasn’t what she wanted, but more for appearances’ sake.”
“Who would they need to impress by using such luxury items in a saintess’s room?”
“There may not be any official visitors, but the maids and servants who come and go would see it all and spread the word.”
Ah, that made sense. Gossip among maids and servants could spread beyond these walls in no time.
She grew up in a similar environment, and so she clearly understood those difficulties.
Hmm, the two of them really suit each other.
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