Chapter 25: Praying

I sat down in a seat toward the back of the nave and prayed. Lily and Stevie sat in the seats behind me.

When I was transferred to this world, I didn’t get the standard isekai experience of meeting God face-to-face or receiving any divine instructions. I also didn’t receive any cheat skills.

That being the case, I thought that if I prayed earnestly in a place like this, God might descend, or perhaps find me from the divine realm. So I lowered my head in a prayer posture and prayed with all my heart.

...But it was noisy behind me.

"Hey, Lily-nee. Why did you bring me along? I mean, I don’t have to work as a maid, so it’s nice, but still..."

"It’s so we don’t lose sight of Prince Robby."

"Eh? That idiot prince isn’t going anywhere weird, right? Also, Lily-nee, you’re being way too familiar calling him ’Prince Robby.’ What’s up with that? You don’t call him ’Prince Robin’ anymore?"

"It’s fine, it’s fine. Look, Prince Robby is an idiot, so he scares me. You never know where he’ll wander off to. With two of us, he can’t shake us off, right?"

"Eh!? Is he *that* active? What kind of person is he that even you can’t keep up with him, Lily-nee?"

"That’s the thing with idiots — you can never predict what they’ll do."

"Yeah, right? Right now he looks like he’s praying, but I bet he’s actually sleeping."

"Maybe. He *is* an idiot after all."

"I’m gonna start calling him Prince Robby too. He won’t get mad, right?"

"Well, probably not. Also, don’t call me ’Lily-nee’ in public! How many times do I have to tell you!?"

"Okay, okay, I got it!"

---

No, I can hear every word of your conversation. When you’re talking about me right behind my back, it’s impossible to focus on praying. And the way you’re badmouthing me is terrible. It was already bad enough up to this point, but it only got worse from here.

"Hey, remember when Prince Robby went out before and leaned so far out the carriage window that he fell out?"

What the hell is that story? How stupid was I? Was that really me?

"Now that you mention it, that did happen. Even though he has such a big body, he suddenly let out a weird shout, leaned way out pointing at something, and when the surprised coachman stopped the carriage, he tumbled right out."

"He’s amazing, kukukuku."

"Seriously, fufufu."

"There was also that time a prince got so excited outside that he started doing a weird dance in front of a store. When his escort tried to stop him, he rolled around on the ground throwing a tantrum, right?"

I really wish they would stop talking about my past. No matter how you look at it, it’s just too pitiful. Actually, the one I feel most sorry for is Cass, who had to take care of that idiot for so long without abandoning him. I’m sorry, Cass.

"That was Prince Robby too, right? About two years ago?"

"Ehhhh— He’s not gonna do something like that today, right?"

"Who knows? That’s why we came with two people — just in case."

"Nooo~ I don’t want to stand out because of something like that! Lily-nee, I resent you for dragging me into this~"

"They say there’s no medicine for stupidity, right? So let’s just pray. That’s all we can do."

"Yeah, true."

The more I heard about my pathetic past, the more I wanted to dig a hole and crawl into it. Unpleasant sweat broke out all over my body. With a track record like this, there’s no way God would want to talk to me even if I prayed.

Since I had completely lost the will to pray, I stood up and turned around. Lily and Stevie appeared to be praying with great devotion. They were probably praying that I wouldn’t cause any problems with my future actions. But their shoulders were twitching — they were clearly trying to hold back laughter.

When I stood up, the two of them also stood. At the back of the nave, a priest was standing with a gentle smile, waiting for me. One silver coin for this... after being roasted so thoroughly by those two. Since there are probably still more embarrassing stories about the old me, next time I come to pray at the cathedral, I should ask for a more private seat. Wait — they’re my escorts, so they can’t leave my side...

When we left the cathedral, the sun was still high in the sky, so it was still early for lunch. But since I usually spent the day sitting in class and today I had been walking around, I was starting to feel a little hungry.

"Lily, Stevie. Do you know any place where we can get a light meal? I want something simple. Sweets are fine too."

As soon as I said that, Stevie’s face lit up. She quickly returned to her usual expressionless face, but it was too late — I saw it.

Lily thought for a moment and said,

"I don’t know any fancy shops that rich people go to, so would a commoner-style shop be alright? It might feel a bit dirty to you, Prince Robby, and there will be many commoners, but if you don’t mind, I can take you there."

"Sure, let’s go."

"Hey, Lily-nee — I mean, Lily. Are we going to *that* shop? That one?"

Even though her face was expressionless, Stevie’s excitement was obvious. You could feel the anticipation radiating from her body.

Stevie tried to walk ahead, but Lily scolded her.

"Stevie, wait! How can an escort leave her master behind and walk in front!?"

"Ah, sorry, that’s right."

"Don’t apologize to me — apologize to Prince Robby."

Lily is surprisingly proper. At least in front of me, she acts normally.

"Yes. Prince Robby, I’m sorry. I got excited when I heard we were getting sweets."

Stevie seems like a pretty good kid too. Not as bad as the old me, at least.

"Stevie, is that shop really that good?" I asked.

Stevie broke into a huge smile and said,

"Yes! It’s a bit expensive, so I can’t go often. Being able to go while working is the best! Thank you so much, Prince Robby!!"

Hmm... After all the badmouthing in the cathedral, she did a complete 180. Well, she’s young and cute, so I’ll forgive her. Even if she doesn’t have much chest.

We walked from the cathedral toward the lower part of town. As expected, the people we passed looked less luxurious. Some were even wearing patched clothes. I wondered if I stood out, but no one was staring at me. Still, I could feel gazes on us — especially from women of all ages.

There was already a line in front of the shop Lily took us to. It looked like a parlor or café. Almost everyone in line was female — I was the only guy. Well, except for Stevie.

I felt extremely out of place as I stood between Lily and Stevie. Even though there was a big age gap between the two of them, they chatted happily while treating me like air.

Behind us, of course, were girls around Stevie’s age. Their conversation naturally reached my ears.

"Hey, the guys in front of us are kinda cute, right?"

"Yeah. They look younger than us, don’t they?"

"Maybe. Do you think they have girlfriends?"

The conversation was flowing in a really nice direction. It lifted my spirits. Just hearing this made me glad I came out to the city. So the reason I felt gazes earlier was because of my looks? I had never experienced this in my previous life, so it made me really happy. But then—

"The person in front of us... isn’t that his master? The escort is super handsome!"

"See! I knew it! His hair color is so pretty! His eyes are big and he has an androgynous face, but he’s really hot. The guy in front (me) looks like a nice young master, so he’s out of our league, but the escort seems more our type, right?"

These girls were deliberately speaking loud enough for us to hear.

Then they raised their voices even more:

"Right!! I wonder if we can get closer to him somehow~"

"How though? That would be rude!"

The moment they said that, Stevie turned around and looked at the girls behind us. Instantly, they screamed:

"Kyaaa!!"

Stevie had only glanced at them. Stevie, please give me back my good feeling. From now on, wear a mask and disguise yourself!