Chapter 74: Spiritual Week, Day Two

It’s day two, it’s Charity Day.

Rensfell sat at the northern end of the mountain pass, the first real settlement a traveler saw after days of wind that tried to peel the skin off their faces.

Pilgrims stumbled in half-frozen, found a bed, and went on to the convent or the capital.

So the city had grown around them: inns, checkpoints, stables, and a church on nearly every corner.

It was also one of the few cities in Falsbane without a slave market.

And one of the poorest. A city that stood against the peerage didn’t get much financing, so everything Rensfell had, it got from the Church.

Today, the Church was giving.

...

"Again! Again!"

Adonis had a child on each shoulder, and he spun in a circle while they threw up their arms and screamed with laughter.

When he finally stopped, both of them wailed at once.

"Again!"

"Phew... give your prince a minute to rest."

Nobody listened, there’s a whole crowd of orphans around his legs, shoving and pushing for the next turn.

They’d been stuck to him since the moment he arrived. It’s easy for children to fall for a beautiful and kind person. Or maybe it’s the stories. Before the carriages had even been unloaded, he’d sat on the orphanage steps and told them about a princess who lost a glass slipper, a boy with round glasses who was sent to a school of wizards, and a tiny hero who carried a ring across the world with the help of elves and dwarves.

The children had listened with their mouths open.

Now, they wouldn’t let him go.

"Me next!"

"No, me!"

...Thud! A boy shoved through the crowd and pushed a little girl aside. She landed on her bottom in the grass and her lip started to tremble.

Knock!

"Ow!"

Adonis had lowered the two kids and struck the boy’s head with his knuckles, lightly.

"Why’d you do that?!"

"Look at her. A proper gentleman should always be willing to give way to a lady. So, what do you say?"

The red-faced boy rubbed his head and scratched the back of it.

"...I’m sorry, Litha."

...Litha, that’s the girl’s name.

Adonis nodded and held out his hand.

"Come on. You’re next."

Litha sniffled, blushed all the way to her ears, and took it.

...

The orphanage compound was wide and open, with a patchy lawn and a well in the middle. The nuns had built a fancy canopy of white cloth on one side of it, and under that canopy sat Lady Noelle, being fanned by three brothers of the church who were all desperate for even a glance from her.

Alas, her eyes were on Adonis.

Lloyd stood at her side with his hand on his sword and leaned down with a smile.

"Would you like to join the children, Big Sister?"

"No." Noelle shook her head. "I’m not really fond of children. They’re messy, and sweaty. Do you want to go play with them, Brother Lloyd? You’re free to."

She’s a lot softer with him than with the other brothers.

Lloyd cleared his throat proudly.

"Like you, I don’t care for children. I’d rather stay here and protect my beautiful senior sister~"

He leaned closer, trying to look into her eyes.

She looked away disappointedly. Out on the grass, Adonis was spinning Litha around on his shoulders while she waved her arms and squealed, again, again, again! A soft, fond smile graced Lady Noelle’s rosy lips.

It said, without a word, that she was interested in that handsome prince, in a way that’s beyond looks.

Lloyd realized; he’d just give the stupidest answer ever.

Noelle’s blue eyes softened.

"I never imagined the Fifth Prince, of all people, would be so good with children. I wish they loved me like that, but I can be quite distant, I think... I wonder if it’s how I was raised. Mother isn’t very expressive, and she’s no good with people either."

She looked down at her slender fingers and couldn’t stop twisting them together.

"It’s strange. But he’s... interesting."

A short distance away, Minerva was watching him too.

’He’s good with them. Who’d have thought a boy with such a terrible father would turn out so well...’

Without meaning to, she wondered what it would be like to have a child with him.

The tips of her black hair turned red and drifted upward.

...Hm? Something unpleasant was buzzing around her ears. She glanced to the side and found a cluster of nuns whispering behind their hands.

"Look at her hair..."

"That’s the Fourth Queen. The blood witch."

"She must have bewitched the king. How else would a man take five wives?"

"I only feel sorry for the First Queen. The poor woman is the real victim. She was the first wife, she was surely promised to be the only wife."

"...Look at her... even her eyes are unnatural."

They weren’t whispering quietly enough, and they didn’t seem to care.

Minerva put on a polite smile, better to ignore.

Then she turned to the children who were staring at her from behind a bench and lifted a hand.

"Hello."

The nearest child looked at her pale skin, her black hair, her red eyes, and burst into tears and ran.

It’s been like this all morning. Every orphanage child she tried to approach went white and fled. Parents in this land told scary stories about blood witches to keep their little ones away from strangers, so to the children she was the boogeyman man even with her extraordinary beauty.

’...It doesn’t matter.’

As much as she has nothing to do with her people, it hurt.

The Church had hunted, enslaved, and killed so many of her sisters, and now it was teaching children to hate them.

The nuns were still muttering.

"What did you expect? Children can tell a monster."

"And she dares join the spiritual week even as the greatest of sinners in the royal family."

"Polygamy is a sin. Honestly, how foolish, to think anyone here would love her."

...Tch! All of Minerva’s hair rose and a storm of blood began to swirl around her. The nuns stumbled back, stammering that they hadn’t meant it, that it was only—

"Ahh, there’s no need to fight, ladies."

A golden-haired young man had slipped between them and the Fourth Queen, chuckling.

"Hey, hey, let’s slow down. The church’s own texts speak of mercy and acceptance. Judging a person by her origin instead of her deeds is a sin, isn’t it?"

He looked at Minerva and, quite naturally, wrapped an arm around her slender waist.

"Queen Minerva is a very kind woman. She’s worked hard to end slavery in this kingdom. She even buys slaves and sends them to nice families."

The nuns’ eyes widened.

"Really? We didn’t think she’d—"

"No excuses. Just because the church doesn’t respect royals doesn’t mean you can disrespect someone who deserves it."

The nuns bowed their heads over and over.

"W-, We apologize!"

They scurried away.

Minerva was still staring at him with big red eyes, shining with so much tenderness.

Adonis glanced over his shoulder.

"Are you alright?"

"...Mhm."

There’s something she wanted to say but the words just wouldn’t leave her cherry lips. Her heels dug small circles into the grass, and behind her back, her slim fingers fidgeted with each other.

[Ding! Host has used his knowledge of the novel to impress a losing heroine and make her feel recognized. Minerva is shocked that you know of her soft spot for slaves, and of the help she gives them in secret.]

[Minerva is eligible for another investment!]

’Not bad at all...’ Adonis thought.

[Ding! Minerva has developed a strong urge to have children with you. It has been on her mind for weeks. Watching you with the orphans has convinced her.]

"...Eh?"

Adonis turned a little pale.

’Why is she in such a hurry?! I’m not even king yet! If I were, maybe I’d think about it. Think! Just think!’

The very idea of a family of his own made his skin hot and his stomach uneasy.

Minerva rose on her toes and dabbed his sweaty forehead with a handkerchief.

"My, Little Fifth, are you alright? Hm? Would you like to sleep on my chest for a bit? If you’re in a hurry, we can do that behind the orphanage, and—"

"Ahem!"

Adonis cleared his throat and speed-walked away.

"I-, It’s fine! I should go check on our little ones! No, the little ones! Not ours! Of course not ours! Ahahaha!"

He gulped the moment he turned the corner.

Soon he was back inside the orphanage, and the children were still following him like ducklings.

Litha held his arm in a death grip and beamed up at him.

"The prince is my husband!"

The other little girls puffed out their cheeks. "Hrrmmm!"

Adonis spotted a familiar pair by the window. Prussia stood stiffly in a corner while Alpis floated through the air around a swarm of children trying to catch her.

"MASTEEER!" (?????)

Alpis waved wildly when she saw him.

Adonis was about to wave back, but he saw Godfey.

"Oh, brother!"

He walked up and patted his back.

Godfrey gave him a side glance.

"...What?"

"What’s with the cold reply? I just wanted to ask if you’d like to act in a little drama with me and Alpis. For the kids."

Godfrey calmly moved his brother’s hand off his back.

"I don’t have time for that. I’m busy."

"Godfrey..."

"Learn to read the situation, little brother. I’m not as jobless as you, okay?"

He walked out without looking back and all Adonis could do was stare in confusion.

"...What the... huh...?"