“Lady, I really don’t know anything….”
“…Sir Whitney.”
Just as Whitney, who had been watching Meredia’s expression in the suddenly cold atmosphere, began to make an excuse,
A maid popped her head back in through the door crack and brought new news.
“The Guardian of Radiance has requested a private audience.”
“…Why?”
“She said there’s something she wants to talk about privately, but I’m not exactly sure…”
At that moment, when Whitney was standing there looking dumbfounded,
“Go.”
“What?”
A calm but somehow chilling voice came from beside him.
“Your childhood friend requested a private audience. Go on.”
“Uh……”
“I said go, didn’t I?”
Meredia, resting her chin in her hand beside him, even gave a sweet smile as she said it.
“Why… why are you doing this?”
“What?”
“Can’t you just act like your usual self…?”
Whitney, frightened by the unfamiliar behavior, asked in a deflated voice, but Meredia’s expression didn’t change.
“Go.”
“…Yes, ma’am.”
At her lowered voice and soft smile, Whitney finally followed the maid out of the meeting room.
“……”
Thus, with only Meredia and the elders left in the meeting room, an awkward silence began.
—….
In that silence, when Meredia’s eyes turned red, a tense atmosphere rapidly filled the room.
“Right, I thought they were just weirdos, but turns out they had their own schemes?”
“As soon as the ugly duckling we ignored turns into a swan, she starts claiming ownership? That’s not something noble followers of the law of light would do.”
Meredia, who had been smiling sweetly in front of Whitney, was now exuding bloodlust as her true colors emerged.
“What? You want to fight? Huh?”
“You’ve got spirit. So this is that brutal power I’ve only heard rumors about.”
“Hmph. Still, I’d prefer if the duel were held outside.”
It would’ve been enough to send chills down an ordinary person’s spine, but the elder council’s response to Meredia was rather different.
It’s not as if the world, driven by the logic of power, would allow Lumen Ordo to declare neutrality while ignoring pressure from the Empire and the Holy Nation.
They may appear pathetic at a glance, but the members of Lumen Ordo are fundamentally high-level combatants.
Even the regular members, classified as non-combatants, are treated as top-tier assets in most wars.
So, what of the elder council, effectively the executives of Lumen Ordo?
Though it wasn’t clear, one thing was certain: even against Meredia, they would not easily lose.
“Anyway, my partner—my husband—is too naïve, and that’s a problem.”
However, Meredia, who had grasped this much, had no intention of backing down, so the tension only escalated.
“…You’d do well not to use that power carelessly.”
It was then that Alastor, the Northern region overseer, who had remained silent until now, suddenly spoke in a cracked voice.
“Especially not in front of us.”
“Just the act of lighting up those eyes is an insult and a challenge to us, Lady.”
At those words, Meredia’s expression twisted for a moment.
“…How much do you know?”
“We know at least this much—that among those who’ve appeared with the Demon King’s power, you are the most likely candidate.”
Judging by the faces of the elders quietly observing her, it seemed they all already knew.
“Hah. Even I didn’t want to be born this way.”
“……”
“So what now? Are you going to attack me here and erase me?”
Muttering bitterly with a crooked smile, Meredia then asked the elder council in a somewhat resigned voice.
“For the record, I won’t go down that easily. I now have a reason to move forward….”
“That’s nonsense.”
“Hah. Can’t you see everyone’s holding back right now?”
But before she could finish, several elders shook their heads in disagreement.
“Lady, we do not intend to be your enemies.”
It was then that Chairman Salem, who had kept his eyes closed, finally spoke with a serious expression.
“Since the warrior of destiny has chosen you, it would be foolish for us to act against you. Wouldn’t you agree?”
“…But then, why?”
“You want to know why we’re trying to connect Whitney Lingard to the Guardian of Radiance, don’t you?”
Even though she remained wary, Meredia nodded.
“Right. I suppose it’s time I mediate this situation not as a servant of the Guardian of Radiance, but as the chairman of the elder council.”
“……”
“If I’ve come off as rude until now, I apologize.”
As Salem even dropped his transformation and revealed his aged form to show sincerity, Meredia reluctantly fell silent and listened.
“Anyway, to clarify the situation… We do have some grievances too.”
In the now slightly calmer room, Salem’s soft voice began to fill the space.
“First, we summoned Sir Whitney for three reasons.”
“……”
“The first was to offer him a seat in Lumen Ordo’s elder council. The second was to discuss his unique abilities.”
Noticing Meredia’s eyes narrow at the phrase “unique abilities,” he quickly added an explanation.
“The reason we declined his Lumen Ordo membership before was because research into his power wasn’t complete.”
…….
“But recently, the Aurora and Celeste siblings proposed a very interesting hypothesis. To prove it, Sir Whitney’s cooperation is essential.”
At those words, unlike the other elders, the two siblings who had been trembling in silence quietly raised their heads,
Only to quickly bow them again when they met Meredia’s gaze.
“And the third reason… was that the Guardian of Radiance requested it unilaterally.”
“…You mean trying to steal someone else’s man?”
“Just hear me out first.”
Salem responded calmly to Meredia’s icy tone.
“As you know, we’re quite a closed-off group, so we’re slow to catch external news.”
“Then….”
“The elder council only learned of Sir Whitney’s connection with you a few minutes ago—when a carrier pigeon brought the weekly newspaper.”
“Then your current actions make even less sense….”
At those words, Meredia tilted her head, clearly puzzled.
“For reference, the Guardian of Radiance still doesn’t know this.”
“What?”
“She… well, she grew up like a flower in a greenhouse, so she tends to judge everything by her own standards.”
Salem, who had been speaking smoothly until now, began to stumble a bit in his words at this point.
“Perhaps, the way I see it… the Guardian of Radiance is currently under a serious misunderstanding.”
But when Meredia gave him a look as if to say, “Go on, finish what you’re saying,” he eventually closed his eyes, stroking his beard, and concluded.
“She’s been under the impression that Sir Whitney, her childhood friend, was her boyfriend all along.”
And so began another awkward silence, though this time for a very different reason.
“No way. I mean, come on…”
Blinking in disbelief at the silence, Meredia finally opened her mouth with a questioning look.
“…That’s just too far-fetched, isn’t it?”
“Haha.”
***
“Um, hey.”
Following the maid, I entered the room where Tiffany was and sat down.
She was curled up silently on the sofa, and after glancing at me, she handed me a letter.
After reading it, I was at a loss for words.
「My dear, the hourglass of time shaped by our bond has been turned 4,444 times.
Our connection is the eternal petal that bloomed through 1,111 cycles of the four seasons,
A pearl deepened in the abyss as the stars blinked 4,444 times in the night sky.
It is the blessing bestowed upon us as the moon waxed and waned 4,444 times,
And the immortal promise forged as the sun rose and set 4,444 times.」
What on earth does this mean?
Could it be some kind of encrypted message containing highly classified information?
“What is this?”
“Huh?”
Since I had no way of deciphering it even if it was a code, I had no choice but to ask.
Surprised for a moment, she blinked and began to stammer.
“D-Don’t you remember? It was… maybe when the wheel of time turned back about twelve times…”
“Sorry?”
“A-Around twelve years ago.”
As I carefully tried to recall her words, I finally remembered something.
“Ah… was it when we first met?”
“……!”
“That time, my father brought me and Cecil to Lumen Ordo for the first time. I do remember that much…”
Then, with a strangely nervous look, Tiffany Astelaide sat up properly.
“D-Don’t you remember the vow we made back then?”
“…I only remember us playing house together.”
At my reply, she looked at me like she’d just lost her entire country.
“Y-You’re belittling it as some childish game?”
“?”
“…Or—no way—you’ve forgotten that unbreakable oath?”
This felt more and more like trying to solve a riddle in twenty questions.
“If you just tell me, it might come back to me…”
“Ugh…”
Of course, I had no memory of making a vow with her, but I said it cautiously.
And at that moment, tears started to well up in Tiffany’s eyes.
“L-Let’s calm down. It’s not like I’ve completely forgotten, right? Let’s retrace it together, step by step.”
“…Sniff.”
It was obvious things would get messy if I upset her now, so I urgently tried to soothe her.
Tiffany, sniffling with her nose red, mumbled in a tiny voice.
“You clearly said it yourself back then…”
“…….”
“You said you would belong to me and share your fate with mine.”
At that, I finally grasped what she was trying to say.
With a look of disbelief, I asked again.
“That time… it was roleplay, wasn’t it?”
Tiffany’s response made me involuntarily let out a chuckle.
“…It wasn’t play. It was a ceremony.”
“Haha…”
I finally understood.
For her, someone who’d been groomed to become the leader of Lumen Ordo, that memory must have left quite an impression.
“I’m pretty sure I played the dad, right? Cecil was the daughter…”
“Hah!”
As I tried to recall carefully and speak cautiously, I saw Tiffany’s face light up mid-sob and quietly bowed my head.
“See? I knew you remembered!”
“…I guess I did.”
It’s kind of touching.
Turns out, even someone like me—who thought I’d always be alone—actually had a friend who cherished me all along.
“T-Today marks exactly 4,444 days since then.”
“……”
“B-By the way, my favorite number is 4. Hehe.”
Come to think of it, she did send a letter to the mansion every year.
I honestly couldn’t understand half of what she wrote, but it was always something asking how I was doing.
“Well then… today really is quite a meaningful day.”
“…Hmph, it’s enough that you finally understand.”
Fortunately for me, the Guardian turned out to be just a hidden friend who deeply valued our friendship.
***
‘See? I was right all along.’
But just as Whitney was getting all emotional with those thoughts, Tiffany Astelaide, who’d been grinning across from him, had a slightly different idea.
‘…We’ve been dating ever since that day.’
Because in her mind, this moment had finally confirmed that the twelve-year-long, long-distance romance she’d half-doubted was real all along.
Cliche Novel 