The Magical Holy Woman Seraphina - Chapter 44

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The Saintess of Magic, Seraphina
Episode 44
“Why did you arrive so late?”
“The bathroom queue was ridiculous. Hah, hah, hah.”
I offered the excuse to Arden, who’d asked with clear irritation.
“The bathroom queue…?”
We’re in the Imperial Palace, aren’t we? Arden’s head tilted in confusion. Beside him, Casian offered a pointed jab. “It seems the facilities were undersized for the volume of guests.”

“That’s ridiculous!”
“Why are you so touchy, Arden? Anyone watching would think the Imperial Palace was your personal residence.”
…….
At that remark, Arden fell silent.
Watching Arden, Casian chuckled quietly to himself. Having pestered him like that since childhood, I was inclined to think any High Priest worth his salt would find Arden tiresome—so I caught his gaze with my eyes, trying to speak. ‘I need to tell you something.’

‘What?’
‘I need to step away.’
‘Now?’
‘Right now. This instant.’
‘For what reason?’
‘Well…’
“What sort of conversation are the two of you having?”
“Huh? What?”
I spun around to face Arden, startled.
“Who? You don’t mean—the High Priest and me? N-no, we weren’t having any kind of conversation!”
“You were. With your eyes.”
…….
“You two seem quite close already. This is the first time you’ve met.”
“Ha, ha…”
‘Make some excuse,’ I signaled to Casian, but he just kept smirking at me.

Arden spoke with a edge of mockery.
“To think you’d become close enough to converse with only your eyes. How enviable.”
“…The thing is, actually—”
I’d overheard something strange while waiting in line at the bathroom. I pulled Arden in closer, speaking quietly.
Arden, wearing a sullen expression, came along without much resistance.
I gestured first toward the woman in the lime-colored dress pressed against the far wall, then toward her opposite side, where a man surrounded by people was chatting and laughing merrily with a woman who had a puppy-like quality about her.
“Arden, do you happen to know anything about those two people?”
Arden glanced back and forth between the two, still maintaining that guarded look, and then spoke.
“They are the Count and Countess Welshiko.”
“Count and Countess Welshiko?”
“Yes. The man is Count Welshiko, and the noblewoman is Countess Mariane Divosion.”
“Then who is the pink-haired woman with her husband?”
“I’m not certain. She’s said to be an heiress from across the sea, but I don’t have any acquaintance with her.”
She appeared in society rather suddenly one day, and her name is Plum, Arden added.
“I see.”
I nodded.
“But the couple doesn’t seem very close. They’re standing quite far apart. Their clothing isn’t coordinated either—they’re wearing completely different styles.”
“They probably aren’t close. It’s a political marriage.”
“A political marriage?”
For a commoner like me, that was a concept I’d only ever read about in novels. I tilted my head.
“Then is there no love between them at all?”
At my question, Arden hesitated.
“As for whether affection exists between them, I’m not entirely…”
“Ah…”
Right, of course.
Arden wouldn’t concern himself with such things.
“Most likely there isn’t any.”
It was Casian who cut in.
Our eyes met, and Casian smiled warmly as he explained.
“House Welshiko is an ancient noble family, but due to successive failed investments since the previous generation, they’ve lacked sufficient funds to maintain their standing in the capital. Conversely, House Divosion accumulated wealth through finance, but lacked prestige. So they arranged a marriage to resolve both problems.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. The transaction was conducted between Count Welshiko himself and Mariane’s father, and as I understand it, the countess’s wishes were never considered. There’s also the matter of the age difference—he’s eleven years her senior.”
“Eleven years?!”
“Mm.”
Arden grimaced beside me as I recoiled in shock.
“So the husband would have to die three hundred and thirty years before her, wouldn’t he?”
I murmured it under my breath, and he nodded vigorously in agreement.
Casian’s explanation continued.
“I suspect the countess has no particular affection for her husband. It seems she was pushed into the marriage by her strict father.”
“I see….”
Mariane’s father, concerned only with the gains to be had from the marriage, showed no interest in the suffering his daughter endured in a loveless political union.
It was common knowledge that the count was indifferent toward his wife.
“The late countess—his mother-in-law, so to speak—and his younger brother, along with the rest of House Welshiko, apparently look down upon the countess for being a commoner. They’ve made so many slighting remarks and gestures in public that it’s impossible to hide.”
I felt nothing but pity for the countess. Casian shook his head.
“Do you have any further questions, Seraphina?”
“No. Thank you for the thorough explanation, High Priest.”
“Not at all.”
Casian offered a courteous bow, saying he was honored to have satisfied the lady’s curiosity.
He was smiling as he did it.
‘Are you satisfied with that explanation?’
‘More or less. But don’t split hairs with me.’
I answered with my eyes, alternating my gaze between the count and his wife Mariane.
More precisely, at the ring still gleaming on the count’s hand—Mariane’s ring.
Casian, perceptive as ever, made a suggestion.
“Would you like to draw closer to the count?”
“Pardon?”
Count Welshiko wasn’t some dachshund that had appeared on a street corner, and I shot back with exasperation—you want to go gawk at him up close just because you’re curious? He simply shrugged.
“You could pretend you’ve come to eat a dessert.”
There’s a peach yogurt granola bread over there, after all.
“It seems like something you’d enjoy, doesn’t it?”
“Ah!”
That could work.
I clapped my hands and turned to Arden.
“Arden, let’s go.”
You said you wanted to strike up conversations with people here and gather some information anyway.
“Come on.”
As I grabbed his sleeve and pulled, he pretended to resist before being dragged along.
The three of us hurried toward where Count Welshiko stood.
“Wow! Peach yogurt granola bread!”
“Wow~ Peach yogurt granola bread~”
“Mm. Peach yogurt granola bread.”
I put on the most earnest performance I could muster and reached for a piece of bread when my eyes met those of the short-legged count.
His blue eyes widened noticeably the moment he saw me.
“…One moment.”
He raised his hand to cut off whatever the foreign heiress Plum was chattering on about beside him.
Then he came straight toward me.
“What are you doing?”
Ignoring Arden’s sharp remark, the count placed a hand over his chest and bowed to me with careful courtesy.
“Forgive my impertinence, but might I have the honor of hearing your name, my lady?”
If I hadn’t just witnessed him insulting his own wife, I might have thought him a perfect gentleman.
Casian, his bread in his mouth, rolled his eyes.
I rolled my eyes too.
Perhaps thinking I was merely cautious of strangers, the count continued rambling.
“Ah, my name is Shortrek Welshiko. I am the head of House Welshiko, and I received an invitation to this gathering from the commander of the Imperial Knights Order….”
By this point, it was impossible not to understand.
I exchanged a glance with Casian, whose eyes were still rolling dramatically.
‘This man’s infatuated with me.’
The problem is that just a moment ago, this dishonorable wretch was laughing and flirting with another woman while his wife stood right there….
Wait, it’s only one ball, and he’s trying to pursue three women?
Is this man insane?
“……So, might I have the honor of learning the lady’s name?”
“…….”
Casian stood with his head bowed slightly to one side, suppressing a smile.
“You…!”
“Now, now. Arden. Wait.”
I stopped Arden, who looked ready to shout something sharp, and spoke to the Count instead.
“It’s Seraphina.”
“Seraphina… A lovely name. And your house?”
“I don’t have one.”
“Pardon?”
“I don’t have one.”
A note: Commoners in the Empire have no family name by default.
If one wishes to acquire a name, one must pay the crown an enormous sum.
Like John and Isabel Gorley. Or Mariane Divosion.
Which is why ninety-nine percent of commoners have no surname. Like Arden and myself.
“I, well……”
Watching the Count stammer in confusion, I smiled wickedly.
“Yes. I’m a commoner.”
The Count immediately recoiled as though he’d touched a hot stone.
“I, I beg your pardon. It was lovely to meet you… er… yes.”
Embarrassed to have been the one to initiate conversation with a commoner, he began stammering incoherently, then hastily fled the hall and disappeared.
I knew he would. I laughed under my breath.
‘Married into a commoner’s wealth and spent the whole time looking down on them for being common, did he?’
And now, after speaking to a commoner in front of everyone, he’d slink away in shame. Exactly as expected.
I scratched the corner of my eyebrow and turned back to Arden and Casian.
Arden’s eyes glinted dangerously as he watched the Count’s retreating figure.
“I won’t let him off easy.”
First he was angry because the Count spoke to me, and now he’s angry because the Count stopped speaking to me.
He looked ready to march straight over and challenge the man to a duel.
‘That won’t do.’
Welshiko is my quarry.
‘Keep Arden in line.’
I caught Casian’s eye and spoke.
“I’m going to visit the ladies’ room for a moment.”
“Again?”
“…….”
“Arden. That’s an improper thing to say to a lady.”
“Oh.”
“…….”
“I hope you return safely, madam.”
“…….”
I left.
“Honestly……. Arden thinks I’m a ghost bound to the ladies’ room.”
The garden connected to the banquet hall.
I pursued the Count as he cut through it in quick strides, uncertain just how far he intended to go.
My plan was to startle him somewhere suitable and simply steal Mariane’s Seal Ring.
Thud!
“What?!”
……The Count suddenly slipped all by himself and collapsed unconscious.
What in the world.
“Did his short legs make him slip?!”
Even so, to fall flat like this in an instant?
“…….”
Who knows.
Either way, it worked out perfectly for me.
Looking him over, at least there didn’t seem to be any threat to his life.
“He must have had too much to drink.”
I dragged the unconscious Count over and laid him against a tree stump.
“Now then, let me just remove the ring……”
I grinned and rubbed my palms together.
Rustle.
“Lord Welshiko?”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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