Chapter 49: The Tournament Name Is Decided

I ended up speaking with Julian, the Crown Prince, together with Claudius Richard.

The location was inside the church.
I didn’t think anything dangerous would happen here.

“Allow me to properly say this again.
I am honored to have the opportunity to speak with you both.
Forgive my bluntness, Sister Vent Electra, Sir Claudius.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“In truth, our meeting today was not a coincidence.”

“…I see.”

I knew it.

“You don’t seem surprised.”

“To be honest, it felt a little too perfectly timed to be mere chance.”

“I see.
Then that means you have heard about me.
From Lady Ryuswell, or from Eldmica?”

“…Eldmica?”

“Ryuswell Duke’s given name.
He is a friend of mine.”

“Ah.
The Duke’s.”

Eldmica Ryuswell.
Lady Katalina’s husband.

If I remember correctly, he should be around the same age as Julian and myself.
It wouldn’t be strange at all for the Crown Prince and the Duke to be friends.

Those at the top really are all connected.

“Have you heard anything about me from them?”

“…Yes, well.
That Your Highness currently does not have a partner.”

At that point, Crown Prince Julian nodded once.

It seemed I didn’t need to say the rest.

“It appears that someone wished to engineer a meeting between you and me, Sister Vent Electra.”

“A meeting between us?”

“Yes.
Every faction thinks along similar lines.
This time, I chose not to resist and went along with it.
I was also genuinely curious.”

Lady Katalina had said it before.
That I was also being viewed as a potential partner for the Crown Prince.

I had thought that was impossible, but apparently there really were people moving things that way.

“I am glad that your fiancé was with you today.”

Crown Prince Julian smiled as he said that.

“Let me be direct, Sister Vent Electra.
You have the right to answer freely to what I am about to say.
No matter your response, I will not use my authority against you or those close to you.
I grant you permission, in the name of the Crown Prince, to refuse.
Of course, you may also accept.”

“…Yes, Your Highness.”

Without changing his expression, he looked straight at me.

“Vent Electra.
Will you marry me?”

It was an utterly unromantic proposal.
No atmosphere at all.

I didn’t need to think about it.
The answer was obvious.

“No.
I am very sorry, but I cannot see Your Highness in that way.”

“I understand.
Then I have been rejected.”

That was it.
Done.
So businesslike.

There was no hesitation, no heartbreak.
Which made sense.

Honestly, I think it would have been scarier if he had accepted.

“Sir Claudius, I apologize for being rude toward your fiancée.”

With that, Crown Prince Julian dipped his head slightly.

“No, Your Highness.
I sensed that there were circumstances.
I cannot allow Ellen to be taken from me, but I do not feel particular anger over your words.”

“That is a relief.
I would rather not be disliked by you both.”

He then smiled more broadly than before.

“Your Highness, may I ask why you said something like that earlier?”

“Because there are those who would not be satisfied otherwise.”

“…Truly?
Surely not the idea of pairing me with Your Highness?”

“Yes.”

“I see no benefit in that at all…”

“That is not quite true.
Or rather, Sister, you underestimate your own value.”

“Eh?”

Do I?

I believed I had marketed myself as someone with a rare ability and reached my current position that way.
Otherwise, I would never be entrusted with managing such a large event backed by a Border Marquis and a Ducal Lady.

I also wouldn’t have gained a connection to the Archbishop.

“I have only just begun looking into this myself, but there is someone recorded in the royal archives who possessed a power similar to yours.”

“What?”

The royal archives?

“It seems she was a woman.
She was not particularly called a saint, however.”

“That person was…”

“Someone from the past.
She is no longer alive.
It appears the royal family protected her and kept her existence secret.”

“Protected by the royal family?”

“Yes.
She wielded powerful healing magic accompanied by a golden light.”

“…Even I have to say, it’s impressive that they chose to hide someone like that.”

It would have been far more profitable to promote her openly as a saint and bring her under royal control.

“That is something I struggled with as well.
However, the prince of that era who was close to her age already had a fiancée.
The question was whether it was worth antagonizing a noble fiancée and her house to unite him with that woman.
In the end, they chose to welcome the original fiancée as queen.”

“That… was probably the correct decision.”

“I believe so as well.”

It was certainly a special power.
But just like me now, she lacked a solid backing.

If she had already been widely recognized as a saint in the public eye, it might have been different.
In the end, she was simply an exceptionally talented healer born by chance.

She was not worth destroying an established engagement for.
And there was no guarantee her power would even be inherited.

“What became of that woman who was protected by the royal family?”

“Well…”

“Yes, Your Highness?”

“She married into a noble house.
While still being protected by the royal family, her abilities were kept secret.”

“A noble house?”

“Yes.
Can you guess which one?”

“…I’m not sure.”

“The Viscount Vent house.
More precisely, the original Vent comital line.”

“Our… family?”

“The Vent house was once a count’s house that later split its title between brothers, with the younger founding the viscount branch.
Because of that, it would not be strange if many people carried her blood by now.
A great deal of time has passed.”

So she was simply my ancestor.

I was shocked.
So this power really was hereditary, even across generations.

“It sounds like a very special origin, full of mystery, but unfortunately there were no great national crises or disasters during her time.
She was simply a woman with extraordinary power.
No dramatic episodes could be found.”

“I see…”

That was… rather anticlimactic.

“If you had gone to Grandra earlier, you might have gone down in history as a saint.
She never had such an opportunity, and therefore never gained the fame necessary to be welcomed into the royal family.”

Peace really is best.

“A saint without a mission.
That seems to be your origin.”

There was no dramatic tale of saving countless people.
I had done a bit more myself, perhaps, but not to a vastly different degree.

“Earlier, Sir Claudius called you ‘Ellen.’”

“Yes.
That’s correct.
It’s a nickname.”

“You may be surprised to hear her name.”

“My ancestor’s name?”

“Yes.
That saint without a mission was called Ellencia.”

“…My.”

Ellencia.
The name of my ancestor who possessed the same power.

What a strange coincidence.
It wasn’t reincarnation or anything like that, right?

“Well, I’ve looked into many things on my own.
But this is all I managed to find.”

“That is more than enough.
I never would have imagined this.”

“Yes, Sister Vent Electra.
If the era or circumstances had been different, you truly might have been elevated by the nation itself.
That is why you should understand that some people may consider a match between us.”

“…Yes.”

But I—

I turned my gaze to Claudius Richard beside me.

“I understand.
I have no intention of tearing you apart.
That is precisely why I wished to speak with you both today.”

“Thank you very much, Your Highness.”

“I am still investigating, but would you like me to tell you anything else I learn about Ellencia?”

“Eh.
But those are records managed by the royal family, aren’t they?”

Wouldn’t that be inappropriate?

“They are under royal management, yes, but they are not sealed forbidden texts.
The royal family merely recorded and safeguarded them.
Given that you likely share her power, and that it concerns the Vent family, I see no problem in telling you.”

“I see…”

Perhaps nothing truly happened in Ellencia’s era.

A saint without a mission.
The Vent family continues to this day.

I wondered if she had lived a happy life.

“…Actually, there is something I would like your cooperation with.”

“Cooperation?
From us?”

“Yes.
More specifically, it concerns the tournament you are organizing.”

After hearing Crown Prince Julian’s request, Claudius Richard and I looked at each other.

It wasn’t exactly shocking, but it was not something to be spoken of openly either.

Still, for me, who had broken into a cold sweat after being proposed to, it was good news.

“If that is the case, we would be happy to cooperate.
However, to be clear, we cannot show favoritism.”

“I understand.
Please make it a fair tournament worthy of the knights’ honor.
This is a personal matter for me.
It is not simply about winning.”

“…Does the other party know?”

“Who can say?
I believe it has not reached them yet.
In a sense, you and I seek the same thing.”

“That may be true.”

What we and Crown Prince Julian sought—what was necessary—was romance.
Drama.

Crown Prince Julian had his engagement annulled due to the infidelity of a neighboring kingdom’s princess.
That was why absurd ideas like pairing him with me surfaced.

If he simply entered a new engagement, it would not make for a fitting story for the next queen.
She would be seen as a woman who was conveniently married off because he had been rejected.

That would be bad for the country, for the prince, and for the future queen herself.

That was why.

Crown Prince Julian wanted to use this tournament.

In other words, he never intended to marry me in the first place.
He already had someone he wanted.

The proposal was camouflage.

To put it simply, Crown Prince Julian intended to participate in the swordsmanship tournament in disguise.
There, after fighting, he planned to make a dramatic confession to a certain young noble lady.

A knight and a princess, perhaps.

He hoped it would lead to a romantic scene.

The identity of the lady was to remain secret for now.
I hoped it would become a stage worthy of the next king and future queen.

After that discussion, Crown Prince Julian departed.

“That was… a lot to take in.”

“It was.
But we did hear the perfect name.”

“The perfect name?”

“Yes.
For the tournament.
The Holy Ellencia Swordsmanship Tournament.
What do you think?”

“My ancestor’s name.
She wasn’t exactly a saint, from the sound of it.”

“Using the name of a great figure usually requires church or royal approval.”

“…That’s true.”

The tournament was right around the corner.
Waiting for official approval wouldn’t be realistic.

Since the Crown Prince himself told us my ancestor’s name, and it sounded good, I thought it was fitting.

“We’d still be using her name without permission, though.”

Yes.
Let’s talk to Lady Katalina and the operations team.

With that thought, we returned to the annex of the ducal residence.

After gaining Lady Katalina’s approval and confirming there were no issues—

The knights’ festival was officially named the Holy Ellencia Swordsmanship Tournament.