Chapter 20: Five Seconds Before I Seriously Run Into Him

One week later, at dusk, I was riding in a carriage headed toward the Barrow baronial estate located in the center of town.

Seated across from me was Philip Barrow, the young lord of House Barrow.

Earlier that afternoon, as scheduled, a squad from the Royal Army’s monster-subjugation corps had arrived from the capital.

A modest welcome banquet was to be held at the baron’s residence, and I was being escorted there by the young lord.

…To be honest, I wasn’t thrilled.

As a disliked princess, my social circle had been extremely small, so aside from Adolphus, I had no acquaintances in the monster-subjugation corps.

There was almost no chance of meeting someone I knew, but since I was living under a hidden identity, I wanted to keep my distance from anything connected to the capital or nobility.

And since I couldn’t spend time with Lowell during the day, I wanted to be with him as much as possible at night.

I had tried to decline the invitation to the banquet, but the young lord insisted that since I would be working alongside the subjugation corps as a saint, it was necessary.

“I really will just greet the captain of the subjugation corps and then excuse myself, alright?
I want to be back before Lowell’s bedtime.”

I had already picked Lowell up from the church and left him in Dan and Hanna’s care.

Dinner and bath time would be fine, but when it comes to bedtime, he gets fussy without Mama, so I absolutely had to be back by then.

“Of course, that’s fine.
Today is just a meet-and-greet.
However, tomorrow morning we plan to hold a strategy meeting between our defense force and the monster-subjugation corps.
I’m sorry, but I’d like you to attend as well, Logy.”

“Me too?”

If it’s before the lunch rush, I suppose I could manage, but aren’t meetings like that usually for high-ranking officials?

When I say so, the young lord furrows his brow in exasperation.

“Of course.
You are an exceedingly rare saint.
A person of utmost importance to our defense force… no, to the entire Barrow barony.”

“That’s an exaggeration.”

“Sigh… Logy, you really are humble to a fault.
Frankly, for security reasons, I’d like you to move into the baronial estate.
Why not start today?
I’ll prepare the finest room for you and Lowell!”

He brushes back his hair dramatically and smoothly extends a hand toward me.

I thrust my right palm out sharply in front of my chest.

“I must decline!
Continuing my current lifestyle was one of the conditions for cooperating with the defense force!”

Lately, the young lord has been trying to close in from every direction, so I really can’t let my guard down.

I have no intention of neglecting my duties as a saint, but my life and work at the Lycoris Tavern are important to me too.

“How unfortunate,” he says with a wry smile, brushing back his hair once more.

“Well, I’ll wait patiently until you change your mind.
For now, I’ll content myself with escorting a beauty like you.”

He gives me a wink.

I respond with a strained smile.

“I feel like there’s not much to escort when I’m dressed like this…
Are you sure it’s alright for me to attend dressed this way?
Wouldn’t I be out of place at a noble’s party?”

I’m wearing my usual blouse and skirt.
Not even a dress, let alone formal attire.

I only learned about this welcome banquet after coming to work today.

Even if I had known earlier, I don’t own any formal outfits.

I’m not wearing any accessories either.

…Well, except for my wedding ring, which I wear on a chain around my neck, hidden beneath my clothes.

“It’s no problem at all.
Look, I’m not in full formal dress either.”

He says that, but he’s wearing a crisp defense force uniform, which looks quite official.

“Though if you’re concerned, we could stop by and buy—”

“No, this is perfectly fine!”

“There’s no need to hold back.
I’d gladly gift you five or even ten beautiful outfits worthy of your beauty.”

“No, thank you!”

I refuse firmly.

Seriously, I can’t relax around him lately.

“Don’t worry.
It’s not the stiff, formal sort of party you’re imagining.
Aside from me, there are no nobles in the defense force, and I hear most of the monster-subjugation corps members are commoners as well.”

“Oh, is that so?”

Hearing that eases my tension a little.

Maybe I won’t stand out too much in my everyday clothes.

“Ah, though it seems this particular squad does include a few nobles.
Especially the captain—he’s a very big name!”

“Oh?
Who is it?”

Since he sounds excited, I ask out of courtesy.

I assumed I wouldn’t recognize the name anyway.

But the answer that followed hit me like a lightning strike.

“General Duer.”

“—!”

My heart slams violently in my chest.

“Huh?
Wha…?
What did you just say?”

My mouth opens and closes uselessly before I finally force the words out.

“Y-you mean… General Duer… not, perhaps, General Adolphus Duer…?”

“You know him?
Ah, right, you used to live in the capital.
General Duer is very popular there as a young hero.”

My desperate hope that it might be someone else is crushed instantly.

“W-w-why would the general himself come all the way to this frontier!?”

I want to shake my past self from a week ago for being so complacent.

W-what do I do!?

I never planned on seeing him again, so I never thought about what kind of face I should make if we met!

“They must be taking the magical beast outbreak in our territory very seriously.
Father handled the welcoming earlier, so I haven’t met him yet myself.
I’m looking forward to it.”

“I-I think perhaps I shouldn’t meet him at all…
I’m just a humble commoner…”

My heart is pounding like crazy.

Can I just go home claiming heart palpitations?

“It’s fine.
As a saint, you’re guaranteed a status equal to nobility.
Though… I’ve heard General Duer is extremely handsome, so I’m a bit worried about letting you meet him.
Don’t fall in love at first sight, alright?”

“I w-won’t!”

There is absolutely no chance of that.

After all, this would not be our first meeting.

“And even if you did, it would only bring you heartache.
Rumor has it General Duer is devoted solely to his wife and never wavers, no matter how beautiful the woman pursuing him.”

“Oh… is that so…”

My racing heartbeat calms rapidly.

“Devoted to his wife…
So that means he’s already remarried the heroine, right…?”

It feels a bit earlier than in the original story, but perhaps with me—the biggest obstacle—gone, they reached their happy ending more smoothly.

If he’s in a blissful newlywed state, maybe he’d be lenient toward his former wife who abruptly left a signed divorce paper and disappeared.

It would be awkward to run into an ex-spouse unexpectedly, but—

“Wait… what if he doesn’t even remember my face?”

Even counting the wedding and first night, we only met a handful of times.

It’s been three years since our divorce.

Wouldn’t he have forgotten the face of a former wife he barely knew?

And my clothes and hairstyle are completely different from when I was a princess.

“Yes.
There’s definitely a chance he won’t recognize me!”

The more I thought about it, the more plausible it seemed, and somehow I managed to calm myself down.

—

There was a time when I truly believed that.

At the welcome banquet held in the baronial estate’s grand hall—

Pierced by the blue gaze of my former husband, Adolphus Duer—

I found myself like a lamb frozen under a wolf’s stare.