I sat in the carriage, which was so quiet that it almost felt lonely, and shivered with frustration.
The only people in the carriage were the Crown Prince and I, but the Crown Prince kept his mouth shut and just looked out the window, so much so that I could tell he was even breathing.
'It's already been an hour...'
Although he was not originally a talkative person, the current Crown Prince looked somewhat absent-minded.
It seems that Count Guss's case was quite shocking.
'Well, that makes sense.'
Although he ended up with the dishonor of being a heretic elder, he was a nobleman with a very noble spirit in the past.
A man who dedicated his only daughter to the goddess without any tricks, believing that the feelings of nobles and commoners alike in sending off their children are the same.
And yet, there was a sense of holiness in the man who said that all he wished for was for his people to be free from their terrible suffering and for the empire to regain peace.
After realizing the truth about the closed-door system, such a person betrayed the goddess he had served so faithfully and became an elder of heresy, so the Crown Prince could not help but feel heavy-hearted.
'But that's not the Crown Prince's fault.'
As someone who knew that the Crown Prince had been imprisoned for opposing the abolition of royal tombs, I could not help but feel sorry for him.
So I deliberately spoke in a cheerful voice.
“Oh my, it’s pretty hot today. Is summer coming soon?”
But the Crown Prince still stared out the window and did not answer.
'Why is it so hard to give an answer, embarrassing people?'
Tsk, I clicked my tongue and rolled my eyes as I thought of another topic.
And soon after, I remembered something I had been wondering about all along.
“Oh, by the way, Your Highness. When I was being strangled by the Count.”
Fortunately, this time, there was a response.
The Crown Prince finally turned his gaze towards me.
'Yew!'
I was secretly delighted and quickly continued the conversation before the Crown Prince lost interest.
“How did you return to your original form then? I said I returned because of that holy relic or something, but that’s not what you do. What on earth did you do?”
I asked with a look of genuine curiosity, but the Crown Prince just stared at me without saying a word.
'What, why are you taking so long?'
It was at that moment that I, whose curiosity was at its peak because the answer did not come out right away, was about to pester the Crown Prince again.
“I don’t know. I just wished for it so badly that it came true.”
"...what?"
What the hell are you talking about?
After staying in the den of heresy for a few days, did you absorb some of the heretics' abilities?
I looked at him with eyes filled with absurdity, but the Crown Prince's expression remained serious.
“Well, maybe it was a miracle brought about by desperation. I don’t know why I was so desperate.”
No, you keep saying some kind of riddle.
People's clothes are bursting.
It was at that moment that I, who was feeling frustrated and beating my chest, was about to ask, 'What on earth is that earnest desire?'
The Crown Prince frowned and placed a hand on his stomach.
“What’s wrong? Are you hurt somewhere?”
My heart sank as this was the first time I had seen the Crown Prince so openly show his discomfort.
That would be the case since he had fought dozens of assassins alone.
Of course, the assassins fell without touching a single hair on the Crown Prince, but you never know.
“Is your stomach uncomfortable? Your clothes are still fine, so I don’t think it’s a cut... Did you strain your muscles because you overworked yourself? Let me take a look.”
I grabbed his collar with a worried heart.
The fact that the owner of the collar was the Crown Prince and that the Crown Prince was a man was completely forgotten.
But unlike me, the Crown Prince, who was maintaining his sanity, hurriedly blocked my hand.
“What are you doing!”
He looked very surprised, as if he hadn't answered.
“No, I was just worried that it might have been a big hit...”
As I blinked in embarrassment and started making excuses, he finally relaxed his stiff body and spoke with a sigh.
“You don’t have to worry. There’s nothing wrong with my body.”
“Looking at your expression just now, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with you. Let me take a closer look. If it’s uncomfortable for me to look at you, stop the carriage for a moment and tell Sir Arthur...”
“I wasn’t really hurt.”
The Crown Prince cut me off firmly and then added in a crawling voice.
“It just tickled.”
“...Huh?”
I was quite flustered by the unexpected symptoms.
“No, why are you making such an uncomfortable expression that it’s ticklish...”
“I feel very uncomfortable. I feel like I’m going crazy right now, so please step away.”
The expression on the Crown Prince's face as he spoke like that looked extremely perplexed.
As if I were the cause of that ticklishness.
“I don’t know why the sparks are flying towards me. What does it have to do with me feeling ticklish in Your Highness’s stomach?”
I grumbled in bewilderment.
But compared to the answer that came back soon, the absurdity I felt now was nothing.
“Why is it not related? Who is this feeling of shame caused by?”
“...It’s because of me?”
“...Every time I see your face, my stomach feels ticklish.”
“No, what is that...”
I'm not carrying any infectious disease, so why does your stomach itch just by looking at my face?
I burst out laughing because I was so shocked, but I couldn't help but agree with what he said next.
“I think I have an allergy. An allergy to cats.”
Oh, that was the cause.
Of course, now that I was back to my original form, I still wondered what seeing a face had to do with developing an allergy, but well, there was also the psychological effect.
I could only apologize.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t know Your Highness was allergic to cats. Next time I have to transform, I’ll turn into a dog.”
He let out a small laugh as if he was taken aback by the not-so-subtle apology, but then his expression hardened again.
“If possible, I would like you to refrain from stepping forward yourself. Haven’t you been in dangerous situations several times today? This time, you got through it safely, but there’s no guarantee that it won’t happen again. Please take better care of yourself.”
I nodded unconditionally to those words.
“Of course. It’s an order from the master who saved my life three times, so I must follow it unconditionally. Don’t worry. I won’t do anything rash again. Loyalty, loyalty.”
When I playfully saluted with my lips wide open, the Crown Prince burst into laughter again.
But judging by the way his lips were hanging loosely, he didn't look particularly upset.
So we looked at each other and laughed for a long time.
***
Upon arriving in the capital, we immediately reported the situation to the Pope and the Emperor.
“Huh, so Count Guds really was the elder of the heretics?”
“How could this happen!”
They couldn't hide their shock.
He was astonished once by the fact that Count Guss, who had been so faithful, was an elder of the heretics, twice by the fact that he had gone completely unaware of such a large-scale heresy until now, and three times by the power of the heretic's holy relic.
“Is it true that this paper suppressed the power of the Saintess and changed her appearance?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
The Pope, who was looking at the bell I handed him with a serious expression, furrowed his brow.
“Hmm, I sense an ominous aura. Who on earth would make something like this...”
“According to the Count, this bell contains the power of the heretic goddess Ibis. If someone could create something like this, they must be no ordinary person.”
“First of all, I will keep this bell in the temple. Since it is a sensitive matter, I will have to research it myself.”
He put down the bell with a short sigh and opened his mouth again.
“By the way, you two have worked very hard. You even risked your lives to go undercover.”
“Yes, thank you for your hard work.”
The Emperor also agreed with a satisfied expression.
“I thought it was some kind of coincidence that news of the disaster stopping was simultaneously coming from all over the empire, but it turned out to be thanks to my son and the Saintess dealing with the heresy.”
“The disaster... has stopped?”
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