“Daniel? You need to clean here too, you know?”
“……Seriously, can you not?”
“Ah? Is it normal for a servant to talk like that to a hand?”
As I wipe the window frame with a rag, Tana chuckles playfully. My mood isn’t great today, especially after having a bad dream this morning, and this is just adding insult to injury.
“Even in your own mansion, you have to be mindful of surveillance. Sounds like a rough life, don’t you think?”
The reason Tana and I are here cleaning the windows, despite being disguised, is simple. In the royal palace, you never know who might be watching from where.
Especially if Prince Oliver finds out I’m here, who knows what he might do? While Elise doesn’t exactly like the phrase, he is after all Elise’s brother, so I can’t predict his actions.
“He might do something beyond imagination!”
Thinking it over again, Tana’s decision to hide me under her skirt during the crisis of being found during a checkpoint was indeed brilliant.
“Imagine if some random person barged into our dorm room. Ugh, I really hate that.”
“Right…”
While wiping the windows, I subtly turn my head to look at Tana.
“Don’t you guys feel that way too?”
“Huh?”
She genuinely looks puzzled, but once I start thinking of examples, more keep popping into my head.
“You guys come barging into my room to hang out without even asking. Rin picks locks even when I lock the door, and Sen comes through the window!”
“W-Well, that’s the fate of a popular guy!”
“Is that an excuse?”
“At least me and Eve come in normally!”
“That’s something to be proud of?”
It’s like saying one person hit me once while the other hit me twice and acting like it’s different.
“……”
“What’s wrong? Are you really upset? Fine, I’ll talk to Eve about this…”
“Keep talking naturally. We might be being watched right now.”
“……!”
It was unexpected, but Tana remained calm and focused while keeping her hands busy. Not turning her gaze away, she gestured for me to keep cleaning the window while speaking differently.
“Where? Do you need help with anything?”
“Point to the toolbox over there and gesture for something to bring me.”
Tana immediately pointed with an annoyed expression towards the far toolbox. I pretended to sweat and dashed over, simultaneously disappearing from view of the window.
As soon as I moved out of sight, I sprinted up the stairs. In an instant, I reached the mansion’s rooftop and checked below. There was still a guy hiding behind a tree, spying on Tana.
“Can’t let you go free.”
It might get tricky if Prince Oliver’s men were involved, but Elise could handle it well enough.
I jumped down and landed right on the tree he was leaning against. The mansion’s height wasn’t too great thanks to Princess Ilina de Frisia’s frugality.
“W-What?!”
The tree shook violently from my landing, scattering leaves and startling the eavesdropper. Gathering mana in my feet, I jumped again without any impact and stood right in front of him.
“Are you a lackey of Prince Oliver? Sorry, but now that you’ve seen me, I can’t let you go.”
The reason I’m dressed as a servant here is mainly to move around the palace seamlessly. Even though there’s a risk of running into Prince Oliver, I’m confident I won’t be caught.
“Just stay underground for a bit. I’ll let you out later.”
As I raised my hand to knock the clumsy spy out, he fell to his knees, forehead on the ground, and shouted.
“I-I’m not with Prince Oliver; I’m with Princess Ainis!”
“Ainis?”
You mean the second princess, Elise’s sister?
The spy seemed to have no intention of hiding anything as he started spilling information I hadn’t even asked for.
“I-I’m just a servant who was ordered by Prince Oliver to watch out in case anything happens to Princess Elise…”
“Oh.”
I heard that after Princess Ilina’s death, the bond between the two remaining princesses grew stronger. It seems there’s a fear of the eldest prince’s influence reaching the youngest.
“If that’s the case, then there’s no need to worry. I’ll talk to Elise… er, I mean, Princess Elise, and inform Princess Ainis too.”
“……O-Okay.”
He gave a reluctant expression but didn’t voice any objections and quickly left. Watching his retreating figure, I sighed and was about to return to work when…
“Meeting a chosen one is always an exhilarating moment.”
I hadn’t noticed it until now. To be precise, I didn’t realize she was watching me from a tree beyond.
Her outfit didn’t look quite like the usual priestess garments, exuding a different vibe. Silver hair cascading like a constellation laying on her shoulder.
With multiple pocket watches hanging from a strap around her wrist, her hands were always near a watch, and every motion sent a distinct clink of the watches ringing out.
“I’m sorry, I must have startled you by speaking so suddenly.”
Her young appearance…
No matter how you looked at it, she seemed to be in her late twenties, yet her tone, voice, and the way she apologized held a wisdom not often seen in someone that age.
Although I was startled that I hadn’t noticed, I had already heard from Elise about her unique traits yesterday.
Because she is now, Prince Oliver’s closest aide.
“I hear you are the Priestess of Time…”
“I see you know me. It seems the princess has informed you.”
“……”
The priestess smiled kindly. As if the world was welcoming, the sunlight and leaves seemed to naturally part for her path.
Not wanting to lose my ground, I asked the question that had been on my mind since yesterday.
“What exactly is a priestess? Is it different from a saint or a nun?”
“Aah, many people wonder about that. Of course, I will explain.”
I was the one asking, but she seemed more thrilled to explain.
“Nuns and saints are those who listen to the words of God and act as their voice. They also live with a noble and sacred mission.”
“Right.”
I couldn’t exactly have an optimistic view of God.
“In contrast, a priestess exists ‘with’ the God. My will is directly aligned with theirs, hence I am called a priestess or divine.”
“……”
Are you really expecting me to believe that right now? I couldn’t help but give a look of skepticism, which made the priestess laugh heartily.
“Everyone thinks like you. I didn’t believe it at first either. But ultimately, my life has always followed their will. And it still does now.”
“Even now, you say?”
Was she serious? Her words pierced sharply, a reminder.
“Because the God has willed for us to meet, I am here, Daniel McLean. I have been waiting for an hour already.”
“Excuse me?”
You know my name?
And you anticipated that I would come?
No, more than that.
“Does that mean you were here for an hour and I didn’t realize?”
I was horrified but tried not to show it on my face.
Suddenly, one of the nicknames Elise told me about her popped into my mind.
“Avant-garde”
It means someone who has already reached the end of a path before others and is visible to those setting out, hence the title.
“Does this mean she has the power of the imprint?”
I felt a strong urge to not let her go free. Honestly, it’s been a while since I faced such a challenging opponent.
An aura flows from her back, reminiscent of those terrible ancient beasts I encountered before.
“I got too careless since it’s been a while.”
Though she concealed her power, the traits of those who can’t hide it were clearly evident in her.
But she waved her hand and smiled.
“I’m not here to fight. Please lower your guard.”
“Then why did you come?”
Why is a known aide of Prince Oliver here? She wouldn’t come just to monitor Elise; there must be another reason.
“I told you, it’s because of you, Daniel McLean. You, who has received the mercy of the Goddess of Time.”
“……”
I was momentarily speechless.
But her eyes sparkled, and she eagerly approached me, smelling me or circling around to inspect.
Then she gave me an overwhelmingly satisfied smile.
“Confirming this in person gives me even more conviction! You are the savior who will save this world! Yes, a savior!”
Are we talking about regression?
She seems to know something about ‘The Earliest Apocalypse.’
“Do you know who I am…?”
Trying to brush her off to test her, she moved closer like she was with a long-lost cousin, dropping all pretenses.
“You’ll figure that out gradually. Could a chosen one of the Goddess of Time be evil? Ah, let’s chat a lot together.”
“……Sorry, but I can’t do that. I’m going to help Princess Elise, and I hear you’re an aide of Prince Oliver. To put it bluntly, we are enemies.”
Rather than getting into a sticky situation later, I thought about ambushing her right now.
“Then I’ll abandon him.”
“……Pardon?”
She casually and firmly declared with a carefree smile.
“I’ll side with you instead of Prince Oliver. Initially, I helped him as a favor for that pitiful fool longing for assistance. Nothing more.”
“……”
“Do you have time for a moment? I have a lot to share! Ah, by the way, do you know the boy named Ares from Aios Academy? He is the savior chosen by the sun God…”
