Volume 3 Chapter 5 Part 1 (1/2)

Volume 3 Chapter 5 Part 1

Translator: nobunaganochef Editor: Queenie

All in all, for someone accustomed to wiling away their time lounging at their manor, it was a day both thrilling and stressful. That day was an altogether peculiar day that I would never have anticipated.

「It has been quite a long time since we last paid a visit to the orphanage,」muttered His Highness Klanven as he sat wedged between myself and that man. The carriage we were riding—which was used by the priests of the great shrine to get themselves around—was piled high with treats and candies.

Yes, this was the day’s event—paying a sympathy call to the orphans. It seems that no matter what world you live in, there will always be children without parents. Parents who died in accidents, or killed by monsters, or they abandon the children for economic reasons. There are countless reasons, but it was customary in this world for these orphans to be taken to an orphanage that was run jointly by the great shrine and the royal palace.

It is not as if every parentless child is brought there, but there are more than a few cases of so-called ‘street children’ that are taken into their care—not unlike Klanven himself when he was a child. In any case, the orphanage is thought of in the same way as the great shrine, as a place where the doors are open to everyone without prejudice. It was His Highness Klanven’s official duty that day to visit the orphanage.

No hint of a smile played up His Highness’ lips, but even so, he appeared somehow more cheerful than usual. I could not help but to ask him about it.

「Does his grace like children?」I inquired.

「Not in particular. I neither like nor dislike them. I was just thinking that this is far preferable to dealing with the onerous preparations for the High Festival.」

「…is that so?」I couldn’t help but think that, considering his position, he probably ought to just lie and say he likes them, but perhaps I am wrong. It did not seem like a line fit to be uttered by someone accorded the great honor of being master of ceremonies for the high festival, and on top of all that, the next in line to become the High Priest. I was mildly bewildered, but I said nothing further, and allowed my body to relax into the back and forth sway of the carriage.

Since that last incident, His Highness Klanven had not been faced with any sort of crisis situation where his life was in danger. Just as I was musing to myself how it would be nice if nothing else drastic were to happen prior to the festival, the swaying of the carriage came to a halt.

「Ah, it seems we have arrived」His Highness Klanven said as the coachman opened the carriage door for him from the outside. That man, His Highness Klanven and then myself exited the carriage one by one. As I set foot to the ground, excited voices cried out. Several children with their eyes wide and beaming with excitement were staring at us.

Klanven looked at the audience and said,「I see we have kept you waiting. Thank you for allowing us to pay you a visit.」

A refined older woman took a step forward from amidst the children. She faced His Highness Klanven and bowed to him deeply. It seemed that this woman was the director of the orphanage.

His Highness Klanven nodded to her cooly and gestured toward the coachman unloading the boxes of treats from the carriage.

「These are…」

His Highness Klanven smiled faintly at the woman as her eyes widened in surprise.

「…these are just a little something I thought would make the children feel better. I made sure that there was enough prepared for everybody, so please do not be concerned. Shall we hand them out?」

「Well, we are terribly grateful. Children! Say ‘thank you’ to His Highness Klanven.」

Upon hearing the director’s word, the children energetically and sincerely blurted out in unison 「Thank you very much!」 The sight of the children eagerly waiting in barely contained anticipation for the candy to be distributed caused me to let slip a small smile.

The children politely lined up in front of us and His Highness Klanven and I began passing out bags filled with candy. That man, who most certainly could not have failed to notice the children looking expectantly at him, made no move to distribute any candy. He merely stood by Klanven’s side. As I patted the head of a little girl who gleefully received some candy from me, I thought to myself, couldn’t he act a little nicer seeing as this was a special event for the children? After we had passed something out to everyone, there was still candy left in the box. His Highness had mentioned earlier that he had made sure to bring a lot, so I suppose it wasn’t that surprising.

Seeing that our work was done, I let out a sigh, but as I did so that man standing near Klanven pointed at a tree growing in the garden of the orphanage.

「What about that child?」 he said. At his words, all eyes shifted in the direction he was pointing at. A young girl of about seven or eight wearing a hat pulled low over her face was hiding behind the tree.

「Oh, heavens,」 the director muttered in exasperation, before beckoning to the girl with her hands. 「Liliana, Liliana! Come here!」

「…」