Always look ahead~

"Sir Zane, I would like to…"

"Do you have any idea how idiotic you are?"

The blond-haired cardinal spoke up but was immediately interrupted by furious Zane.

"This is your idea of opening negotiations?! You believe I am the champion of your goddess, and somehow, the first thing you do is insult and slander my cherished person?!"

"?!?!"

The monstrous servant growled, bearing his triangular fangs while glaring down at the member of the church who cowered while his knights stepped up to the furious Zane, raising their hands meekly, trying to calm him down without showing any signs of aggression.

"B-but…! We have over a dozen witnesses swearing that she used some sort of ability to charm you and…!"

"WHAT FUCKING CHARM ABILITY!? MELINDA IS A PURE-BLOOD FENRIOETTE! HER BLOODLINE, NO MATTER HOW DILUTED, HAS EITHER GARGANTUAN OR NO ABILITY AT ALL! DO YOUR RESEARCH BEFORE SPOUTING NONSENSE LIKE THAT!"

Kelas cowered, trying to explain himself, but that only caused Zane to lash out at him at the top of his lungs.

"...haaaaaa…"

The monstrous servant breathed out, closing his eyes before taking a few deep breaths to calm down.

"I do admit that in my backstory... I mean, in my childhood, I was considered one of the candidates for the goddess Perseverance champion. That was in Diamondium Kingdom, which isn't as invested in the faith as your Empire. But. As you can see. A lot of things happened to me that resulted in the appearance you see before you."

The monstrous young man sighed, spreading his arms to the sides, almost touching two opposite walls of the large office.

"Explain to me what makes you immediately label me as the goddess's chosen champion. If it makes a semblance of sense to me, we could cooperate... and hopefully fix the mess you just created."

Zane opened his eyes and declared, trying to figure out how things got to that spot in the first place.

After all, back in the game, it was impossible to access the Emeraldios empire aside for a few highly restricted occasions so a scenario about being the champion of the goddess Perseverance has never been a possibility for him. That was the heroine's role after all.

Alas, it would have been a blatant lie to say Zane wasn't even a bit curious about it...

"You see…"

Relieved at Zane's change, Cardinal Kelas let out a relieved sigh and began his explanation earnestly.

******

"My lady! I am so sorry! It's all my…!"

"No, Adi, everything's fine~"

The brown-haired maid was sobbing while trotting after Melinda, but the gold-haired girl turned right around, grabbed her hand, and assured her while leaning on her shoulder.

"B-but…!"

"I'm serious, listen."

Adrianna sniffled, completely unconvinced, but Melidna shook her head and spoke up.

"Think about it. They clearly told us that the affairs of our countries won't suffer from this. No war or anything. I basically just received a scolding and was told to pack my things. That's not something to cry about."

"W-well, yeas… but, my lady, your plan…"

The gold-haired girl pointed out with a reassuring smile, but the maid still sniffled, unable to look her in the eye.

"Psh! Yeah, the plan was nice, but it wasn't perfect or foolproof. And if anything, the Duke will be very happy having me back in the kingdom. If we play things right, you actually might get another rise out of it!"

Melinda scoffed, waving her hand dismissively.

"My lady… you… you're not mad at me…?"

Arianna clenched Melinda's hand and asked as her chin trembled.

"Adiiiiiii! Of course not!"

The gold-haired girl called out, stopping and hugging the devastated maid.

Melinda felt especially bad about Adrianna crying, considering that the whole plan about making the crown prince appreciate her while she was gone was only a facade for her to get away from the potentially dangerous Brylant Academy and train in peace just in case.

Melinda couldn't care less about the crown prince, especially since she was planning to find the best legal way to ditch him and pursue official relationship with Zane.

The only thing that remain was to figure out was what path to take back in Diamondium's Kingdom...

Would labeling the return as a failure on Melinda's part would allow her the chance to take the blame and offer breaking off the engagement with Ester as a self-imposed punishment?

If things worked out in that way, Melinda could even end up shunned by other nobles and essentially be left to her own devices~!

Of course the aristorcrats would talk behind her back, but why should she care? It wasn't like she the future of the Fenrioette family depended on her.

That was Lazurii's role after all~

Oh~! Maybe she could act out being so deeply ashamed of herself that she would leave the main house and seek isolation in some faraway region?

Silveria could be a nice place, perfect for a fun time exile. They even had the ruins of an ancient Draconids' city she could explore within their borders~!

"We will figure something out no matter where we are~!"

"Th-thank you, my lady…"

Melinda said, proudly puffing out her chest, and Adrianna sniffled - feeling a bit better unaware about the plans her lady was coming up one after another and still suspecting that the gold-haired girl had said all of that so that she wouldn't blame herself.

"Oh. But, since we are leaving… do you mind helping me with one little thing?"

Sudeenly, it seemed that Melinda came up with another idea, flinched and looked to the side, sounding rather sinister…

"Wh-what could I do to help, my lady?"

Adrianna felt a bit suspicious, but she also didn't want to bring down Melinda's mood after she showed her so much support.

"Since I don't want to destroy anything, could you quickly carry me out of the city and then back? You know, before we get to packing our things?"

The gold-haired girl asked while looking out of the window towards the sky.

"I… I can do that…"

"Great~!"

Adrianna gulped down her saliva and nodded hesitantly, making Melinda cheer out while grinning ominously…