Chapter 2: The Gods’ Commentary and Blessing

Ever since the gods had begun their play-by-play and analysis, my Lieselotte had become unbearably cute.

“Betrothed though we may be,” she said, “may I ask you to refrain from so casually touching me in public?”

We were in the dining hall at lunchtime, the day after the courtyard episode. Although Lieselotte had just coldly chastised me, the gods’ breakdown left me struggling to hold back a laugh.

“Despite what she says, the cracks are showing in Lieselotte’s face! Why can’t she be honest and cutely accept it?!”

“Liese-tan’s a tsundere, after all. The thorns come out when she passes her embarrassment threshold,” Lady Kobayashee said. “However, I’d like to point out that she’s basically saying she’d be fine with skinship behind closed doors.”

Lieselotte’s expression was indeed closer to flustered than angry. “Does that mean you won’t mind if it’s just the two of us?” I asked, channeling my stifled laughter into a smile. She turned beet red and instantly went silent.

“Critical hit! Lieselotte’s too busy skipping heartbeats to say a word!”

“What a fine play from Sieg! The mood is so sickly sweet, I just feel bad we keep wrapping Fiene up in it.”

I tilted my head at Lady Kobayashee’s statement. Fiene was in fact present, but I didn’t know what Lady Kobayashee meant by “wrapping her up in it.”

After thinking on it more, I noticed that my first encounter with the gods had been in the presence of Fiene. What was more, I had only begun hearing their voices again today when I had entered the dining hall, where Fiene was already seated. Finally, I had heard nothing from the heavens when Lieselotte had come to greet me this morning.

Rarely, there were cases of people being blessed by the gods, and perhaps Fiene was one of them. My family’s ability was also said to be something the Goddess Lirenna had bestowed upon us generations ago.

Maybe Fiene’s strength originated from Lord Endoh and Lady Kobayashee’s blessings; as a result, they were constantly by her side. I continued fleshing out my theories until I heard the goddess mutter to herself.

“Man, I wish we could go stick ourselves onto Liese-tan. And if we really are gods, I wanna give her some kind of divine blessing... Whoa?!”

That very instant, a pillar of light shot down from the heavens directly on top of Lieselotte.

“Eek!” she squealed. The shimmering rays looked warm and gentle as they enveloped her. Her honey hair and fair skin soaked up the light and glowed until the brightness faded.

“Huh? What? Huh?” Lieselotte mumbled to herself in confusion as she looked herself over.

“What was that?”

“She glowed!”

“Lady Lieselotte was sparkling!”

“Was that magic?”

Uh-oh. At present, the better part of the student body was here in the dining hall. Lieselotte was the daughter of a marquis, the crown prince’s fiancée, and a gorgeous beauty; she attracted enough attention as it was. This miraculous event sent waves of chatter through the entire student population.

I stood up from my seat and spoke loudly from the bottom of my gut.

“As of this moment, the goddess Lady Kobayashee has blessed Lieselotte with her divine favor!” ...I think. I wasn’t too certain myself, but I made my declaration with confidence to quell everyone’s fears. Surely I’m right. I really think that’s what happened. I’m not wrong, am I?

“Yay, the camera’s on Liese-tan! Does this mean I managed to give her my blessing? That has to be it. Liese-tan was sparkling earlier!”

Lady Kobayashee’s cheerful voice brought an end to my unease. Good, I think I got it. I didn’t know what a “camera” was, but the goddess’s speculation lined up with my own, so I decided not to think about it any more.

“We’ve been looking in on your world through Fiene up until now, but our perspective just switched to follow Lieselotte. I’m not sure if we gave her any, like, power, but I think we’ll be watching over her from now on. Best regards.”

Ah, I see. I secretly nodded at Lord Endoh’s calm explanation as I stared at Lieselotte. She was clenching and unclenching her fist to confirm the power the goddess had bestowed upon her.

“Th-The goddess chose to bless me,” she said in awe. She trembled as she spoke, and the joyful tears that were on the verge of forming in her amethyst eyes filled me with secondhand happiness.

There were records—both in our kingdom and nations abroad—of individuals whose divine favor had blessed them with astonishing powers. That is to say, it was an event rare enough to leave a record of. Lieselotte receiving a goddess’s blessing meant more than an increase in her potential: she now held serious political and theological sway.

“I knew you were special, Lady Lieselotte! How wonderful it is to see the future queen of our kingdom receive a divine blessing!” One of Lieselotte’s friends lauded her with teary eyes. Once she began clapping, the whole cafeteria slowly joined in until I could only hear thunderous applause.

Surrounded by roaring cheers, Lieselotte blushed a deep red. Yet she still straightened her back and smiled elegantly, addressing the crowd with a curtsy. I expected no less.

“The words ‘future queen’ instantly turned Lieselotte’s face bright red! You might as well marry her on the spot, Prince!”

Huh? Is that why she’s blushing? Lord Endoh’s statement threatened to turn my tender smile into a full-blown smirk. I had to cover my mouth to prevent anyone else noticing.

“That’s right. The root cause behind every one of Liese-tan’s actions is her love for Sieg.”

By the gods, my fiancée’s adorability is just too much. I moved to turn my swelling emotion into words of celebration, but I froze in my tracks when I heard the gods begin another discussion.

“By the way, since I managed to bless Lieselotte, doesn’t that mean you can bless someone too, Endo?”

“You think so? Well, Sieg’s the only one that’ll hear me if I fail, so I might as well try. In that case, I choose...Baldur! I wanna bless him!”

As soon as Lord Endoh finished speaking, another pillar of light beamed straight at Baldur Riefenstahl, who was sitting a short distance away from me. This pillar was more forceful than Lady Kobayashee’s, and it quickly zipped into him like a bolt of lightning.

“Huh?! Wh-Why me?” he asked, baffled.

Baldur was Lieselotte’s cousin. He hailed from a branch barony of her family, and was in his second year at the academy. He’d already begun serving as an official knight-in-training. His short hair was a darker blond than my fiancée’s and his eyes were a deep blue. While he was usually a man of few words, even he couldn’t conceal his surprise at this startling development.

“For real? Why’d you pick Baldur? Endo, are you a Bal fan?”

“I mean... It’s more that he comes in second in the dying-ness rankings. I figured if I could power him up or something with a blessing, then I should.”

“Ah, gotcha.”

Their conversation was too sophisticated for me to comprehend. As I stood puzzled with my head to one side, Lady Kobayashee offered me an explanation.

“Oh, Sieg. Bal was fated to die trying to protect Fiene from a powerful enemy that shows up at the academy. Endo blessed him with strength so we can avoid that. Would you mind telling Bal to stick with Fiene as much as he can, at least when they’re here at school?”

“Baldur,” I declared, heading straight for the man in question, “the god known as Lord Endoh has blessed you with his favor.” I delivered the news with as much dignity as I could muster, but his muddled expression didn’t budge.

“But why me? Surely the gods didn’t tack me on as an afterthought to Liese. Is something going to happen to House Riefenstahl?”

Despite our projected marriage, I couldn’t call my fiancée by any nicknames; meanwhile, Baldur did, as the two of them had been raised like siblings. I was surprised to find myself upset at that fact, but hid my emotions as I shook my head and began speaking once more.

“Baldur, the truth is, Miss Fiene is going to confront a dangerous foe that even she will struggle to combat, right here at this very academy. Protect her, and protect yourself—that is what Lord Endoh has given you this power for. From here on, you are to stay by her side as much as possible when the two of you are on campus.”

Still a bit lost, I figured that I at least had the general outline down as I carefully chose my words. In response, Baldur’s eyes opened wide.

“You mean to say Miss Fiene—the Miss Fiene—is going to struggle in combat?!” he shouted.

Unable to believe my statement, his voice had begun to tremble. The students around us also stirred uneasily at the news. A single nod from me caused Baldur’s tone to shift.

“An enemy of unimaginable power is soon to appear at the academy. The gods have blessed Liese with the strength to protect you, and me with the power to shield Miss Fiene. Is my understanding correct?” he asked gravely.

I think he’s a tiny bit off, but whatever. I kept a straight face and nodded back, as solemn as he was.

“It’s less about protecting and more about us personally hoping that they’ll stick together, but... Well, I’m sure it’ll all work out.”

Apparently, it was all going to work out. I quietly breathed a sigh of relief at Lady Kobayashee’s conclusion.

“I feel like the fact that the popular crown prince is the only one who can hear us is making us seem more and more magnificent than we really are...”

I’m sorry, Lord Endoh. I gave a tiny nod to the heavens in apology. Still, the two of them truly were outstanding beings to be revered, so I didn’t think it was a misunderstanding of any kind.

“Man, I guess Fiene really is a gorilla.”

Lord Endoh’s final offhand remark was dripping with legitimate disappointment. I was impressed at my own ability to maintain composure when I managed to power through without bursting into laughter. Hm, maybe I do control my facial expressions too tightly.

“Fiene really is a gorilla.” The statement hardly seemed fit to describe a young schoolgirl—especially the dainty and cute Fiene—but she was certainly as strong as a gorilla.

Ever since our entrance exams, her grades in practical combat had been top-of-the-line. She surpassed the first-year Lieselotte, who’d been born to a martial family and diligently polished her skills; me, one of the top students in the third year; and Baldur, who could keep his own against full-fledged knights.

In fact, there wasn’t a single person at this school who could best her. Honestly, I worried that there would only be a handful of knights among the royal guard who could hope to match her. Her combat ability was outlandish—so much so that it made up for her abysmal grades in the classroom.

“Your Highness Prince Siegwald.”

While I’d been zoning out and thinking about Fiene’s monstrous strength, Lieselotte and Baldur had moved from being a little ways away to right next to me. They both knelt and bowed their heads. I only noticed thanks to Lieselotte calling my name, and I straightened my posture in a panic (but of course, in a way so that no one would realize I hadn’t been ready).

“We of House Riefenstahl hereby swear to dutifully use this divine blessing for the crown, the kingdom, and for you.”

The two of them spoke in tandem as they offered their devotions.

“I thank you. However, make sure not to push yourselves too hard.” My words were met with an ever deepening bow. The Riefenstahls were originally a military family, and these two were especially serious.

I took a long look at them both. Their family’s long history of producing warriors had left them with impressive physiques. Baldur was a well-built man nearing 190 centimeters, and Lieselotte was quite tall for a woman.

The length of her slender arms, legs, and perfectly straight back only heightened her beauty, but she herself was troubled by her height.

Her exact measurements remained a mystery, but even with high heels, her gaze remained slightly lower than mine. Since I was 181 centimeters, that meant she wasn’t that tall. Personally, I thought her proportions were stunning.

“Baldur aside, it’s a bit embarrassing that I have to be protected by her,” I mused.

Nobody heard my faint whispers. They were swallowed up by the roaring cheers that followed the two Riefenstahls’ proclamation of loyalty.

I think I might start training a bit more.

————

“Heya, Sieg. I heard you recently hit on that first-year commoner girl, and the Riefenstahl princess blew up on you.” We were nearly a month into the new semester, and these were the first words my long-time friend said to me, after returning from a lengthy trip.

“Here I was, ready to welcome you back, but it sounds like your intel is old, Art. I’ll admit Lieselotte and I had a small misunderstanding, but we’ve resolved it. Everything is going swimmingly between us.”

Seeing me answer with a grin, he seemed a tad surprised but quickly regained his smile. My schoolmate and friend Art’s full name was Artur Richter. Despite what his lax behavior might lead you to believe, he was actually from a count family. Born in the same year, we’d been friends since childhood.

“Honestly,” I said without thinking, “you sure are as flashy as ever.”

Art lightly shrugged and glanced up at his hair—that’s right, his hair. It was downright gaudy. His pink-gold hair was extremely long for a man, and the loosely tied bundle went down to his waist. Not only that, but the ends of his hair were dyed crimson. He was a walking assault on the eyes.

Speaking of, his eyes were a common hazel, but his eyelashes were so impressive that I expected them to sound like two brooms brushing against one another. The rest of his facial features combined to be excessively handsome too. The very act of looking at him while we spoke tired out my eyes.

“And you’re so shiny that you look fake, just like always!” Art said with a brilliant smile. After being the subject of my stares for a while, it was his turn to return the favor.

I doubted I could be referred to as “shiny,” but my platinum-blond hair was nearly white and my eyes were golden. I had to concede that my appearance had a bright hue to it.

“Well, I’m glad to see neither of us have changed much,” he said.

I nodded emotionally. I was admittedly glad to see him return to the royal academy safe and sound. Truth be told, having someone who would talk to me this casually despite my position as crown prince was something to be grateful for.

Count Richter had been awarded his title by the royal family, but the Richter bloodline had many cases of divine blessings in its history. As a result, they enjoyed high privileges in the Church.

In fact, the top religious authority in our nation was Art’s father’s elder sister—in other words, his aunt. Art himself had great talents in healing and supporting magic, and had begun working as a priest before even graduating. He’d taken a leave from school to help rebuild part of the western reach after a horrible flood.

The Church kept the state and its politics at an arm’s length, and Art was all but certain to forsake his counthood to succeed his aunt’s position in the future. Unlike almost everyone else at the academy, he and his family were not direct subjects of the crown. This meant he had no need to suck up to me; Artur Richter’s unique position let him and I stand on equal footing.

“So, how is Fiene, really?” he asked, putting his arm around my shoulder. “I heard she’s super cute. Oh, I know! Did you take her in as your mistress?”

I glared at him as hard as I could for his vulgar question. “Of course not. I would never take in a mistress—I’m not you.”

Art was plainly shocked by my low tone and menacing stare. A shiver ran down his spine.

With how likely his future position of heavenly devotion was, Art had no arranged marriage. His family had given him permission to do as he pleased, within reason. The Church allowed for marriage, but there were all sorts of restrictions: for example, a priest could only marry a priestess. Furthermore, if he were to receive some divine blessing in the future, his god could forbid him from taking a wife.

That being said, he used his situation to earn quite the name for himself as he played around with every widow and popular waitress he came across. I was in a position of far greater responsibility. More importantly, I didn’t want to be unfaithful to Lieselotte.

“Whoa, chill. Have you always been the type to get this genuinely angry?” Eventually, Art spoke up as if he’d seen something inexplicable.

Now that you mention it...I feel like I wasn’t always this way. Still, it wouldn’t do to cause any more misunderstandings with Lieselotte, so I was satisfied with my actions. A jealous Lieselotte was cute, but I would never want to make her legitimately sad.

“L-Look, the whole mistress thing was just a joke! Fiene’s got the same specialties as me, right? Auntie and the rest of the Church bigwigs ordered me to check her out and try my best to have her join us. Would you mind introducing me to her?”

Oh, so that’s what he’s after. It all finally clicked. True enough, Fiene had an affinity for healing and supporting magic. However, the question of whether she and Artur Richter had the same specialties left me at a loss for words.

“I guess, technically, you might be kind of the same?” The way I tilted my head drew a dubious look from Art. “Um, well, how do I put this? Miss Fiene is significantly more...adept at offense than you are.”

I carefully picked every word. It just made his confusion worse.

“Huh? What does that even mean? I thought she didn’t have any capacity for offensive magic, just like me.”

That was correct. Neither Art nor Fiene could use the sorts of aggressive spells that manipulated fire or water. In that sense, their talents were aligned. But the way they used their magic was, well...

“You’ll understand when you see her in action yourself. Come with me and I’ll introduce you to her.”

I gave up on explaining. I simply smiled and brought the conversation to a close. No one would ever believe the truth unless they witnessed it with their own two eyes. Instead, I chose to take the befuddled Art over to Fiene.

“I think it’d be best for you to experience her abilities firsthand in a real bout. You can pair up with either me or Baldur to face her,” I suggested. Art’s showy hair swayed gently as he hurried to catch up to me, and he peered at me curiously.

“No, no, no, hold on. We’re fighting two-on-one? Plus, if you and I team up, I don’t think we’d lose to anyone. Honestly, I’m not that confident that I could link up with Baldur Riefenstahl, but think about it: normally, bolstering that guy with my magic would obviously be overkill.”

Without a good reply, I merely cocked my head in response. Art was right—thinking normally, this was going too far.

Baldur specialized in channeling magic through his blade. Although his attacks were deadly, he was lacking in everything else. The finer details of restoration, defense, and supporting an ally were lost on him. But Art was a master of “everything else,” and the two would surely be great fits for each other.

I myself was more of an all-rounder with few distinctive fortes, but Art and I had impeccable synergy.

Either way, one would normally think that these combinations would be taking things too far; we would be up against a first-year, and a girl at that.

“But you’d instantly die if you were on your own,” I said with intentional nonchalance. Beside me, I could see Art reach the height of his confusion.

I wanted him to experience Miss Fiene’s terrifying strength head-on, not from the sidelines. In order to let him do so without instantly dying, my options were limited. This two-on-one fight was by no means overkill, but I knew he wouldn’t believe me if I told him that. Truthfully, I wouldn’t have believed it either.

“Fiene uses healing magic...right?” Art nervously asked after mulling over what I’d told him.

The magic she employed was primarily of the healing and supporting variety—there was no denying that. I nodded.

“Well, you’ll understand when you see her fight,” I said, abandoning my explanation there.

————

Miss Fiene’s fighting style was, in a word, unique.

First, most supporting mages cast enhancement spells on their frontline companions; Fiene used them on herself. With her terrifyingly deep well of mana, she raised her physical abilities through the roof and began punching. She punched, punched, sometimes kicked, and punched some more. Oh, she got in at a good angle there.

“Fiene’s a DPS healer!” Lord Endoh said.

“Wow, she sure is destructive. Where, oh where did the sweet and protectable heroine go?” Lady Kobayashee asked.

The Voices of the Gods rang out as I watched Art and Baldur duke it out with Fiene from the sidelines. The gods were completely right—Fiene was a menace. I didn’t think she could be considered a healer. At least, she wasn’t anything like Art.

Even now, Fiene’s flame-bound fists were rapidly beating Baldur into a corner. Her magical fire wasn’t particularly strong, but each blow was absurdly weighty. Baldur seemed to be taking a lot of damage.

Art had been knocked out long ago. Fiene had slipped right past Baldur to get up to Art’s chest and had landed a clean uppercut to end him. She made great use of her speed and small frame to clean up most of her fights.

“Hrgh! I surrender!” Once the effect of Art’s supporting magic began to wane, Baldur conceded the match.

“So strong! Fiene’s a tough one!”

“Boy, isn’t she a little too strong? I get the feeling she’s different from the game.”

I listened to the gods speak while I blankly watched Fiene and Baldur shake hands to honor one another’s ability. Oh, I should probably go heal Art.

“Hey, are you okay?”

“Uh, yeah... Maybe?” My spell brought him back to consciousness, but Art remained in a daze. He began casting restoration magic on himself and continued speaking after a short pause. “Let me just double check—the one pulling all those crazy movements was that little first-year lady, right? It was Fiene?”

“No doubt about it. By the way, you might not have been able to see it, but she knocked you out with a striking uppercut.”

I decided that Art could tend to his own wounds and stopped casting my spell. He grew excited and almost seemed happy at my words.

“That was a fist? For real? I remember something super heavy and super painful striking my jaw. It snapped my consciousness so fast that I couldn’t even start healing myself before I was out cold. And you’re telling me that was a cute, tiny girl’s fist? Whoa. Holy moly. I didn’t even know you could do that.”

“DPS healers are a pretty common archetype in games, and I’m sure other people in this world have thought of doing it themselves. But we can see from Fiene’s stats that her physical abilities are just bonkers. They say strength comes from the fundamentals, but I’m curious to know how she trained to be this strong.”

Art’s admiration was followed by Lady Kobayashee’s analysis. As an aside, Fiene was similar to Art in the fact that they both excelled in self-restoration. There was a record of her confronting a band of villains before entering the academy, where she had had her arm cut off. Apparently, she’d reattached it on the spot and fought the assailants off.

Seriously, what kind of training could lead to someone doing that?

“That’s amazing! Forget the Church’s orders, I’m genuinely interested in her now! I’ll be right back!” The priest was already back at full health and he energetically jumped up, then made his way over to Fiene and Baldur.

As I watched the three of them exchange praise for their duel, a question arose in my mind. For me to hear the two deities speak, Lieselotte had to be around. Yet I didn’t see her anywhere. Why was that?

According to the gods, Fiene had originally been the main character of the “game.” As a result, they had only been able to see the things revolving around her until the day they had awarded their blessings.

Once Lady Kobayashee had granted Lieselotte her favor, they were meant to be clinging to her. However, even after the duel had ended and things had settled down, Lieselotte was nowhere to be seen. I looked to and fro, only for Lord Endoh and Lady Kobayashee to clear up my confusion.

“If you’re looking for Lieselotte, she’s hiding in the shade of the northern topiary while keeping an eye on the courtyard.”

“Rather, Liese-tan’s not really looking at the courtyard, but at Sieg. From what she was muttering to herself while staring at him, we can reason that she was worried about him and Fiene getting along when she’s not around. Her plan seems to be to sneak a peek to confirm the truth.”

What the heck? That’s way too cute. I wasn’t even alone; Art and Baldur were here with me. What was more, the two of them were practically fighting over Fiene!

Lady Kobayashee’s insight on Lieselotte’s continued concealment made me want to squirm. I thought she might appear if I called out to the others and pretended not to know she was there. But all it took was a single step in their direction.

“My, what a terrific ruckus you all are causing. I could hear your hollering all the way from the study room I was in,” Lieselotte said with a flick of her luxurious golden locks.

“What happened to the investigation, Lieselotte?! This is way too soon to be losing patience!”

Lord Endoh was right on the mark.

“What’s more, Liese-tan made it sound like she just so happened to hear the commotion, but that’s a lie. She went straight to Sieg as soon as class ended, but saw him talking to Art and decided to follow them until she found a chance to join in. She kept missing her opportunity and got a bit spooked when the fight started, so she kept her distance—but she nearly ran in to help when Art went down. Then she figured Sieg could take care of him, but was still too worried to leave. And thus, she continued peeping until this very moment.”

Lady Kobayashee’s matter-of-fact report put a serious look on my face. Lieselotte was so adorable that I’d skipped straight past smiling to loop back into sobriety. It isn’t fair to be this cute.

However, my expression caused all of the others to grow uneasy.

“I-I’m so sorry, Lady Lieselotte!” Fiene bowed in a panic.

Baldur and Art took a step forward to shield her from Lieselotte’s disdainful glare.

“We’ve got a serious atmosphere on our hands! Lieselotte’s back at it again with the misunderstandings!”

“Liese-tan’s scorn is half an act to fool herself and the other half is pure anxiety. Real jealousy only makes up a statistically insignificant amount of her emotions right now, so I don’t think there’s any need for caution.”

I figured. I deeply concurred with the gods’ play-by-play and analysis, but the others couldn’t hear it. They were still stuck in the same oppressive mood.

“Hey there, princess. You look awfully cross today. We may have been a bit loud, but I don’t think Miss Fiene is to blame. I got a bit carried away excitedly asking her about this and that—it’s my first time meeting her after a long leave from school and all. Will you accept an apology from me instead?”

Art put on his lady-killing smile and took Lieselotte’s hand for a cordial kiss.

Smack! In return, she used her free hand to slap him away.

“I need no apologies from you. More importantly, could I ask that you refrain from touching me so casually, Count Artur Richter?”

Lieselotte’s subzero gaze was matched by her grim tone of voice. Art made these kinds of moves on her whenever they met. Every time, it ended with her slapping him away. I thought it was impressive that he never faltered despite the fact that she stared at him like he was a repugnant insect.

As per usual, Art lightly shrugged with a laid-back smile. As Lieselotte’s cousin, Baldur furrowed his brow and took a step forward to assuage her concerns.

A single glare was all it took for Lieselotte to stop her cousin in his tracks. She scoffed upon seeing him freeze instantly. Her back was perfectly straight and her voice dignified as she spoke down to him.

“Bystanders ought to stand by. My business is with Fiene.”

With her declaration made, Lieselotte marched over to Fiene. The commoner girl had changed into sportswear with a wand holster on her belt, and Lieselotte looked her over.

“Ah, I knew it. What a pitiful wand,” she said, sighing in disgust.

“Oh, um, well! This is something that was left in the lost-and-found box for over half a year, so I got it for free, and that’s enough for me, so—”

Fiene pulled out her wand in a panic and prattled away. I hadn’t known that she’d gotten her wand in that way. The academy’s lost-and-found did have a policy like that, but I couldn’t help but think the item in her hands was practically garbage.

“This isn’t a wand. It’s rubbish.”

Lieselotte plucked the wand out of Fiene’s hands. She looked down at it with revulsion. Suddenly, her hand squeezed the middle of the shaft and it snapped with a loud crack.

“Oh dear, it must have truly been worthless to break this easily. Had you used this with a group—whether in practice or combat—you certainly would have been a nuisance to your companions. Do you understand that?”

Lieselotte tossed away what had once been a wand with icy eyes. Both Baldur and Art were furious, and seemed to be on the verge of lashing out.

“That had to have been on purpose! Lieselotte’s hostility is off the charts!”

“But it’s true that a wand Liese-tan could break with a light grip is dangerous. It might be a nuisance to others, but the person most at risk of injury if it were to break mid-spell would have been Fiene herself.”

I gestured for the two men to stand down off the back of helpful divine analysis.

“Using a wand that defective would be dangerous for Miss Fiene. I know Lieselotte’s methods aren’t perfect, but I agree that it wouldn’t have done for her to continue using it.”

Once I finished speaking, Lieselotte scoffed again, Art and Baldur cooled off, and Fiene began to sulk.

To tell the truth, it wasn’t as if Fiene used wands. They were supplementary tools to direct magic to a faraway location. She didn’t need one to cast spells on herself or things she could touch. I’d once heard her say, “Honestly, I feel like I don’t need it, but apparently all mages are supposed to have one...”

The wand’s lack of importance to Fiene was evident in how little she cared about the fact that it’d been broken. One of us could give her a replacement in the coming days and everything would likely be fine.

“My word, this is why I can’t stand the shabby tools of impoverished folk. I shall provide you with a replacement—one of my spare wands should be more than enough. With that, we should be even, yes?”

Lieselotte slipped out a beautiful wand that glimmered sky blue. For a “spare” tool, it was remarkably lavish. It looked brand new and the little embellishments all over it were painstakingly crafted.

“Isn’t that slimmer than your usual wand?” Baldur asked quietly. Lieselotte glared at him, and he quickly averted his eyes with a zipped mouth.

Now that he mentioned it, the wand was tailored to fit hands that were a bit smaller than Lieselotte’s. It would fit someone like, say...Fiene.

My brain churned as I gazed at it, and I realized that both the material and make had been hand-picked to perfectly accommodate healing and supporting magic. This wand had literally been made for Fiene in every way, shape, and form.

Lieselotte was like me: good at offensive, defensive, supporting, and healing magic. You could call us jacks-of-all-trades or masters of none; we didn’t excel at anything, but nothing stumped us. Clearly, the wand did not fit Lieselotte’s style.

More importantly, a handcrafted order like this must have cost a fortune. No one in their right mind would believe it to be a spare.

Ah, I understand. This is what they call a tsun de rais, isn’t it?! How can one girl be so cute?!

Art and Baldur must have come to the same conclusion I did, because the two of them were looking at the ground and trying to keep it together. Art in particular failed to fully stifle his laughter and had to loudly clear his throat. The corners of his lips were still obviously twisting into a smile. Hold it in!

“Hey, that’s the mystery wand that came in last week. Lieselotte’s been taking it out, putting it away, and longingly staring at it, all while floundering in excitement this whole time!”

“I get it now. Liese-tan ordered it for Fiene, but she couldn’t figure out how to give it to her. Neither of them would be happy with a simple handout, after all. So instead, Liese-tan destroyed the old wand and gave her this as an ‘apology.’ Thinking back, she kept touching the wand whenever she was around Fiene.”

I can’t take this anymore. Unable to endure the gods’ analysis, I covered my face with both hands and looked up toward the sky. Oh my gods, she’s too cute!

After a few seconds of screaming internally, I returned to my post of watching over my dear fiancée. Still unable to understand the value and make of the wand, Fiene stood perplexed. Lieselotte, on the other hand, had frozen under the pressure, a grave look on her face. The wand was still in her hands, waiting to be taken.

“Fie—pft! Fiene, go ahead and take it,” Art said, trembling from his leaking laughter.

“That wand is a good product. Think of it as Liese’s way of apologizing for breaking your old one,” Baldur added awkwardly.

Lieselotte shot the two of them the dirtiest look, but even that was nothing more than adorable.