How To Save A Time Limited Young Master

“Hooh.”

The king let out a sigh while stroking his chin. 

It was unknown if he was feeling sorry or surprised.

Screech—

At the same time, a sharp noise from tableware scratching the plate resounded in the dining room.

It came from Heloise, who was braving through it while eating with an open ear. 

‘Someone in mind?’

When did that happen, when he’s been so busy all this while? 

As expected, she couldn’t drop her guard when it comes to boys around his age.  

“What’s wrong, Heloise?”

Blake probably felt rather intrigued when Heloise, who had been eating with relish, suddenly frowned, but Heloise couldn’t hear anything at the current moment. 

‘Goodness. I’m running all over the place to save myself. You don’t even know the least of it.’

To think that he has the time to date leisurely in such a situation.

As the screeching sound from the tableware was originally loud, everyone, including the king and queen, looked at Heloise.

“Your Majesty!”

The door to the dining room burst open and the king’s aide entered.

“What’s all this fuss about?”

The king, who was displeased at the interference with his meal, looked at his aide unhappily. 

The aide’s face was so white that it bordered on blue. 

His lips opened and closed several times like a rather hollow man, before an expression of despair appeared as he uttered in a tearful voice. 

“The Great Temple… Your Majesty, the Great Temple is engulfed in flames of an unknown origin.”

“What?”

“The fate of the high priest and the priests within is also unclear. And……”

The aide was about to say something, but he hesitated as he looked at the mood of the room. 

Soon after, the angered king jumped up and roared.

“Put the fire out immediately, take account of the situation, and prioritise rescuing the saintess!”

“Yes! Your Majesty!”

“Return back to the castle!”

Without even having the time to bid Zenon farewell, the king quickly strode out of the dining room. 

“Astor, what in the world is going on?”

When Queen Isabel asked in deep thought, Prince Astor helped her up and comforted her.

“I’ll look into it, Mother.”

“I can’t believe that the Great Temple is on fire. What kind of ominous incident is this…”

When Isabel, who was leaving the dinner room in a cold sweat while being supported by her second son, encountered Blake at the door, she asked.

“Crown Prince! Will something happen to the saintess?”

“……”

Unlike his brother Astor, Blake didn’t give any response.

He just walked past her with a stiff expression, without reassuring or appeasing his stepmother. 

After Blake left, the still rational Astor bade farewell to Zenon.

“Young Lord Lionerik, I have to leave without properly exchanging greetings with you due to this situation. I’m really sorry.”

“No, this is an urgent situation, so please go ahead.”

“Thank you for understanding. Mother, shall we go?”

“Ahh……”

With a choked sob, Isabel left the dining room with Astor.

Only Zenon and Heloise remained.

Zenon was the first to open his mouth.

“Heloise, you know…”

When he approached her, Heloise abruptly pushed him out of the dining room by his back .

Zenon, who was being pushed by her, walked bewilderedly while turning his head in her direction. 

“Heloise?”

“Let’s talk about everything else at another time. For now, you have to calm down the guests that are in the ballroom and send them back. Isn’t that the first thing you have to do as the host of the party?”

“……Alright.”

Zenon fell silent for a moment, before straightening his clothes and entering the buzzing ballroom.

⋄────∘°❃°∘────⋄

The saintess is dead.

Her funeral was to be held as a state funeral for a month.

The official cause of death was asphyxiation as a result of the fire.

Even if she was the saintess that’s personally cared for by God, she was unable to escape the malice-filled man-made disaster, and her fate wasn’t any different from those present at the scene of the arson in the Great Temple. 

The saintess’s death was a great shock to society, and is still talked about a month later.

Heloise, who attended an outdoor funeral ceremony held on the last day of the state funeral like any other aristocrat, wore a black hat.

And she kept fumbling her way through the crowd. 

Her injured ankle had been cured by a healing wizard a while ago, and the limp has already disappeared a long time ago. 

The problem was that she wasn’t able to spot her father, who had been with her mother half an hour ago. 

At that time, in order to look for her missing father, she escaped from the whispering crowd while looking here and there. 

‘That person is….’

She spotted black hair beside the king and his aide, who were a distance away.

For some inexplicable reason, and from an unknown moment onwards, Heloise could recognise the black and fluffy hair that belonged to her young master anywhere. 

Just like how Zenon had once told her that he could recognise her shiny blonde hair.

Although it was half covered, no matter how she looked at it, that was Zenon’s silhouette.

‘Why is Zenon with the king?’

Heloise, who hadn’t seen Zenon for a while because the winter social activities were practically forced to a halt after the saintess’s death, wanted to move closer and pretend to spot him.

But she couldn’t approach thoughtlessly, as the king was next to him. 

Heloise eavesdropped at a distance such that she wouldn’t be seen by them.

“……the item has disappeared…”

“……That is unfortunate.”

“That’s why…… I’m entrusting this to you.”

‘What are they talking about?’

There was quite a distance between them, so she couldn’t catch anything else. 

If she moved closer, there were the king’s escort knights that were openly guarding him, so she had to read the atmosphere. 

She could only look around while blending in with the mourning crowd. 

“Miss Heloise?”

Heloise turned at the voice calling for her, and was startled to find an unexpected person.

“Your Majesty the Queen.”

The queen, Isabel, was only in the company of a single maid possibly because she was away from the king, and approached with a delighted look and grabbed Heloise’s hands tightly.

“I intended to call you over to have a deep conversation one of these days, but I didn’t expect to meet you again at Liliana’s funeral.”

“Who is Liliana, ah…”

Heloise couldn’t help but trail off. 

It was the saintess’s name.

As Heloise was at a loss, the queen smiled faintly. 

Despite her smiling face, it felt like she’d become a little emaciated since their last meeting. 

“It was so hectic last time, wasn’t it?”

“No…… it’s because the situation didn’t allow for it.”

“Thank you for understanding.”

Other than that, she didn’t know what she should say anymore. 

While Heloise froze, Isabel clutched her hands, lowered her gaze and said. 

“Aside from the fact that she was the saintess, she was a child that I’ve kept by my side and doted on, so I’m still in disbelief that something like this happened.” 

“Your Majesty the Queen.”

“Why does God only ever take the kind ones back early…?”

Tears filled Isabel’s eyes. 

Heloise took off the hat she was wearing flusteredly and covered her face.

Isabel burst into laughter with a tear stained face. 

“You don’t have to do that.”

“But what if someone sees it?”

“No one will malign me because of my tears. I’m not weak to the point where I have to hide behind a hat and cry.”

After saying that, Isabel continued without erasing the smile on her lips.

“But I had a friend who always tried to protect me. Whenever I look at you, I’ve always thought that you looked like a certain someone, but now I understand.”

“What?”

Heloise immediately recalled a scene from <Princess Sienna>.

“I don’t know why, but I feel comfortable with you.”

They were words that can only be heard when enough [Sociability] stats have been accumulated for <An Audience in the Royal Castle>. 

However, for Heloise, who had difficulty stepping into the royal castle without an excuse, let alone meeting with the queen frequently, she couldn’t understand why such words were being said to her. 

“You felt similar to my warm and kind friend, Briney. I guess that’s why I found you familiar from the beginning.”

Who was that? Heloise had never heard of that name before.

Isabel’s fingertips brushed against the corners of Heloise’s eyes.

“Why is that so? That child doesn’t have the same hazel eyes like you, but light green coloured eyes like peridots…… She had a much colder impression than you. How strange.”

As Heloise blinked dazedly, Isabel wiped away her tears and her usual expression returned. 

“Rather than that, you’re here to see Young Lord Lionerik, aren’t you? Shall I tell His Majesty to stop keeping him?”

“Oh, no.”

Heloise waved her hand in dissuasion. 

She was just looking out of curiosity, and it wasn’t like she had anything particularly urgent to tell Zenon.

“It’s just because the atmosphere seemed serious, so I was wondering what they were talking about. It was just purely curiosity from my end, so please don’t pay me any mind.” 

Isabel, who stared at the speaking Heloise blankly, opened her mouth.

“They’re probably talking about ‘The Book of Origin’.”

“The Book of Origin?”

Did something like that exist in <Princess Sienna>?

When Heloise asked with a puzzled look, Isabel spoke in slightly more detail.

“I’m not entirely clear, but apparently it’s a book that’s rather important to the royal family.” 

At that, Heloise’s expression changed strangely.

It was her first time hearing this name, no matter how much she searched her memories. 

“As the temple’s representative, the Book of Origin was originally in Lilianna’s possession, but the book’s whereabouts vanished with her death. The royal castle has been in a state of emergency due to this for a while now. His Majesty said that he should meet with Young Lord Lionerik, so they’re probably talking about that right now.”

If it was in the saintess’s possession, was it an NPC-only item? 

It seems to be an important item, but she couldn’t come up with any guesses.

Maybe it’s an item that could only be obtained from routes that can’t be targeted.

Anyways, instead of the object’s existence, Heloise was more curious about why Isabel was telling her about something as important as this.

“Oh, but can you tell me about this?”

“Well, It seems like this time, too, I’ve spoken all that because I felt comfortable.”

Isabel, who answered jokingly, turned and looked around as soon as she finished speaking.

“Let us part ways here. I see someone that’s looking for me.”

“Oh, yes…” 

“I’ll see you again next time. Lovely Miss Heloise, who looks like Briney.”

Isabel smiled and waved, before returning back to the memorial procession.