Chapter 6: Night of the Long Fragrances
The banquet at the palace in four days was the emperor’s gesture of goodwill for the hero’s safe return. Even the emperor seemed uneasy about the cheap reward he’d given.
“Oh my, welcome, dear guests~”
The madam of the high-end clothing store greeted us warmly as we entered.
Renowned in the area for her clothing, she wasn’t fazed by the hero’s party, perhaps because she’d seen so many famous people.
“We’d like four custom dresses made for the palace banquet.”
The mage would attend, so we needed four dresses. That meant crafting one dress per day—a staggering pace that, to my knowledge, only one person could manage.
“Madam Helen, please.”
“Hmm…”
Madam Helen was someone I’d met a few times at the palace over Princess Aria’s dresses, so we were acquaintances.
More importantly, she owed me a debt.
Helen didn’t exist in the original story.
She was one of the people who owed me their life, promising to grant any favor I asked. I never imagined I’d call in that favor today.
“It’s sudden, but… if it’s Leni’s request, I can’t refuse.”
She held up three fingers.
“I’ll cancel all ongoing work and have them ready in three days.”
She was willing to take a loss for my request. But it wasn’t really a loss for her. Dresses worn by the hero’s party would promote her shop, making it a good deal.
“You changed jobs, huh?”
“Yeah, it just… happened.”
The deal with Helen was settled, and now it was time for her to work for the hero’s party.
Size measurements.
A time no one could escape.
“Gentlemen, please wait elsewhere.”
It was a shame I couldn’t see the process.
‘How do they measure the mage’s size?’
Leni didn’t know that the mage’s measurements were taken using a magically summoned mannequin.
While waiting and pondering the mage’s measurements, the shop door opened.
– Jingle.
A woman walked in. She looked familiar—a servant I knew well.
“Butler Leni!”
She recognized me and greeted me warmly.
“Marie, it’s been a while.”
Marie. She was a maid who served Princess Aria alongside me at the palace.
She seemed to be here to check on a dress order.
“What happened, Butler? You disappeared without a word…”
Marie told me about the palace since I’d left. As an outsider now, I shouldn’t hear this, but to her, I was still Aria’s butler.
“At first, the princess refused to eat and locked herself in her room. Then one day, she suddenly came out, grabbed some documents, and started working!”
When I was there, I handled all of Aria’s paperwork. If she got stressed reading them, it could’ve been disastrous, so I took care of everything.
‘What if that happens…?’
To others, it might seem incomprehensible, but for me, it was a matter of life and death. I eliminated every possibility of Aria going mad.
“Lately, the palace atmosphere feels chaotic… The princess isn’t herself.”
Aria, who never cared what her royal kin said, had recently been picking fights, making the palace as cold as ice. That ended the talk about her.
‘This is bad…’
I pictured Aria picking fights with others.
Spraying water on passersby with magic…
It was unimaginable. In my mind, Aria was shouting, “Pat my head!” for doing something well.
Had she changed? I needed to see her, giving me a reason to attend the banquet.
While lost in thought, the group finished their measurements and emerged with Helen.
Ignoring Siana, who was glaring at the hero and Saintess’s chests with a flushed, indignant face, I asked Helen,
“Could you make one more men’s formal suit for the banquet?”
I planned to go to the banquet and see Aria myself.
“Human, you need an invitation to enter the banquet. Don’t you know that?”
Siana, the elf, snapped at me, assuming I didn’t know since I’d worked at the palace.
“One person or with a partner, right?”
Eren, who’d read the invitation carefully, knew the rules.
“I knew that…! I was just asking…!”
She clearly hadn’t known.
As Eren said, those without an invitation could enter with someone who had one.
The hero’s party had four invitations, and I planned to enter as one of their partners.
“No way, human. I’m not partnering with you.”
I thought I’d earned points with my nature-loving act, but Siana rejected me before I could ask. Knowing why she disliked human men, I couldn’t argue.
“Want to go with me…?”
That left the Saintess and the hero. I considered asking the Saintess.
“One jewel. That’s my price.”
The Saintess was all about give-and-take. Want something? Pay up. That was her mindset.
‘Why’s she so obsessed with jewels?’
I knew she grew up in the slums. Shouldn’t she prefer money? Her jewel obsession baffled me.
I was working unpaid, and my money was for my escape, so partnering with the Saintess was out.
That left…
“Looks like it’s just me, Butler.”
The trickiest option: the hero.
‘She’s probably figured it out…’
Her actions and words all suggested she was certain I was her teacher.
Knowing that, I was scared of what she’d demand if she chose me as her partner. A slave contract? A lifelong butler contract? Whatever it was, it’d be dreadful.
What would she say? The moment her mouth opened arrived.
“Be my dance partner.”
‘Huh?’
Her request was surprisingly normal.
“That’s all?”
“Yes, just do that, and I won’t interfere at the banquet.”
I’d braced for life as her slave, so this was great news. Just dancing? I got lucky.
The hero, beaming with joy, looked at me with a crescent-moon smile in her crimson eyes.
Her eyes were like a spider’s, luring prey with bait on its web.
“…”
Siana’s suspicions deepened.
Late at night, the eve of the palace banquet.
‘Something’s fishy.’
Siana, who’d spent years with Eren, sensed something off.
‘What’s with that human man…?’
Leni, the butler, had no remarkable traits beyond being slightly more nature-friendly.
Yet Eren was smiling and clinging to him? He must’ve done something to her.
Choosing a stranger as her reward for defeating the demon king and acting like this…?
‘Vile dark mage…!’
He’s messing with my friend’s mind. No doubt!
– Click.
Siana slung her bow over her shoulder and headed to Leni’s room, ready to defend herself if he attacked.
‘This scent…’
No mistake. It was the same fragrance as Eren’s, and it came from him too.
‘Using drugs… vile human…’
Humans were untrustworthy, especially men. Her resentment toward those who’d kidnapped and enslaved her kin surged.
– Creak…
Siana opened Leni’s door and peeked inside.
“…!!”
She nearly screamed, covering her mouth with both hands, blinking in shock.
‘I must’ve seen wrong…’
Thinking it was a hallucination, she looked again, but nothing changed.
“Hehe… Teacher…”
It was a shocking scene. The hero was rubbing her face against the butler’s chest, calling him “Teacher.” Thanks to her elf hearing, Siana caught it despite the distance.
‘I was wrong.’
The hero’s mental strength was unmatched; no drug or magic could affect her.
Dark magic? A ridiculous notion.
The hero was acting of her own will. Doing what she wanted with Leni.
“Eek…! I… I didn’t see anything… Nothing…!!”
Denying reality, Siana fled to her room. For some reason, her night felt strangely long.
“Hehe…”
The hero, leaving the nagging holy sword in her room, had caused this with her carelessness.