IDMWE 28

Chapter 28

“I’m telling you, really, that’s not it!”

“Yes, Leona. I completely understand how you feel.”

“No, why do you keep saying you understand like that?!”

Leona felt like she was going to burst from frustration.

“Just forget about a man like Rigan. You’re someone who deserves to meet someone better. For example, someone like me—”

Just as Dex was about to dig into Leona’s weakened—though she wasn’t weakened at all—heart, Silion shouted loudly.

“Ahead! Humans! A whole lot of them!”

The three, who had been bickering with their mouths while still running, now saw the end of the alley leading to the plaza before their eyes.

And that place was packed with an enormous crowd.

“His Majesty the Emperor! Long live!”

The plaza, filled with people cheering for the Emperor, was already complete chaos.

“Damn it, we can’t break through!”

Pushing through the people shouting excitedly at the top of their lungs was not as easy as it seemed.

“Kid, hold on tight to me. Don’t you ever let go of my hand!”

With her mind focused on protecting the child, Leona missed her chance to properly explain her relationship with Rigan.

Without any idea of what kind of trouble this misunderstanding would cause later, she simply focused on resolving the immediate crisis before her.

“Let’s go over the rooftops!”

Leona’s judgment wasn’t bad.

Because it was nearly impossible to push through such a massive crowd while carrying a young child in her arms.

“Hup!”

Leona wrapped ether around her lower body and attempted a quick leap.

Dex summoned a flying undead and climbed aboard, while Silion lightly jumped across the buildings through partial beastification.

*Land—*

They were all outstanding individuals selected for the Special Forces Central Headquarters, so climbing onto building roofs was far too easy for the three of them.

However, there was one thing Leona had failed to consider.

“Hm, what’s that?”

The building they had just jumped onto happened to be the very place where the Emperor was finishing his inspection.

It was only natural that the reporters capturing the scene with recording magic tools caught sight of Leona and her group.

“That red hair… I’ve seen her somewhere before… Huh? An undead and a beastman? Wait, isn’t that a baby in her arms?”

With such a unique combination, the eyes of all the reporters covering the Emperor’s inspection lit up with interest.

“Th-that’s the woman from the Count’s family, isn’t it? The first female valedictorian of the Royal Academy’s Swordsmanship Department!”

“Ah, Leona Everhart! Right, I went to cover the Special Forces induction ceremony last time, and I think that’s her.”

A Count’s daughter suddenly running across rooftops with a child in her arms.

A story began to take shape in the reporters’ minds.

“Ahem, I believe His Majesty will be returning to the palace now, so I should wrap things up here.”

“Me too. Ah, what a shame—if we’d even caught a glimpse of His Highness the First Prince, tomorrow’s sales would have doubled.”

The journalists pretended to leave like that, while behind them, they frantically gestured to their assistants with hands and feet.

*’What are you doing? Hurry up and follow them! And contact everyone you can to have them wait in that direction!’*

And so, having unknowingly become the target of reporters, Leona ran hard…

Dex and Silion likewise followed close beside her, as if protecting Leona and the child.

And new information began to pour in one after another to the reporters who chased after them without missing a beat.

“The individuals currently escorting her on either side have been identified as Dex Tristan, the youngest son of Marquis Tristan, and Silion Wolf, a strong candidate for the next chieftain of the Wolf Tribe.”

“What? Who the hell is she carrying that such big names are acting as her escorts?”

“Her arms are wrapped around the child so we can’t see its face, but age is estimated at about one year old, and hair color is reported to be silver!”

“Silver hair? Who has silver hair?”

The reporters’ tenacious pursuit, reminiscent of an intelligence operation, continued.

“When you think of silver hair, the Clanford Grand Ducal family is the most famous…”

“Holy shit! I hear they’re heading toward the Papal Office right now!”

“What? Why the Papal Office all of a sudden?”

The reporters, who had initially dismissed it as a simple lost-child assistance case, began to get fired up at the astonishing facts continuing to come in.

“I hear they just entered the Papal Office! Apparently she’s shouting for Priest Nathaniel to come out!”

“Why would she suddenly call for a priest…? Wait, hold on…!”

At that moment, a single fact flashed through every reporter’s mind.

“Priest Nathaniel has silver hair too!”

“Breaking news! The child in her arms just called Leona ‘Mama’!”

At those words, the reporters on the scene collectively gasped.

After a brief silence, the reporters exploded with reactions as if competing with each other.

“Write the article right now!”

“Contact the desk and tell them to put this on the front page!”

“Call the printing press and ask if they can print three times more for tomorrow’s morning edition!”

And the next morning, every single morning paper in the imperial capital splashed Leona’s face across the front page.

—

「Count Leona Everhart’s Secret Child? A Drama More Shocking Than Any Soap Opera—The Father Is None Other Than Priest Nathaniel?!」

「The Scandal of the Next Papal Candidate! Priest Nathaniel, Once Called Serpion’s Gift, Has a Secret Child. The Mother Is Presumed to Be Count Leona Everhart…」

「The Union of the Century! The Love Story of the Youngest Priest and the Special Forces’ First Female Swordsman! What Was the Reason They Had to Raise Their Child in Secret?!」

—

It was a shocking morning that made many people clutch the backs of their necks.

Leona’s mother, Isolde Everhart, woke to the noisy commotion.

“Who on earth would be so inconsiderate at this hour…”

She threw a shawl over her shoulders and descended the stairs, only to find the count’s butler already pacing in front of the main gate.

“Oh, Lady Isolde.”

“What’s all this ruckus about? Did we have a break-in or something?”

“Well… there’s a crowd of reporters gathered in front of the gate right now.”

Isolde’s face stiffened at the butler’s words.

“Re…reporters? At our house?”

Isolde had history—she’d been hounded by reporters more than enough during her divorce lawsuit with her ex-husband.

Just as her hand gripped the railing tightly at the memory, the butler opened his mouth.

“It’s about Lady Leona…”

Isolde was startled at the sudden mention of her daughter’s name.

“Surely nothing’s happened to our Leona?”

Isolde’s voice instantly trembled.

Even during her academy days, her heart ached seeing Leona constantly injured from rough training.

After she was assigned to the Special Forces, Isolde worried every single day that something terrible might happen.

Just as her breath was about to catch from the dark imaginings filling her head, the butler carefully continued.

“Um… Lady Leona and Priest Nathaniel have been caught up in a scandal that made the papers.”

“Pardon?”

It was a story she couldn’t believe even hearing with her own ears.

“A priest?”

“Yes, the youngest priest, Nathaniel—”

“Oh, for heaven’s sake, what was that. You had me worried for nothing.”

Before the butler could finish, Isolde let out a sigh of relief.

“…Are you all right, my lady?”

“Come on, do you really think Leona is the type to show any interest in a man? She won’t even listen when I tell her to try dating a little.”

As much as she loved her daughter, Leona was like a wild, untamed foal.

And now a scandal with a man? And a priest of all people?

It was utterly ridiculous.

“Those reporters, hearing some wild rumor and swarming here like this.”

Just as Isolde clicked her tongue and turned to head back to her room to get some more sleep—

“What’s all the commotion?”

Leona’s grandmother, Countess Avanine, also appeared, drawn by the sudden ruckus.

“Oh, Mother. It’s nothing. Apparently Leona got caught up in some ridiculous rumor in the papers. Something about dating a priest.”

Isolde answered calmly, trying to tell her not to worry.

“What? Leona, with a priest?”

Hearing that, Avanine also burst out laughing.

“My, these papers really do make up the strangest stories these days.”

“Um, my lady countess…”

The anxious butler called out to them, but the two women didn’t really hear him.

“But which priest is she supposedly having a scandal with?”

“That handsome young priest you like, Mother. The one you always favor.”

“You mean Priest Nathaniel? If it’s him, I’d want to make even a false rumor come true. He’d be more than worthy as a grandson-in-law.”

“A grandson-in-law? Honestly, Mother, you’re so shameless.”

Chatting amiably with her daughter Isolde as they climbed the stairs, Avanine turned her head to look at the butler.

“Later, bring up to my room that newspaper with Leona in it, would you?”

Her precious granddaughter, whom she could never spoil enough, and her favorite priest, appearing side by side in the same paper.

Avanine thought she’d clip it out and keep it as a keepsake.

“W-well, you see…”

The butler, who had been fidgeting under the countess’s orders, finally squeezed his eyes shut and opened his mouth.

“F-forgive my impertinence, but Lady Leona isn’t involved in a dating scandal…”

Cold sweat dripped from the butler’s face. Unable to meet the eyes of the two mother-and-daughter pair looking back at him in bewilderment, the butler continued in a creeping voice.

“She has been caught up in a… pregnancy scandal with Priest Nathaniel.”

“…Pr-pregnancy?”

“What kind of drama-plot nonsense is that?”

It was only natural that the Everhart Count’s residence was thrown into an uproar at that shocking news.

—

Let me know if you need any adjustments or further translations!