It was mostly for Ethyl's sake.
When he had first met her in the forest, pretending to be a commoner, it was hard not to be drawn to her.
How could a bright young girl smile so sweetly while having such a difficult life? Compared to regular nobles, who talked with honeyed words and obtuse views, Ethyl talked honestly and had a pure fascination and appreciation for the world around her.
So pure in fact, that sometimes he wasn't able to understand her at times, the contented stares she had when looking into nothingness seemed ethereal, like her namesake.
Surely Ethyl had a view on life that would bring prosperity to the kingdom. That's what Nox felt, anyway.
The Church of Lux needed better leadership, especially after the previous Saintess fell sick. But because of all the disorder that had happened, Nox was worried that Ethyl wouldn't be received favorably.
In addition, with the disruption from Callisto's debutante being unfairly pinned on Ethyl, the nobles had already started nasty rumors. He had managed to snuff most of them out, but the Duke's family must have pulled all their strings of influence to make sure they planted roots in everyone's minds.
Being tasked with leading the investigation into what exactly was going on, Nox was going to make sure everything was tidied up before the coronation of the new saintess.
Unfortunately, this meant asking for help from the person he least wanted to approach, least of all asking for help.
Callisto Azel. The fiance that was forced upon him by the noble party so that they could feel some semblance of power over him.
Thankfully, she didn't draw out the agreement for longer than it needed to be, and Nox was almost grateful that she was being so docile. In fact, lately, she had become a bit more tolerable.
He should have known it was too good to be true.
When Nox allowed Callisto to join the investigation, he didn't expect to have an uninvited guest in the form of one Goetian scion to be attached at the hip to her.
"Why is he here?"He pointed at the red-haired man who gave him a catty smile.
More importantly, when did they meet? Were they close? How do they know each other?
Goetia and Regalia were under an ever-fragile peace treaty, though with how Scion Astaroth acted, one would never think that the countries were at ends with each other.
Having Astaroth be so close to the duke's daughter unsettled Nox both politically and emotionally. The woman should know better than to cozy up with royalty of another country! Was she trying to annoy him?
Astaroth gave a lazy wave as he leaned back into his seat, sipping on a drink as other people worked around him. He had some sort of eyewear that was like glasses but with darker lenses.
Probably a useless Goetian contraption. Goetian culture was flipped upside-down, with weird norms and backward logic. Nox wouldn't be surprised if the empire crumbled under Astaroth's non-existent leadership.
Speaking of which…
"I was under the impression that his Lordship needed to attend to his duties as a leader for the Goetian people. It seems I was wrong."
"As it turns out, a country doesn't have to have its leader work all the time for it to function. But you've probably never heard of something called 'balance of power,' seeing the state of Regus."
"Could you two relax?"
It was the second week of investigation, and Callisto had made the decision to bring the Goetian scion with her. Well, what really happened was that he showed up in the morning and demanded to tag along, and then he immediately got identified when Callisto attempted to put him in servant's garb.
Maybe it was the main character aura, or just pretty privilege. Either way, it was a headache, and she only allowed it because he had bugged her about it. NOT because he looked good in a knight's outfit. And even if he did, she deserved some compensation for the constant conflict Astaroth brings with him.
"What's with the frog?" Astar turned his full attention to the noble lady, pointing at the tiny croaking frog that was neatly settled on the top of her head, adjusted itself occasionally as Callisto moved about with broken fragments.
It had to be some kind of unsanitary to have such a slimy animal on her hair, although it was really cute. Especially the way she kept raising her eyebrows at the way he was looking at the frog, like there was something wrong with him for not thinking it was normal.
"Why is the divine frog sitting on your head?" Nox tried to avert the attention back to him, but Callisto shrugged her shoulders.
"Because it's cute. And it hasn't wanted to leave." As if agreeing with her, the frog did a side hop, adjusting its position on her head, and settled back down.
Astaroth covered his mouth to try not to laugh at the juxtaposition between the Crown Prince getting mad about a tiny frog and the larger tragedy that they were trying to get to the bottom of. He wasn't doing a very good job.
Callisto, clueless as ever, had no idea why he was laughing. She was too focused on trying to find traces of the magic that had corroded the holy area. She had brought it up with Nox only because she suspected the use of forbidden magic.
Of course, Callisto didn't go into details about what happened but did produce the black flakes of corrosion that she had saved specifically for proof. Nox looked at the little bits of darkness that he had been given to him in a small tea bag with a befuddled expression.
"What is this? Tree bark?"
"No, it's evidence! The thing you always ask for."
'Because you're a hardass,' Callisto finished the rest of her thought in her head.
"This isn't evidence. This is some mud that you dried and gave to me." He said flatly, tossing the mesh bag onto the ground. As Nox strutted towards the lake with a grace git for royalty, the white-haired noble fiddled with her ring in frustration and blinked rapidly in annoyance as if she couldn't believe she had to deal with this.
Callisto clicked her tongue in frustration and trudged along, holding her tongue like she always did so that she could get what she needed out of this investigation.
Meanwhile, Astar lagged behind and grabbed the tea bag from the ground, curiosity on his cat-like features. A look of recognition crossed his face, and with no one looking, he pocketed the bag and carried on his merry way.