I refused the crown prince's proposal because I'm gay!

Chapter 18

"The birds are singing praise for the new season," Anri states dryly, looking down at the school gardens. "Which means more work for me."

Just a few days ago I had gotten an urgent summons from the church. And it is for the dumbest reason. Purifying treasures. I can do that whenever! How dare they interrupt my precious vacation.

Treasures that were collected over hundreds of years aren't stored in a single place, running the risk of it all getting stolen or destroyed at once. It is instead scattered all over the Empire, which is great... hence another useless tour around the Empire, doing charity work and purifying locations.

Empusa wasn't pleased that her precious emissary was being worked to the bones and almost smitten the priests in retribution. That would've been fun to watch.

On the final day of my break, the party assigned to escort me arrived at the last vault, the most secure and valued vault.

Secure my ass. The keys were inexplicably misplaced.

And the treasures, what do they even do? No one seems to know, not even the high priests, and it shows. One of them was repurposed as a glorified paperweight. The second one was found in some random unnamed burial site. While number three was reported as "missing", and with that, I was finally given permission to leave for an unpaid vacation.

Goddess, I love my position as the Holy Saintess.

The worst part of it all is that it's been a full week since the Spring semester began and I haven't had a chance to talk with M'lady. I am utterly devastated.

But with that said, "This is too much!" Anri cries, shoving boxes into the corner of her bed.

The Goddess laughed, delightfully amused by the number of gifts piled up in the room. "Wow, you must be loved."

Since early this morning the Saintess has been receiving box after box, packed full of various luxury items all sent to her dorm room. Clothes made from quality cloth, pens made out of glass, paper, ink, and shoes that don't hurt. All courtesy of Lady Blanca and her friends' boutique.

Blanca also sent expensive magical tools used for mundane tasks. Such as this device, used to boil water, what am I supposed to do with that, there's no such thing as instant ramen in this world.

"Loved?!" Anri blushed in embarrassment, stumbling through her words."That's- you're delusional!" She exclaims, in her hand, she juggled between a fresh newly pressed academy uniforms of winter and summer. Her forehead tingles at the stress of receiving such lavish gifts.

"Am I?" The Goddess hums. A gust of wind bursts open the windows, delivering a storm of flowers circling above her. Rows of carnations of various breeds weaved with fresh vines, a single pink rose as the centerpiece, settled into a flower crown placed neatly on her head. "I don't see how this is an issue." A white box tied in blue ribbons flew open causing dozens of clothes to rain down on her. "It is normal for you, a messenger of me, the Great Goddess Empusa to receive such valued gifts.

"Fwah!" Anri gasps crawling out from underneath the pile of clothes. "Were you trying to bury me! And that doesn't matter, this is too much!"

"For Goddess's sake! She sent me ten sets of the academy's uniform, for the winter season alone." Anri exclaims. "Did I forget to mention that winter is nearly over!"

In response, another gust of wind gently lifted her to her feet. "It just shows how much..." in a flutter of white, a finely tailored robe floated and draped across her shoulders. "...you are loved." The goddess purrs, causing Anri to melt just by her lovely voice. Those were words she wished she heard many decades ago, early in her previous life. Oh, how much it could've helped with her fragile mental state.