This Is All Your Fault. (1)
This Is All Your Fault. (1)
"...At night?"
"Yeah. At night."
Olivia's eyes changed, like a snake that had spotted its prey. Meeting that gaze made her skin crawl all over.
Was it even possible for the atmosphere to shift that drastically without any warning?
At least as far as Rebekah knew, it was impossible.
Rebekah found herself stammering before she could stop it.
"Wh-where...?"
"Good question. Where should we meet? I haven't thought that far yet... How about somewhere with a nice ambiance?"
Gulp.
Her throat bobbed. Rebekah struggled to hide her startled expression and glanced around. There were well over a few dozen people nearby, but not a single one of them was looking this way.
'...Only I felt that?'
Rebekah grew confused. The air right now was so murderous it was hard to breathe. The idea that no one else had sensed it was absurd.
Unless it had been directed artificially at her and her alone.
"...Big Sis."
"Hm? What is it?"
"I...isn't it too quiet around here?"
Instead of answering, Olivia laced her fingers together and rested her chin on them. The corners of her eyes curved into arcs.
"Well, I'm not sure I know what you mean."
Olivia's face looked unfamiliar. Her usual genteel demeanor was nowhere to be found.
It was like looking at an entirely different person.
Rebekah swallowed dryly and stared into Olivia's eyes.
"...Big Sis... you really are Olivia, right?"
"What's that supposed to mean all of a sudden?"
She wasn't certain about anything else, but one thing was unmistakable.
That was not the face of someone who didn't understand.
The exact same voice as that day.
-■■■■■
Eyes.
Tone.
Her heart pounded.
Rebekah lowered her head. She tried to pick up her knife as if nothing were wrong, but her hand trembled so violently that breadcrumbs scattered everywhere.
"You're getting it everywhere."
Without warning, Olivia reached out and stroked Rebekah's chin.
"Right here."
Her touch was cold.
Suppressing the urge to bolt from her seat that instant, Rebekah forced herself to speak in the calmest voice she could manage.
"What did you want to talk about when we meet?"
"Mm...I haven't thought about that yet either. Ah, you've got some here too."
Olivia's mouth was smiling, but her eyes were not.
A chill raced down the back of Rebekah's neck.
"Or shall we think about it together now? Where to meet tonight, what to talk about. Choosing what refreshments to have wouldn't be bad either."
"I-I'm a little busy today..."
"Why? Do you have something tonight?"
She didn't.
It was customary not to hold dawn prayers during the period of mourning, after all.
Of course, that was a custom difficult for anyone outside the clergy to know...
The look in Olivia's eyes was not that of someone who was unaware.
"..."
Until her back grew damp with cold sweat, Rebekah could not open her mouth.
"Rebekah."
"Yes, Lady Olivia."
"Call me Big Sis."
"...Yes, Big Sis."
Olivia asked again.
"So, can you meet me tonight, or not?"
Rebekah's pupils trembled like aspen leaves. The sound of her own heartbeat throbbed in her ears.
She had encountered every kind of person in her life. Vile murderers, kings who ruled entire nations... She hadn't trembled even when she met them, yet now she was shaking like a mouse before a cat.
She simply couldn't meet her eyes.
...Why?
Rebekah asked herself.
No matter how hard she thought about it, she couldn't understand what on earth was making her so afraid.
"I-I..."
Clank.
Just then, the sound of armor clattering came from behind her. It was Franz, an older paladin with a distinguished beard.
He walked over carrying an empty bowl.
"There you both are."
Franz looked at Olivia and spoke.
"Is the food to your liking?"
"Fr-Franz...!"
The instant Rebekah tried to warn him, the murderous atmosphere subsided.
It felt as though her airways had abruptly opened.
Rebekah drew a sharp breath and whipped her head around.
There sat Olivia, smiling as if nothing had happened.
The sight made her skin crawl for an entirely different reason.
"It's far better than what we have at our Magic Tower. Over there, everything is just too greasy."
"Hoho. Is that so? I'm glad it suits you."
Rebekah couldn't make sense of the situation.
The atmosphere right now was peace itself.
Just seconds ago, she had felt as though she were standing at the edge of a cliff.
Had it been an illusion?
That terror from moments ago, an illusion?
Rebekah placed a hand over her chest. Her heart was racing like mad.
"Oh, Lady Olivia."
"Yes, please speak, Saintess."
"Ah...never mind."
It was no illusion.
She was being so gentle now that it felt like a complete reversal from just moments before.
It was as though she had returned to 'the way she normally was.'
Rebekah's pupils wavered faintly.
"Pardon me, but may I join your conversation for a moment?"
"I don't mind at all."
Franz turned his head and looked at Rebekah. He was seeking her permission.
"O-of course. Franz. Absolutely."
"Thank you."
Franz sat down beside Rebekah. Normally his presence would have been rather intimidating, but at least in this moment, she found it incredibly reassuring.
A very brief silence passed.
It was Franz who spoke first.
"Lady Olivia, if I may ask, how long do you plan to stay in the Holy Kingdom?"
"I don't have any firm plans...but I'll likely leave before the year is out, don't you think?"
"This is January, as you'll recall."
Olivia nodded as if she knew perfectly well.
"I mean that I'd like to become that much closer to the Saintess by then."
The brooch pinned to Olivia's chest gleamed gold. It was the Pentagram, the symbol of an Archmage.
That was an appeal.
A way of saying, wouldn't someone of her stature becoming close to the Saintess benefit the Holy Kingdom as well?
"Naturally, I do understand what you're concerned about."
Franz was a member of the Four Holy Knights, the most senior paladins. For someone of his rank to spend months merely acting as the Saintess's escort was a patent waste of military strength.
"I'm glad you understand. Then matters will proceed quickly."
Franz spoke in the most deferential tone he could manage.
"Going forward, I would ask that you set fixed times for your meetings with the Saintess."
Keep the frequency of your meetings, but only adjust the schedule.
Considering the circumstances, the Holy Kingdom had conceded a great deal.
But the person he was dealing with was Olivia.
"That would be difficult."
"In what regard do you mean?"
"I'm not confident that I can content myself with just thirty minutes a day with the Saintess. Instead, allow me to offer a better proposal."
"What proposal would that be?"
Olivia cast a suggestive glance at Rebekah.
"I heard the Saintess has a very special ability. She can distinguish falsehood from truth. Is that correct?"
"..."
"Saintess?"
"...Yes, that's correct."
Rebekah did indeed possess such an ability. But the very act of using it proved she did not trust the other party, so she refrained from employing it except in extraordinary cases.
"I'll swear an oath. That I won't bring any harm to the Saintess. You can judge right here and now whether that oath is true or false, can't you."
"That won't be enough."
It was Franz.
"If that were sufficient, we would have proposed it ourselves first."
"Are you saying that truth alone cannot be trusted?"
"Regrettably, that is the case."
It was a clear refusal, but Olivia looked utterly unconcerned.
"Then I'll swear on my mana."
"...Pardon?"
Before Franz could even properly question her, Olivia swore upon her mana.
[I, Olivia, swear that I will bring no harm to Rebekah.]
A blue energy rippled through the empty air, then transformed into the shape of a shackle and bound itself around Olivia's heart.
"Satisfied?"
"...Hah."
Olivia smirked.
"Please go and convey this to His Holiness the Pope. That as of today, the Imperial Archmage Olivia can absolutely never lay a finger on the Saintess."
Franz wore the expression of a man who had been outplayed.
The weight of a mana oath.
It was something even greater than the devotion paladins hold when they serve their god.
Because, while serving a god carelessly does not bring punishment, breaking a mana oath means losing everything.
Now that Olivia had gone that far, this side had lost any justification to refuse her meetings with Rebekah.
Franz stared at Olivia for a quiet moment, then nodded and rose from his seat.
"...Understood, for now. Thank you for your time."
That was what he said, but the fact that Rebekah's escort would be changed to someone else was already practically a foregone conclusion.
To a paladin of lower rank than the Four Holy Knights, to be precise.
Once again, the two of them were left alone at the table.
Rebekah hesitated, then sprang abruptly to her feet.
"I-I'll be going as well. Enjoy your meal."
Rather than stopping Rebekah, Olivia called after her in a low, suggestive voice.
"Come out to the back garden of the Cathedral tonight at midnight."
Rebekah stopped short, drew in a shallow breath, and then hurried away.
'I'm not going.'
She didn't even need to hear it.
She needed time to sort out her thoughts. Whether Olivia had been toying with her or whatever else.
To be honest, she was a little scared.
Because the memories of that day kept overlapping with Olivia.
Rebekah tried to escape the refectory as quickly as she possibly could.
But the next moment, a murderous aura poured out from Olivia's entire body.
"If you don't come...you'll lose something again, just like last time, won't you?"
At those words, Rebekah's body froze rigid. She could ignore anything else, but she absolutely couldn't let that remark pass.
"What did you just say...!"
But by the time Rebekah turned her head, Olivia was already gone.