The Saintess and Robert — 4
"I've long heard your name. Young Lord Taylor... I believe that would be the proper way to address you."
"Call me whatever you like. I've heard plenty about you as well, Sir Berod."
"I could hardly do that. After all, you've become quite the famous figure in the capital, haven't you?"
Berod replied, stroking his beard.
A famous figure, was I? News of the Princess's rescue in the North must have spread to some degree. Even if the Empire couldn't proudly broadcast how its own Princess had been threatened by foreign savages, the high nobility would surely have caught wind of it by now.
That Robert Taylor had single-handedly saved the Princess. How absurd such a rumor must sound—that a man who had never once held a sword in his life had accomplished such a feat. Few would take it at face value, of course, but I was certain it would at least earn me a measure of attention.
That was likely why Yuria had begun to move as well. She may have known I'd gone north, but the results I'd brought back were impossible to ignore. And if she'd read it as me securing the imperial family's backing by saving the Princess, there was every chance she had grown all the more impatient.
"I hardly warrant the title of famous. Besides, you've already heard your share of rumors about me, haven't you?"
"There is no better way to learn whether a rumor is true or false than to see for oneself."
"And what sort of person do I seem to be, then?"
"...It would appear those rumors were spread by someone with a great deal of malice."
At that answer I let out a dry laugh, and Berod gave a small smile of his own as he studied me. The hostility lingering in his eyes had not faded. He still couldn't make sense of why I had approached Adrian, no doubt.
But I hadn't approached Adrian at all. A chance encounter had simply grown into a bond, and that bond had carried us to where we stood now. I had no hidden designs on her. Hadn't she been the one to propose traveling to the South together? Her presence pressed down on me, but my expression remained perfectly composed.
This was pressure I had weathered many times before. I gathered my strength and pushed back, and Berod clicked his tongue, looking faintly surprised.
"You're no ordinary young lord, it seems. I hadn't expected you to be carrying a blade within you."
"The rumors speak only of who I used to be. But I couldn't go on living that way forever."
"And so you approached the Saintess?"
A low rumble rolled through the chamber—
A pressure entirely different from before came crashing down over me. An intense force that bore down on my body, squeezing at me to force my true intentions into the open. Yet my calm did not break. Mana breathed out with each exhale wrapped around my surroundings, scattering the pressure that poured toward me. The manipulation of mana was the domain in which I held the greatest confidence—and as his released aura dissolved, Berod's eyes narrowed for just a moment.
Pressuring me this way would accomplish nothing. If he came at me with a weapon drawn, that would be another matter, but he would hardly act so rashly in the Moon Tower with Adrian here. So I simply held his gaze in silence, then let out a small sigh and parted my lips.
"I did not approach the Saintess."
"Then I fail to see what purpose you have in staying at the Moon Tower."
First things first—I needed to untangle the misunderstanding between us. I knew well how much he cherished Adrian, but I had to make clear, at the very least, that I hadn't sought her out out of any particular interest. Just as Adrian herself had said, she and I were nothing more than friends—and we weren't even awkward around each other yet. Moreover, given her station as Saintess, the odds of anything romantic forming between us were slim. It was mere conjecture, but if I truly fell in love with Adrian and we became lovers, it would scarcely be surprising for it to become an official concern of the Church.
The reason I wished to remain at the Moon Tower was my relationship with the Church. If I wanted support for my claim as Family Head, it served me better to secure as much of the Church's influence as I could.
"My friendship with the Saintess did not come about for any purpose. So I would ask that you temper your anger a little. If any more time passes... this place is going to come down around us."
"I had no intention of pressing until it did. I simply didn't expect you to withstand it."
As the pressure drained away, the table that had been trembling all this while finally went still. Simply releasing his strength was enough to shake everything around him. The pinnacle of all Paladins—making an enemy of him would serve my interests poorly as well.
"As far as I remember, the Saintess has called someone a friend exactly twice in her life."
"Befriending Her Highness the Princess must have been the first."
"And I only heard of the second today. With Her Highness I could make my peace—another woman, after all. But this matter has me genuinely worried."
"...Men and women must keep their distance. I'd call that a perfectly reasonable concern."
The Paladins' stares earlier, and now Berod's attitude, made one thing clear: Adrian's existence was not defined solely by her role as Saintess. To them, she was something like a daughter. To put it more precisely... perhaps the youngest daughter of the family.
When I spoke as though I understood, Berod's expression softened a touch and he uncrossed his arms. It looked like a willingness to talk. But that only meant he had eased his vigilance over my relationship with Adrian—his questions about why I intended to stay at the Moon Tower still remained.
"Then I'm curious as to your reason for staying. I knew you would be traveling to the South together, but there is no real need for you to remain here, is there?"
"That has nothing to do with the Saintess. I simply wish to maintain a good relationship with the Church."
"A relationship, you say."
"I am the eldest son of House Taylor. Yuria Taylor may hold the seat of Young Matriarch now, but the right to become Family Head still rests with me."
At the words Family Head, Berod's brow creased. Unlike Adele's Grand Duchy title, granted for unifying the North, the title of Duke had existed since the Empire's founding—and it belonged to House Taylor alone. The sovereign who reigned above every rank of nobility. Was that not precisely the seat of House Taylor's Family Head?
Berod stared hard at me, seeming already to grasp my meaning. But voicing that intent aloud was another matter entirely. He steadied his breath for a moment, then murmured in a low voice.
"You need the Church's support."
"I trust you understand what the Church's support actually means."
The faith that governed nine-tenths of the Empire. The Saintess's existence was such that even the Emperor could not lightly dismiss her, and so the Full Moon Festival itself was held under the Church's direction. In that sense, the Church wielded an authority rivaling even the Ducal House. The Imperial Family, the nobility, the Church—perhaps it was no laughing matter after all, declaring one would win the backing of one of those three pillars.
"And I imagine you also know that winning that support borders on the impossible."
"I do."
"I hear the Taylor Young Matriarch has already begun making her moves. Trying to secure support only now would seem far too late, if you ask me."
"I moved precisely because I believe it is not too late. Everything has its proper moment and season, does it not?"
The timing of my regressions was remarkably convenient. Three years until the charge of treason would be pinned on me; two years until Adele's death. A terribly short span in which to accomplish anything, yet I knew for certain that critical events would unfold one after another within those three years. If time had rewound further back, that might have been better—but it also meant no period was better suited for creating variables than this one.
The journey north, the journey south, and the seizure of the Family Headship. Perhaps only this precise moment in time allowed all of it to be wrapped up within a single year. It wasn't too late. If anything, I considered it ample time to prepare for everything. Dragging Yuria down and claiming House Taylor for my own would likely take no more than three or four months from now.
Berod's gaze seemed bent on seeing straight through to my heart. He was trying to determine how much of what I said was true—whether I truly meant it. Since it was the truth, I had nothing to fear, but he looked doubtful all the same, so I spoke quietly.
"I will say it again—I did not approach the Saintess with any scheme in mind. If anything, I consider it an honor beyond my deserving that we became friends at all. I don't know what she saw in me, but I am simply grateful she thinks well of me."
"...The Saintess sees what lies within people."
Berod answered quietly, though his voice was gentler than before. The eyes that had been probing my intentions also eased, taking on a distant, thoughtful look, as if recalling days long past.
"Though she lost her sight, she distinguishes the darkness and the light within a person's heart more easily than anyone alive. That is why we Paladins place the training of the inner self above all else. We must keep our hearts pure at all times, so that we may never dare harbor an impure thought."
"I already knew. Adrian told me herself."
"...You address each other by name?"
His voice went cold in an instant, and I winced at my own slip—but Berod only gave a bitter smile and shook his head. His expression looked so utterly resigned that I felt an odd pang of guilt. There was no need for me to apologize, but if he was like a father to Adrian, I could well understand the feelings he must be holding.
"As I said before, I trust you understand full well that men and women must keep their distance."
"I understand, and I am being careful."
"Understanding and caution are not enough."
At the heavier tone I lifted my head slightly, and Berod's utterly grave face came into view. I could grasp what it meant that Adrian regarded Berod as a father. Wasn't this exactly how it had felt to meet the Emperor in days past? He was giving me the same look the Emperor had once fixed on me, back when Mirajane and I were lovers. Eyes like that made me feel as though I were standing trial, and my shoulders shrank of their own accord.
"I cannot be rude to the Saintess's guest, so I can only lament that fact. I had hoped to conduct a little 'verification' of my own, to see what manner of man you are."
"Has she ever met any other men besides—"
"She has never permitted one so much as an approach. Had I been stationed at the Moon Tower, you would have found it very difficult indeed to so much as see the Saintess, Young Lord."
Had I simply been extraordinarily lucky? I smiled awkwardly, and Berod fell silent, wearing a slightly disgruntled expression. Perhaps it was this overprotectiveness that had left her so naive about the ways of the world. I had no intention of blaming Berod for it, but facing him directly, the thought did cross my mind.
"If you are worried I might do something untoward, you needn't be."
"I believe that. But should you ever lay an improper hand on the Saintess..."
With a grating screech of metal, Berod planted his hammer—dragging along the floor—upright at my side and fixed me with a level stare.
"Then you will learn exactly what this hammer of mine is for."
"...Haha."
Any onlooker would be forgiven for mistaking this for a man come to ask a father's blessing to court his daughter. If such a day ever came, Berod would occupy the position of a father-in-law—but surely that day would never arrive.
I already knew Berod would be accompanying us south. How was I to maintain a relationship with him while also keeping my bond with Adrian close? Just thinking about it made my head throb. Could it even be done? In the South there would no doubt be many occasions when Adrian and I traveled alone together. I only hoped he wouldn't take some strange misunderstanding from it.
"...A male friend, hm."
He already seemed to regard me as something more than a mere friend to Adrian—the very misunderstanding I wished he wouldn't compound. In the gaze that met mine for a moment, the hostility remained. It wasn't as sharp as before, but if I tried anything with Adrian, it would surely deepen. Watching Berod mutter the words male friend to himself, I soon shook my head and sighed.
Perhaps it was simply better to stay at Adrian's side. For as long as I remained in this Moon Tower, it seemed I would have to steer clear of him as much as I possibly could.