Chapter 18
Translator: True Detective
[The Saintess Awakens - 08]
A coldly sunken voice.
No.
A voice of rejection.
Even though it was my own voice, I felt a little awkward even as I said it myself. Ed and Ellyn were also looking at me with surprised faces, and under that gaze, I subconsciously widened my eyes and gently pressed my temples.
Why did I reject them just now?
It wasn't words that came out after organizing my thoughts, reason, or some kind of idea. When I came to my senses, I had already spat it out, and I was slightly flustered because it was so coldly sunken I couldn't believe it was my own voice.
I was thinking of a story for the 'No' in my head, but all the reasons were merely reasons fabricated after the fact, and they were all somewhat far from the reason I actually said 'No'.
'This is an excuse.'
That's right, an excuse.
Not the truth, but I was coming up with excuses right now, and I couldn't know what the truth was. Ed often told me that I was capable of emotion and empathy, but the part that recognized them was broken. I had instantaneously made an emotional judgment just now.
I could understand that much at least, but thinking was gradually becoming annoying.
Making excuses and justifications for having taken such actions and spoken such words made me feel a little aggrieved, and I felt like I didn't know what I was supposed to do. The creeping feeling of displeasure—I could tell it was rising simply because 'I felt offended'.
No joke, it felt chilling.
To an extent that even I was surprised, I was currently feeling displeased for an egocentric, selfish reason that didn't include others in the slightest.
Displeasure bloomed, and the urge to put a stop to those words just now bloomed deep inside.
A warning spread within me that I had to endure it and that I shouldn't do it, but because I couldn't understand why I had to listen to that warning, my displeasure instantly skyrocketed.
"……We're just going to talk for a moment, I won't do anything." The first to come to her senses and speak was Ellyn.
Displeasure.
Is this displeasure?
An emotion hard to put into words spread within me, and the impulse to shut that mouth right now spread inside. I subconsciously looked at Ed, slightly caring about what Ed would say.
"What will you do? I won't do anything if you say you dislike it, Saintess."
"Tsk!" "Why are you clicking your tongue again?" "I don't like that face." "My, I often heard that I'm quite decent-looking, though." "You know that's not what I mean, stop spouting nonsense." I clicked my tongue strongly once again. Even in this situation, Ed was consistent. Consistently looking at me with observing eyes, as if thinking, 'What kind of reaction will you show now? What kind of answer will you give?' He seemed to be trying to figure out the direction of education from my current reaction, and as an added bonus, attempting to confirm the results of the education. Walking down that path wasn't a good feeling, but it didn't mean I felt like giving Ed a bad impression right now either. To put it more simply, I didn't want to unnecessarily create a situation that hurt feelings. Of course, this wasn't my feeling, but Ed's feeling.
I couldn't find an answer to that inquiry, but anyway, there was no doubt I felt that way.
I let out a small sigh, looked out the window, and then got up. "Do as you please. I'm going to take a stroll for a bit, so you guys talk among yourselves."
"Alone, without even the butler?" "Yeah, well……. Got a complaint?"
"No, I do not. Have a safe trip."
I felt inexplicably annoyed by Ed's unchanging smile, but I just walked right past Ellyn.
"S-Saintess."
"Don't follow me. I'm in a slightly bad mood right now, so that displeasure could lead to something bad for you."
"……!" The maid who had been trying to follow Ellyn to follow me trembled at my warning and backed away just like that. I let out another small sigh and walked down the hallway.
"Huu."
I exhaled as if taking a deep breath.
"I'm certain your name is……." "It is Adrian Valtus." "Right, Adrian. ……Are you the Adrian Valtus I know?"
It seemed she already knew the rumors about me.
How troubling.
There shouldn't be any rumors that are good for a child to hear, after all. Most of them would just be bloody stories about the battlefield and so on.
Or maybe it's a story about the Valtus family.
Either way, they would be rumors with no particularly good elements.
"Yes, it is probably me."
"As expected of the Saintess, her butler is an incredible person too."
"I am merely the one in charge of her education, for now. ……Please sit down, you had something to say to me, did you not?" "……." Ellyn hesitated for a moment, then closed the door, walked slowly, and sat in the seat where the Saintess had been sitting. Her demeanor didn't resemble the Saintess no matter how you looked at it. They looked alike because of their hair color, but looking closely, the differences were clear to see.
Her impression was vastly different, especially because of the shape of her eyes.
Well, I suppose.
Since they are sisters, not twins, it wouldn't be strange if there were slightly different parts.
"What is your relationship with my sister?"
"Teacher and student." "It's not a simple relationship like that, is it. It's the first time I've seen my sister react like that. To my sister, you are special. Otherwise, she wouldn't show a reaction like that. She wouldn't react like that even if someone in our family died." "That is." "Don't tell me it's not. I know what kind of person my sister is, too." "……." Although emotional, she seemed quite smart. Then again, the Saintess was only like that because she didn't focus; once she focused, the speed at which she absorbed knowledge was immense, and she solved things like tests quite well. Learning without even basic knowledge and then applying it was considerable, so I remembered thinking that not only her ability but her brain was also brilliant. If she was the Saintess's younger sister, it wouldn't be strange if she were smart.
Perhaps, though not to the Saintess's extent, she might also have a talent for magic. Since attributes aren't inherited, there was no guarantee anywhere that it would be the light attribute, though.
For example, my father was the earth attribute, but my basic attribute was wind.
Of course, it is common to acquire multiple attributes as one grows.
"My sister was like that since the old days. Even when I asked to play, she wouldn't react, and I even heard her say 'Who were you again?'"
Holding the teacup, trembling, she literally began to vent her grievances.
"Even just now, if I hadn't called her Sister, she wouldn't have recognized who I was. Right?"
"……."
It was a truly difficult question to answer.
I also think so, but saying this in front of the person herself was quite high difficulty.
"The invitations……. I had them sent every year." "What do you think of the Saintess?"
"I really hate her." Is it love-hate? She seemed like someone with strong family affection. Typically, if she considered someone 'her person' even once, she couldn't cut them off all at once. At the point they were already family, to Ellyn, the Saintess was family, and her person.
So she gets hurt and hates being rejected and ignored by that person, yet she still ends up craving affection. If this were a game or a comic, she was a person who absolutely couldn't avoid being called a siscon. "I was really surprised. Just now, my sister warned the maid, didn't she? To me, that was incredibly baffling. No, yeah. I was surprised. Surprised, I tell you." "Why is that?"
"Why? Isn't it obvious, my sister cared about others. She told her not to come because she might not be able to control herself. The old sister would never say something like that, absolutely not. ……I don't think she changed just because she was in the Grand Cathedral."
"……." As expected. She's smart. "It's you, isn't it? You changed my sister. How did you do it? What do I have to do?" "Didn't you say you hate her?" "Ugh, of course I hate her. No matter what I did, no matter how I tried to get her attention, she never looked at me once. She always looked at me with a face that said 'Who were you again?'. I felt half-spiteful and thought I'd engrave it in her memory, but just as I thought that, my sister became a Saintess and left."
"……Weren't you young around that time, Ellyn? Do you possess the memories of that time completely?" "Huh? Of course." It seems to have gone beyond the level of just having a good memory. Ellyn's age at the time should have been about 3 or 4 years old, yet despite that, she remembers it?
"Anyway, I want to be remembered by my sister."
"I."
I hesitated very briefly and then answered.
"I merely told her that I wished for her not to change."
"I don't quite understand the meaning."
"It means it would be better to accept her as she is. In a good sense or a bad sense, the Saintess is complete like that, and is already a finished person. If you are thinking of doing something to the Saintess's essence itself, you will not be remembered even if a lifetime passes."
She wants to become normal sisters.
If she has that desire, even if she tries a hundred times, she will not be remembered a hundred times. Even if she manages to briefly catch the Saintess's interest, if the person isn't interesting, only the action is interesting, so she won't recognize the person.
She probably wouldn't have any interest, either.
"If you are also interested, Ellyn, why don't you try doing that? I do not know if this advice will be of any use, though."
"……I understand, you're a good person. Even though I'm committing such a discourtesy, you don't get angry. ……Thank you." She seems to be a person with common sense.
"You are welcome." "B-Big trouble!"
At that moment, someone opened the door and appeared.
"What is the matter?"
"T-The Saintess is……!" Did she cause a problem by any chance? Did someone get hurt?
Did she take her anger out on someone by any chance?
I thought she would be fine, but did she end up unable to endure it?
Thinking such thoughts, I looked at the maid, and the maid gasped for breath and then shouted.
"I think she has been kidnapped!!"
"……Uh, pardon?" Who? The Saintess? Kidnapped?