[The Saintess, Anastasia Lacroix - 08]
[The Saintess, Anastasia Lacroix - 08]
"Dessert is only good when it's sweet. From now on, if you say 'I like this because it's not sweet,' it's a death sentence."
"Your nonsense is increasing, Saintess-nim."
If it couldn't be helped because there were so many stressful things, then it couldn't be helped.
Having lived doing nothing until now, recently, she had been working, working again, and then being educated by me, so her free time had been reduced to an extreme state.
As the Saintess-nim herself said, because she healed people for free, there were those who came making a fuss even over minor wounds.
However, the Saintess-nim didn't show any signs of annoyance and healed everyone, comforting them.
It is a parent's heart to come when their child is hurt.
It is better to be sensitive about one's own body than to be dull.
By comforting people while saying such mature things that almost brought tears to one's eyes, it seemed that the Saintess-nim's reputation among the public had improved, even though not much time had passed since she started working.
The Saintess-nim's deficiencies or various problems were only discussed within the Cathedral, and almost no information was given to civilians.
"She's just sick" was the extent of it, and because of that, there were rumors that this Saintess-nim might be weak.
Well, it was because the 'Saintess' herself had fallen ill.
Well, it was information that those in the know were aware that a Saintess was just an ordinary person before the [Awakening of a Saintess], so there weren't that many people who found it strange.
The problem, if there was one, was that the Saintess-nim hadn't awakened yet.
It meant that the healing magic she used to cure illnesses as if breathing was merely her innate talent. It was terrifying, enough to make one's blood run cold.
"Surprisingly, few people recognize me. I thought someone would."
"The hood Saintess-nim is wearing has a perception-blocking magic imbued in it. In other words, it's difficult for people to recognize you as the Saintess while wearing it. It reduces your presence."
"Hmm, so there was such a convenient power?"
"Regardless, there's no good in standing out."
"The Academy uniform stands out."
"The Academy is in this capital. Saintess-nim will attend when you turn 20. It might not be a long time in the grand scheme of life, but it's a suitable place to gain necessary knowledge. And to develop social skills."
"Honestly, I don't think any professor would be better than you."
"No way, when it comes to specialized fields, I'm nothing."
Moreover, what I was teaching the Saintess-nim now wasn't that kind of class, but things that a person should naturally know, like morals and ethics.
Of course, making the Saintess-nim understand that wasn't something that couldn't be called a kind of talent, but anyway, I had a desperate desire for the Saintess-nim to enter the Academy safely.
Still, she had been following my words very well recently, so honestly, I thought there wouldn't be any problems if she grew up like this.
"The Academy is practically a meeting place; the rate of people who meet there and get married is high. Perhaps you should give it a try."
"Did you hear something from the Pope again?"
"I wish you wouldn't be so quick-witted only in strange places, Saintess-nim."
"It's what you call an inference based on accumulated data."
The Saintess-nim put the cake in her mouth and mumbled as she spoke.
Since I, who rarely touches on that subject directly, suddenly brought up marriage, she seemed to immediately suspect the Pope.
It was subtle to deny it, as I had actually heard such things, and it wasn't like I had committed a crime.
"Do you have no thoughts on marriage at all, Saintess-nim?"
"Yeah~ I know, I know~ I know what you mean. Having a family is a happy thing, I might change because of it, I might treat my family specially if I have one, blah blah blah. It's not that I don't understand what you're trying to say."
The Saintess-nim said.
"Nevertheless, it's just fleeting to me. Love or whatever, it doesn't really hit home. I might change if I try it, but love is supposed to be about being filled with thoughts of that person, right? It's, like, a different feeling."
I tilted my head.
"The form of love is different for everyone."
"......Is that so?"
The Saintess-nim looked at me, moving only her eyes while cutting the cake with a fork.
It felt strange to talk about love like a girl of this age, but I decided to continue saying what I wanted to say.
"It doesn't have to be 'love' only if it's burning and you're willing to give your life for each other. That is certainly a dramatic form of love, but if I had to say, treating someone comfortably like a friend can also be love for some people."
It might have been distorted in various ways, but the forms of love were diverse.
Sometimes one might see a couple and wonder, "Is that love?", but they would live happily ever after.
"I see, yeah. I thought only that kind of hot passion was love."
"There are many relationships in the world. As I said, there are couples who married comfortably as friends, and while it's a bit dramatic, there are also stories like the princess and the knight."
"Princess and the knight?"
"It's a subject often used in plays and such. Like a love story between a princess and her escort knight. Because of things like class differences, it's easy for it to end in tragedy, but well, it's just a creative work, and there are many cases where it ends in a happy ending."
Or, if the escort knight had ridiculous specs, it wasn't an impossible story.
If they had specs that could be called a war hero, it was possible.
In the world I used to live in, no matter the difference in skill between people, everyone was equal before a gun, but in this world, it wasn't so.
If one had power, they had the strength to overthrow a nation alone, and the Saintess-nim in front of me could destroy a small city in a few seconds if we were only talking about firepower.
If the gap in individual martial power was too great, it was possible to overcome class differences with the feeling of, "Got a problem? What are you going to do about it?"
In fact, there were plenty of cases in history where people suppressed dissatisfaction with such power and married, ignoring class differences.
"......."
The Saintess-nim's eyes, which were keeping silent, seemed to flicker as if she were interested for a moment.
Is she interested in plays?
A play is surprisingly an important element that touches people's psychology and generates emotions, and it can be said to be quite a healthy hobby.
If she said her hobby was plays at the Academy, it seemed like she could make a pretty good impression.
Regardless, there's no harm in having a hobby.
"Saintess-nim, if you're interested in plays, would you like to go see one later?"
"......."
She was silent again.
Is this a yes or a no?
It was still not easy to read the Saintess-nim's expression.
"You're coming with me, right?"
I thought for a moment at the question that followed the silence, then said.
"Well, since I have to accompany you whenever you go out, I don't think it'll be a problem to watch it together while we're at it."
It could be dangerous if it were normal, but since she's the Saintess-nim, a private box would be prepared.
Since there would be a considerable distance from others, I could handle 90% or more of any assassination attempts. The Saintess-nim stared at me, who was judging that there was no big problem, and then fed me cake.
"What was that for?"
"Is it good?"
"I'm not really fond of sweet things."
"Really? Then what do you like?"
"Well, I like things that are slightly spicy."
Of course, I didn't like food that was just spicy, but I liked food that was tasty-spicy.
"I see, I'll remember that. ......And I'm looking forward to the play too."
"Understood."
"Love....... Love....... Love....... Hmm, maybe it's fine to call it that. Anyway, it's important in my life. Yeah, let's call it that. I think it's better to call it that from today."
The Saintess-nim was muttering something small while looking out the window, but I couldn't hear it properly.
It seemed like she wasn't talking to me, but to herself.
"......."
"......."
The Saintess-nim gave me a glance for a moment.
Since coming back from celebrating her younger sister's birthday at the Frendisiv Family, the Saintess-nim sometimes stares at me quietly.
A warning that there was no good in finding the meaning of that somewhat sticky gaze, even if I tried, spread within me, so I had been refusing to find the answer myself until now.
For some reason, I could turn my thoughts to it and find the answer, but I felt like there would be no turning back if I did.
"Ed, I'm quite happy these days."
"Is that so?"
"It feels like I'm putting together an invisible puzzle. No, should I say I'm building a tower? I've never been this happy in my life."
"Although it's only been 13 years of life."
"You still have to get the last word in. Well, I suppose you couldn't be by my side without that much guts. How about we change your title soon? You're called my education supervisor, but you're practically my aide, right? An escort knight, aide, and teacher all in one."
"That's long."
"I'll give you a shorter title later, so let's stick with that for now. You get paid more, so isn't that good?"
A shorter title?
Hmm.
Fine.
Let's not ask.
"Ed."
"Yes."
"It looks noisy over there."
I could see people gathered beyond the window.
"Indeed."
"Shall we go?"
The Saintess-nim surely wouldn't know the saying that curiosity killed the cat.
Not that she was the type of person to die from curiosity in the first place.