[Saintess for You - 08]
[Saintess for You - 08]
This person is none other than Julian Valtus.
Three years older than Ed, and the person who will become the next head of the Valtus Family.
He looked a bit more rough around the edges compared to Ed; if I had to describe it, he had the kind of impression that made you think he'd be squatting in a back alley, chatting about delinquent things. But, I see.
Certainly, unlike his expression, his eyes weren't smiling, and those eyes were like a calm lake, as if looking into the deep.
He was a person perfectly suited to be described as a "sage playing the clown," and judging by the conversation I overheard earlier, it seemed he had plenty of thoughts of his own as well.
As expected of my Ed's family, everyone seemed to have clear strengths to some degree.
Noel looked the least intelligent, but he seemed to have the power of a sun that led the atmosphere and blew away gloomy vibes.
Especially since the Valtus Family had been teetering until recently, it was no exaggeration to say that having someone to hold their spirits together like that was a stroke of luck.
And Aria and Lucian, who could be called the pillars, were paving a new path until Julian eventually became the new pillar.
"Greetings, Julian Valtus-nim. I am the Saintess, Anastasia Lacroix. This is our first time meeting like this, isn't it? I am indebted to your younger brother, Ed, every day. Yes, truly."
"Ed? Eh, you call him Ed?"
"......."
"Hehe, it's my own personal nickname for him."
Personally, I wanted Ed to call me by a nickname too.
For example, since I am Anastasia, something like 'Ana'—if there were a nickname like that, I felt like I would feel happy for some reason.
However, since he hasn't accepted me yet, making Ed come to me wasn't exactly a method I could count on.
If I wanted to force it, it would be a matter of doing everything from one to ten by force.
Having not chosen the path of force, I must be a little wiser and make the other party come to me.
Pushing when I need to push, loosening when I need to loosen, and pulling when I need to pull—that was the best way to get a person's heart in my hands.
That must be how you make allies.
Romance surely wouldn't be much different.
"Oh my, excuse me. I am Julian Valtus, this guy's older brother. Since he is an excellent younger brother, he must have been a great help to you, Saintess-nim. He's smart, skilled, and honestly speaking, as an older brother, I have nothing to boast about other than being older."
"Not at all, Ed has praised you, Julian-nim, so much."
"Oh, really?"
"The Saintess asked me to talk about it, so I just spoke objectively. If the Saintess took that as praise, then I suppose it is praise."
"What a troublesome guy."
"Shut up."
Come to think of it, Ed uses honorifics with everyone.
I wondered if he used casual speech with his family, but that wasn't the case at all; it seemed he used honorifics with everyone, regardless of age or gender.
He even used honorifics with Eris, who could be considered below Ed in rank.
It seemed like he used casual speech instead of honorifics when he was angry a few times, but for the most part, he seemed to use honorifics even with enemies.
I felt like I wanted to see Ed completely angry and shouting in casual speech someday, but I had no intention of plotting anything for that.
Because if I were involved in the reason for his anger, he would get angry at me and be disappointed, right?
I didn't have the confidence to deal with the aftermath of actually making him angry just because I wanted to see him angry.
Because I want to avoid being hated by Ed at all costs.
The reason I pretended to be the annoyingly perfect Saintess, received education, interacted with all sorts of people, and built human relationships was simply because Ed wanted it. Doing something that would make Ed hate me would be stupid and contradictory.
"Anyway, Julian-nim, about that problem....... Would you not consider leaving it to me?"
"To the Saintess-nim?"
"Even if I look like this, I have my own skills, enough to have earned the title of the strongest Saintess in history. Of course, I will be moving with Ed. Please don't think of it as a debt; I just want to make a good impression on Ed's family, to whom I am indebted."
I didn't lie.
I really did want to make a good impression.
However, when I say this, for some reason, everyone seems to have a tendency to interpret it as 'a person who needs an excuse to do a good deed.'
He looked sharp in many ways, but he didn't have the face of someone who openly noticed the sense of incongruity and stared at me like Aria did earlier.
My acting was close to perfection, to the point where even Ed said that if he had met me after I started acting, it would have taken him a long time to notice that I was acting.
Since the level of perfection is increasing as time passes, it is actually Aria who is strange for feeling a sense of incongruity in that short time.
I thought experience was truly a formidable weapon.
"The Saintess-nim should stay in a safe place."
"I'm offering to help, so why are you like this? Do you really think I'm going to die?"
"There is such a thing as work appropriate for one's position."
"I am going to do work appropriate for my position. Are you saying that subjugating monsters for the safety of the citizens is not the Saintess's job? Are you telling me to just sit there like a superior, ordering people around with just a nod of my chin and a wave of my hand, and live like a person in power?"
"That is not what I meant."
"Then that's settled, right?"
"......."
If it were just the two of us here, sarcasm would have flowed from those lips, but unfortunately, since others were present, it seemed he was barely swallowing those words.
Julian, who was watching that scene, widened his eyes for a moment before laughing and saying.
"What is this, you two get along better than I thought."
"Does it look that way?"
"Yes, Saintess-nim. For this Adrian to discard his manners to some extent and speak in his own prickly way is also proof that he has acknowledged that person as his ally. Therefore, don't scold him for being prickly. It's proof that in his own way, the Saintess-nim has become precious to him."
"Could you please not say useless things?"
"See?"
Well, I also knew Ed's personality well.
At first, he was always smiling and kind, but as time passed, if he thought I was going too far, he would sometimes say harsh things.
Therefore, I had 'understood' that this is how Ed is with people he is close to, but separate from that, having that fact acknowledged by someone else was a happy thing.
A smile escaped me.
It was not a forced smile.
It was mixed with the relief that Ed recognized me as his person, and that at least compared to when we first met, we had properly moved forward.
No matter how much I calculated, memorized, or did whatever, the fact that I couldn't ultimately understand or empathize didn't change.
Therefore, I could guess that Ed was evaluating me somewhat favorably compared to the beginning, but there was nothing I could call a certainty.
Because it was something that occurred in the realm of emotions, it was a realm where Anastasia Lacroix could never obtain certainty.
However.
If those around me stamped that certainty, it was an incredibly happy thing for me.
"......."
"Huh, seriously?"
It seemed Julian read a lot from my smile that had momentarily escaped.
It seemed Julian had noticed, even if just a little, the fragments of my emotions and the source of desires I couldn't even understand myself.
This time, it wasn't intentional, but I had intended to convey the fact that I have feelings for Ed to his family, whether they knew it or not.
If even his family, beyond the cathedral which could be called a workplace, evaluated the connection between me and Ed positively, even someone as steel-like as Ed would have no choice but to waver a little.
Although there is plenty of time until we become adults, I wanted to do everything I could do.
"Fine, I will follow the Saintess-nim's words."
"Older brother."
"You're going with her, so there's no problem, isn't there? Or are you saying that after being a holy knight for so long, you can't even protect one Saintess while catching monsters?"
"Haa."
It felt like the sound of stress building up could be heard all the way here.
Hmm, cute.
I like it very much.
I couldn't help but laugh at the moments when Ed lost his manners.
It was hard to put into words, but the rough side peculiar to someone who has lived on the battlefield, which Ed occasionally shows when he drops his mask in front of me, seemed to excite me.
I analyzed myself, thinking perhaps I was lusting after him, but I couldn't know for sure.
It's just that once we become adults, there will be an opportunity to know that part clearly, so there's no need to be in such a hurry.
"Anyway, let's eat today, get some good rest, and talk about that again tomorrow."
"Let's do that."
"Then, Saintess-nim, have a good time as well."
"Yes, thank you."
As Julian walked away and disappeared from view, I smiled and looked at Ed.
"Things are getting more and more interesting. I'll tell you in advance, but I'm really going. I want to show your family a good side of me. In many ways, that is. In that sense, the appearance of this monster is a very good opportunity for me."
"Is that so....... More than that, there is one thing I would like to ask."
"What is it?"
"Where did Eris go, and why are you walking around alone?"
"She's eating right now like she's possessed by a gluttonous ghost."
"Leaving the Saintess-nim alone?"
"Yeah."
"......."
"......."
Ed's expression was changing into one that was hard to describe.
I patted Ed's shoulder and said.
"The kid is kind."
"You are the younger one."
There were no words to express it other than "the kid is truly kind."
And because she was quite an important asset in that she was a 'person I could trust.'