After finishing her interview with Daniel (though it was doubtful it could be referred to as that), Sophie left the other room, and Gerald, who had been waiting outside, moved without making a sound. As Sophie stared at the man who had a refined appearance and was flawless with every move, she urged him, half-resignedly, and said, “Go ahead.”
“Go ahead with what?”
“You let me do my things first in the morning, so I’ll listen to you this time. You have reported it to His Highness Ferio, haven’t you?”
Certainly, Gerald headed to the royal palace to report yesterday and was entrusted with a message for her.
Originally, it was a matter that ought to be told immediately, but when Gerald met Sophie in the morning, Sophie said, “Okay, please tell me your opinion about this,” and passed dozens of documents regarding strengthening the black star. Then Sophie said further, “I’ll listen to your business later,” so it ended up being delayed.
“Then let me report. His Highness Ferio said Sophie-sama’s anger is natural.”
When Ferio heard the report, his face lost its color then he looked at the ceiling while muttering, “Why did it end up like that…” but Gerald didn’t include that in the brief report to the girl in front of him, which made her respond overbearingly.
“Of course it is. It’s his brother’s fault, after all.”
Her stern expression and cold words showed no trace of awe toward the royal family. Gerald was no longer surprised by that, but if it happened during their first meeting, he would doubt his ears.
In this nation, the royal family had absolute status.
Why were paladins like Gerald known as “holy” knights? It was because, during the founding of the nation, the king was worshiped as a god. Even though such a mentality had diminished as time passed, the awe toward the royal family didn’t disappear.
Considering the origin of the purple star was the sole existence allowed to advise the king, who was worshiped as a god, to avoid them turning into a tyrant, her words were appropriate, but they sounded too sharp coming from a teenage girl.
[“I told you she was a weird woman before!”]
Such were the words that the first prince repeated several times in response to the report.
As Gerald stared at the moody girl, he pondered.
Why did he doubt the relationship between her and the first prince in the first place?
Even though the girl showed no trace of faint love at all?
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing…”
Gerald chose not to mention anything unnecessary as he said his next words.
“His Highness Ferio said he would definitely fulfill the promise written in the document. However, he said there was one thing he forgot to mention to Sophie-sama.”
[“As long as you mention this, she definitely won’t act recklessly anymore. Even if the same thing occurs, she definitely won’t point a blade at Remiel again. I’m sure of it!”]
Ferio had told him that, but Gerald was skeptical.
How much would such a message serve as a deterrent?
“You said that awkwardly. What’s next? Did he ask for special treatment for Remiel?”
“No, that’s not the case… it’s just, His Highness Ferio said he wanted to cherish his fiancée, Miss Christina.”
“…………Hm?”
Ferio cherishing Christina was something to be expected. If he couldn’t, then Sophie wouldn’t show any mercy even if they were childhood friends.
What Sophie couldn’t understand was why such an obvious thing came out of Gerald’s mouth.
“Apparently, Miss Christina wasn’t a person who would request anything selfishly of His Highness Ferio since their childhood.”
It was something that Christina would do. For her, who was severely disciplined as a queen, the thought of spoiling herself to her fiancé might not exist. Sophie could easily see Christina’s figure calmly handling the situation when she closed her eyes.
“But such a person asked for a personal request this time. His Highness Ferio said he wanted to grant that wish as much as possible.”
Of course he should. There was no such thing as rejecting her.
However, why did Ferio go to all the trouble to relay such a message through Gerald?
I wondered why I had a bad feeling about it…
One should never forget.
Ferio knew Sophie since she was young.
Even though they were separated for a long period of time, he was one of the few people who experienced and understood what kind of person Sophie was.
“Miss Christina only requested one thing. It is all the information regarding Sophie-sama during your stay at ‘The King’s Sword’.”
“――――Eh?”
All information?
That meant…
“What the heck is that――――?!!”
Screams that sounded like Sophie’s voice echoed in the wide corridor. It gave a sense of danger to those who heard it that they might be caught by their collars if they were nearby.
“When was that?! When did Christina onee-sama make such a request?!”
“……Apparently, it happened right after it was decided Sophie-sama would receive the purple star and the base would be ‘The King’s Sword’.”
“It happened that way back?! Why didn’t he tell me that first?! Isn’t that the utmost priority information?!”
“Is… that so?”
“Of course it is! That means ever since I came to the academy, all my actions had reached Christina onee-sama’s ears?!”
Sophie immediately used her head to the fullest and recalled all her actions in the academy.
She smacked Lars the gold star with a book to his face, picked a fight with the instructor of the silver star, participated in a mountain exercise with the copper star, and even shot down a bird and consumed it right there. Even now, she was in the midst of reinforcing the black star through hellish training. On top of that, she even pointed her blade at the second successor of the throne――――
“…Is that within Christina onee-sama’s permissible range?”
“I’m not sure…”
Gerald did say that, but he thought there wouldn’t be any aristocratic lady who wouldn’t be surprised by what Sophie did. If there was any, it would be a very daring woman.
“~~~ What a thing to do! What should I do if Christina onee-sama thinks of me as unworthy to be her younger sister if she heard of what I did?!”
Gerald had no idea what the younger sister meant in that, but looking at Sophie’s complexion, it seemed Ferio’s message produced a greater effect than Gerald ever expected.
That said, if the message stopped there, one would never know what she might have done to avoid the danger―such a message was also told to Gerald.
Gerald told Sophie the rest of the message before Sophie began to have dangerous thoughts.
“His Highness Ferio said that out of consideration that he forgot to mention this beforehand. He has no intention of telling what has occurred until now to Miss Christina.”
Sophie clearly felt relieved and the color returned to her face, but it only lasted a short moment. It seemed she immediately realized Ferio’s intention by the message. Her relieved expression gradually became puffed cheeks.
“So it’s basically his way to pressure me to behave since everything I do from now on will be relayed to Christina onee-sama. So there will be retaliation if I point my blade at Remiel next time. Isn’t that practically a threat?!”
“Regarding Remiel-sama, I think it would be wise to take it that way.”
Gerald chose not to deny it on purpose.
“According to my experience, Remiel-sama isn’t a person who cares about his victory or defeat. I think it won’t mean anything whether you win or lose the match next week.”
“Are you that close to Remiel that you can speak from experience?”
It was a pure question, but she never thought the answer would be that Gerald was selected to be his childhood playmate, which made Sophie stiffen as her mouth hung open.
Didn’t that mean they were childhood friends?
“W-wait a minute. He didn’t even have the atmosphere that you are acquainted with him at all though?!”
“Remiel-sama is that kind of person.”
Looking at the man who declared so without any fluctuation in emotion, Sophie felt a little pitiful.
Having to handle a man who wouldn’t even care for your existence since childhood was a hell of its own.
“Is that the reason you ended up becoming such an expressionless man?”
Sophie’s real thoughts leaked out.
“I already had this personality even before meeting Remiel-sama. Perhaps that’s the reason I was selected to be his playmate.”
There was no fluctuation in emotion, no tantrums, and nothing showed on his face. There were also nerves that wouldn’t be affected regardless of what was said and done. The person who would deal with Remiel had to be such a person or they wouldn’t last. Those requirements that were difficult to fulfill even by adults naturally allowed Gerald to be selected.
“I apologize that I acted late because I was too used to that person’s behavior. Despite that, if I may speak my real thoughts―it would be better to not get involved with Remiel-sama.”
Gerald’s blue eyes, which seemed like machines since their first meeting, seemed to convey slight emotion.
Considering he was under the command of the queen, he should have chosen a more indirect way, but the man still chose to say it straight and Sophie stared at him for a while.
“…I have received your warning.”
“Then—”
“However, it won’t affect the match in a week.”
At Sophie’s reply, Gerald showed slight disappointment.
“It’s not that I made light of your words, but I also have something I can’t give up on. I can’t stand staying defeated by the person who slandered Christina onee-sama, and also… I want to see people with my own eyes. I don’t like abandoning someone because of someone else’s opinion.”1
Gerald was taken by surprise by Sophie’s affirmative statement.
Gerald thought Remiel had lost his human rights in Sophie’s mind the moment he slandered Christina.
No, she always was such a person…
Even though she could easily abandon others, she wouldn’t. Same could be said for the black stars. Regardless of how much she put importance on Christina, Gerald could understand the moment he saw the curriculum she made. That was the plan that properly thought of developing human resources. It was definitely not just pushing her emotions and creating unfair content.
“Have you thought about it?”
“Nope, not at all! For the time being, I’m only thinking about completely defeating that man!”
Nay, it seemed Remiel really didn’t have any human rights in her mind. Gerald could only feel killing intent from the black-haired girl as she declared to crush that man.
“It might be rude to ask, but do you have a chance to win? Richu is one of Remiel-sama specialties. He is skillful enough to be among the best in the kingdom.”
“I accepted the match because I can win. I will definitely win next time!”
It was a remark that was hard to believe was coming from someone that was once completely defeated, showing the strength that she wasn’t saying empty words.
“Of course, I will make sure to learn everything necessary for that just in case. I asked for a week just for that sake.”
As for what it specifically meant, it was referring to the large number of books that Luca had in his hands all this time.
