———Sirius.
It was the name of the brightest star in the heavens.
Simply look up and you'll be greeted by its overwhelming brilliance, making you feel as though you're being watched over. Whenever, wherever you are—
...I, Serafina and Nav, lived in the forest when I was a child. The two Knights' Deputy Commanders, Sirius Ulysses, had visited the forest alone and brought me back to the royal capital.
If it hadn't been for Sirius who visited me, I would never have left the forest. The forest had everything I wanted, and I just didn't understand my role.
Sirius became my guardian and protected me from everything.
The only son of the late king's younger brother, and the kingdom's greatest noble, Duke Ulysses. In addition, there was the Vice-Commander of the Knights, whose position as the next Commander was considered certain.
With Sirius as my guardian, no one called me a "country bumpkin" despite the fact that I had always lived in the forest.
Sirius was always incredibly busy, and the work he was involved in was very important, but he always made me his priority.
——That was two years after I returned to the royal capital, when I was eight years old. Sirius was 21 years old and had been selected to become the Knight Commander next spring.
The position of the Knight Commander was an honorary one. Since this was a position that was naturally held by royalty or great nobles of royal blood, no one opposed _SIRIOSU_, the son of the king's younger brother —— not even the knights, let alone the nobles.
Because Sirius was the best swordsman in the kingdom. For the knights, who considered strength to be a virtue, the idea that the strongest should rise to the top was the easiest and most acceptable.
Also, although Sirius was stronger than anyone, he also trained more than anyone. The fact that the knights knew this from personal experience was probably a major reason why they supported him.
_SIRUISU_, with his silver hair and silver-white eyes — a rare sight in the kingdom — brought his face closer to me and let out a growling voice.
"Serafina, why did you get hurt? Don't you remember what I told you?!" (Sirius)
Even a young child like me could tell that Sirius had a beautiful face. The sight of that rare beauty's face contorting in displeasure was incredibly powerful.
Apparently, Sirius had heard that I had been injured during the monster subjugation that morning and had come rushing over. Of course, I had changed my clothes and my injuries had completely healed, so there was not a single trace of the injury left.
Despite that, Sirius glared accurately at my injured right shoulder and bit his lip in frustration. It seemed he had heard a very detailed report about my injury.
_SIRIOUSU_ looked very frightening as he glared at me silently, but I understood that whenever SIRIOUSU got angry it was because he was worried about me, so I smiled.
"Sirius, I've found a surefire way to win!" (Serafina)
"...What?" (Sirius)
When _SIRIOSU_ heard what I said, his handsome face distorted as if he didn't understand what I meant.
Normally I would start by reassuring Sirius, who was worried about me, but I was excited at the time, so I spoke up in a rush.
"You see, Sirius, I just realized! Until now, I had been protecting myself during battles, so even when I should have made an instant decision, I would unconsciously prioritize myself over the knights and cast defensive magic on myself! But that was a mistake! So from now on, I've decided to stop protecting myself. I'll let the knights protect me." (Serafina)
After hearing what I had said, Sirius' eyes widened in shock and he exclaimed in disbelief.
"...What nonsense are you saying? You are a saint! The weakest being on the battlefield! Of course, you should protect yourself first!" (Sirius)
Although I thought what Sirius said was perfectly reasonable, words of disagreement spilled out of my mouth.
"But, if I do that, and the knight and I are in danger at the same time, my defense will take priority. Then the knight who went to the trouble of breaking into the front line will end up getting injured." (Serafina)
"That's the role of the knights!" (Sirius)
Sirius couldn't stand it any longer and raised his voice, which was unusual for him, but I just tilted my head without any hesitation.
"So you, the knight, Sirius, think so. But as a saint, I believe it is my role to ensure that not a single knight dies. And what I'm saying is that I will rely on the knights to protect me, not that no one will protect me." (Serafina)
"I will admit that your idea has the potential to establish a new fighting style. However, it is not something you should try! There is no guarantee that the knights will be able to protect you! In fact, you were injured today!" (Sirius)
"...But, Sirius. I think this method is quite advanced. And I consider myself a very capable Saint. So, I wonder how many other Saints are more qualified than me to try out this method?" (Serafina)
Hearing what I said, Sirius glared at me.
"Serafina, don't ask questions you already know the answer to! Of course, the answer is zero! There is no saint with greater abilities than you." (Sirius)
Then, Sirius looked at me with a resentful look on his face for a while, but when he saw that I was firm in my will and had no intention of changing my opinion, he narrowed his eyes as if he had made up his mind about something.
"...I understand. You have pride as a saint, and I understand your desire to protect the knights. However, I also have pride as the one who governs the knights. In exchange for accepting your actions, I will assign you the best knight to protect you. Is that okay?" (Sirius)
"_SIRIUS_!!" (Serafina)
I was so happy that I ran up to Sirius and hugged him tightly against his stomach.
"Thank you! I'm glad you understand how I feel!" (Serafina)
As she said this, I hugged _SIRIOSU_ tightly.
It's Sirius after all! For example, my older brothers would never take me seriously, thinking that my thoughts were just the ramblings of a child, but Sirius always respected my opinions in the end. I was so happy that I looked at Sirius with a big smile on my face, but...
The next afternoon, as I had declared the day before, I was about to set out to defeat monsters in order to establish a new fighting style, when I found myself looking at Sirius with a look of shock on my face.
"...Huh? Wha...? S...Sirius?" (Serafina)
There were so many things I wanted to say, but I was too upset and couldn't express them properly.
Although he should have known what I wanted to say as my mouth opened and closed rapidly like a fish with its head out of the water, Sirius continued speaking as if he didn't notice.
"What's the matter, Serafina?" (Sirius)
"Wh-what's wrong? S-Sirius, you're wearing that kind of clothing... t-that's a lie, right?" (Serafina)
I looked up at Sirius standing before me and blinked several times in disbelief. ...Please, please, someone tell me he's kidding!
However, no matter how many times I blinked, the Sirius standing before me appeared to be wearing a red knight's uniform.
That can't be true!! I screamed in my mind. Nav Kingdom's knight uniform should be blue and white. Because Sirius held the high-ranking position of Vice Commander, his uniform was a darker blue than the other knights and had decorations to indicate his position, but it was still blue and white knight uniform. But why is he wearing a red knight's uniform?
Because, because, the red knight uniform was...
My face stiffened, I stared at Sirius in disbelief, and then his perfect lips parted and uttered those terrifying words.
"You're so clever, you must already understand that, right? ...As of today, I have been appointed as the Captain of the 'Red Shield Royal Guard', who are in charge of guarding the second princess, Her Highness Serafina. I look forward to working with you." (Sirius)
"Whh... Sirius, what are you talking about? You were the Vice Commander of the Knights!!" (Serafina)
Even though I heard what Sirius was saying clearly, and even though I knew that Sirius would never make a joke like that, I couldn't believe what Sirius was saying and directly argued.
However, Sirius spoke with a calm expression, as if he had let go of everything.
"As of yesterday, I resigned from my position as Vice Commander. I have already received the King's approval." (Sirius)
"Wha-... What a stupid thing to say! It was decided that you would become the Knight Commander this spring! I know how much you care about the Knights! And I also know how great your abilities are! How much do you think you can accomplish by leading the Knights as the head of the Knights? And you're going to throw that away..." (Serafina)
I insisted as best I could.
Although Sirius was busy, he always found time to be by my side. So, from the time we spent together, I of course knew what he wanted and what he was working hard at.
I knew better than anyone that he loved his knights more than anything!
But when Sirius looked me in the eye, he clearly shook his head.
"That's not true. I didn't give up my position as the Vice Commander. I gained the position of Captain of the Red Shield Knights. I will have the current Commander of the Knights keep his current position for a while. He's still a capable knight in his forties, so there shouldn't be any problems, right?" (Sirius)
Of course, the current Knight Commander was a capable knight who had served in the position for many years, so there would be no problem with him staying in that position, but that was not what I was talking about!
"Sirius, you wanted to become the Knight Commander, didn't you? You've been working hard for years to achieve that!!" (Serafina)
I approached Sirius in a shriek-like voice, but all I got in return was a calm voice.
"Yes, that’s true. But at the same time, I want to protect you. If you decide to throw yourself into a dangerous place, then it is my role to be by your side to protect you. …I said, ‘I will assign the perfect knight to protect you.’ Is there anyone more suitable than me?" (Sirius)
As if in retaliation, Sirius continued speaking in a similar tone to what I said yesterday.
"I don't know anyone who can defeat me in a sword fight, and I don't know anyone who would give up everything to protect you more than I will. Am I right?" (Sirius)
Sirius went quiet and looked at me as if waiting for a reply. I glared at him as if this was a replay of yesterday's Sirius.
"Sirius, don't ask me questions you already know the answer to! Of course you're the best! I'm sure there's no one stronger than you, and no one who's willing to give up everything for me like you are!!" (Serafina)
Hearing what I said, Sirius grinned sheepishly.
"As expected of the crimson-haired Saint. She understands things quickly." (Sirius)
Saying that, Sirius burst out laughing.
——By laughing, everything ended with a refreshing laughter.
Being in a position to command the Knights had been Sirius' wish, something he had spent the majority of his 21 years of life pursuing. And yet, in order to support my wish to "protect the knights", Sirius quickly abandoned his position.
...No, that's not it. There's no way it could be thrown away so easily. To Sirius, the knights could not have been such a lightweight. That was why there must have been tremendous conflict and anguish.
And yet, he didn't show any of that vibe; instead, he looked ahead with an expression that seemed to have sublimated everything, and said with a contented tone, "Let's be together."
So——I opened my mouth.
"In that case... I will become the one and only the most Venerable Saint. Then, with you by my side, you will be able to accomplish greater things than the Knight Commander, and you will surely be seen as worthy." (Serafina)
Sirius opened his eyes wide in shock and opened his mouth as if thinking.
"That's an incredible goal. I wonder how proud I'll be when you become the most venerable Saint." (Sirius)
"That's something to be extremely proud of! You're the Captain of the Royal Guard, so it's your achievement." (Serafina)
As I continued speaking with enthusiasm, Sirius looked at me oddly.
"...Were you thinking about me? Haha, you are the one who should be revered. Well then, I'll count on you, the future most venerable Saint?" (Sirius)
After saying that, Sirius narrowed his eyes and smiled happily...
——The image of _SIRUISU_ smile came to mind, and my heart ached.
...Ah, Sirius.
That's how he always put me first.
He made me his priority and protected me, even to the point of changing his way of life. No matter what, he was always there for me without rejecting me.
So... when I'm having fun, or when I'm in trouble, I'll always remember you, Sirius...