When I heard Duke Alcott admit that the saint in the portrait was his sister, I understood.
According to Priscilla, the saint in the portrait had blue-silver hair, so I realized that she had the same hair color as the duke.
I thought that Duke Alcott had a portrait displayed in his room in memory of his deceased sister, but Priscilla seemed not to know that the Duke had a sister, so she let out a surprised voice.
"Your sister?" (Priscilla)
From Duke Alcott's attitude earlier, I felt like she had been warned not to delve into this topic any further, but Priscilla seemed to think otherwise and asked more detailed questions.
"Well, what caused his death?" (Priscilla)
Duke Alcott lowered his eyes, perhaps not wanting his emotions to be read.
"My sister...has been unwell for a while." (Alcott)
"But she was a saint, right? She could have healed it herself." (Priscilla)
Priscilla continued speaking as if she didn't understand, but at that moment, Duke Alcott visibly turned pale.
His face was so pale that I thought he was going to collapse, but Duke Alcott put all his strength into his body and spoke in a calm voice...although he was trembling a little.
"...Priscilla, not everyone is a powerful saint like you." (Alcott)
Priscilla didn't seem to notice Duke Alcott's pale face, and only reacted to the content of the Duke's words.
"Ah I see" (Priscilla)
She then looked disappointed with the answer and reached for her cup of tea.
Priscilla clearly lost interest and shut her mouth as if she had heard what she wanted to hear, and a hush fell over the room.
When I looked at everyone, Captain Cyril and Captain Desmond remained silent and looked mysterious.
This made me wonder if they knew something about Duke Alcott's sister's death, but even if they did, it turned out that these two wouldn't talk about it unless they felt it was necessary. I turned my attention to Fabian.
Then Fabian looked at me with a graceful smile.
"Fia, if you give your tart to the Saint, you can eat mine." (Fabian)
"Huh?" (Fia)
"Actually, I don't like sweets. It would be helpful for me if you could eat some." (Fabian)
Fabian's warm words changed the atmosphere in the room, and Fabian was impressed.
Since he was the legitimate son of a high-ranking aristocrat, he should have information about the Duke Alcott family, who were also high-ranking aristocrats.
And judging by the Duke's attitude, it seemed that the story about his sister was not a fun one.
That's why Fabian, knowing this, must have decided that it was not a good idea to continue with this story and changed it to something vaguer.
Well, Fabian isn't quite a strategist.
Although I was surprised, I decided to gratefully accept the tart since it was a special offer.
I was the type of person who didn't let a friend's kindness go to waste.
And yet—even though Charlotte obediently accepted the tart from me, Priscilla insisted that she didn't need it, so I ended up eating three tarts.
It was delicious, so I had no complaints.
As for tarts.
Priscilla, on the other hand, seemed to be upset about something and didn't say a word after that.
Therefore, unfortunately, I did not have time to talk with Priscilla about the saint.
...I couldn't help it. Priscilla didn't seem to be the type to open up to others right away, so it might be important to get to know her little by little.
Today was just the first step, so I decided to place my hopes in my future self.
Duke Alcott, Fabian, Charlotte and I talked for a while after that, but Captain Cyril and Captain Desmond hardly spoke.
Nevertheless, once the conversation had settled down, Captain Cyril seemed satisfied and thanked Duke Alcott.
"Lloyd, thank you for your hospitality. Thanks to you, we were able to spend some meaningful time together." (Cyril)
And, taking those words as a signal, I decided to take some time off from the Duke's residence.
Therefore, as everyone was walking down the hallway toward the entrance, Duke Alcott suddenly came to the end of the hallway and beckoned to us.
"Fia" (Alcott)
A small voice called out to me, so I approached her and was handed a baggage wrapped in cute packaging.
"This is the tart you ate earlier, saying it was delicious. Since you ate it so deliciously, I hurriedly prepared one hole as a souvenir." (Alcott)
"Oh dear!" (Fia)
I was given a whole tart so large that I had to hold it with both hands, and I looked up at the Duke in surprise.
Duke Alcott was a mischievous person and had a lot of mysteries about him, but at heart he's kind.
It wasn't because I received a souvenir, but when I described the duke that way, I was happy and smiled.
"Thank you, Duke Alcott!" (Fia)
Then, the duke lowered his eyebrows and smiled bitterly.
"Even though you're being treated so special, are you still acting like a stranger to me? Hey, Fia, how can I get you to call me Lloyd?" (Alcott)
"Huh?" (Fia)
That's amazing. I couldn't believe he was still so focused on something so trivial.
In front of my astonished eyes, the Duke persistently relented.
"I think any wish should be granted as long as the conditions are met. What are the conditions for becoming friends with you?" (Alcott)
"Um, well, maybe you're going to be my colleague, like Fabian, for example." (Fia)
I thought that becoming friends with powerful people would be troublesome, so I listed some things that seemed impossible to do.
Duke Alcott then presented his own interpretation.
"I see. In other words, it would be nice if we could have a relationship where we have the same goal and try to do something together." (Alcott)
"You use a roundabout expression."
Well, the Duke was smart.
If this were the case, it wouldn't necessarily be necessary to join the Knights, and depending on your interpretation, you could claim that the conditions were met.
When I asked him, he laughed happily.
"Hehe, I'm taking maximum insurance. You'll never become a knight." (Fia)
"Of course you are."
Duke Alcott only went in and out of the royal castle, so he must be in an important position in the country.
It's because I know that that I had chosen to become a knight, which seemed impossible, but it's no good.
I thought I had come up with a good deal that would allow me to avoid becoming friends with the Duke, but when I was feeling disappointed, the Duke said something unexpected.
"Ah, the reason I said I would never become a knight is probably for a different reason than you think. It’s not because I’m already a civil servant, it’s because I simply don’t want to be a knight. Hehehe, didn't you hear from Cyril that I went to a knight training school a long time ago?" (Alcott)
"Oh, I didn’t know that!" (Fia)
Although I let out a voice of surprise, I agreed.
Ah, I see.
Now I understood why I, who had always been a fine knight, couldn't shake off the Duke's arm.
"Ten years ago, there was something I wanted to protect by becoming a knight. However, it was gone, so I stopped becoming a knight. For me, the Knights are no longer just a place that evokes memories of pain." (Alcott)
"That's right" (Fia)
Intuitively, I thought that the "thing he wanted to protect" that Duke Alcott was talking about was his sister who had passed away.
If the Duke wanted to protect his sister by "becoming a knight", was the Duke's sister in a position where he could only protect her by becoming a knight of the kingdom?
As I was wondering what kind of position he was in, the Duke's expression suddenly relaxed.
"I think of you as a miraculous being. You're sharp, you're not shy, and you're someone who can come up with the right answer in one step with your unique ideas. But most of all, I like that color of your hair. Even though you have bright red hair that even a high-ranking saint could not have, you are not actually a saint." (Alcott)
If you only listened to his words, it seemed like I was being praised, but from the Duke's expression, I didn't get that impression at all.
When I looked at the Duke, wondering what he meant, his lips twisted in an unamused manner.
"Your very existence is the most ironic thing." (Alcott)
I noticed this for the first time when I saw the duke smiling faintly.
...Ah, the Duke really hates the Saint.
Author's Note
Thank you for always reading!
Thanks to you, this series has sold over 1 million copies◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧*˚‧
The publisher has created a special page, so please take a look if you like.
〇Publisher special page
https://www.comic-earthstar.jp/works/daiseijo/
(The commemorative commercial was playful and funny✧*˚‧)