"I can't believe I'm able to walk around town during work hours! I can't stand the feeling that I'm doing something I shouldn't be doing." (Fia)
As I was looking around in the city I had visited for the first time in a while, I caught a glimpse of Cerulean.
"Fia, your heart is coming out of your mouth. You should have talked like that when you went to see Cyril." (Cerulean)
Cerulean had a mischievous look on his face, and I gave him a strained smile.
It's not a joke. Why should I go out of my way to step into the middle of the storm?
As I said this in my mind, I thought back to when I visited the First Knight Captain's room earlier.
——Today, I was originally supposed to work as the king's bodyguard.
Therefore, Cerulean and Dory went to ask Captain Cyril to change my escort.
However, for some reason, the moment Captain Cyril saw me, his smile disappeared and his face became serious.
"Hih!?" (Fia)
As a result, I let out a strange cry and jumped back about three steps.
……that was scary. That was really scary.
Captain Cyril had a well-shaped face, so when his expression was erased, he gave off a terrifying impression, but on top of that, there was a gap in his smile, which made him feel twice as scared as usual.
Looking at me, who was stiff with fear like a frog being glared at by a snake, Cerulean approached the Captain without paying any attention to him, and made his selfish demands.
"Cyril, I'm going out into town now. I'll have Fia escort me when I go, so please remove her from Laurence's escort duties." (Cerulean)
As expected of a king. I looked at him with admiration, thinking that it was extremely selfish of him to only say what he wanted without caring about the convenience of the other person, but Captain Cyril of course didn't seem to be impressed and stared at Cerulean with his lips curling.
"This is again... too much for a clown joke." (Cyril)
However, Cerulean simply ignored Captain Cyril's sarcasm and made more demands.
"Also, Cyril, I like the capable and talented Fia, so please make her my personal bodyguard for a while." (Cerulean)
It was definitely an order from a selfish king, but Captain Cyril lifted the corner of his lips without replying, "Yes."
"He's a clown who likes to make jokes. Fia doesn't even wear a knight's uniform, even though she said she was going to work as your escort. It looks to me like you're going out to town." (Cyril)
Then Dory raised one eyebrow in displeasure.
"Well, if you don’t wear a knight’s uniform, you won’t be able to work as an escort, right? That’s not true. Ah, no, no, if you have such a rigid and fixed mindset, you will be inflexible and certain to fail someday." (Dory)
"Maybe, but not now." (Cyril)
Captain Cyril smiled with an emotionless smile and continued to speak.
"Fia is about to take on an official mission. It’s an important time for her to grow while watching the experienced knights around her. If she keeps playing with Cerulean during those times, she will fail to grow." (Cyril)
Captain Cyril's statement made perfect sense.
And I was very grateful that they thought about my future.
Therefore, I was moved by Captain Cyril's compassion and wandered closer to him.
However, before I could reach Captain, Dory grabbed my arm.
As a result, I looked down at the arm that had been grabbed.
"Ah, uh, I feel like I've seen this scene before..." (Fia)
When I looked up at Dory while saying that, he was smiling fearlessly.
"Fia, no! You promised to go to town with us today, so you have to keep your promise. Cyril is a good talker, so maybe he wants to follow you, but in the first place, is it really what you're aiming to be, a 'fine knight'?" (Dory)
I was taken aback once again when I heard Dory's words.
It was so. I had promised to escort Cerulean today.
By the time I replied that I would be Cerulean's escort, his escort knights had probably been rearranged, so if I wandered around, I'd cause trouble for everyone.
When I realized this, I said, "Going to town with Cerulean is part of my escort job, I'm not playing around!" to myself.
I tried to express my gratitude for Captain Cyril's consideration, but he was staring at me with his eyebrows knitted together, so I didn't think I could convey it.
After that, Captain Cyril shook his head to compose himself and turned his attention to Dory.
"Listen, Dory. For example, Lloyd abandoned his dream of becoming a knight midway through the journey, but not everyone hates becoming a knight like he did. I think he will become a fine knight." (Cyril)
However, after hearing all the insinuations about the past, Dory pointed to my costume.
"I don't know about that. Look, look at Fia's outfit. She's a cute saint, isn't she? Fia has a lot of future possibilities, so it's not something to judge like that." (Dory)
"The fact that Fia is already here proves that she has chosen a knight." (Cyril)
Captain Cyril paused and suddenly looked at me with a sarcastic smile.
"Dory's bad taste is reflected in having you, a knight, wear the costume of a saint, but it suits you. If working as an escort is your mission, I can't say anything more. I think it's worth it to experience Cerulean escort work at least once, so please do your best." (Cyril)
"Y-yes..." (Fia)
Honestly interpreting what he said, it seemed like he was complimenting my outfit, but for some reason I didn't feel like he was complimenting me at all.
Captain Cyril, Cerulean, and Dory all had gentle personalities when dealt with individually, but why did they create a disturbing atmosphere when all three of them come together?
Since I didn't know the reason, I decided that it didn't matter whether I was bad or not, so I decided to answer only what was necessary, and from then on, I only said "yes" and "no."
Then, we finally succeeded in escaping from the First Knight's Captain's room and headed straight for the city, until now...
"Are Cerulean also in a feud with Captain Cyril?" (Fia)
I asked as I walked with Cerulean and Dory.
The three of us were on our way to the central plaza, but since it had been a while since I had been there, I decided to ask what I was curious about, remembering the scene from earlier.
Then, Cerulean gave me a wry smile.
"Really, it's really nice that Fia doesn't put too much emphasis on it. The Royals covers up what everyone wants to say and proceeds with the conversation in euphemisms, which takes time and makes it hard to understand what the truth is. It's hard to understand. Compared to those conversations, Fia's attitude is really good." (Cerulean)
"Oh, oh, I guess so." (Fia)
I was praised for just asking what I wanted to know.
When I was confused thinking this, Cerulean said something outrageous with a smile on his face.
"That's right. And I want this to be a secret between me and Fia, but I'm going to abdicate soon, and I'm thinking of handing over the throne to Savis when I do." (Cerulean)
"What!"
I heard something so outrageous that I jumped in shock.
Cerulean just shrugged his shoulders at me.
"As expected, I feel that I have reached my limits in raising Doppelganger. That's why Savis will become king...does Fia know one of the three great dukes?" (Cerulean)
"Huh, do you mean three dukes?" (Fia)
When I interpreted the answer literally, Cerulean affirmed that it was the correct answer.
"To be precise, there are only three dukes in our country, so I'm referring to those three. Two of those three people are attached to me, and the remaining one, Cyril, is attached to Savis. As a result, they are often seen as factions, such as the royal faction and the royal brother faction. Although it is believed that there is no major feud between these two, there is actually one major difference of opinion." (Cerulean)
"So that's it" (Fia)
I waited for Cerulean's next words, wondering what that was.
However, Cerulean proceeded without mentioning the "difference of opinion."
"Yes, there are certain things that are incompatible between me and Savvis, so I don't think we'll get close to each other in front of everyone. There will definitely come a day in the future when those differences will become clear, so I personally think it's better to stay apart in order to clarify the differences in our positions. That's why I purposely leave it as it is even if it appears to be a conflictual relationship." (Cerulean)
"Hmm?" (Fia)
Cerulean's words were too vague for me to understand, so I asked him again, and he corrected me.
"If the Savis faction thinks it's 'good' what my faction thinks is 'bad,' then that means that there should be a correct distinction." (Cerulean)
However, the content of the restatement was ambiguous.
"Hmm." (Fia)
Cerulean didn't want you to understand, so I guessed he blurted it out on purpose, but I was starting to understand something.
"…Do you mean the Saint?" (Fia)
Cerulean's eyes widened in shock as I asked a question following the flow of the conversation.
"Yeah!!" (Cerulean)
Judging by his attitude, I thought that he had answered correctly, so I checked more carefully.
"If we're talking about things now, Cerulean's faction thinks 'Saint is no good,' but the Commander Savis' faction thinks 'Saint is good,' right?" (Fia)
I didn't really understand Commander Savis' thoughts, but Captain Cyril was infatuated with the Saint even though he was conflicted.
And no matter what Commander thought deep down, he was the type who could cheerfully accept the Saint with a spirit of selfless service.
I thought to myself that Captain Cyril and Commander Savis would certainly accept the Saint as "good," but Cerulean blinked in disbelief.
"Why...? Huh, I've never talked about Fia and the Saint before, right? So why did you think that?" (Cerulean)
Because Duke Alcott, who was a member of the king's faction, had clearly shown that he disliked Saints... I almost said that, but then I thought that the Duke might be blamed, so I answered vaguely, trying to mislead.
"Um, a hunch?" (Fia)
"Intuition! Fia's intuition is truly amazing!!" (Cerulean)
Seeing the surprised Cerulean, I was surprised to see that he had been fooled by such a childish comment.
I was saved because His Majesty the King of our country was so simple.
As I was patting my chest in relief, the supposedly simple Cerulean continued speaking with a confused look on his face.
"If you've guessed that much, then I should clarify the details. I understand that, but... I didn't expect this kind of situation, so I'm not prepared. Fia, could you give me some time?" (Cerulean)
"Yes, of course. But I don't think you need to force yourself to say it if you don't want to." (Fia)
I was interested in the Cerulean story, but I didn't think I'd force myself to hear it from someone who didn't like it.
Thinking of this, I told him not to push himself too hard, but Cerulean shook his head with a stiff expression.
"No...I have to make up my mind soon, whichever path I take." (Cerulean)
"That's it" (Fia)
Just as I was replying, we arrived at the central square.
It was a large space with a fountain in the center, a place where everyone could relax.
Many children were playing happily, and adults were also relaxing and enjoying conversations with friends.
As I looked around the scene, Cerulean seemed to change the atmosphere, inviting me in a bright tone.
"Okay, Fia. First of all, let's make our saint debut here!" (Cerulean)
Author's Note
Thank you for always reading!
It's been a week since the release of Daiseijo ZERO, and it seems that many people have picked it up, so thank you very much!
Thanks to you, we have decided to reprint it.
The first edition comes with a bonus SS, but the reprint does not, so if you are interested, please pick it up now.
☆Bonus SS☆
[SIDESirius] Difficult Serafina quiz!
*E-books always come with an e-book.
Thank you very much for your support (❁ᴗ͈ˬᴗ͈)⁾⁾⁾