The gentle voice seemed to break the tense atmosphere, and I relaxed my body in relief.
The hostility of everyone there made me feel uncomfortable.
The queen dowager also seemed to think that the atmosphere should be changed, and her expression changed completely. She gazed out the door with a gentle smile... but then her eyes widened when she saw Count Peiz and Estelle standing there.
The queen dowager quickly looked Estelle from head to toe, then cleared her throat as if to compose herself.
"It's that time already."
The queen dowager muttered something offhandedly and beckoned them to come in.
"When I was treating the injured people at the royal castle, my other appointments got pushed back. Since you're on time, please come in."
Hearing the queen dowager's words, Estelle looked apologetic.
"I'm sorry. I should have checked to see if there were any guests before coming in." (Estelle)
"No, I was more surprised. Estelle, although I had invited you, I had expected Count Peiz to come alone to visit me, as I had heard that you were very ill."
Apparently, the queen dowager had heard that Estelle had been in poor health.
So, the reason she had been staring at Estelle earlier was probably because she was surprised to see Estelle looking so healthy.
The queen dowager looked at Estelle with interest.
"Estelle, you seem to be doing much better. Did you treat yourself?"
"That is……" (Estelle)
Estelle, on the other hand, looked troubled and at a loss for words.
Cerulean and Commander Savis noticed that the Queen Dowager and Estelle had begun to talk and rose from the sofa.
"Since we are guests, we will excuse ourselves." (Savis)
Estelle looked embarrassed after hearing Commander Savis's words, but she denied it in her heart, saying, "That's not true."
The reason these two left the queen dowager's private room was not because they were being considerate to Estelle, but because they were taking advantage of Estelle's arrival and using the opportunity as an excuse to leave.
If I had the opportunity, I would tell her know about it. As I was about to follow Commander Savis out the door, Estelle cried out happily.
"Lady Fia!" (Estelle)
"Yes" (Fia)
Suddenly, my name was called and I responded reflexively.
The other day, when I met Estelle, I was dressed as a fake saint, so I should look nothing like my current sharp knight attire.
I thought she wouldn't notice, but it seemed Estelle was an insightful person.
She looked at me with a friendly expression, and I wanted to smile back, but I was currently on guard duty.
Above all, it would be troublesome if Captain Cyril were to find out that I had treated Estelle, so I gave an ambiguous expression and tried to cover it up.
However, my request for Estelle to pretend not to know didn't seem to reach her, and she suddenly broke into a delighted smile.
"Well, meeting the Chief Saint, Fia must be a powerful saint kept secret by the royal family! I knew you were an exceptional saint from the way you healed my illness!" (Estelle)
"Ah"
That's right. For some reason, Estelle had mistakenly thought that I was a saint kept by the royal family.
Cerulean and Dory, who were present at the time, believed that I was able to heal Estelle thanks to the holy stone, but Estelle herself had no knowledge of the holy stones and so assumed that I was a saint.
Hmm, but Cerulean, Commander Savis, and Captain Cyril know that I'm not that kind of being, and they probably assume that I used the Holy Stone, so it would probably be better if I didn't deny it.
The back and forth of "No, it's not different" was likely to attract more attention.
As I was thinking this, with an ambiguous expression on my face that could be interpreted as either yes or no, I saw Captain Cyril with his eyes half-closed out of the corner of my eye.
The captain's expression showed a questioning expression that said, "Have you done something again without me knowing?" and he even seemed to have jumped to the conclusion that "You must have done something, and it must be something serious," so I decided not to see him.
"Estelle, is this person a saint?"
As the silence continued, the queen dowager asked Estelle a question.
"Um, well... well, I wonder." (Estelle)
When the queen dowager asked Estelle a question, her previously clear-spoken attitude suddenly disappeared and she became flustered.
My presence there led Estelle to think that I was a powerful saint recognized by the royal family, but when the queen dowager asked her whether I was a saint or not, she probably became confused about the current situation.
And since Estelle seemed to be a loyal person, if no one knew that I was a Saint, she probably thought that she would keep it a secret as she promised.
"All the new saints come to see me, but I don't know this girl's face."
The queen dowager stated so decisively, and Captain Cyril immediately exclaimed in admiration.
"Even though the number of saints is limited, you have an amazing memory to be able to say with certainty that Fia is not among the Saints you have met. Of course, there is no other Saint with hair as bright red as Fia's, so you must have used this red hair as a landmark to determine that you do not know her." (Cyril)
I was sure I was not the only one who felt a sharp sting in Captain Cyril's cheerful words.
He's been emphasizing my hair color a lot for a while now, but I wondered if he's doing it with some kind of thought in mind.
As I remained silent thinking this, the queen dowager turned her gaze to Count Peiz, who was standing behind Estelle.
"Count Peiz, is this person a saint?"
Seeing Estelle's indecisive attitude, the queen dowager seemed to change the person she was asking questions to.
However, the count, who had promised to not reveal to anyone that I was a saint, just like Estelle, merely appeared flustered and gave no clear reply.
This caused the queen dowager to narrow her eyes in dissatisfaction.
Cerulean suddenly changed his attitude towards the queen dowager and started teasing her in an overly polite manner—probably pretending to be the son of a nobleman in front of Count Peiz and Estelle, who didn't know who Cerulean was, but there must also be some intention to mock the queen dowager.
"Your Majesty the Queen Dowager, just as you want the saint in your possession to win the selection meeting, His Majesty the King also wants the saint he recommends to win. Therefore, please refrain from using your authority to gather any more information. However, you have inadvertently obtained information about 'A powerful saint kept secret by the royal family,' so isn't that enough?" (Cerulean)
Well, Cerulean knew I was some kind of saint, so what a bluff he's going to make.
However, I was optimistic and thought that there must be some deeper thought behind this action, but when I saw the queen dowager clenching her teeth and looking smug about what she had done, I held my head in my hands and thought that she was just a child who didn't think about anything.
However, Cerulean seemed not to have learned his lesson at all and opened his mouth as if to say something more, so I instinctively reprimanded him in Rüa, a language that only he would understand.
＜"Cerulean, you're being too naughty!"＞
For a moment he looked taken aback, but then he quickly broke into a smile.
As I sensed a sense of crisis in his expression, Cerulean looked at me with a troubled expression. I was sure it was just an act.
"Fia, you shouldn't use ancient words. They are your trump card as a saint." (Cerulean)
What on earth was Cerulean trying to do as he purposely put his mouth close to my ear and spoke at a volume just loud enough for me to hear?
I was merely a knight, so there was no connection between a knight's ability to speak Rüa and a saint's abilities.
As I glared at Cerulean, for some reason Commander put an arm around my shoulders.
"Fia, that's enough. Now, we'll excuse myself." (Savis)
Commander Savis said the latter part of his words to the queen dowager, then left with his arm around my shoulder.
I didn't know exactly what the queen dowager, Saint Rose, Count Peiz, and Estelle thought when they saw us like that, but at the very least, I probably didn't look like an ordinary knight with no problems whatsoever.
Thinking this, I inwardly slumped.