〈 Episode 21 〉 Guests
*
”Sister?”
Is that a voice or a gloomy melody? I was briefly caught off guard, but it’s not like the Castle Gate could change that easily, and the altered tone wasn’t unrecognizable.
But.
”Why are you like that?”
Seeing something unfamiliar on a familiar face immediately raised a question mark in my head.
An eye mask. No, from the size, it looked almost like a mask.
That thing covering everything but her mouth was similar to an eye cover I think I saw in some game during my past life.
What was it? Wasn’t it that pumpkin girl from some soul whatever?
Anyway, the sight of Sister with a face half-hidden by that eye cover, which looked just like the one that character wore, felt oddly unfamiliar to me, who had grown accustomed to her beautiful bare face.
I knew it wasn’t good for a man to comment on a woman’s fashion, but this level of change felt like it would be disrespectful not to mention it. After some deliberation, I decided to speak up.
”Is it some kind of trend?”
”Due to certain circumstances, I will be covering my face for the time being. Please understand that.”
Why does she seem angry?
The eye cover made it impossible to read her emotions, but her blatant grumbling and clear irritation made it pretty obvious she had some kind of complaint against me.
I fell into a brief contemplation about what I may have done recently that upset Sister when—
”Excuse me for interrupting, but Priest Regis was just chatting with me. Isn’t it rather rude to butt in with a blade quite suddenly and snatch away the subject of our conversation?”
Lady Rosebelt’s noble voice cut through the momentarily floating tension.
”I deeply apologize for the sudden rudeness, Lady Rosebelt.”
Sister’s response was quick and proper.
Kneeling gracefully, she expressed her heartfelt apology in a smoothly flowing manner like water.
”Hmph, if you’ve realized your mistake, that’s enough. But please refrain from such unlawful behavior in the future. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll take my leave.”
”Thank you for your merciful act.”
Sensing that the situation had somewhat improved, I thought this was my chance. I carefully pulled out the fork that Sister had stabbed into the table and hastily shoved the leftover food onto my plate, creating an excuse to leave.
”But the matter of Priest Regis must be handed over to us, I’m afraid.”
”What!”
”Ugh!”
Sister almost tossed a bucket of gasoline on my dwindling flames, and I nearly spewed out everything in my mouth.
”Did I hear you wrong?”
”You heard perfectly. Please hand over Priest Regis to us.”
How dare you!?
Lady Rosebelt’s expression contorted with humiliation as she hastily covered her mouth, which was about to twist in anger.
Meanwhile, Sister spoke calmly, as if nothing had happened, still kneeling with a respectful demeanor as she continued.
”I apologize if this offends, but soon it will be the Saint’s meal time, and serving the Saint is a holy duty reserved solely for her designated Guardian Priest. Therefore, Priest Regis must prepare to accompany me to meet the Saint immediately.”
”Hah! That’s odd! I heard the Saint’s meal time is still an hour away!”
”Due to unavoidable circumstances, we’ve decided to advance today’s schedule by one hour. I sincerely apologize for any inconvenience caused.”
”Wha, what! Are you asking me to believe that!?”
Caught in this complex situation, I felt like I was a bystander while my friend’s mother and my friend were fighting. The awkward air pushed around me like a windstorm, and mediating between them felt like trying to avoid being a disturbance.
”How rude! So very rude! How can you be so rude? You must know who I am, the noble Lady of Rosebelt, yet treat me with such absurdity!?”
”I apologize. I promise to make amends for the rudeness later. For now, please hand over Priest Regis to us.”
”Hah!”
After about three minutes of a verbal duel comparable to lava meeting the sea.
”What do you think, Priest Regis!?”
Would the fiery sparks fly my way?
It felt like a child throwing the responsibility of deciding a conflict onto the nearest adult.
Lady Rosebelt, showing signs of excitement to the point of neglecting the smeared makeup around her eyes, suddenly passed the judge’s gavel of the trial to me.
”Heh! I got it! Here’s a thought! How about you decide whether to continue this chat with me or follow Sister! It’s all up to Priest Regis!”
No, who made you the judge?
Lady Rosebelt, smiling smugly and sending me shady signals with her eyes, seemingly believed I would choose her side in this battle.
”Lady Rosebelt, with all due respect, the Guardian Priest chosen by the Saint to serve her every need is a sacred duty handed down since the founding of our order. To treat such a duty lightly, as if a wager on a gambling table, is…”
”Heh! You don’t seem too confident about getting chosen!”
”…”
Uh, I stifled a sigh.
Her expression was still obscured, but a slight twitch in her shoulders and the barely concealed annoyance in her voice were enough to tell that Sister wasn’t in the best of moods either.
Sister is angry? Now that’s a fresh sight!
Caught up in this rare sight, I was momentarily distracted.
”Alright! Make your choice! Which will you pick, Priest Regis! Of course, I…”
”Oh, I choose Sister.”
Like a reflex, those words sprang from my mouth, leaving me utterly shocked, so I could only imagine their reaction.
”Huh?”
”Huh?”
”Oh.”
Immediately, a chilling silence that felt colder than midwinter fell between me and the two.
◈◈◈
”Sigh… what on earth were you thinking…”
”I didn’t mean it like that…”
A small self-reflection session in the corridor. Neither Sister nor I dared to lift our heads.
The moment my slip of the tongue escaped, Lady Rosebelt had stormed off, saying, ‘You’ll regret this!’ and left with a dramatic flair, even punctuating her phrases like a script.
Thanks to that, I had narrowly avoided a disaster of being wedged between Priest Ranobel and Lady Rosebelt, but instead, I ignited another disaster, so in the end, it was all for naught.
”You can’t just declare it like that. At least pretend to think for a moment, hold off your answer, or find a way to defuse the situation…”
”I’m sorry. It’s just… the perfume scent clouded my judgment…”
”I no longer know. You’re notorious for being aggressive enough to disregard the will of a brilliant individual and take them for yourself. Given that reputation, remember you’ve just made open hostility with that kind of person. You won’t be able to walk in sunlight for a while, understand?”
”Yes… I’ll keep that in mind…”
But wasn’t it Sister who first poked that hornet’s nest?
I managed to shut this sinful mouth before saying something reckless again, just in time.
No, hold on. Didn’t she also try to visibly stifle a laugh the moment I dropped that bomb?
Ugh, how unfair!
”By the way, what’s this unavoidable circumstance about the schedule being advanced? It doesn’t seem like something said just to get out of a tough situation…”
”You have no reason to interfere with that matter, nor the right to be curious, so please let it go. It’s just that a few guests suddenly visited, that’s all.”
*
