A Tale of the Secret Saint Vol. 6, page 13
“S-Sirius…”
Before I knew it, I was back on the bed with my arms and legs pinned down by him like a butterfly on display in a specimen box. I didn’t feel crushed or anything though, so he was probably making an effort to be gentle.
He looked directly down at me without a word, the sheer intensity in his gaze sending a shiver up my spine. The way he stared at me from so close drove home just how tight his guard was. He wasn’t the proud captain of my Royal Guard for show; nothing could slip past him. Understanding there was nothing I could do, I gave in.
Ah… I guess I have no choice but to take the scolding, I thought, relaxing my body. Seeing this, he gave a deep sigh for some reason. Wondering what was wrong, I looked up at him, confused.
His eyes narrowed in thought. “I can’t believe the first thing you worry about in a situation like this is being scolded at length. That alone is worthy of a scolding.”
“What?! I have to sit through two scoldings now?!”
My outburst seemed to dig me into an even deeper hole as his rarely shown, beautiful smile made an appearance. “Let’s talk, Serafina.” I recognized those words—this wasn’t going to be quick.
He pulled me up by the arm and sat me on the sofa. I was made to sit through his endless scolding until the maid came in with breakfast.
Incidentally, the topic of his “talk” involved two things: being more self-aware as a lady and how that played into being more careful where I slept, and the potential dangers that could befall a lady on the bed.
After I was well and thoroughly scolded, we ate breakfast. While eating though, he stopped and looked at me like he had something to say. Thinking he might resume where he’d left off, I jumped to defend myself. “Sirius, you don’t need to be that worried for me. As a woman of age, I am well aware of the dangers a lady faces.”
“Is that right?” he countered, clearly unconvinced.
Offended, I continued. “Trust me a little, will you? The only reason I didn’t push you off earlier is because I don’t consider you a danger.”
“As in…you don’t believe I’d do anything untoward to a lady?”
“No, no,” I sighed. “I’m saying I trust you enough to be fine with whatever you might do.”
He froze stone-still at my words. His knife and fork remained in his hands, floating over his plate, but he didn’t so much as twitch.
“Uh, hello? Oh no, did I accidentally cast petrification magic or something?” I joked deadpan, putting a hand to my cheek in a ditzy manner. Even at that though, he didn’t move so much as a finger. “Er…Sirius?” I started to worry and drew closer to his face, only for him to abruptly turn away.
“Serafina…I beg of you, think of my heart a little.”
“Huh? Uh…all right.” I didn’t have a clue what he meant, but he seemed totally out of it, so I just agreed without joking around any further.
He covered his face with both hands and took a deep, deep sigh. Very softly, he said, “No, I take it back. Just remain as you have been.”
“Did…something good happen or something? You seem oddly happy.”
He slid his fingers out of the way to reveal only his eyes, a gentle light flickering in them as he gazed at me. “You’ve always been like this, so unconditionally accepting of me. You know…I heard some interesting words as you drifted off into sleep last night. If I seem in a good mood right now, that is surely why.”
I suppose that made sense. I didn’t recall saying anything of note this morning, so whatever had him so happy must’ve been from last night. Whatever it was…good job, Sleepy Me!
Seeing him left so happy just from some sleep talk warmed my heart a little. It was rather cute of him! In the end, it seemed like he got some good sleep out of this as well, so I could confidently jot my “Tempt Sirius into Bed” plan down as a resounding success. As for whether or not I would use the plan again—that was a secret for me and the heavens alone.
Side Story:
Fia, Captain for a Day
“I WAS HOPING you could be captain for a day.”
I hurried to Cyril’s office after being summoned by him, only for him to say the darndest thing, smiling radiantly the whole time.
“What? Me? Captain?” I blinked a few times. Naturally, I was flummoxed.
At this point, I was wise enough to already be on max alert. I knew from experience that whenever he said something confusing with a smile on his face, he was nine times out of ten trying to get me wrapped up in something troublesome.
“Yes,” he continued, his smile never fading, “just for a day. We have a yearly event where we have a new recruit experience the duties of a captain for a day to instill awareness and betterment throughout the brigade. Whatever new recruit is chosen for the entrance ceremony exhibition match is again chosen for this.”
“Wh-what?! That exhibition match was trouble enough, but now I have to be captain for a day?! That’s just unfair!”
I complained. Having to fight against the commander of the Knight Brigades, Saviz, for the exhibition match was more than enough for a hazing, if you ask me. At the time, I did what I was told like a good recruit, but fighting him was genuinely terrifying. Even after using magic to buff myself, Saviz was still many times stronger than me. “Commander Saviz was more terrifying than a black dragon! You shouldn’t force an opponent like that on a new recruit! You were there yourself; you should remember what it was like for me!”
“I was there, yes, but as I recall, you were quite proactive in attacking the Commander. Also, the black dragon isn’t something you fear, so what you mean by ‘more terrifying than a black dragon’ is unclear.” He refuted my words easily, bringing his handsome face closer to me. Then, as though sharing a secret, he whispered. “Don’t go spreading this around, but we actually have trouble every year deciding what brigade to assign the captain-for-a-day to. All the brigades are terribly busy and don’t want to take on extra work, you see. But this year alone has been different—every brigade asked to be assigned you.”
I saw his smile and narrowed my eyes in suspicion. “Every brigade, huh? Even Captain Desmond’s?” I just couldn’t see Desmond, the captain of the Second Knight Brigade in charge of protecting the royal castle, requesting me.
“Ah…” Cyril trailed off for a moment, caught in his white lie. “Come to think of it, I think Desmond was the only one who didn’t request you.”
“Of course. Let me guess, he said something along the lines of ‘Don’t you dare assign me Fia Ruud. She causes me enough work already! I’d have to be a fool to let her make me even busier!’ Am I right?”
“That’s…quite the imagination you have. He did in fact say something along those lines. But truly, every other captain did ask for you. That’s why, for the first time ever, we have decided to have you attend a different brigade in the morning than in the afternoon.”
“Wait, what?”
“After a strict and fair lottery system, it’s been decided that you will be working as Fourth Monster Tamer Knight Brigade captain in the morning and Sixth Knight Brigade captain in the afternoon.”
“Whaaaaaaaaaat?!”
That meant I’d be working with Quentin and Zackary, respectively. I could only foresee disaster with either of them.
“As things will be busy for you after your First Knight Brigade recruit training finishes, we’ve decided to hold this event sooner than later, specifically three days from now. A captain’s uniform will be prepared for you, so look forward to that.”
After a rather one-sided conversation where he dumped all that info, he gave me a refreshing smile and chased me out of the room.
In the blink of an eye, three days passed and the day came.
I dressed myself in an all-white captain’s uniform. They went so far as to even prepare a dark-green sash for me, which I donned with care. I checked myself out in the mirror.
Wow, I look weird. Wait, maybe this is some kind of prank? Yeah, that’d make sense. I can’t see why else they’d allow a new recruit to wear a captain’s uniform.
I looked myself over again, but the feeling I was wearing borrowed clothes just wouldn’t go away. At this point, though, what could I do? I sighed heavily, then opened the door to my room like a prisoner heading to my execution.
“Miss Fia, I have come to receive you!”
The instant I opened the door, a knight appeared saying my name.
“Huh? Captain Quentin? What’re you doing here?”
Emotionally, he grabbed my hands. “The captain’s uniform of my brigade looks wonderful on you! I dare say you should wear it for the rest of eternity! I’ll convince Cyril to let you remain captain of my brigade forever, so please, feel free to keep wearing that uniform!”
Part of me was sure he was joking, but this was Quentin we were talking about. Hence, I wisely ignored what he said outright and just politely smiled. “I’ll be in your care for half a day then, Captain Quentin. What will you have me do?”
“A most brilliant question! I have spent the last three days doing nothing but pondering that very question.”
What a weird thing to say. Don’t you have work to do as a captain?
“After much consideration,” he continued, “I have prepared a suitable schedule for you. Firstly, allow us to return to the captain’s office.”
Relieved to hear something relatively normal coming from him, I followed Quentin to his office. Upon stepping foot in it, however, I was appalled. “Eek?! Wh-what happened to this room?!” The interior had changed completely since I last visited. Many of Zavilia’s scales were displayed on one wall, and a side table showcased Zavilia’s horn. The office desk was crowded tight with wooden statuettes of monsters. “I-I remember the room being normal when I last came. Why does it look like a children’s toy box now?!”
“The monster puppet you created inspired me,” said Quentin gleefully, “so I took to making monster crafts of my own. As for the room itself, I simply wished to decorate with the items of your wondrous Black Dragon King. Being able to be constantly surrounded by monster-related items is such a wonderful feeling, and I owe it all to you, Miss Fia.”
Oh dear… It seemed as though I had opened some sort of floodgate for him, allowing him to do weird things with his room. As he was a captain, few could reprimand him for being so outrageous. Perhaps the duty fell on me to amend his ways…
He smiled delightfully at me and led me to a chair. “Please, have a seat, Captain Fia.” He then whispered as though saying something important. “I removed my sash, meaning I am presently nothing more than your very own personal vice-captain.”
I looked him over again and realized he was, indeed, wearing the white captain’s uniform without the sash—that is, dressed like a vice-captain. I felt a terrible sense of foreboding but gingerly sat down in the chair regardless. As soon as I did, he began to laud me.
“Wonderful, Captain Fia! The form with which you take your seat is truly befitting that of captain of the Fourth Monster Tamer Knight Brigade! Never have I seen a chair suit someone so well!”
I could swear he was mocking me. When I checked myself out in the mirror earlier, there wasn’t a single thing about me that looked captain-like. Plus, the chair didn’t fit me in the slightest—my feet didn’t even reach the ground.
Still, as a regular knight, it’d be wrong to talk back to a captain. So, I said nothing and tacitly accepted his praise. I totally didn’t stay silent because I thought it’d be a pain to try and get through to Quentin, no. Perish the thought.
I spent a horrendous morning with Quentin. No matter how minor what I said or did was, he heaped praise onto me for it. Even worse was that the other knights in the Fourth Monster Tamer Knight Brigade followed suit and heaped on the praise as well. Quite the opposite treatment from my last visit, I suppose.
I was getting more than slightly uncomfortable over how they praised every banal little thing I did, though. “Um, I completely understand that I’m just an outsider to you all, so if I do something that breaks your brigade’s rules, feel free to point it out for me, okay?”
The knights just got flustered, though, and shook their heads. One said, “Please, don’t say such a thing! We are proud to have you as our captain! Back when we were looking for the Black King in Starfall Forest, we all saw how our own familiars ignored us, their masters, to obey your orders! We think there must be something special about you that allows you to command any familiar!”
“Wait, what?”
“The thing is, we still haven’t figured out what this special thing might be. So please, allow us to observe you from your side for the entirety of the day so we might figure it out!”
I received similar requests throughout the morning, and before I knew it, a whole crowd of knights were following me around.
Oh, and for what it’s worth, the “special thing” that allowed me to order around other people’s familiar was the fact that I was a saint…not that I could tell anyone that. None of the people following me around were likely to become saints at this point in their life either, so there really wasn’t much good observing me up close would do for them. Oh well.
In the end, I gave in and plastered a smile on my face, praying I could at least get through the trials and tribulations of the morning without anything too terrible happening.
As an aside, the worst of the morning’s trials and tribulations was when we went to the familiar stables as planned on Quentin’s schedule. The moment the familiars laid eyes on me, they began kicking up a fuss, nuzzling up against me while making soft, wheedling purrs.
“O-oh my,” I said. “They must be mistaking me for Captain Quentin because of the white uniform. Heh heh! Captain Quentin sure is loved, isn’t he?”
Not a single person agreed with me, however. Far from it: Everyone looked at me with disbelief in their eyes and began saying outrageous things.
“Whoa, the familiars really are fawning up to Captain Fia like everyone said they would…”
“Aaagh! My beloved familiar, who swore to love only me, is shaking their paw with Captain Fia! Whyyyyy?!”
“There’s no way these familiars would mistake Captain Fia for Captain Quentin! Just look at her—she’s half his height!”
From behind them, Quentin emotionally clenched his fists. “I would expect no less from you, Miss Fia!” he cried. “You truly are fit to be captain of the Fourth Monster Tamer Knight Brigade!”
The eyes of the knights went wide with realization. They stared at me in a state of shock. “This explains everything…Captain Fia truly is a legendary monster tamer!”
“I am not!” I exclaimed. I proceeded to scold them all for running their mouths as they pleased. This, perhaps, was the most meaningful thing I achieved as their captain for the day.
***
I was already exhausted as though I’d worked a full day, but the sun had only just hit its peak. My troubles were far from over—I still had to work under Zackary for the afternoon. I sighed, slumped my shoulders, and trudged to Zackary’s office.
“Yo, Captain Fia! Looking forward to having you, but don’t go too hard on me now!” The moment I cracked the door open, Zackary’s spirited voice welcomed me. He gave a cheerful laugh and took off his sash, then handed it to me.
Each brigade used a different color sash. The one I wore in the morning was a brand-new one made for me, but I had to borrow the second one, which was more economically sound, I suppose. I took the dark-brown sash Zackary offered and wore it diagonally across myself…but it went all the way down to my knees.
“Yikes!” said Zackary bluntly. He was always rather frank, but after being showered to death by compliments over with the Fourth Monster Tamer Knight Brigade, his bluntness felt all the more brutal.
As I couldn’t suddenly sprout up a couple of feet to make the sash fit, I decided to pretend nothing was wrong and moved things along, beginning by asking what duties I had.
He grinned and plopped his big hand on top of my head. “Just go spend some time with my knights. I’m sure they’d like that too.”
“Huh?”
“I can tell you’ve been busy lately. Despite already having your plate full with your First Knight Brigade recruit training, you’ve been dispatched to the Fourth Monster Tamer Knight Brigade, as well as sent to Cyril’s domain. You really deserve a break, but I bet you haven’t been able to take a proper one with all that training they force on you. So why not take that break with us, away from Cyril’s prying eyes?”
“C-Captain Zackary!” I was moved. So this was the real reason he asked for me? Captain Zackary…what a chivalrous man you are! I swore to forever be on Team Zackary and made my way to their training grounds as he suggested.
Thirty minutes later, I was sunbathing on a bench in the corner of the training grounds zoning out and watching the knights kick up dust as they practiced.
“Ahh, feeling the sun’s sizzling rays sure makes me feel alive again! A knight like me isn’t meant to be locked up inside day in and day out learning stuff like poetry and the continental common language. Nay, a knight like me is meant to be out working in the sun! This peace is what all true warriors strive for!”
I had doubts whether what I was doing could be considered “working,” but Zackary said he’d treat it as work, so work it was.
“This is what being a knight is all about!” I continued to watch the knights earnestly cross blades as I happily bathed in warm sunlight. Eventually, however… “Aw, so close! If your step-in was just a moment faster, you’d have had them! Ahh…you’re a bit lacking in strength because of your size. Just a little more push and you would’ve got them!” Perhaps because my own fighting skills as a knight were low, I found myself sympathizing with the weaker knights out there practicing. Before I realized it, I was cheering for a smaller knight called Domenico who had racked up a number of losses. He hadn’t managed a single victory yet, but he kept challenging knights bigger than him one after another regardless. I couldn’t help but cheer the guy on.
