TFPOTRN | CHAPTER 60

[CHAPTER 60]

Thinking about it like that, it felt ridiculous.

Why had I been so scared in the first place?

Lowering my gaze, I let out a small laugh.

As if that laugh displeased her greatly, Seria’s face twisted sharply.

“Why are you laughing?”

“No reason.”

“Don’t look down on me. I am a saint candidate personally chosen by His Excellency the High Priest!”

“Look down on you? As if I would harbor such irreverent thoughts. I was merely…”

I trailed off and cast a sidelong glance toward where Sian was.

He was not far away, engaged in conversation with Noah.

“As you said yourself, I was only worried that a ‘saint candidate personally chosen by His Excellency the High Priest’ might become the subject of gossip. If something like that were to happen, His Excellency, the High Temple, and Sir Sian would all be put in a difficult position, wouldn’t they?”

“What—!”

“Jerena!”

Just as Seria was about to argue further, someone cut in between us.

It was Jahar.

Having just separated Theo and stepped down from the carriage, he seemed to have noticed the tension between Seria and me and intervened.

“Theo is calling for you.”

“Ah, is that so?”

Theo would never call for me.

Even knowing it was a lie, I did not challenge him.

I knew Jahar was trying to pull me away from Seria, worried that I might end up in an awkward situation.

“I should be going now.”

The problem was that Seria was not foolish enough to miss Jahar’s intention.

“No, I’m not finished talking yet!”

Looking displeased at the way I acted as if I were being protected by him, she reached out angrily to grab my wrist.

But—

“That is enough.”

The one who stopped her hand was neither me nor Jahar, but Sian.

I thought he was not paying attention to this side at all while talking to Noah.

“There are many eyes watching, Lady Seria. Is it appropriate for someone who claims to be a saint candidate to behave so carelessly?”

“But Sir Sian, she insulted me!”

The moment Sian stepped in, Seria’s expression changed with startling speed.

The face that had glared at me with sharp anger vanished without a trace, replaced by that of a pitiful victim.

I thought she had been showing interest in Jahar as well.

So in the end, Sian still matters more than Jahar to her.

With my arms crossed, I alternated my gaze between Seria and Sian.

What would Sian do?

When he had stopped her before because she tried to use magic, he had not believed my words.

Wasn’t this a similar situation now?

After all, Seria had just accused me of insulting her.

Would he side with her again this time?

Honestly, I could not exactly say I had not insulted her.

I had, in fact, deliberately scraped at her pride.

I did not try to defend myself, not because her words were true.

It was simply because if Sian sided with Seria again here, I felt I could put some distance between him and myself.

Being in a situation where someone you believed would trust you does not, is something once per lifetime is more than enough.

No matter how rational his judgment might be from his perspective, it was the same to me.

I am already too tired to even hold myself together, let alone trust people who might turn their backs depending on the situation.

If he believed me, I would believe him in return.

If not, I would create distance.

That was the conclusion I had reached after feeling quietly disappointed in Sian for some time.

Perhaps frustrated by Sian’s silence as he observed the situation without responding, Seria called his name again.

Come to think of it, since when had Seria started calling Sian by his given name alone?

They had not known each other long, so wasn’t it more common to address someone by their surname?

Well, I did call him Sir Sian from the start, so I suppose I have no right to say anything.

The form of address bothered me, but I had no standing to point it out.

Perhaps Sian himself had allowed it.

At last, Sian opened his mouth.

“First of all, please refrain from calling me ‘Sian.’”

“…What?”

His words were quite different from what I had expected.

Not just me, but no one present would have anticipated that Sian would suddenly correct Seria’s form of address.

Just look at Seria’s face, clearly flustered.

“Th-then what should I call you…?”

“You may call me Sir Allistern, as you did at first.”

“But she calls you Sir Sian!”

Seria pointed her index finger at me.

I wanted to bend that accusatory finger right back, but I held myself in.

At times like this, putting on a pitiful expression was the best course of action.

Sian looked at Seria for a moment, as if at a loss for words, then sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

“Lady Seria, you and Jerena are not the same, are you?”

“And how exactly is that different—”

“For one, I do not recall ever giving you permission to call me by my given name. Is that not correct?”

“…”

Seeing Seria bite her lower lip, it was clear she had no rebuttal.

“And also, you should not point at people so carelessly, even if you believe someone has insulted you.”

“Ah, th-that’s right. She did insult me!”

Her face looked as though she thought, This is where he will side with me.

Having wiped away her earlier flustered look, Seria stepped closer to Sian with a self-satisfied expression.

Sian studied her briefly, then turned his gaze toward me.

Soon, his lips moved.

Ah, so this is it.

I braced myself, prepared not to be disappointed no matter what came out of his mouth.

But what Sian said was—

“Well, from what I heard, it sounded like she was simply concerned about the reputation of the saint candidate.”

It was a statement in my defense.

“…What? No, weren’t you too far away to hear properly?”

“It is not something to boast about, but my hearing is better than most.”

“No way…”

“It would be difficult to call that an insult. Her words were clearly meant to express concern for the High Temple, His Excellency the High Priest, and Lady Seria’s own reputation.”

“…”

After staring at Sian in stunned silence, Seria let out a hollow laugh, muttering as if to say, “How absurd,” then turned sharply and left.

It seemed the situation not going her way displeased her greatly.

“Do not go too far. Please return before the break ends.”

Sian called out to her retreating back, but no reply came.

“…Haha.”

Having watched everything unfold, I let out a quiet laugh.

It slipped out before I realized it.

“Jerena?”

Perhaps finding my sudden laughter strange, Sian called my name.

If I said that his expression made me feel oddly relieved, would he think I was strange?

I had not expected Sian to side with me.

Ah, could it be that Sian simply trusted in people’s goodness, and never considered that I might have been deliberately provoking her under the guise of concern?

If he took my words at face value, then there was nothing to worry about.

The same Sian who had sided with Seria before because he believed she would not attack someone without reason, and the Sian who sided with me now because he interpreted my intentions kindly, all because he believed in people’s goodness.

“Ahaha.”

Thinking about it like that made me laugh.

How could someone be this unwaveringly straightforward?

In front of this man, every situation just felt foolish.

All that resolve I worked myself up for was completely pointless.

It was not an unpleasant feeling.

If anything, it was the opposite.

Even as he looked at me as if I were strange for suddenly laughing, Sian said nothing.

He simply tilted his head slightly and watched me.

***

The noisy break finally came to an end.

Both the horses and the people had recovered some of their stamina, and preparations to depart began again.

However…

“Lady Seria has not returned yet.”

The problem was that Seria, who had left earlier with a hollow laugh, still had not come back.

“Can’t we just leave her behind?”

Latia, who had returned to her human form in the meantime, said something terrifying with innocent cheerfulness.

“That’s not happening. You think that’d work, idiot?”

Jahar answered Latia’s question.

Meanwhile, Sian, Noah, and Ifrit were gazing into the depths of the forest with grave expressions.

It was the direction Seria had disappeared in.

“What’s wrong?”

Sensing the strange mood, I approached and asked.

“He says he has a bad feeling. Noah does.”

Noah noticed my gaze and spoke first, even though I had not addressed him directly.

“It seems we will have to go and fetch her.”