"You have to say it right, this guy! It was training!"
"There is no evil training in the world to fight 17 to 1."
"It's practical training!"
Is there a real battle where you have to fight against the 17 most elite knights of Valentine?
'How extreme is the situation?'
Aria asked, staring intently at Dustin.
[Did you hit him?]
He said, 'Not me!' and complained of injustice. However, as Cloud groaned, it didn't take long for him to confess.
"I did sit by and watch."
Don't say he was dissatisfied because he lost his escort position to Sir Cloud. So he was vindictive and stood by the bullying?
Aria gave a determined expression, and she scolded Dustin.
[Because he's my knight, you can't do it carelessly now.]
After all, Cloud was now her escort knight. If he's her person, she has to protect him.
[Tell the other knights. In the future, if you inflict harsh acts on Sir Cloud in the name of training, I will not let you go.]
"That, that!"
Dustin stuttered his words. Then, Cloud, who seemed to react bluntly even if he was stabbed with a knife, showed an unexpected reaction.
"It's the first time that Young Madam has covered for me."
"…"
"Everyone's frustrated, so I'm just trying not to say anything…"
What kind of life had he been living? As if thrilled, as he spoke in a low-pitched cracked end voice, and it seemed that there was a lot piled up inside.
Aria felt sorry for him
'It's not a sin to have a bad head and be tactless.'
Perhaps the knights didn't know that Aria sometimes felt the same urge to hit Vincent. And they're actually hitting Cloud in the name of training.
'But still, you can't hit him.'
An urge to do and actually doing are different.
Aria looked up at Dustin as if she had something to say.
[My knight is crying.]
"I'm not crying."
Cloud responded briefly.
Aria gave him a wink as if she wanted him to be quiet.
"Anything you want me to do?"
Although Cloud doesn't look like he understands.
Then Dustin, who had been silent for a while, said, as if he was resentful.
"That guy, his face was only slightly injured, but the other guys can't even get up…"
"…"
"They couldn't even practice in the morning. Well, I'll punish them separately later."
He had already taken revenge. Aria had nothing to say.
'Well, he doesn't seem like the kind of guy who's going to be beaten quietly.'
She turned to Cloud. The undisputed genius seemed to have no idea after knocking out the 17 knights.
"I'm going to put them well. Rather…"
Dustin muffled his words as if he had something to say, and then coughed in vain.
"Can you write me a card too?"
"….."
Aria took a white card out of her bag and scribbled a writing with the fountain pen.
[Sir Dustin, nice to meet you.]
Dustin accepted the card she offered him with a bright face.
Overlaid was the face of a noble who smirked that he had received a birthday letter from his daughter.
'He was bragging about his daughter until the banquet was over.'
For some reason, Sir Dustin would seem to return to the Knights order with a face that anyone could see as itching with pride.
'It started by saying thank you for your kindness.'
How did it become like an autograph session?
'Why did this happen?'
Every day, there seemed to be a fierce battle for Aria's handwritten card.
She doesn't know why.
***
– Everyone is trying to take my card.
Aria briefly questioned it in front of Lloyd. Because she couldn't figure out why.
– Were my words really impressive?
It's like collecting quotes from great men.
'No, I don't think I said so much….'
Rather, didn't she mainly say everyday things? Aria was in trouble for a moment.
Lloyd then turned an undesirable gaze to the old bag she was carrying.
"I guessed it, I'll throw it away."
So that's why he said he'll throw it away?
Aria later realized why he was staring at her bag like it was an enemy. However, Aria was hesitant to give up on it because she has been with her bag like one body so she was attached.
'Once it was just a tool for survival, but now it's not.'
She fiddled with the straps of her bag, which was filled with memories of the Grand Duchy.
– But then, how am I supposed to communicate with others?
If he wanted to throw away her bag and stop interacting with cards, he would have given her an artifact to send messages to everyone.
'But Lloyd gave me an artifact that could only communicate with him.'
No matter how much she thought about it, his actions didn't match.
– For what purpose did you create the gemstone artifact?
"Don't ask. I don't know either."
Lloyd once again groaned at her and ruffled the back of his head.
Why do people keep begging for her cards? There's no way he didn't know.
Aria was so cute and lovely that everyone would just want to hug her when she stares up while holding the card she wrote on her own with both her hands.
Objectively, anyone can see it.
'I know that.'
Why is his stomach so twisted?
Why does he feel the urge not to show it to anyone?
'No, before that….'
Why did he say that he doesn't like her being with everyone?
He doesn't even know why he's doing this.
'Have I developed a desire for monopoly since we're married?'
A desire for monopoly.
It was a very unfamiliar feeling for Lloyd, who had never been greedy for even a small thing.
How does he monopolize people who are not things in the first place?
Aria had the right to laugh, talk, and be happy with anyone. Because it was something she had never enjoyed before, he wished she had been with more and more people.
However.
"I heard that you visit the prayer room every day these days."
-Well.
"You seem to get along with the apprentice."
Why was he saying this?
Lloyd touched his finger across his lips and crumpled his face at the impulsive words he had said.
Aria didn't answer right away and she seemed to hesitate for a moment, which made him feel even more strange.
'What is this feeling? It's annoying.'
His stomach became stuffy. He wanted to solve it, conclude it and put it away.
So Lloyd came to the most reasonable conclusion.
Apparently, Aria is dealing with the Pope's spy, so he was annoyed.
"When did you start believing in God?"
– I don't believe it.
"Then what?"
– I think it would be good to be friends with Gabriel.
"Ha?"
But he didn't expect to hear this. Lloyd let out a laugh.
They're calling each other names?
"So you're going to get close to each other?"
– Lloyd knows it's not good for him to go back to Garcia with only a bad feeling about this place.
"What do you mean? Who is him?"
Aria couldn't say that he was the future paladin commander who would slaughter the people of this country.
When she starts talking about the future, she has to tell the whole truth. She didn't know how far she was going to talk.
'Even in the previous life, Gabriel must have come as an apprentice to Valentine. Because it has absolutely nothing to do with the future I changed.
However, after he was in the Fineta Empire for five years, he casually killed innocent people. In other words, his five years of apprenticeship did not give him any appreciation, impression, or emotion.
'Valentine is notorious for being the devil's castle, but it's not such a terrifying place, and maybe we need to tell them that this place is also habitable after all.'
Aria thought so. So, she decided to tell the more essential truth.
– I don't care if I don't need anything other than for my person.
"….."
– Gabriel is never my person. But he's here to help Lloyd inherit the malice so that it doesn't get any worse.
It's good because it's necessary, and there's no reason other than that. Gabriel means nothing to her.
As Aria said that, Lloyd felt the emotions that had been gnawing at him disappear.
"…?"
What is it?
After all, she's saying she's going to keep hanging out with the Pope's spy, but why does it make him feel better?
The fundamental problem remains the same. Lloyd swallowed the still unanswered question and sighed instead.
"Keep the line and deal with it in moderation."
He didn't like it though.
He had no choice but to say so.
"Why are you like this to people…"
People?
Aria waited for the words to follow, but Lloyd did not finish speaking.
'…making them easily enticed to you.'
Is it because she's a Siren?
Less than a year has passed since she came to this castle, and she has already shed it to countless numbers of people.
Even if that apprentice from Garcia means nothing to Aria, would he feel the same way?
'Useless greed.'
He was not a person who could not and should not have it anyway.
Lloyd just decided not to think deeply about the matter.
Because it seemed like he would have an insane desire to hide her in a place no one knew about.