"Su–"
"Wait!"
As I nodded and raised from my seat, suddenly Captain Jullius intercepted my words and stood up.
"Miss Epheria isn't at fault on today's matter."
Captain Jullius did put out the lights but I initiated him to do so. He didn't have to plead for me to this extent. My Captain Jullius is too kind as a person.
"So, don't blame Miss Epheria."
"I have no intention to blame Miss Epheria."
Ortzen's eyes casted a suspicious glance at me.
"Even if I was to blame her, with that personalities of hers, Miss Epheria will still be fine."
What..? I also could get hurt! That's why emm… emm…. I don't remember it well but I'm sure I have been hurt before. Anyway, I also had something to say with Ortzen seperately, so I held Captain Jullius' hand who was worrying about me and said.
"I'll be fine. I can just run away if the situation wasn't in my favor. Ortzen is weaker than me anyway."
"… but still–"
"Don't worry honey. You can sleep first. Didn't you hardly sleep these days?"
Obviously Ortzen is many times stricter than Sofia. Captain Jullius lightly shook his head to my words.
"I'll be waiting for you."
"I'll return quickly."
I felt bad to leave him when he said he'll wait for me. Because I still haven't moved and instead caressed Captain Jullius' hand, Ortzen who has reached the dining hall's door, frowned upon seeing what we're doing.
"Captain's hand will worn out."
"It won't"
"It won't"
"… then, are you going to do that all day?"
There's no reason for not doing so, but I can't do this now for any longer. I can't help but to released my hold from Captain Jullius' hand and went after Ortzen. He left the dining hall and entered an empty room. After he lit up the fireplace inside the unused room, Ortzen turned around to look at me.
"Have a seat first."
"I hope the talk won't be long."
Captain Jullius is sleepy! As he sat on the table, he opened his mouth.
"Miss Epheria, what do you think of Captain Jullius?"
Huh? The question was a bit off. I thought you're going to ask me about the Count's family or my reason for wanted to meet with the High Priest.
"He's strong."
Just by the fact that he succeeded in killing the demons who made contracts with human, -which means that the demons were at least equivalent to demon kings-, without possessing any holy power, and even crossed the Black Desert at such young age, -although not by himself but possibly with Clauen-, proved his strenght and capabilities. There's a great difference between having holy power or not when fighting against demons. For example, if the holy sword was still in its best condition, let alone the previous low-level demon king, I could even defeat an advanced-level demon king in one-on-one battle.
(T/N: the previous low-level demon king was the one who casted the curse on Silla/Roel. Fyi, the demon kings are classified based on their strenght, so there're lots of demon kings out there~)
But, I couldn't say the same in Captain's situation, even if he had Callitus at that time, I doubt he could won over those demons. He might have a chance to win if he made a surprise attack rather than directly confronted them. That's because, there's no other way to block the demon's magic unless you counter it with holy power. He would be able to endure the demon's magic if he's in a state of full blessings of holy power.
(T/N: remember that every month he received blessings by the High Priest as a protection charm against any curse, etc.)
On the other hand, if I were to fight against Captain Jullius while he has Callitus, then it's likely I would suffer a loss. The chance of him winning with Callitus in his hands is 8:2. But if Callitus is in my hands… emm, maybe our chance will be half and half? Or maybe my chance of winning will be 6:4. If both of us used ordinary swords, then I think it would be more advantageous for him.
Ah, I would like to fight against him just for once, but unfortunately it's impossible now.
"Not something like that, but I'm asking about your feelings towards him."
"Feelings? He is a good person. A very kind person. I think he suits me very well. I like him."
"Do you like him enough to have a real engagement with him instead of a fake one?"
"... huh?"
I widened my eyes in surprised at Ortzen's words. Have a real engagement? Why a of a sudden?
"Uh… so now, you want me and Captain Jullius to get engaged and married for real?"
"You can think that way."
"… why? No. If you want to talk about something like this, shouldn't Captain Jullius also be here? We can't just decide it by ourselves without the presence of the involved party."
At my words Ortzen's face had an expression like he has an upset stomach.
(T/N: 체한듯한 표정을 지었다 is an idiom that literally means you have facial expression like someone who has an upset stomach. This idiom is used in uncomfortable situation. You could say the face you made when you're in an awkward situation)
"I mean, I said these because there won't be any problem even if the other involved party is not here. Because Captain won't refuse either."
"I also know that, but still this is not right…"
Even if he's a scarecrow, when we're talking about the other party's important event in his life, we have to involve him to have a sit and talk it out. You can't just decide it for him behind the scenes, right? I never thought Ortzen to be this kind of pers– ah, was he always this kind of person? He used to be a criminal after all.
"Because Captain has suffered a lot during his early age, his satisfaction level is far below average compared to the things other people could wish for."
All of a sudden, Ortzen started to talk something out of the topic. Did he know about Captain's past? I think he knows as much as how an aide should have known about his superior.
"If he can eat three meals a day, avoid any rainstorm, and without having any threats on his life then he is already satisfied. In other words, he's a gullible person."
The words 'easy to exploit' was something similar I've heard before from my deputy. He said that I should be grateful because I was protected by a fence called 'the church'. But no matter how I think about it, my character wouldn't be like this if I was just an ordinary commoner woman without any holy power.
"His Majesty the Emperor's real intention to have someone with less social standing in the society to join the Special Task Squad is to have someone he could easily control. Anyway, even if Captain is being treated unfairly, he won't make a big deal out of it."
"I'm not that easy to be taken advantage of."
Or should I say that there's nothing much on me to be extorted about. The High Priest wasn't someone manipulative, the elders' nonsense have been warded off by my deputy, and there's also the regulations stated that the church and the Imperial Court not to interfere in the other party's affairs unless necessary.
With a frowned, Ortzen continued to speak.
"If things goes on like how it is now, Captain's marriage will also be decided by His Majesty, not by himself. And, any decent women won't be able to act properly as Captain's wife."
Hmm, most likely they will be scared of Captain's face and won't be able to face him properly.
"But, you will get used to it after a long time. Living is actually a matter of adaptation."
Even I myself weren't scared not because I was born with such bravery. I'm used to deal with raving monsters until I get tired of them, it was pretty scary at first. Even if she's just a normal girl, she will also get used to Captain after a while. People has good adaptability, right? Ortzen shook his head in regard to my words.
"After she has adapt well, it will be more difficult from then on. Nine out of ten, His Majesty the Emperor will choose a noble lady from influential family as Captain's wife. For those women, Captain will become a good prey. Whether they lead a lavish lifestyle or commit adultery, Captain Jullius can only watch from afar without doing anything."
T-that's right. I could imagine it that I almost couldn't help but sigh in the end.
"But still you can't be that sure that all the women in the world will just take advantage of Captain Jullius. Maybe they will make a good couple and get along well."
"Of course there's a chance that could happen, but the problem lies within the probability. Based on most noble women personalities, in addition to Captain's background and character, it's unlikely they will lead a normal marriage life. At best, they will be just a couple in name."
Such cases indeed happened to many noble couples though.
"And the biggest problem is if 'the wife in name' might try to control Captain as she wish. Once she get used to Captain, she can easily influence him."
Hmm, that's definitely a difficult problem. Even if Ortzen could make a good counselor, but Captain Jullius is still the one who make the final call. Thus, the leaders of the knight squads to some extent should be bright. Captain Jullius and I were considered as unique case. The Holy Knight Squad doesn't really have to be worried about that, because our enemy is the demons, not humans, but the Special Task Squad is different. I wonder what could be the reason for His Majesty the Emperor appointed Captain Jullius, -who isn't adapting well in the society-, as the leader of Special Task Squad instead of anyone from the nobility. The Special Task Squad is a skill-oriented squad, but…
"Captain Jullius needs to find a good woman."
"Yes. That's why I'm asking you, Miss."
Huh? What… Ah!
"I also don't know how to be a good wife."