The end of January approached quickly. I was getting ready for my exams, but I wasn't the only one. Zoe brought the news to me first thing in the morning.
"My lady, Nathaniel Seaton arrived last night."
"Excellent. He's at the manor?"
"Yes, my lady. Treated as an important guest, like you said."
"Tell them I'll be over for lunch."
My presence was an honour granted only to the worthy, but the future high priest was all about kindness, caring, respect disregarding classes, all those saintly things. Thus, as a show of my humility, I would stoop to visit instead of summoning him. It disgusted me just to think about it.
What to wear? A humble, light yellow dress with little jewellery. Winning Nathaniel over was just as important as being the saint, since in the novel, these two events were inexplicably tied. He told the crown prince about his theory that Catherine was the saint, because of how kind she was, which first made him interested in her.
I had eliminated that threat, but he would still have plenty of influence in the future as the youngest high priest ever with an immense amount of holy power, though far less than Catherine's, of course. Despite my annoyance, I was excited to meet him as I walked into the sitting room where he waited.
"Good day, Mister Seaton."
Nathaniel was a year younger than me, the same age as Catherine. A skinny boy, not as well fed as the noble children I was used to, wearing simple but good quality clothes that House Avington bought for him. His skin was tanned, his hair brown, his eyes hazel, and his features matched the description in the novel, soft and gentle, like a sweet puppy. He stood up to greet me, awkwardly bowing.
"Good day. Are you Lady Valentina?"
"Yes, and please rise."
He straightened, though I could distinctly see his commoner background. It was in the way he carried himself, his tone, and the tiniest gestures, lacking the confidence and poise of aristocrats, and too easily readable. He was shorter than me right now, but he had the face to be a male lead.
"Shall we go to lunch?"
"All right."
The boy, who was supposed to be the warm spring and sincere friend to the heroine, was being awfully shy. He didn't offer his arm to escort me like a gentleman, but I wasn't expecting him to. The dining room we were using was close, so we didn't talk on the way.
At the table, he seemed at a loss with all the cutlery, and he certainly didn't use them properly. As the food began to be served, I started a conversation.
"How were your travels, Mister Seaton?"
"It was really nice. Thank you for all the kind arrangements you've made for me, Lady Valentina."
"You can call me Valentina. That's what friends do."
"Ah… yes, Valentina."
For some reason, it was like he was backing away from me. I had thought my innocent smiles and status as saint would be enough to make him instantly like me, but apparently not. He didn't even acknowledge my offer of friendship, and it was my amazing self control that I didn't jam my table knife into his eye.
I was an expert at socializing, and I certainly wasn't giving up against this peasant boy.
"You've lived at the Avington castle for a while now before coming here, right? Is everything to your liking? Are you getting used to things?"
"Everything and everyone are wonderful, and I think I'm settling in. Thank you again."
"Oh, you're very welcome. Please don't hesitate to ask for anything."
"Then if I may ask, why did you do this? Why me?"
I blinked. I couldn't say I was surprised at the question, since anyone would be suspicious of something almost too good to be true, like what I'd done for him.
"God told me to find you, so you can help me spread his love. He blessed you."
"Why? I haven't done anything to deserve it."
"But you can and you will do great things. God knows."
Nathaniel nodded but did not reply. He was way more quiet than the novel described him as, but that may be because we weren't close enough yet. Ugh, I needed to do more.
"How is the preparation for your exam going?"
"It's going well. After all that you've done for me, I won't let you down."
Finally, I saw emotion in his eyes. Genuine gratitude, but with a shocking lack of affection. I frowned internally, restraining myself from rolling my eyes.
I didn't try again, but only because I was more interested in the food. Frankly, as the third male lead, he was the most boring and least popular among readers like me. He was the childhood friend that could have been, romance bloomed by time, and by taking away his shared years with the female lead, I was basically done blocking their relationship.
To my surprise, after a very long period of silence, he spoke.
"At the Avington castle, Priest Norman was very good to me. Before I came here, he let me go visit my old orphanage."
I vaguely remember hearing about that from Zoe. I had dismissed it, since Catherine was already gone, so I couldn't care less.
"Oh? How was it?"
"I saw a lot of my friends again, and it was nice. I'd almost forgotten how life was with them."
I wasn't sure if that was good or bad at first, but as he continued, I cursed silently.
"If I sold one of these forks here, I could feed everyone at my orphanage for days. The ceiling still leaked, and it was freezing at night. Clothes needed patching, and there were a few kids that were sick, but they didn't have money to buy medicine. A few died every year."
"That's terrible. You should've told me, I'll have a cheque sent to them right away. Together, we can help them."
"And then what? There are so many out there that have it worse than we did. Are you going to write a cheque to every single of them?"
"The temple will try. It's God's will that everyone lives in comfort and happiness."
When I became queen, I could try to change things, or at least that was what I told myself. To be honest, I knew I would forget all about them by dinnertime, since it didn't affect me. I didn't care enough. He kept going, his head slightly tilted, his eyes hollow.
"So many of his children aren't good at carrying it out. Did you hear about the avalanche at Mount Wolfbourg?"
"Yes. I collected donations to help the people there."
"Back at the castle, the servants were talking about what a shame it was. House Avington has logging operations there, which might even be what caused it. Don't worry, you didn't lose anything, but the same can't be said for the villagers that died."
I had not known, and I revealed my surprise to him. However, the information was more interesting to me than my regrets about the dead, though I doubted he could tell.
This wasn't like the Nathaniel from the novel at all, but I guessed the difference was between me and the female lead. To him, I was a spoiled noble girl who'd never suffered hardship in her entire life, and Catherine was someone who knew what it was like, and who was compassionate, unlike all the other nobles. They were for justice.
"I'm so, so sorry."
"I don't blame you, I know you have your reasons. Everyone does. It's just sad no one cares about them."
It made sense. His mild, passive hostility against the prince in the novel that I interpreted as jealousy was rather accusatory, like he was being now. But as the ever so kind orphan, he didn't hate nor blame anyone. How ridiculously virtuous.
"Why are you the saint, my lady? I've heard a lot about you from the servants. Will you help anyone?"
"I promised I'd try my best, so I will."
In that moment, I knew nothing I said could change his mind. Though he nodded, his eyes displayed a simple dislike, nothing more, nothing less.
The lunch came to a close, and he bid me farewell with the same kindness he carried all throughout.
"Thank you, Lady Valentina, for everything. I'll forever be in your debt."
Humanity was complicated. Everything he showed and said was true, especially that he was appreciative, even if it conflicted with his distaste for me. Somehow, perhaps with a commoner's gaze, he'd seen through my masks to who I really was.
Whatever, whatever. He was the type that warmed up slowly, with time. It could be a problem, since if he hadn't by now, he would see through me and my lies eventually. I would need to be extra vigilant with my act around him. Regardless, he didn't have to like me, as long as his loyalty was obliged.
At last, I had met all three male leads, and took away everything I could think of from Catherine Bryant. I was thoroughly prepared, and I would be even more so when the novel began in a little less than a decade. I smirked, exhilaration running through me. How thrilling it all was!
Everything was in place, like clockwork, guaranteeing my victory. As pieces of the puzzle would fall in place, I would seal our fates. Unfortunately for the female lead, I was an evil villainess, and I was going to win.