Until that point, as I watched their interaction in the training ground, someone I had never wanted to meet again spoke to me from behind. “It looked like the next saintess had already decided on her Holy Knight.”

  “What made you come here?” I turned my back in a hurry. I recognized his voice. After all, he was the momentum of my dark past. I was really hostile to him.

  “I just want to check on my saintess.” In response, as he chuckled, he said something that he did not mean.

  “Huh.” He has changed. He had changed so much that I couldn't recognize him. I was lost when I looked at him.

  “How have you been, Your Holiness?” He slowly walked to me, closing the distance between us.

  When I saw him extend his hand to me, I took several steps back. “You can see it for yourself.” I was on guard against him.

  “… You do not have to be that cold to me.” He dropped his hand. His expression—he acted as if he was hurt.

  “……” Yet, I knew that was his acting. I was not afraid of him. I just found him repulsive. He has become mad.

  Then he walked up to me. Standing beside me, he looked at Aria and Andres in the training ground. Seeing him up close, I began to feel short of breath.

  Then he looked at me and spoke. “I think I need to be more careful with that new recruit.”

  “I am warning you. He is the disciple of the next Swordmaster.” I instinctively knew that Andres was in danger. So, I tried to defend him using Paul’s name.

  “He may soon be the Swordmaster. But he is not one yet.” However, he was unfazed by it. He was really insane.

  Thus, I decided to remind him again about the thing that was not meant to be, the impossible thing, the taboo. “… you should give up on your ambition. No one lives forever. We may look young, but our times are limited.”

  Then he walked to me again. “… Oh… I don’t think so.”

  I tried to back. Yet, he kept chasing me until I backed into a tree. Then he extended his hand to me. I tried to evade, yet it was to no avail.

  As his hand touched my cheek, he said. “See? Our youth have been maintaining since then. So, why can’t we live forever? With a bit more adjustment, immortality is within our grasp.”

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  “…. I really misjudged you.” My voice shook due to anger.

  Seeing me like that, he just retreated in silence. Then he vanished without a trace. It took me a long time until I could stabilize my breath. I almost threw up at that time.

  He was always a coward. The main reason I chose him as my Holy Knight was because of the political circumstances between us. I thought I could control him, as he was a coward. Yet it proved to be the wrong choice. His fear of death multiplied over time. He became obsessed with immortality. We did not know that he really wanted to achieve his immortality. However, I instinctively knew that it was related to Aria. I guess he planned to be Aria’s Holy Knight. He may think that by continuing to be the Holy Knight of the next generation, his lifespan would be extended. I knew it was impossible. Do correct me if my guess is wrong, Lucy.

  I wonder why I am recording my conversation with him here.

  Back to Aria, after she healed Andres, they walked to me. I tried to act as if nothing had happened. However, they seemed to notice my abnormality. Andres also seemed to notice his presence. He offered to escort me to my quarters. Yet, I knew that his real motivation was Aria. His face and his gaze that landed on Aria when he said that were in plain sight. Did he think he could fool me?

  After that, I gave him permission to escort me to my quarters. On the way from the hanging garden to my quarter, we run into several people. Most of them were saintess candidates and nun apprentices. I came to learn later that word got out that he was escorting me, or rather Aria, to my quarters. So, many people came there to wait for him. It seemed he was somewhat popular with them. Ah, no, we must not let him know about it. See, Lucy? Your ‘brother’ was that popular.

  The gaze those young girls sent to him was full of passion. However, it wasn't very meaningful. He did not notice it. After all, there was only one person in his eyes. He was too busy looking at that person that he did not notice their gaze.

  It seemed that Paul was not at all happy about it. Paul kept finding fault with him and always pointed out his shortcomings. He has been acting like her father.

  Do you want to know why Andres was popular with the saintess candidates? I asked Maria about it. She told me that his appearance was one thing, but his earnest personality, clumsiness, and being dense at times seem to be his selling points. It was a gap-moe or something, she said. I could not understand the new term used by youngsters. I'm getting too old. I was too embarrassed to ask them to explain it to me. So, could you explain it to your grandma, Lucy?

  Well, come to think of these points, he is not that reliable. Now, I see why Paul was always unsatisfied with him. So, Lucy is correct about this part? It is next to impossible to find a match for our Aria. Who can match our Aria?

  After that, I told Paul about my encounter with the Holy Knight. He was so distressed when he heard that. At first, I was about to suggest to Paul that he should withdraw from the Guardian Knight Order. However, Paul told me that he would never agree to it. At that time, Aria happened to overhear our conversation. She was on her way to see Andres off. Thus, we, the four of us, hold a meeting to decide the fate of the person in question.

  At the end, to protect him from the Holy Knight, we had to take him out of the Guardian Knight Order and attach him to me.

  I still remember it. During the entire meeting, the look he gave us that day was one of a kind. You should have seen it.