Chapter 55:
The Saints of the Royal Castle
“OH? WHY AM I in my bed?”
I sat up, confused. The last thing I recalled was drinking with Saviz.
“Shoot. My memory of last night cuts out at some point. I remember drinking a bottle of that wine Commander Saviz recommended, but nothing after that. We were only halfway through dinner by that point. Maybe I don’t remember anything because I went home? Nah, that’s unlikely…”
There was no way I would miss a chance to try the royal castle’s meat and cake…not that I could remember if there was any on the menu.
I glanced outside to check the sun’s position, then grimaced. It was already close to noon, so odds were I had dined late with Saviz. It might have been a holiday, but sleeping in late like this was rare. I must have eaten and drunk a lot if I wasn’t hungry after all this sleeping.
It took me a bit to work up the courage to look at Zavilia, who lay balled up on my knees. “Zavilia, I need to ask you something, but let me start by saying I don’t need the whole truth, just enough to set me at ease, so go easy on me. What kind of state was I in last night? Did I say anything weird?”
He blinked at me, then tilted his head to the side. “You were in rather high spirits. You said you told that commander of yours he could count on you whenever he’s in trouble.”
“What?! I would never say something so outrageous to the leader of the knight brigades! I’m a humble sort of person who knows her place! Or at least I should be…”
I shot down the possibility immediately, but then paused to reconsider. I didn’t remember much of last night, so it was hard to entirely dismiss Zavilia’s report.
“Hmm, I wonder what kind of conversation could have led me to say such a thing. I would never say something like that to the commander under normal circumstances, so I must’ve had a reason.”
I folded my arms and tried as hard as I could to remember last night.
“Did the commander encounter some trouble? Hmm… But what kind of trouble? Maybe he lost a drinking battle against me? …No way. Commander Saviz is really good with his liquor. Then maybe Captain Quentin and Captain Desmond’s eccentric behavior worried him. It’s possible. Just the other day, they…”
I was still mumbling to myself when Zavilia seemed to recall something.
“Come to think of it, you mentioned telling that commander of yours you would be too drunk to remember anything, so you wouldn’t feel any shame, at which point he commended you for your positive mindset.”
“Really? I said that to him?” That was a pretty important piece of the puzzle.
“You did, you did. I remember thinking he probably wasn’t actually commending you…”
“Is that so?” I could have done without that little addition to his explanation, but this was valuable information, so I hugged Zavilia tight. “Yay! I can’t believe I made sure to tell the commander I lose my memories when I get drunk! This works out perfectly, Zavilia!”
“It does?” He gave me a doubtful look.
I nodded vigorously. “It does! Commander Saviz is an understanding boss, so he won’t hold any promises I made while drunk against me.”
I was in the clear! I didn’t have to worry about what I might’ve said last night after all!
“You have a rather positive mindset indeed…” Zavilia muttered.
“You think so too?” Happy at the praise, I stroked his head.
Spirits high, I changed and made for the dining hall to snag a late breakfast.
I left the women’s dormitory and started toward the dining hall but encountered Desmond along the way. I hoped to escape with a brisk greeting, but he tagged along all the way to the dining hall for some reason.
Suspecting he might be after my food again, I glared up at him. “Captain Desmond, I’ve told you before, this is the dining hall for ordinary knights. You have your own dining hall for captains, and it has better, more delicious food made specifically for you!”
He took a tray and began chucking food onto it as though totally unaware. He seemed intent on eating here. I guess I could be happy he wasn’t after my food, at least.
“Fia, a dining hall is a dining hall. The food’s roughly the same. It’s not like we’re served food meant for the royal family like in the castle.”
Something about the way he said that bothered me. I glared at him as he piled food high on his tray and took a seat in front of me.
“You must’ve drunk yourself silly if you’re getting breakfast at such an odd hour, but that’s fine. The problem is whatever you said to the commander during your dinner. According to the knights assigned as his guard, he spent a long time in the garden afterward just staring at the moon, even though he isn’t normally the type to do such a thing!”
“Huh?!” How in the world did Desmond know I had dinner with Saviz? Then again, it was his job to know everything, which often resulted in him scolding me. Like right now…
My mind wandered until I felt a sharp gaze on me and looked up. Desmond was glaring, apparently angered that my mind meandered to something else before responding to him.
He wasn’t going to stop glaring until I replied, so I racked my brain to recall what happened last night in order to deflect his piercing gaze, but nothing came to me no matter how hard I tried.
“Uhhh, right. With me being such an exemplary knight, I probably complimented him on how handsome he looked and thanked him for choosing such an excellent wine?”
I used what little I recalled to lob out a harmless answer, but Desmond’s eyebrows rose. “Y-you did what?! Nobody in their right mind would call the commander handsome to his face, even if they did think it! This is the commander of the knight brigades we’re talking about here! A-and you had him choose your drink for you?! You can do that yourself!”
“Huh?!” I sat up straighter. Why was Desmond nitpicking something like that? He made it sound like I lacked common sense! I decided it’d be best to keep my surprise at seeing Saviz in clothes other than his uniform to myself.
Desmond sighed. “Well, whatever. Those things are problematic, sure, but it’s still within normal parameters for you. The commander is magnanimous enough to overlook it, so that can’t be the reason. You must’ve said something even more outlandish. Just what could you have said that would make him stand in the garden for so long?”
That was what I wanted to know.
I muttered, “Right, um… I might’ve said he could count on me if he ever had any problems?”
His eyes shot wide. “That’s it! How could you say such a thing to him?! Aaah, you might as well have said he looked so pathetic he needed someone like you to help him! He must’ve been shocked out of his mind! Just stop and think for a moment, won’t you, Fia?! Never in a hundred years would the commander ever need your help!”
With a huff I said, “Well, I don’t know about that! I don’t know if you’re aware, but it just so happens Cerulean and Dolly have been counting on me to help them for all kinds of things lately! And seeing as Commander Saviz is related to Cerulean…”
I said no more, smiling triumphantly instead. Desmond gaped, his mouth hanging open. “Wha… You… No, stop, leave Commander Saviz be! If you make him of all people go weird, I’ll make sure you hear about it for all eternity!”
No way. Desmond lacked the attention span to stick to one thing for long, so how was he supposed to pester me for all eternity?
“I understand,” I said with mock sadness and wiped an imaginary tear from my eye. “I have no choice but to relent if you’re going to threaten me, even though I love the commander dearly.”
“Don’t tease me!” he snapped, then slapped a hand over his mouth. “Wait. Clarissa did say in a recent meeting that you were gunning for him…” He clammed up again and blushed like a maiden. “W-wait, you’re serious?!”
“What? Of course I’m serious. But if you don’t want me doing things for him, then we’ll have to find a new performer for his celebration. Since you’re the one being so insistent, you should take responsibility and…”
I had fully given up on performing and was going let Desmond take my place beside Cerulean for Saviz’s wedding celebration, but then Desmond stared right past me.
Sheesh. There’s that short attention span. Exasperated, I glared steadily at him, but he paid me no mind and pointed behind me. Frustrated, I said, “Captain Desmond, we’re having an important discussion here. Can you ignore whatever amusing thing has distracted you?”
“Fia, look. It’s…Saint Priscilla.”
“Huh?” I spun around and, sure enough, Priscilla was standing at the dining hall’s entrance with Lloyd.