A week passed by. It seemed that my upstanding knights told the saints all about Sirius’s act of kindness, just like they said they would. I was sure this would cause their attitudes toward him to change dramatically, but twice I saw some of the saints turn around and walk back the way they’d come as soon as they were about to cross paths with Sirius.
I was so confused. Why were the saints avoiding him even more than they had before? Had my plan failed? And if so, where did I go wrong? I couldn’t think of a misstep I’d made.
I was in my room, lost in thought after dinner, when Sirius sat down in front of me with a soft smile.
“Something on your mind, Serafina?” he asked.
“There sure is. Something that’s really hard to understand.” I moaned, causing him to quizzically raise an eyebrow.
“Two heads are better than one. I’d be happy to help if you think I can.”
I glanced up at him. I was sure he’d be hurt if he knew that the saints thought he was coldhearted. If I was going to talk to him about this, I needed to choose my words carefully.
“You’re so kind, Sirius, and yet, it’s strange that the saints can’t seem to grasp it.”
“Ah…”
Sirius looked like he knew exactly what I was talking about. Seeing that, I couldn’t hide my frustration any longer. “Where did I go wrong?” I mumbled to myself.
My words seemed to trigger something in Sirius’s mind.
“I see. You mentioned you were busy that day I was with Ludo, so I assumed you brought the knights to the garden because you no longer had anything to do. But I assume your real plan was to have them all come and see me.”
“Huh?! You noticed we were secretly spying on you?”
My startled question was met with an exasperated sigh. “I have to ask—did you really think you’d go unnoticed coming in such a large group?”
“Ack! A-as expected of such an amazing knight! Nothing gets past you! I, uh… I just wanted them to see you being kind to a small animal so they could tell the saints about it. But that still didn’t seem to change how you’re perceived by them at all, so it just doesn’t make sense.”
Actually, I thought their attitude toward him had gotten even worse, but since I was choosing my words carefully, I kept that thought to myself.
After glancing at me briefly, Sirius causally asked, “How about you, Serafina? You’re also a saint. What do you think about me?”
“Huh?! Obviously, I think you’re super kind and nice!”
Sirius lightly chuckled. “Is that so? Well, that’s good enough for me. I don’t care about what anyone else thinks.” He suddenly seemed to recall something that caused him to reach into his inner pocket and pull out a small jar. “This is honey from a berserk bee nest that I discovered while I was in the forest today. It wasn’t a very large nest, so I couldn’t gather much, but this honey tastes sweeter than the usual kind.”
“Wait, so this is…”
“A souvenir from my business trip.”
Sirius had just been out on an overnight monster extermination mission. It was the type of business trip that you don’t customarily bring a souvenir back from, but he’d made the effort to acquire this precious honey for me.
“See! You are super nice, Sirius! I have to find a way to make sure the saints hear of this kindness,” I said, clenching my fists with determination.
A faintly amused smile flitted across Sirius’s lips. “I don’t think that’s necessary. The knights already say that I spoil you too much. Given my position, it’s probably for the best that I come across as a bit stricter, so it’s fine to keep the status quo for now.”
“What? You really think so?”
“I do.”
After mulling over what Sirius said for a couple of moments, I nodded enthusiastically.
“Okay, then. If that’s what you really want, we’ll just leave things as they are! Besides, kindness is something that naturally shines through in the end.”
“Indeed. As long as you understand, that’s good enough for me.”
Good enough for him? I giggled at that; he’d used the exact same phrase twice now.
“Also, Serafina, no matter how hard you try, it’s doubtful that anyone else will ever consider me kind.”
“Huh? But the knights also…”
I hurriedly started to tell him that definitely wasn’t the case, but he interrupted me, which was something he rarely ever did.
“Really, it’s just you.”
I didn’t really think that could be true, but for some reason, I found myself agreeing with him.
“…Yeah.”
His smile after I said that looked incredibly satisfied, so I figured it was just best to leave it at that. No matter what happened, I vowed to myself that I would always believe that Sirius was a kind soul.