After breakfast, Sirius took me to the reception room. We sat facing each other on opposite sofas, a table in the middle of us.
In the silence, I felt Sirius’s gaze on me. Just like before, the spirits never rose above his mouth, which made his expression hard to make out, but I could sense his eyes focused on me.
As I fiddled with my dress sleeve in discomfort, Sirius began to speak. “There’s no way to sugarcoat what I’m about to say, so I’ll just give it to you straight. Your father, King Procyon, asked me to come here. He is concerned for you, not as a king but as a father. He sent you to this forest hoping that your eyes would heal, but he misses your presence and cannot stand the loneliness any longer. That’s why he has asked me to bring you back to the castle.”
I rubbed my hands together in hesitation.
You see, when I first came to this villa, my entire world was in darkness. The knights and ladies-in-waiting wanted to shut me inside because they wanted to keep me safe. But when the forest beckoned for me when I was three, I witnessed something other than darkness for the first time: the white light of the spirits. To me they were a light of joy in my dark world. I lived with the spirits that day forth, grateful that they showed and taught me so much.
But they only lived in this forest.
If I went to the capital, I would have to part ways with them and be all alone. But if I rejected my father’s wish to see me, I would be a terrible daughter. I stayed silent, unable to respond to Sirius.
Eventually, I sensed him standing up from the sofa. He walked around the table and sat down next to me before he lifted me lightly from my seat and placed me on his lap. My head fit snugly against his chest, and he wrapped one of his arms around my back. My jaw dropped in surprise, but he didn’t stop what he was doing.
Since I’d always lived away from my family, I couldn’t remember ever being held like this by a relative before. And because I was a princess, my knights and ladies-in-waiting only touched me when it was absolutely necessary, like when they were guarding me or changing my clothes.
This was the first time, for as long as I could remember, that someone had ever touched and held me outside the line of duty.
I was so shocked by the touch that my entire body stiffened, but Sirius didn’t seem to notice. “The king doesn’t know that you are happy here,” he went on quietly. “He called you back because he imagined that you were lonely living so far away from the capital by yourself… He had your best interests in mind. If you’re happy staying here, then I can tell His Majesty your wish.”
“What?! R-really?” I asked, surprised.
Sirius must have noticed from my hesitation that I wanted to stay, but my father was the king. I didn’t think that Sirius could go against his orders.
Sirius smiled reassuringly. “Of course. We’ve been friends for a long time. A knight must use their full authority for a friend.”
“Wow!” That was a surprise.
“Sorry, I was just making a bad joke,” Sirius said apologetically. “The king wants you to be happy, so I just plan to tell him that you’re happy here. That said…we didn’t know what a fulfilling place this was for you, and you don’t know what the castle is like either.”
“Yeah.” Sirius was right; I didn’t know any different.
“So how about you visit the castle once and see for yourself what life is like there? Who knows, you might like it more. But if you do find yourself preferring life here, then I’ll deal with your father, mother, and siblings, and I’ll bring you back.”
“Whoa…”
Sirius’s proposal was brilliant. He made sense, and he was so kind and considerate too. At first, he told me that the king was lonely, but as soon as he found out that I wanted to stay here, he completely stopped talking about Father’s feelings. He didn’t want me to blame myself for wanting to stay, even if it meant not being with Father.
Sirius was such a kind person, thinking so far ahead in just a short amount of time. A warm, fuzzy feeling grew in my chest, but I still wasn’t able to give him an answer straight away. He put a hand on my head in reassurance.
“I would like to accompany you back home, but I don’t think you should rush such an important decision. I’ll stay here for a while, and you can tell me what you want to do when it’s time for me to leave.”
I didn’t fully grasp it then, but Sirius was from the kingdom’s most important noble family, and he was very busy as a knight brigade vice-commander. His time had to be extremely valuable. Even just making the trip between here and the distant capital was a big strain on him, but he decided to extend his stay because he didn’t want me to make a quick decision that I could regret later.
I didn’t know any of that, though. I was just happy to have him around for a while longer.
“Sorry, Serafina.” His lips twisted in self-deprecation. “I didn’t know you were happy here until I actually saw you. I want to see for myself how fulfilling this place is for you and make sure the king gets an accurate picture. Even if you do decide to live in the capital, I’ll tell the people there how much this place means to you.”
“Really?!”
I was so shocked that I couldn’t think of what else to say. He was still finding new ways to surprise me with his kindness. He was telling me that, no matter what choice I made, he would make sure the happiness I felt right now would be understood by my family.
Yeah, anyone would look up to him.
It was incredible how he was so kind to a little girl he had just met. After just a few hours with him, Sirius was already my hero.