My hand was throbbing, but the intensity of my anger washed away the pain.
“Callis,” I said, leveling him in a fierce glare.
“You ought to just break it off with me and propose to the Lady Saint.”
“What?” he gasped, his face frozen in shock.
“What are you…?
But you are the woman I love.”
“And yet you sat there before me, with all those people present, holding another woman’s hand!”
“Seria!”
He let go of my other hand and looked at me like he didn’t know who I was or what I’d become.
I had to ask myself the same question.
What had come over me?
Why was I so livid?
After all, Lina was in pain, and he was merely fulfilling his role as her guardian, just like the novel dictated he had to.
So what was there to be jealous about?
And yet, here I was, slamming my fist into shelves and screaming accusations in a wild fit of rage.
Initially, I had only helped him mend his injured arm in order to survive.
But as he gradually lowered his guard around me, offering me innocent smiles and lighthearted flirtations and gestures of kindness, I could not help but grow fond of him.
This fondness led to affection and affection to love.
Then, one day, he knelt before me to propose.
“If we must engage in a marriage of convenience, would I not be the best option?”
“We?
You are the one compelled to rush into a strategic marriage, not me.”
“Sharp as ever, Seria.
But am I really so bad?”
Callis had been under immense pressure from certain noblemen to enter into a marriage of political alliances.
Unfortunately for them, he was, at heart, a hopeless romantic who loathed the idea of a loveless marriage.
Nevertheless, he gave in to the pressure and singled me out as a suitable match.
He thought he needed to convince me that such a marriage would benefit me as well.
The big, handsome dummy had no idea that I actually had feelings for him.
Remembering all this, I began to cry.
Tears streamed down my cheeks, and I covered my face in shame.
“I did not mean to upset you,” Callis said.
“Forgive me, Seria.
Please.
This is all my fault.”
He gently lowered my hands from my face and wrapped his arms around me.
Against all my internal frustrations, I felt safe in his arms.
“After the wedding,” he said, “we will leave for my dominion at once.
The lands of Hanneton are beautiful.
I promise I will see no more of the Lady Saint once she recovers.”
After a few minutes of weeping into his shoulder, I managed to calm myself.
I was embarrassed to show him my troubled emotions, but I did feel better.
In fact, it felt as though this little incident had brought us closer together.
As we walked back to the castle, Callis looked at me with a playful glint in his eyes.
“You cannot ever again consider calling off the engagement.”
“Oh no?
And why is that?”
“Because I am going to marry you no matter what,” he answered with confidence.
“I suppose if I intend to marry a Sterne, it is only fitting that I endure some adversity.”
“Just promise me one thing.
Do not be late to the wedding.”
“I promise.
I would never dream of it.”
“We’ll see…”
“Do you not trust me?”
“How can I truly trust a fiancé who suggested changing my wedding dress because of something another woman said?”
“Ah…” Callis’s pleasant expression drooped, and his eyes lowered towards the ground.
“Is that still troubling you?”
“I nearly broke off the engagement because of it.”
“Really?
Over that?”
“Callis.” There was no way to disguise my frustration, so I just let it out.
“How would you feel if I suggested a change to your wedding suit because of Archduke Rouche?”
“What does he have to do with any of this?”
“I’m just asking how you would feel.”
Callis considered it for a moment, his eyes downcast.
“I see what you mean.
Again, I apologize.
Nothing of the sort will happen again.
Once the Lady Saint has finished recuperating today, I will see no more of her.
I swear I will be a faithful husband to you, Seria.”
He escorted me all the way to the stables, where a priestess caught up with us and waited for a chance to speak.
I mounted my horse and took a fleeting glance back as I rode off.
The priestess was relaying something to Callis.
Their heads were both nodding and bowed under what appeared to be a serious matter.
I knew it had to be about Lina.
* * *
Lina’s pallid complexion brightened the moment Callis entered her room.
“Callis!
I—”
“Lina, wait,” Callis stopped her, his voice heavy.
“You have to listen.
After today, we can no longer address each other by name.”
“All right, Callis… If that’s what you want.” Lina spoke in a whisper, as though she’d been injured by what she’d just heard.
“You’re not going to ask why?” Callis said.
“I already know why,” she pouted.
“I was scolded by Viscount Aison.
Seria’s priestess gave me an earful, too.”
In the eyes of the Church, Saint Lina was a sacred individual, an irreplaceable benediction upon the empire.
However, that did not mean they could neglect Seria.
The Sternes were also revered.
This was evidenced by the fact that they had dispatched a high-ranking priestess all the way to the Archduchy of Berk simply because Seria had a cold.
“So, that means…” Lina started, though she seemed to be stalling.
“…we have to start addressing each other as ‘Lady Saint’ and ‘my lord’ tomorrow?”
Callis nodded.
“Although I do not think we shall see much of each other after the wedding.”
“But you’re my dearest friend!” Tears welled up in Lina’s eyes.
“Why couldn’t we have met a little earlier?”
Callis said nothing.
On his wrist, he wore a bracelet adorned with a demonstone.
Lina hadn’t seen the bracelet before, and she didn’t think it fit Callis’s style.
She realized it must have been a gift from his fiancée, and this made her mood even gloomier.
“I want to be friends with Seria,” she said out of the blue.
“Are you on a first-name basis with her?” Callis asked.
“Since when have you two been close?”
“Well, not exactly, but—”
“Then you should not use her first name, Lina.
You know this is bad manners.”
“To hell with your stupid manners!” Lina shouted.
The tears she had been holding back suddenly rushed forth like a burst dam.
Through her sobs, she continued to speak.
“I’m already scared to death of going to the High Church, and now I have to lose my only close friend!
You, Callis!
How many times does my world have to change?
You said you were my guardian!
You said you would protect me forever!
Were those all lies?”
Callis reached out to wipe Lina’s tears and then hesitated, clenching his hand into a fist instead as he simply watched Lina cry her heart out.
“Please, Lina, forgive me.
Stop… Stop crying, please…”
Lina hid her face, her weeping unabated.
Callis watched as she heaved heavy sobs behind her hands, which were covered in yellow and bluish bruises.
His heart turned to mush at the sight of them.
“I know it will be frightening for you,” he said softly.
He rubbed and patted Lina’s back as he tried to comfort her as best he could.
After what felt like an eternity, she finally calmed somewhat.
“Callis…” Lina wiped her wet cheeks with his handkerchief.
“I want to visit the glacier.”
“The glacier?
Whatever for?”
“I told you, I want to be friends with Seria.
I’m also a Sterne, so if I visit the glacier on her behalf, I could ease some of her burden.
She would appreciate that, don’t you think?
And then we would become close in no time.” Lina was still weeping slightly, but she spoke resolutely as though it were the only natural course of action.
“I understand how you feel,” Callis said gently, “but your health is still poor.
Your body is not strong enough for such a strenuous task as that.”
“Are you worried that I might steal all your fiancée’s glory?
Don’t worry, that’s not what I want.
I mean, yeah, I do get a little jealous that she gets so much attention and praise, but…”
Callis’s soft expression hardened again.
He gazed suspiciously at Lina.
“I guess that means you won’t take me to the glacier.
Fine.
I’ll go by myself.”
Callis, feeling like his hands were bound, sighed heavily.
He knew what Lina was like.
If she were told that she couldn’t do something, she was the type to crawl out the window at night and do it anyway.
As her assigned guardian, Callis had an obligation to protect her for one more day.
“All right,” he said, “but only a short trip.
We have to come back right away.”
Lina lept up in excitement.
“We can sneak out and back before anyone notices!”
“Sneak?”
“It’ll be so much fun!
Like a movie!”
“A movie?”
“Umm… It’s a kind of story.
Like a play, only you can watch it anytime you like.”
“Oh, something from your world.”
“Right!”
Lina’s eyes sparkled, and Callis was glad to see her smiling again.
He didn’t often think about the fact that she’d come from another world, but he did like to hear her talk about it.
“I’ll tell you all about it,” Lina laughed.
“About what?”
“My world!”
And so, under orders to protect the Saint, Callis accompanied Lina as they discreetly left the castle for a short visit to the glacier.