Chapter 45

Story 26: The Goddess’ Warrior (4)

Chapter 45

When I calmed down a little, I decided to go see Eriez. As I suspected, he was in selamlique after returning from the training hall.

“Eriez, was it you who told the Goddess’ warrior about me?”

“Juya…”

Thankfully, my body was cleared off by now. I grabbed Eriez and accused him, “How much did you tell him? The warrior now thins I am a sl*t who is crazy for any man.”

“It’s the truth, isn’t it?”

“… you bastard.”

I could tell that Eriez was partly joking, but when I became upset, he tried to explain, “I-I didn’t tell him those words like that. I… I just said that I think you are still in love with Prince Camille, and… and that when you are with me, you call out His Highness’ name… I was upset, and I was worried about you, especially if you continued to be His Highness’ teacher. I thought that would be a huge mistake.”

“…”

“The Goddess’ warrior is so wise, so he probably could see right through you, although I didn’t tell him everything… N-no, Juya! Stop pinching me! Let me go!”

He began to back away from me, so I let him go.

Was that really it? Eriez had a funny expression on his face, but I didn’t think he would lie to me. I knew him enough that he would bad mouth me in front of Hakim Karid, then lie to my face about it. Eriez wasn’t that good of an actor.

However, just in case… And to find out more… I decided to test him.

“… Fine. Whatever. So you are Prince Camille’s new teacher now, huh? How is His Highness doing? Is he well?”

“Are you talking about him again…?”

“Yes, since it is true that I still love him.”

I sighed and looked away. This wasn’t an important point, and I needed to get to the main topic.

“Eriez, I ordered His Highness’ servants to take care of a huge job. There is an area in His Highness’ quarters that is very dangerous. His Highness almost got into a serious accident there, so I ordered the servants to clean the area thoroughly.”

“Oh, is that true? Well, I can find out about that for sure. I just need to ask the prince about it, right?”

Eriez shrugged his shoulders and replied coolly. I began to feel even more confident that he wasn’t lying to me about anything. On top of that, he still had the nerve to make a joke.

“Hey, Juya. I need to go wash up, and… Are you going to follow me? I mean, indeed, the washroom is probably empty now. Do you want to go at it again with me?”

He made a lewd gesture to me with his fingers, making me angry.

“You… You idiot!”

When I tried to hit him, Eriez blocked me easily and replied, “Hey! Come on! All you have to do is say no if you aren’t interested!’

I could hear that he was only joking. I wasn’t in a bad mood either, and we began to wrestle a little in a friendly manner. Eriez was much bigger and stronger than me, so within only a few seconds, he grabbed both of my arms and had me on my back on the floor.

“Dammit, Eri! You are too strong…”

“Gosh, Juya! Really… Do you really believe that I have done something unforgivable to you?”

He was smiling and frowning at the same time. He looked like the good old Eriez I knew. Suddenly, I wondered if he knew the murders of the messengers had been solved.

“Eri… Do you… Actually, never mind.”

“What? What were you going to say? Are you upset that you don’t get to see Prince Camille as much anymore? I’m sure the Goddess’ warrior will take care of everything with his infinite wisdom. It looked like the warrior really cares about you… Being near him is an honor, right? So don’t be so angry, and I hope you feel better.”

Did Eriez even know what it meant to “serve” the warrior?

Well, at least one thing was for sure. I had no more reason to stay angry at Eriez. Besides, it was getting late, and I needed to go now ready for my night shift.

Just then, some of my brothers began to walk into the selamlique. They saw us, and I could feel that they weren’t looking at us kindly. In fact, I thought some of them were openly glaring at us, but perhaps I was mistaken.

Then… Before one of them entered his room, he muttered loudly, “How nice to see two brothers so hot for each other.”

“What?!”

I jumped off Eriez and gasped. Was it just me who heard him say that?

Eriez sat up without a word, but I jumped towards the brother who disappeared. I looked around, but all the brothers looked away as if to tell me it wasn’t them who said it. They walked away quietly.

“… what did he say?”

Who was it that said such a thing? Did I mishear him?

***

I entreated the Goddess’ warrior quietly, “There is something I would like to ask you.”

I didn’t want to talk badly about any of my brothers, but I needed to find out the truth.

“What is it, Iztal Juya?”

“Did any of the brothers tell you something about Eriez and me? Did you believe him? Is that why you removed me from my position as His Highness’s teacher?”

Hakim Karid appeared to see me only as someone he could use to relieve himself, and I desperately wanted to correct this situation. I wanted to explain myself to him. The warrior may have been wise indeed, but perhaps he didn’t know the entire story.

“It is true that there have been stories about Iztal Eriez.”

“Pardon?”

“Some of the Innocent Ones suspected him of being the one who killed the messengers. They thought that since Eriez didn’t like how the messages from the capital were harming Minurd, perhaps he killed the messengers. This was partly why I assigned him a different position where he would be forced to remain far away from the areas the murders occurred.”

I already knew about this. Was the warrior trying to change the subject on purpose?

“That wasn’t what I was asking about…”

“Oh, about you and Iztal Eriez? What is the problem? That your brothers may have told me something false about your relationship with him? It turned out to be true, though, didn’t it? Iztal Eriez admitted it, and how you reacted last night was proof enough. Why would you say that your brothers reported falsehood to me then?”

“…”

I became speechless. I knew it! Someone did spy on us and reported it to the warrior.

This meant that there were most likely some rumors about Eriez and me among the brothers. They were probably talking about us. I felt ashamed and embarrassed.

The warrior continued, “If you want to insist that what I heard was false, then what you need to do is to show me. If you can behave with honor, then that would be enough to clear your name, but it seems that you can’t behave in such a way, which means I must keep you close to me, so you are under control. Don’t you agree?”

“My Warrior, thank you for your kindness.”

“If you think you can control your lust, go ahead. You may leave and stand guard outside my bedroom tonight. Soon, I will also return you to your original position, but if you ever lust after any of your brothers or Camille, I will kill you myself.”