Apologies

Following the Saintess, I have Atlas on my right and the blonde holy knight to the left of me, both trying to escort me. The other holy knights also seem to try and put a wedge between my friends, family and me. They seem to purposefully separate me from them so that the only one I’m close to is the saintess.

A short walk away, once we leave the portal area, a white carriage and some regular ones behind it await us.

“Do…Do we have to use the carriages?”

“It is the best option, especially since I wish to converse with my new little sister a while on the way.”

“Seriously, don’t call me that. I’m not your sister!”

Even though I can’t see her face due to her veil I can tell she seems a bit saddened as she answers, “I see…In that case I will respect your decision. Will it be alright if I address you by Rose?”

“Yeah…That will be fine.”

“In that case please call me Petunia.”

“Okay…”

“Then please follow me, Rose. Let us share a carriage.”

“A-alone?”

Miguel chimes up, “No. Not alone.”

With help of the royal guard he makes his way through the holy knights and adds, “Until her ordination is over and Rose has been returned to us, I will be her temporary guardian. If you have things to discuss with her then they’ll have to be discussed with me present.”

“I see…Is that something you wish for as well, Rose?”

“Gao.”

“Gao?”

“I mean, yes.”

“I see…Then please, follow us Duke Resplandor.”

“Wait! If he’s going, I’m going too!” ane says as she approaches but gets blocked by the holy knights.

“One representative is enough. The carriage will get too crowded otherwise, Duchess.” The blonde knight answers her.

“It’s okay, ane! It’ll be short and if she tries anything I’ll bite her!”

“Alright…Just make sure to stay safe, okay?”

Miguel answers, “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure of that.”

We then enter the carriage together. The inside reminds me of our royal carriage, though this one is quite different in terms of design. Everything is either white or a light blue, like the sky, and despite looking quite luxurious, it is actually pretty small inside. You can barely fit two people on each bench without it getting too crowded. Thankfully, we’re just three people so it’s not too bad.

As the carriage starts moving I hug Miguel tightly and ask, “So…What did you wanna talk about?”

Taking on a kindly tone she answers, “I simply wanted to get to know you more. I had much to think about during these last two years and I learned a lot I didn’t know before. For example, you were the little girl back then that was checking up on me while I was crying, correct?”

“Y-yeah…Sorry I bit you but I got scared.”

Taking her glove off she continues, “It’s alright, I didn’t get any lasting damage from it. See?”

“I guess that’s good…”

“And I have to say Rose, especially with what I know now, I’m so very grateful that you came to me back then.”

“Even though I bit you?”

“Yes, even though you bit me. You already disliked me quite a lot back then, which makes sense due to you being attacked by my knight and some other preconceptions you had and yet, you still came to me in my time of need to console me. I think that’s really admirable.”

Rubbing my arm to soothe myself I say, “It was also really stupid…I got scolded for it after.”

“May I ask why you did it even though you think it was stupid now?”

“Well…I thought you were sad and it just didn’t sit right with me to let someone cry alone…”

“My~ I knew it, you are a really compassionate person aren’t you?”

“Maybe…I dunno.”

“Well, I for one, think that your actions were immensely admirable, Rose.”

“Okay…Thanks I guess…”

“I have also conversed with our heavenly mother Holly. She said that you have been an exceptionally good girl so far.”

“I…Why are you doing this, Petunia? I’m not gonna be your friend nor am I going to be your sister. Just treat me how you did back then and let’s get this over with…”

“I refuse! I have done bad back then. I treated you badly due to my lack of experiences. I even ended up insinuating you are a demon which was not my intention. I relied too much on my divine miracle without giving it much thought but the Gods have given me a brain for a reason. I should have used it more. As such, I’m truly sorry for my mistreatment back then and wish to not return to the way I acted.”

Rolling my eyes I say, “You’re just saying this because you found out I’m a saintess.”

“No. My behaviour was not right, completely unrelated to us being saintesses. I saw someone with so much evil emanating from them and not once thought about helping you. Had I been more compassionate and less self centered I would have found out a lot earlier that not only are you not a bad person you are also a poor innocent cursed child. As such I would like to formally apologise for my behaviour and better my ways.”

“...”

“You…Are actually serious about this, aren’t you?”

“Yes!”

“In that case…I guess I’ll accept your apology.”

“Really!? You’ll forgive me?”

“I won’t forgive you for the things you believe but I do forgive you for how you treated me.”

“Thank you so much! I’m so glad I got into this carriage with you to talk things out.”

“Yeah…Whatever…”

“Also! In my conversations with our heavenly mother I have heard that you were really sick last year and were unable to commune with her during children’s day. That’s why I got you a gift instead!”

“You…Brought me a gift?”

“Yep! There are loads of capable craftsmen here so I had them create this little present. I even got it enchanted to make sure it is durable.”

She then pulls out what looks like a gift box for jewelry. It seems to be wrapped by very unskilled hands and even the bow is a bit crooked.

“I wasn’t able to do much for making the gift itself so I wanted to at least wrap it. It didn’t come out too well but I still hope you like it!”

A bit skeptical, I open the gift and instead of a ring or some other jewelry find a pacifier inside. It seems to have some magic runes engraved into it.

Handing it over to Miguel, I ask, “Can I use this?”

Taking a look at the runes for a bit he answers, “Sure, it seems safe.”

To the visible excitement of the saintess I then put it in my mouth. It feels nice to suck on it, it’s a little similar to my tail and before I know it I fall asleep.

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