AN: Late once again lol! I hope everyone had a happy set of holidays, and here's hoping the new year treats you right!

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“...Thank you for meeting with us here, Saintess. It is a great honor.”

 

-Is what he said, but looking at the grim look on his face, it’s obvious that the lord wasn’t very happy about me finally coming to meet with him as promised. Even Gillene, who seemed the type to say something to her father about how rude he was being, was completely silent, with her hands clasped and a serious look on her face.

 

Honestly, this situation was way too tense for me.

Them staring at me like that is seriously making it hard for me to speak right now.

 

Well, it’s not like I don’t understand why they’re like this. I mean, who would say ‘Hey guys, chill a bit!’ in this type of meeting? I am here to pass down judgment on the lord of Tarsus here, after all. Their faces are totally warranted!

 

Ugh… If I hadn’t rehearsed what I was going to say all night, then I doubt I would have been able to even speak a word to them right now.

 

“Yes, thank you.. for having me. Gillene, Lord Marn, you know why I’m here with you today.”

 

The lord’s face somehow became even stonier, but he nodded along resolutely, as if determined to face whatever fate I gave him. Gillene, for her part, unclasped her hands for a moment as if she were going to reach out to her father for comfort, but quickly reclasped them like she thought better about the motion.

 

Really, it just made me feel more and more like the bad guy, even knowing how much thought and consideration I put into this.

 

“Um… Ahem. As you know, the crime that Lord Marn has committed is an unforgivable one, even for someone as sympathetic to his feelings as I am. Therefore, a punishment will have to be passed down.”

 

These words, of course, were what the guy paladin coached me to say about this. I basically copied it verbatim here, just to make sure I wouldn’t mess up and say anything that I wasn’t supposed to, or might be used against me later… although the ‘sympathetic feelings’ part was totally negotiated in by me later, I have to admit.

 

“...Yes, I understand.”

 

Even though he still looked really really worried about what I was going to say, the way that this guy was just accepting everything without trying to weasel out of it or run away was honestly super admirable to me. Having seen people constantly try to deny the consequences of their actions during most of my previous life, I’ve gotta admit that seeing someone so responsible like this is really great. Makes me feel like I made the right decision here.

 

“Good. I like your attitude. Having taken everything into account, I’ve decided that you will be stripped of your title as Lord of Tarsus from this point forward. You will live here quietly with your daughter while working to repent for your actions. Leaving Tarsus is not allowed, and contact with the capital is also not allowed.”

 

That last bit is more to protect him than anything, actually. I don’t know what became of those priests that he tied up and left at the shrine, but so long as he stays here quietly, the guy paladin seems certain that I can mitigate a good bit of whatever damages any of their claims might cause. Really, compared to all the nasty stuff that the church would have considered doing to him, this is the ultimate slap on the wrist.

 

Still, the lord- Ah no, I guess it’s Marn now, shakily reached out a hand to place on top of his daughter’s clasped ones.

Whether it was out of relief, dismay, or worry, I have no idea.

 

“...Yes. I will do as you say, Lady Saintess. Thank you for your benevolence.”

 

“Oh, don’t thank me just yet; There’s still another thing we have to discuss.”

 

““...!””

 

I guess my words were too ominous sounding or poorly phrased for the situation, because both of their expressions tightened up as if scared of what else I was about to add. I felt so bad for doing that to them that I rushed out what I was about to say as fast as I could.

 

“Ah, wait, you see, I-I’m actually planning to instate Gillene as the lord of this territory! That’s what I meant! That’s all! Nothing scary!”

 

“Ah!”

 

“Oh!”

 

Though Marn looked like I’d just flashbanged him out of his fear, for what I can totally say was for very understandable reasons, Gillene just seemed relieved, hugging her father in sheer joy for a while, until she suddenly realized something more must be going on and straightened up.

 

“Um… Wait, but what exactly does that mean? …How can I become the next lord of Tarsus?”

 

She looked back and forth between her father and I for an answer, but his mouth seemed to be absolutely welded shut in shock. He was as stiff as a statue; His eyes were the only things moving around on his body.

 

…As I’d expected, I was going to have to be the one to explain all of this to her.

 

“Ah, ahem… Well, as you know, women aren’t normally meant to govern over their lands…”

 

-For whatever reason. Honestly, it didn’t really make any sense at all to me. Guess that might be part of why I’m trying so hard to make it happen now that I can, huh?

 

“...But during punishments like this, where someone has so blatantly committed a violent act against the church, it is up to the closest church figure in charge to both pass down that punishment, as well as rectify the situation. In the case of nobles losing their titles, it’s up to that figure to choose the most suitable family member to pass the titles down to… And Gillene, I believe that you’re the one who would do the most good with it.”

 

Gillene, fast on the uptake as she was, quickly stood up in her excitement. Her eyes were wide, just like her mouth. It was a sight that almost completely erased all the lingering ‘villainous’ feelings that I’d been feeling earlier.

 

“My, is that true?! Is that really true?! I’ll get to be Tarsus’s lord…? I never… I never even dreamed of such a thing!”

 

It looked like she might just start jumping up and down with happiness at any moment. Really, it made me want to smile… if not for the way that the grave look on her father’s face had managed to make its return.

 

“Saintess… I don’t-”

 

“Don’t worry about it. She might not know what she’s doing just yet, but with you in house arrest with her, she’ll have a capable person by her side to teach her what she needs to know, right?”

 

“...Of course. However-”

 

“You don’t have to worry about the country deciding to redact this decision either, I promise. So long as you two do a good job, no one will have the grounds to replace her.”

 

I’d made absolutely sure to check that with the guy paladin, since it seemed like quite an obvious worry in this circumstance.

 

“...I know all of that, Saintess. That’s not what I’m concerned about; I’m sure you wouldn’t set us up like this just to let us fail in such a way. What I’m concerned about is my daughter’s future happiness!”

 

“What? …What do you mean by that, father?”

 

Ah yup, I knew he was going to bring this up… I’d been interrupting him, hoping that he’d decide to be the one to explain at least this part to his daughter… but I couldn’t stand up to his momentum just now at all. Seems like I’ve still got a lot to learn about this whole being the boss thing, huh? Well not like that’s really any surprise…

 

Alright, then. I guess I’ll just have to be the bearer of bad news, once again.

 

Really, and right when I was finally making that bad feeling go away again, too…

 

“...To keep the title and rights as Tarsus’s lord, like you wanted, means that you can never officially get married. Not to anyone. If you married a man, then your rule would automatically become forfeit to your new husband. And if you married a woman… then the country would decide who the title would transfer to, and in most cases, it won’t favor you, seeing as you’re a woman too.”

 

Really, it was such a stupid system. Of course, she was allowed to have all the lovers and children that she wanted without losing her title at all, but the moment she decided to tie the knot with the person that she loved, it’d all come crashing down around her. From what I’d heard from the guy paladin, the lady in the capital that was granted control of her lands was already old, so such a thing had never become a problem. But for Gillene, who had her whole life ahead of her, this might just become quite a large problem at some point.

 

And even if she for whatever reason didn’t mind it, it would lead to a load of scandals later on in her life, particularly in the eyes of most other nobles. She’d become the laughing stock of any future social gathering she might be forced to attend.

 

If even I, someone who knew almost nothing about noble scorn in this weird fantasy world I’d been thrust into, could tell how much that would suck, then there’s absolutely no way that Gillene wouldn’t have an even clearer picture of it. Of course, it was obvious from the tense look on her face that she, too, had figured all of this out. She was smart enough to at least guess at the ramifications hiding behind getting what she wanted, especially now that the basics of it had been all but spelled out for her. Honestly, there’s a chance that she just might decline my offer, now that she knows. It was my biggest concern while I was coming here. In fact, it was my only concern.

 

As I braced myself in worry, the mouth on Gillene’s intensely serious face finally opened.