"Now, where should I start?"

Said Sylvia, seeming to ponder the matter. As she listened to her mistress's words, the maid leaned in and began speaking in a low tone but still audible to me. With no reason to interrupt, I waited until Sylvia was ready to speak.

"Alright, let's begin with the reason you're here. I need you to be my guards for a while"

Said Sylvia, with a serious expression on her face. Hearing her words, I raised an eyebrow as it didn't really seem like she needed guards. After all, she sent a delegation after me.

"Are you sure you need us? That wasn't the impression I had before"

I questioned. Sylvia flashed a wry smile for a moment before closing her eyes.

"Those are the only guards who decided to follow me, even knowing it would be in vain in the future"

Sylvia explained, taking a sip of tea. Upon hearing this, Aoi-sensei looked cautiously at Sylvia and asked.

"What do you mean by that?"

Hearing Aoi-sensei's words, Sylvia looked at her and explained.

"Currently, the Arclight royal family is involved in a dispute to determine the heir to the throne. This struggle will come to an end by the end of this month. Surprisingly, although it doesn't seem like it, I am the most voted to inherit the throne. For this reason, my siblings are plotting to kill me"

Sylvia sighed, revealing a staggering fact. However, even in the face of the seriousness of the situation, she didn't seem to be truly bothered. Although I found that quite strange, I decided not to inquire further about it. Perhaps it was a common practice in this world or, at least, in this specific country. Setting that thought aside, I began to ponder the matter at hand. After contemplating for a moment, I decided to ask Sylvia a question.

"Before giving my answer, what exactly do we gain from this?"

I asked, fixing my eyes on Sylvia. Even if I wanted to accept this job, it didn't just involve me. Sylvia clearly wanted both me and my companions, so I believe we should, at the very least, receive something in return since we'll be risking ourselves to protect her. Hearing my words, Sylvia took another sip of tea before fixing her gaze on me.

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"I heard that you were looking for a place to stay. How about staying in my palace for the time you'll need to protect me? Also, I'll pay for the time you'll be protecting me"

Said Sylvia, looking at me seriously. Her eyes conveyed the sincerity of her offer, which made me curious about why she was so interested in us.

"I must say, your offer is tempting, but before that, why us? You could hire many mercenaries with the money you'll use to pay us, couldn't you? So, why us?"

I questioned. Hearing my words, Sylvia opened her mouth, but then closed it again. After a few seconds of reflection, she sighed.

"Well, I guess you need to know. Besides, it's not like I'm hiding this"

Said Sylvia, with sincerity in her words. Rena seemed a bit worried about what Sylvia was about to reveal.

"Sylvia-sama, are you sure about this?"

Asked Rena. Sylvia turned to Rena with a smile on her face. It was evident that what she was about to say next would be something serious.

"I am"

Replied Sylvia. Rena pondered for a few seconds before her expression brightened, as if she had deduced something important.

"That means..."

It all started when Rena began to speak, but she was interrupted by Sylvia, who nodded, confirming her suspicions.

"Yeah, they're people we can trust"

Sylvia asserted. Her words left me confused. After all, we barely knew each other, so how could she be so sure about our trustworthiness? With this doubt in mind, I decided to ask.

"What do you mean by that? We don't even know each other well. How can you know if we're reliable or not?"

As soon as she heard my words, Sylvia looked at me, fixing her eyes on me in a peculiar way. It seemed like she was seeing something beyond what the eyes can perceive. Somehow, I felt that her observation went beyond the physical aspect, and my sensory perception seemed heightened like never before.

It was as if something inside me was buzzing, alerting me to pay attention. I was absolutely certain that Sylvia wasn't strong, at least not physically, but some intuition within me was suggesting otherwise. There was something more about her, something I couldn't decipher at that moment.

"I was born with a certain gift, or should I say blessed with it? Well, anyway, since I was born, I could tell if people were good or bad"

Sylvia said. Hearing her words, I was momentarily surprised by her response.

"Do you mean you can tell if someone is lying or not?"

I asked. Sylvia laughed after hearing my words and then looked at the tea in her cup.

"If it were just that, I doubt my siblings would be trying to kill me. Well, you're not entirely wrong, but that's not what I mean. I can literally know everything about someone as soon as I look at them. I see their souls, so to speak. Even if they try to hide from me, they can't hide their souls"

Sylvia explained. Then, she looked at me and continued.

"You and your friends have good and pure souls, especially you. Of all the souls I've seen so far, yours is the purest of all. It's so extraordinary that I really don't know if this is possible or not"

Sylvia said, looking at me with seriousness on her face. Her words led me to ponder if she was lying or not, but as much as I observed her closely, I couldn't detect any signs of falsehood in her expressions. She seemed to firmly believe in what she was saying. Rena also showed no doubts about Sylvia, which made me consider that perhaps there was no reason to doubt her words.