25-106

EP.106 [Father Complex, Electra Complex Vivian.] 

"Oh! So the assault captain of the Red Fox Mercenary Band wanted a one-on-one meal with me, Antonio? I was wondering what it was about, and now I see!" 

On the second day of Eugene working as Vivian's bodyguard, he requested a private meal with Iron Cross Knight Commander Antonio. Normally, this might be considered a rude request, but since Eugene was currently responsible for Vivian's security, Antonio was obliged to cooperate as much as possible. 

While eating together in Antonio's private tent, Antonio looked quite intrigued after hearing Eugene's reason for the meeting. 

"After trying it for a day, I realized that being a bodyguard isn't just about strength. I think I need to know more about the person I'm protecting, even down to the details of their mood and preferences. So I first asked Davis for advice, and he said it would be best to talk to you, Commander Antonio." 

Whatever the initial motivation, Eugene Schneider wanted to do his job well. So he spent a day observing the situation. He concluded that he needed to know more about Vivian. A bodyguard inevitably acts as a personal assistant, so you need to know what your charge dislikes, likes, and their background to support them properly. 

But the only information Eugene had about Vivian was what Jeanne had told him: that they had a bad relationship as children. That wasn't enough. So he consulted Davis, who told him that Antonio had the closest connection to Vivian. 

"That's right. After all, I also had a certain connection with our young lady no, with Miss Vivian's father." 

Antonio had a connection with Vivian's father, Alexis Saint-Pierre. 

Before joining the Black Hawk Mercenary Band, Antonio's previous mercenary group had significant dealings with Alexis Saint-Pierre. As the leader of that group, Antonio had spent enough time with Alexis to have meals and build a relationship. Vivian was born during that period, and Antonio maintained close ties with the Saint-Pierre family until he moved to the Black Hawk Mercenary Band. 

'If he slips and calls her "young lady," they must have been closer than I thought,' Eugene realized from Antonio's slip of the tongue. 

Eugene had seen Antonio apologize to Vivian several times. While the internal spy issue was serious, Antonio's attitude seemed excessively humble. This was due to a personal hierarchy between the two. 

"First, you know that Miss Vivian is the daughter of a duke, right?" 

"Yes, I heard that at the first meeting." 

Antonio then got serious. 

"In fact, she's from a family even higher than a duke. Miss Vivian is of imperial blood." 

He then told Eugene the most crucial information about Vivian. 

"I'm telling you this because you're the first, Captain Eugene Caesar. Miss Vivian told me in advance to cooperate fully with you. She never says things like that. She's always very strict about what to say and what not to say. I think she really trusts you. She's not someone who would show trust this quickly." 

The reason for this was that Vivian had set her trust level for Eugene much higher than usual. For Antonio, who had watched Vivian closely, this was a shock. 

Vivian had lost her father suddenly. She almost never raised her trust level for anyone, especially someone she had only just met. 

'This is complicated...' Eugene thought, trying to figure out Vivian's intentions on his second day as her bodyguard. 

"Miss Vivian is working hard to carry on her father, Duke Alexis's, legacy." 

Antonio then gave Eugene a key phrase open to interpretation. 

"Duke Alexis was a progressive man. He was interested in trade with other races and worked hard to make it happen regularly. He believed the future of Elysium depended on such exchanges. When our relationship was at its peak, I helped him with that work. But I wanted to build more of a career as a mercenary, so I moved to the Black Hawk Mercenary Band and lost touch with the Saint-Pierre family for a long time." 

Alexis devoted himself to trade. The core of his progressive thinking was that Elysium needed to break out of isolation. 

He believed Elysium had expanded internally as much as possible and now needed to move beyond fundamentalism and start communicating with other races. There were material reasons too other races' territories had valuable resources. Alexis thought that if he could show the value of those resources to the people of Elysium, his ideas would soon take root. 

"After that, I only heard rumors about the Saint-Pierre family from afar about the duke and Miss Vivian. Then the duke passed away. But at the time, I couldn't visit. It was for political reasons related to the mercenary band I belonged to. So after I left the Black Hawk Mercenary Band, I met Miss Vivian again. By then, she had already taken over her father's trade business." 

The reformist Alexis Saint-Pierre, who seemed destined to be a leader of a new era, died suddenly. His death was sad, but as he was a rival to the newly crowned Louis XV, even his passing wasn't properly mourned. Antonio, who was then with the Black Hawk Mercenary Band aligned with Louis XV, was in the same situation. Only after the political ice thawed did he meet the now-adult Vivian, who had already become the head of the Pieta Guild, carrying on her father's path. 

"She must have really respected her father?" 

"She did. As a child, Miss Vivian never wanted to leave Alexis's side. Whenever he traveled abroad for work, she always went with him. Alexis loved his daughter dearly, and Vivian's love for her father was enough to bring tears to your eyes." 

No complicated explanation was needed. Vivian took over her late father's business before she was even 20, showing how much she loved and missed Alexis. Antonio nodded deeply in response to Eugene's indirect question. 

"So I was honestly very worried. I wondered if a duke's daughter like Vivian could ever recover. I really thought she'd be a wreck for a long time. But she overcame it, and in such a progressive way. That's why I'm doing my best to support her now." 

The Saint-Pierre family is still counted among the Cothand, but it's now mostly in name only ever since Alexis's sudden death. The family declined, and Vivian herself fell into deep shock and despair. Everyone thought that despair would last at least ten years, but Vivian defied all expectations. 

'Hmm... She loved her father that much, and when he died, Jeanne was the one who cared for her most. And yet she treated Jeanne that way?' 

It was a moving story, but for Eugene, it had another angle. Knowing how obsessed Vivian was with her father, her actions toward Jeanne made even less sense. 

'Now I get it. I know what her feelings for me are.' 

But when Eugene saw the portrait of Alexis in Vivian's bedroom, it all clicked. 

Why was Vivian so drawn to Eugene? 

'Her father had black hair.' 

In the portrait, Alexis Saint-Pierre had black hair. 

'He awakened, but didn't live like a knight, I heard. Still, with that build, maybe there's some barbarian blood in the family?' 

It wasn't just the black hair. The overall image and physique were quite similar to Eugene's. Of course, Alexis in the portrait was middle-aged and looked more mature, but he was clearly different from typical Imperium people. 

Nobles often brought in various awakened individuals to their bloodlines, sometimes even barbarians. With such genetic diversity, sometimes someone very different would be born. Alexis was probably one of those cases. Maybe his progressive nature was also rooted in that. 

'So Vivian has a strong father complex, and her father died too early for her to resolve it.' 

Eugene was now certain. 

'And then she met me, who looks a lot like her father, and felt an overwhelming attraction.' 

Why does Vivian want to keep Eugene Schneider close? It's undeniable that part of it is to spite Jeanne. That's why she picked Eugene and watched Jeanne's reaction with a smirk. 

But that alone doesn't explain the generous treatment she's given Eugene. It's both to spite Jeanne and because Vivian genuinely has feelings for Eugene not as a skilled mercenary, but as someone she likes. Her beloved father, whom she missed so much it ruined her adolescence, left a void that Eugene's presence now fills. 

"Is there something wrong with the portrait? The frame is old, but I like it that way, so I just leave it..." 

When Eugene stared at Alexis's portrait for a long time, Vivian responded a bit evasively. 

Concepts like "father complex" and "Electra complex" aren't really known in this world, but Vivian is experiencing them intuitively, not theoretically. So she instinctively felt a bit embarrassed. 

"..." 

Eugene looked at Vivian in silence. 

Then he asked, 

"Miss Vivian, do you like me?" 

He asked her directly, without hesitation. 

"Huh?" 

Vivian was so taken aback that she was momentarily speechless. 

"Just as I said. Do you like me? From what I see, that's why you're trying to bring me in under such ridiculous conditions." 

But since she didn't reject him, Eugene pressed the issue even further.