Chapter 20: A Knight’s Unwavering Duty

Eve finally managed to get out of bed. Like a ragdoll, she was meticulously dressed and groomed by Alice before being moved to the courtyard. This, of course, was Eve’s request. Alice harbored deep doubts, wondering if leaving a small undead like Eve to bake under the sun would result in nothing but a dried husk by the time she returned. Thus, despite Eve’s fervent insistence, Alice still enlisted a seemingly honest maid and the highly trusted Silverwing Knight Captain to stand guard by her side.

“Remember, no matter what happens, Miss Eve’s safety is paramount. Every half hour, provide her with water, or at the very least, dampen her skin with a wet cloth. If the sun grows too intense, hold an umbrella for her. Any request she makes must be fulfilled.”

Joedi responded with a spirited salute. “Yes, Your Holiness! I guarantee the completion of your assigned task!”

As direct personal guards to Her Holiness, they would unconditionally carry out any command she issued, without questioning the reasons. ‘After all, Her Holiness surely has profound reasons for acting this way!’

Meanwhile, the maid conscripted by Alice to attend to Eve in the manor found herself utterly bewildered. ‘Still, the task assigned by Her Holiness felt less like caring for a person and more like tending to a photosynthesizing plant.’

Yet, given that it was the Lord of the City’s explicit command for everyone to obey Her Holiness’s instructions unconditionally, she had no choice. The maid, therefore, suppressed her internal doubts, clasped her hands before her apron, and bowed slightly in affirmation.

With her instructions conveyed, Alice prepared to temporarily depart from the manor Xien had arranged for her. Though she wished to linger a while longer with Eve, the nightmare from the previous night had left Alice feeling profoundly uneasy. Ever since becoming the Saintess, she had undergone a divine baptism from the Goddess of Light, transforming her from an ordinary person. Such nightmares typically did not plague her without reason. This was not a premonition of the future, of course, but rather an instinct and a sense of impending crisis, signaling that a major event was about to unfold. Consequently, Alice resolved to proceed with her original plan: to investigate the Wells ancestral home and make a detour to the cemetery.

Alice departed, her mind heavy with worry, leaving only two people and one ‘corpse’ in the courtyard.

Eve was indeed ‘playing dead.’ The morning sun spilled over her body, bringing no burning sensation, only a gentle warmth. She lay comfortably on the lounge chair, idly observing the eight-hour progress bar for her class advancement quest inch forward at a snail’s pace.

“Miss, would you like some fruit?”

The young maid at her side had, at some point, appeared with a fruit platter, having already peeled a glistening grape. As an undead, she naturally had no need for sustenance. More accurately, she simply felt no desire to eat.

Eve, not even bothering to move her head, replied languidly, “No need, you can eat it yourself.”

“Eh? How… how could I possibly eat something meant for Miss…”

The maid, accustomed to serving the Lord of the City in this manner, now clutched the grape, unsure whether to offer it or retract it, standing frozen in awkward indecision.

Joedi frowned slightly, stepping directly between the two. With a stern, resonant male voice, he warned, “Attend to your duties. No unnecessary actions.”

“I’m so sorry! So sorry!”

The young maid immediately dropped to her knees with a thud, kowtowing in terror.

It was quite sudden.

‘It felt as though the scene was about to fast-forward to a cliche segment where the villainous Eve, a spoiled noble, would banish the poor maid.’

Eve: ‘…’

After a moment to gather her thoughts, Eve spoke. “Uh, Sir Knight, I believe this was simply her kind intention. There’s no need to be so harsh; she hasn’t done anything wrong…”

“My apologies, Miss Eve. Please forgive my rashness. I must also consider your safety, as you are someone Her Holiness cares for deeply. I am merely following orders and fulfilling my duty as a personal guard to Her Holiness.”

However, with that statement, she had both rejected the maid’s kind offering and seemingly criticized the knight’s protective intentions. Now, Eve was the only one who seemed to be misunderstanding the situation.

Eve: ‘…’

‘Heaven help her, she simply didn’t want to eat!’

“…In any case, neither of you are at fault. Please, get up first.”

Watching the once neat and charming maid rise from the ground, her black and white maid uniform’s skirt now soiled with dust, yet she paid it no mind, instead profusely thanking Eve for her magnanimity.

Eve couldn’t help but sigh inwardly.

‘This damned s*ave society of another world!’

Eve found herself at a loss for words, feeling that anything she said would be wrong. She simply stopped speaking and continued to lie motionless on the lounge chair.

Thereafter, the maid became much more reserved. Aside from dutifully applying wet cloths to Eve every half hour, she no longer acted on her own initiative unless Eve spoke. Instead, she stood by Eve’s side like a wooden statue, alongside the knight.

Initially, all was well. However, as the scorching sun climbed higher, intense heat began to beat down. Neither Eve nor Joedi, the knight, were significantly affected. Eve, having transformed from a warm-blooded creature into a cold-blooded undead, experienced no discomfort from the sun’s side effects, beyond her body being rendered immobile. In fact, her form seemed to be gradually adapting to such conditions. ‘Perhaps this was a change brought about by her class advancement quest.’

As for Joedi, his formidable Fifth-tier strength aside, the high-intensity knight training he endured daily under the sun rendered this level of heat barely enough to make him sweat. The maid, however, possessed no system cheats, no robust physique, and no tiered power. She was the one truly suffering. The prolonged standing and the merciless sun had long left the young maid drenched in sweat and dizzy. Finally, as sweat trickled into her eyes, the maid instinctively reached to rub them, her head swimming. Her body swayed, losing its balance, and she toppled forward.

The moment he detected movement, Joedi reacted with lightning speed. He flashed forward, swiftly catching the maid before she could fall and strike Eve in the lounge chair. However, she had already succumbed to heatstroke and fainted.

“Miss Eve, should I take her back inside to rest?”

Guarding Eve was a task assigned by Her Holiness, yet tending to a fainted lady was also a principle for any qualified knight. However, before departing, Her Holiness had strictly commanded that Miss Eve’s orders take precedence above all else. Caught between the Saintess’s explicit instructions and the knight’s code, Joedi, after a brief moment of deliberation, decided to prioritize the former, seeking Eve’s directive from her lounge chair. If Eve refused, he would unhesitatingly set down the unconscious maid in his arms and resume his post as a silent guardian by Eve’s side. Conversely, if she assented, he would place the heatstruck maid in a cool room and use his Paladin abilities to alleviate her condition. Such a minor task would, at most, take him less than a minute.

Alas, the sun was directly overhead, and its suppressive effect on undead creatures had reached its peak. Eve, still in the lounge chair, couldn’t even manage to move her lips to speak. She was utterly pinned to the chair, able only to stare wide-eyed. Receiving no response from Eve, Joedi understood. He gently placed the maid down, no longer concerning himself with her fate, and returned to Eve’s side.

Without Eve’s explicit command, Joedi would not leave her side, not even for a minute. This was the mission entrusted to him by Her Holiness, and his sole duty now was to protect Eve, his designated target. The lives of others were irrelevant. Watching the knight genuinely abandon the maid, Eve began blinking frantically, her heart ablaze with anxiety. She desperately wanted to tell him to help the young woman, but only incoherent “ah-bah-bah” murmurs escaped her lips.

“Are you perhaps thirsty, Miss?”

Joedi immediately took over the maid’s former duty, fetching a cup of water and offering it to Eve. Eve, having a mouthful of water forced upon her, was utterly bewildered. ‘No, I don’t want water!’ ‘Go save her! Save her!’ ‘Ah-bah-bah…’ ‘Damn it!’

Eve rolled her eyes, feeling powerless for the first time. Amidst her torment, a cloud drifted across the sky, briefly obscuring the direct sunlight. Only then did the oppressive, confined sensation on her body finally lessen. Seizing the moment she regained some mobility, Eve struggled to sit up. She pointed towards the maid on the ground. “Her… you… look…”

Only then did Joedi walk over, check the maid’s breathing, and then look up to state calmly, “Miss Eve, this maid has severe heatstroke and dehydration. In my judgment, she is beyond saving.”

Eve’s pupils contracted. She froze, utterly stunned.