Chapter 21: A Knight’s Urgency and a Saintess’s Search

Joedi retrieved a pendant from his breast pocket. A halo of pure white holy light enveloped the maid’s entire body, and he then looked up at Eve, speaking earnestly. “Miss Eve, my profession is a Holy Knight; I do not possess powerful healing abilities. I cannot save this maid, only alleviate her symptoms.”

“Therefore, in my hands, the maid is already beyond saving.”

“However, Her Royal Highness the Saintess is an exceptionally powerful Priestess. She will certainly be able to heal this maid.”

A furrow of annoyance deepened between Eve’s elegant brows upon hearing this.

Had she not been utterly drained of strength, she would have leapt up to deliver a swift kick to the man.

‘Damn it! Why couldn’t he just say it clearly? She’d thought the poor girl was already a goner!’

Still, it was a relief that the little maid still had hope of survival.

Mustering strength from an unknown source, Eve pushed herself into a sitting position despite her bones feeling on the verge of crumbling. “Then, Sir Knight, please quickly take her to Her Royal Highness the Saintess.”

Joedi, however, hesitated. “But…”

Eve once again felt the urge to jump up and kick him.

‘He’s a grown man, a knight no less, yet he’s dithering like a timid woman! Does he really have to wait until she’s beyond saving before he acts?!’

“There are no ‘buts’! A life hangs in the balance! If you’re worried about Her Royal Highness the Saintess’s orders, then carry me along to her as well. I’ll explain everything to her face-to-face if there’s an issue!”

Eve finished speaking in one breath, her throat feeling utterly ravaged.

This pervasive suppression of her bodily functions was truly stifling.

Had it not been for a large cloud drifting overhead, temporarily obscuring the sun, she might have remained sprawled on the lounge chair.

Glancing at her task progress bar, Eve realized over five hours had passed without her noticing. With less than half the progress remaining, she estimated she’d complete her eight hours for the day by late afternoon.

Fortunately, the knight captain finally seemed convinced.

“I understand, Miss Eve.”

Joedi carefully cradled the maid in his broad, sturdy arms. He then knelt before Eve, his back to her, making it easier for her to climb onto him.

Eve didn’t stand on ceremony. Seizing the opportunity while she could still move, she clung to Joedi’s back.

However, what Eve hadn’t anticipated was that the moment she settled onto him, the armor on the knight’s body began to glow and radiate heat.

‘Wait… this light seems somewhat familiar?’

A deep hum resonated.

A sharp gasp escaped her!

As if struck by a blinding flashbang, Eve’s vision turned utterly white. A sensation followed, as though her very soul was about to ascend and drift away.

Just for an instant, Eve felt as though she saw her benevolent great-grandmother waving to her from the blinding white expanse.

“Please hold on tight, Miss Eve. I am departing now.”

Joedi remained oblivious to the commotion from the armor on his back. He only knew that after Eve clung to his back and wrapped her arms around his neck, she offered no further response.

Given the previous instance where he had misunderstood Eve’s silence, Joedi had come to understand Eve’s ‘aloof’ and reticent personality. This time, he simply took her silence as implicit consent.

He immediately rose and swiftly ran out of the courtyard.

Alice’s whereabouts were easy to ascertain. The fully armored captain quickly learned from another Silver-Winged Cavalryman that Her Royal Highness the Saintess was still at the Wells family’s ancestral home.

His next destination was the ancestral home.

Watching Joedi’s retreating figure, the other Silver-Winged Cavalryman reached out and opened his mouth, wanting to ask his captain about the strange sight of him carrying one girl and having another on his back—both seemingly unconscious—and what exactly was happening.

However, seeing Joedi rushing with such urgency, he ultimately found no opportunity to speak.

Even while carrying two people, Joedi remained remarkably agile.

As he rapidly traversed the streets, he effortlessly dodged pedestrians. Coupled with the shimmering armor on his back that left a luminous trail in its wake, he transformed into a streak of silver lightning.

The passersby on the street looked utterly bewildered.

“Huh? What just whizzed past?”

“I have no idea!”

****

After a relentless dash, an ancient manor, its walls draped in moss, soon appeared in Joedi’s sight.

At the same time, several Silver-Winged Cavalrymen dispersed around the perimeter also came into view.

As Joedi spotted them, the Silver-Winged Cavalrymen likewise noticed him.

“Captain Joedi!”

“Mm.” Joedi slowed his pace, looking at one of the cavalrymen. “I have a very important matter that requires Her Royal Highness the Saintess.”

The Silver-Winged Cavalryman, having seen Joedi holding a maid, nodded. “I understand. Her Royal Highness the Saintess is in the second-floor study.”

He then stepped aside, clearing the path.

Joedi strode forward, heading towards the house.

At this moment, the questioning voice of the Silver-Winged Cavalryman came from behind him once more. “Captain Joedi… I apologize for my presumption, but may I ask why Miss Eve on your back is glowing all over?”

‘Glowing?’

Joedi paused, momentarily stunned.

But quickly, he recalled how Eve also radiated holy light last night when she accompanied Her Royal Highness the Saintess.

With that thought, it no longer seemed strange.

As the only one who had witnessed Eve glowing the previous night, Joedi immediately hardened his expression as he stated gravely. “This is Miss Eve’s unknown special ability. Do not ask what you are not meant to know. This is not your concern.”

“Yes!”

The Silver-Winged Cavalryman immediately lowered his head in shame, allowing Joedi to proceed deeper into the manor.

****

In the study, Alice’s morning of investigation, if not entirely fruitless, was certainly utterly devoid of any discoveries.

She had initially started with the clue Xien provided, which stated that Eve had died by suicide in her own room.

Alice had then thought to visit Eve’s room, hoping to find any subtle clues using the secret communication methods they had shared as children.

However, the entire room… seemed to have been renovated a long time ago.

Yes, renovated, rather than merely faded by a century of time’s erosion.

For instance, the graffiti Eve had left on the wall by her bed during childhood had vanished. Even the hidden mouse hole beneath the desk had been filled in.

Every original trace in the room had been deliberately wiped away.

Alice knew that she wouldn’t find any clues there.

She reluctantly gave up spending more time in Eve’s room and resolved to try elsewhere, heading to the study where the Wells family patriarch frequently resided.

“Alas, too much time has passed…”

Alice sighed, setting down an unmarked book she had been holding.

An ancestral home belonging to a ducal family would naturally have servants regularly cleaning it to maintain its tidiness.

Coupled with others’ deliberate erasure of traces, how incredibly difficult it was to uncover any leads…

Yet, wasn’t the very purpose of her journey to unearth the true culprit from all those years ago?

After a brief moment of disappointment, Alice quickly rallied her spirits once more, preparing to open the drawers built into the bookshelf to search for clues.

Just then, urgent footsteps echoed from outside the study.

‘Was that Lord Xien?’

No, the clanking of armor indicated it was likely a Silver-Winged Cavalryman.

‘Could they have discovered something in the courtyard?’

Alice’s heart filled with doubt. She paused her movements, raising her head to look towards the door.

Soon after, a Silver-Winged Cavalryman adorned with a red-feathered helmet appeared in her line of sight.

“Captain Joedi? You weren’t…”

Alice was surprised that Joedi was the one arriving, but this surprise quickly gave way to horror.

Through the holy light emanating from Joedi, she saw Eve on his back, foaming at the mouth, her eyes glazed over like swirling mosquito coils.