Chapter 81: An Unavoidable Encounter

Alice Liddell was suddenly seized by panic, her mind a complete blank.

She couldn’t stay here any longer; she had to leave immediately!

If the Snow Princess came any closer, an encounter would be almost unavoidable.

Fortunately, the Snow Princess didn’t seem to have noticed her earlier.

Alice Liddell just needed to disappear from her sight as quickly as possible.

With that thought, Alice Liddell immediately rose and quickened her pace towards an intersection in the opposite direction.

She dared not break into a run, nor did she dare look back.

Such actions would only brand her as suspicious.

She wasn’t sure if the Snow Princess remembered her face.

However, the risk of losing if they met at close quarters was one she couldn’t afford to take!

She forced herself to control her steps, walking as swiftly as she could without appearing flustered.

The next intersection was roughly two hundred meters away.

For the first time in her life, Alice Liddell found such a short distance to feel incredibly vast.

If the Snow Princess were to suddenly catch up and tap her on the shoulder, Alice Liddell suspected her heart might simply stop.

After an agonizing eternity, she finally reached the street corner.

Alice Liddell unhesitatingly turned right, simultaneously glancing back in the direction she had come from.

She vaguely saw the Snow Princess still about fifty meters away, her eyes fixed straight ahead, as if marching—mercifully, not staring at her.

She rounded the corner, vanishing from the Snow Princess’s view, then immediately gathered her skirt and sprinted.

She needed to get away from this precarious spot as fast as possible, ideally disappearing from the street entirely before the Snow Princess even reached this corner.

The next intersection still seemed a good distance away, prompting her to consider ducking into a shop to hide.

But what if the Snow Princess turned around and entered the same store? That would be disastrous.

As she wrestled with this dilemma, a seemingly deep alley appeared on her right.

The alley wasn’t narrow; it had a scattering of pedestrians and small shops lining both sides.

Alice Liddell’s eyes lit up instantly. This alley had shops and people, and it appeared to be a thoroughfare.

Following this path would lead her directly back to the main avenue the Snow Princess had just crossed.

Since the Snow Princess had walked from that direction, the likelihood of her immediately turning back was slim.

Alice Liddell plunged into the alley, jogging with her skirt held up, constantly looking back to check.

Thankfully, the Snow Princess’s figure never appeared in her line of sight.

Bursting out of the alley, Alice Liddell took one last look back, letting out a huge sigh of relief inwardly.

‘Excellent, I’ve shaken her off!’

Yet, in the very next second, she collided head-on with a pedestrian passing by the alley.

“Oh!”

“Ah! I’m so sorry!!”

Alice Liddell’s startled cry and the other person’s apology rang out simultaneously.

The other person was also a girl, but significantly taller and more stable on her feet than Alice Liddell.

Upon impact, the girl merely paused, while Alice Liddell stumbled and fell, barely catching herself with her hands, her left knee throbbing painfully after hitting the bluestone pavement.

At that moment, however, Alice Liddell paid no mind to the pain.

Her eyes widened as she stared blankly at the ground.

When the other person apologized, she once again heard a familiar voice.

And this time, the voice was far more familiar to her than the Snow Princess’s.

So familiar, in fact, that she almost doubted her own ears.

Such melodramatic coincidences always seemed to happen in the world, yet no one ever imagined such a dramatic plot twist would genuinely befall them.

The Duchess Liddell had once told her that the Crowned Witch of the Divine Rank, the Goddess of Destiny, held the threads of fate for the entire world, though this powerful goddess had likely perished in ancient times.

But now, Alice Liddell felt that the goddess might still be alive, playfully tugging at her very own thread of destiny.

After all, such a damned coincidence could only be explained as a divine prank.

Then, the other person’s hand extended towards her: “I’m truly sorry, are you alright, Miss?”

Alice Liddell, almost dazed, followed the hand upwards, meeting the other person’s gaze.

Jeanne Decker, the Church’s Standard-Bearer Saintess, had appeared here for some unknown reason after the Church’s Holy Teaching Day parade, only to collide with her.

“Miss?”

Reflected in Alice Liddell’s eyes, Jeanne Decker showed a puzzled expression.

‘That farewell, I thought, was eternal, yet I returned from death’s door.’

‘Now, after many days, I meet you again under a different identity. How should I greet you? With tears, with silence, or with a simple, ordinary—’

“Thank you.”

After a split-second hesitation, Alice Liddell swiftly suppressed her emotions, drawing upon the acting lessons the Duchess Liddell had taught her.

She offered a polite, unfamiliar smile, placed her hand in Jeanne Decker’s palm, and rose with the other girl’s assistance.

“No, it should be me apologizing. I was walking too fast just now and wasn’t watching where I was going,” Alice Liddell said with an apologetic expression, then feigned surprise, covering her mouth. “Oh? You… you wouldn’t happen to be the Saintess from the parade carriage earlier, would you?”

Since they had already met, she could only respond as naturally as possible in her identity as Alice Liddell.

To this question, Jeanne Decker merely smiled, then looked at her with concern, examining her as she spoke: “Did you hurt yourself anywhere when you fell just now?”

“This…” Alice Liddell only then noticed the sharp pain radiating from her knee and couldn’t help but glance down.

“Forgive my intrusion.” Jeanne Decker noticed her pained expression and immediately knelt, gently lifting her skirt to inspect her knee.

Her left knee was scraped, appearing slightly swollen, with clear tissue fluid and specks of blood seeping from the wound.

“It’s fine, just a small scratch!” Alice Liddell quickly said.

However, Jeanne Decker had already taken out her handkerchief and pressed it against the wound.

Golden light flowed from Jeanne Decker’s palm, and Alice Liddell felt a warm current envelop the wound, the pain gradually dissipating.

In a daze, Alice Liddell felt as though she had returned to that day when Jeanne Decker had used a handkerchief to stop the bleeding from her temple.

By the time Jeanne Decker removed her hand, the wound was completely healed.

“My goodness!” Alice Liddell exclaimed, covering her mouth in feigned shock.

By now, passersby had recognized Jeanne Decker and paused, watching her perform a miracle for Alice Liddell, murmuring praises.

“I don’t know how to thank you, Saintess,” Alice Liddell said gratefully.

But Jeanne Decker calmly looked up at Alice Liddell and said: “Try bending your knee.”

Alice Liddell tried to move her foot, still feeling a sharp twinge in her knee, which made her frown slightly.

“Indeed, there’s still a slight contusion. My apologies, the Holy Light of a Paladin can heal superficial wounds, but it cannot replace a doctor after all,” Jeanne Decker said apologetically.

“It’s already enough! I’ll be fine after a little rest!” Alice Liddell waved her hands repeatedly.

“No, I shall escort you back,” Jeanne Decker said without hesitation, reaching out and taking Alice Liddell’s hand as if inviting her to dance, allowing Alice Liddell to lean on her palm for support. “This is my responsibility, please do not refuse.”

“I…” Alice Liddell opened her mouth, wanting very much to decline, but couldn’t find a reason at the moment.

Moreover, walking like this was indeed inconvenient; her knee wasn’t severely injured, but a persistent pain made her limp slightly.

Ultimately, she could only accept Jeanne Decker’s kindness: “Alright, I got separated from my family. We agreed to meet on a bench just around the corner. Could you take me there?”

📚 Also on NHV Novels

Our Pending Divorce

arrangedMarriageBLDevotedLove

Read Now →
Not interested