Chapter 93: Can’t You Just Keep Me Company?

When Hall said he recognized her, it was a complete guess.

He just had a feeling that he and the person in front of him had some history.

It was an educated guess, but what could he do with it?

Putting himself in his past self’s shoes, if he were to seek out Elizabeth Cateline, since she wasn’t a main heroine, he could actually consider flirting with her a bit.

Assuming his past self had flirted with Elizabeth Cateline.

Starting from this point, Hall continued.

“I recognize you, yes, but I don’t really remember you anymore, Miss Elizabeth.”

That’s right, change the form of address.

Use “Miss Elizabeth” to close the distance.

Then Hall added, “But it must have been three or four years since we last met. Seeing Miss Elizabeth again here in Saint Louis, I should still address you as Your Majesty.”

After closing the distance, he pulled back again.

He stated his amnesia and also asked the empress before him why he had lost his memory.

She might have clues about this, so Hall wanted to probe a little.

Probing Elizabeth was better than probing that charming Mandosha Flower.

If it were Mandosha Flower, she obviously wouldn’t ask if he still remembered her.

Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain on the top of his foot.

It was Christine, wearing her Saintess shoes, stepping on him under the table.

“Oh, I hadn’t heard that Young Master Hall knew Her Majesty of Cateline. When was that? Three or four years ago, it must have been when Young Master Hall was on missions across the Western Continent as a future key member of the Black Knights, right?”

“Mm, it was probably around that time that I met Her Majesty of Cateline. Is that right?”

As the tense atmosphere concluded, Hall looked at Sophia.

But to his surprise, Sophia’s coldness intensified.

Because what Hall said was completely correct, which made Sophia wonder if he had really lost his memory.

As the Holy Son of the Salvation Church.

Or perhaps, Hall hadn’t lost his memory at all, but was just pretending, to lower the Church’s guard against him?

Christine, on the other hand, seemed to have genuinely lost her memory.

And her strength also seemed to have decreased considerably.

When she had just deployed her domain, she had deliberately made things difficult for Christine.

Currently, the fair and delicate skin exposed by her Saintess robe was covered in frost and gradually turning red, a sign of frostbite, but Christine didn’t say a word even though she noticed the difficulty she was being put in.

She was very concerned with her pride, at least in front of Sophia.

But the Christine from her memories, the [Angel], would never have been frostbitten.

Hall, on the other hand, seemed only to feel the cold, with no physical reaction whatsoever.

But that was also to be expected.

Although the Holy Son was young, his combat power was extremely strong.

From the scarce intelligence, it was known that the guy was practically an all-rounder.

The Sages in the Salvation Church were all ruthless individuals, with no shortage of lunatics.

If one relied solely on prophetic ability, it would not be enough to command respect and sit at the head of the Seven Sages.

“That’s right. But how did you lose your memory, Baron Hall? Did you hit your head?” Sophia couldn’t help but ask doubtfully.

“Haha, maybe. I think I fell during a dangerous mission for the Black Knights. It happened to be a cliff, so that’s how it turned out.”

Hall casually made up a little story.

Seeing Sophia’s expression, he thought to himself, ‘I’m screwed.’

It seemed she also had only a partial understanding of why he had lost his memory.

Instead, the information about his amnesia was now known to Christine.

But with the empress asking him like this, and Christine being so sharp, he certainly couldn’t hide it.

“Oh, is that so? What a pity.”

Sophia looked at Christine, “Then, Miss Christine, have we met before?”

“We have. Does Your Majesty not remember? We met six months ago at the banquet where I received my position as a Saintess Candidate. At that time, the seven cardinals officially confirmed the seven Saintess Candidate positions, and Your Majesty was beside the Saintess Candidate from Cateline.”

“Oh, yes. This lonely one had forgotten. We did meet then.”

It seemed Christine’s condition was even more severe than Hall’s.

Sophia mused to herself and then began to observe Hall again.

‘He is quite handsome. No wonder my sister would…’

That’s right.

Although there were few records and Sophia herself found it a bit hard to accept, she still suspected that her own sister, Elizabeth Cateline, had liked this man.

But she had heard that the Holy Son’s romantic relationships within the Salvation Church were very messy, so she hoped that after her sister recovered, she would no longer like this guy.

Now, after confirming that Hall was the Holy Son, she hoped for it even more.

After all, this guy was also involved with the little princess of the Howard family and even had a fiancée.

How outrageous!

A scumbag before losing his memory, and a scumbag after.

If she wanted to protect her sister, she would use this man’s blood to temper the Eternal Winter Sacred Sword.

Pah, pah, pah, no, that would dirty her sacred sword.

Right, if only her sister could wake up from her coma.

Her sister’s wound was very strange.

Over the past three years, she had observed it whenever she had the chance.

There was a wound caused by a blade, but it didn’t bleed, and her sister’s life force had not diminished in the slightest during her slumber, but had instead become more vigorous.

This strange state had stumped the famous doctor in the Kingdom of Cateline who exclusively served the royal family.

He could only classify it as a very strange and severe injury.

But the famous doctor also concluded that the two opposing forces in Elizabeth Cateline’s body would gradually ease.

He could only confirm that this strange and severe injury would heal, but he couldn’t judge when or how it would heal.

He confirmed that one of the forces came from the Winter Saintess herself, while the other was very pure, filled with an incomprehensible divinity, suspecting it was the work of the Church.

So, initially, Sophia had not focused her suspicion on the [Holy Son] and [Angel].

After all, the Salvation Church was indeed an enemy of the Church.

If her sister was injured during a collaboration, being besieged by the Knight Captain under a cardinal or the elites of the Judgment Bureau.

It was not impossible that she was injured.

But after Sophia came to power, she visited the cardinal in the Kingdom of Cateline and requested a brief spar with his Knight Captain.

Although, at her age, it was a bit difficult to fight the Knight Captain under a cardinal.

But she wanted to briefly test whether the divinity in his sword technique was the same as the divinity that was balancing the Winter Saintess’s power in her sister’s body.

The result was disappointing.

The difference was too great.

Later, Sophia even met the Saintess Candidate from the Kingdom of Cateline and felt there was still a gap.

Furthermore, even if the Church discovered the secret dealings between the Kingdom of Cateline and the Salvation Church, they wouldn’t go so far as to put her sister into a comatose state.

Even if, by some stretch, it was the Church’s doing.

With the Kingdom of Cateline leaderless, wouldn’t the Papal State take the opportunity to expand its influence within the kingdom?

It was obvious that during those three years, the Papal State had not made many significant moves, probably thinking her sister was just injured and recuperating somewhere.

So it was not the Church’s doing.

To find the truth, she could only find [Angel], who was traveling with Elizabeth at the time.

Of course, there was also the possibility that after three years, the two forces in Elizabeth’s body had weakened significantly.

The famous doctor also said that Elizabeth would not sleep forever in the ice coffin; one day she would wake up.

This time would not be another three years.

When her sister woke up, she could just ask her what happened.

But the friction between the East and West was constant, and the time until the conflict completely erupted might be less than three years.

What Sophia wanted to do was to find the truth behind her sister’s coma and wake her up early.

So that they, as sisters, could face the storm that was about to sweep the world together and make the Kingdom of Cateline stronger than it was now.

And today, her test to see if Christine could resist her [Eternal Winter Domain] was also to see if Christine was the one who did it.

But it seemed that although Christine’s divinity was high, it was unlikely that she could inject that level of divinity into her sister’s body to contend with the Winter bloodline.

Furthermore, Christine looked frail and weak.

Even if she had ambushed her sister, it was impossible to have caused that very obvious wound on her sister’s body.

Sophia analyzed this information in her mind.

She said nothing more, just continued to silently observe Hall and Christine.

Hall didn’t pay much attention to Sophia either.

He found this “Her Majesty Elizabeth” to be very strange.

Why ask him, and then also ask Christine?

Could it be that he and Christine had really met before he lost his memory?

Furthermore…

Christine also acted as if she didn’t know this empress.

There was definitely something fishy about this.

So Hall thought it was best to keep his distance; there was no need for too much contact.

And he asked.

“By the way, Your Majesty, Marquis Tarasha came to ask me something earlier. We happened to chat about your sister’s name, that regrettable Princess Sophia. I wonder what exactly the situation was then?”

This was what Hall was curious about.

Why, in both the game’s plot and this world, must one of the Cateline sisters die?

“Are you talking about my sister, Sophia Cateline?”

Sophia took a sip of wine.

“That’s right.”

“As Baron Hall knows, Sophia Cateline died on the night of her birth due to my mother’s miscarriage.”

“Oh, did anything strange happen that night?” Hall pressed.

If Himan were here, she would definitely say he was being disrespectful, but Christine listened to their conversation with great interest.

Sophia, however, showed a puzzled expression.

“Strange? What strange thing?”

According to the marshal, there was nothing strange on the day she was born.

It was just that her mother had the marshal secretly send her away and announced a miscarriage to the public.

As for the baby’s corpse, it was a stillborn baby collected from the common folk.

And as for the reason for hiding Sophia’s birth, the marshal had explained it to her this way.

She was the Kingdom of Cateline’s secret weapon, to be brought out when the world was in turmoil.

But to hide her identity, she had not systematically learned swordsmanship or politics until her sister’s accident.

The original plan was for her to enter a military university on the border as a commoner after she came of age.

“Then I have misspoken.”

It seemed that in this world, when Sophia was born, there were no monsters or cultists in the capital of Cateline.

After all, if that had happened, he could have found clues by checking historical books.

But he could also see Sophia’s expression flicker.

She seemed to be deliberately hiding something.

Sophia did indeed know a secret.

A few months before her birth, her mother had received a letter, an anonymous one encrypted with the Cateline intelligence department’s secret code.

It seemed it was because of that letter that she was not born normally but was taken away to live in hiding.

“Then, we shall take our leave, Your Majesty of Cateline.”

“Farewell, Your Majesty of Cateline.”

“Mm, that’s all for today. This lonely one will be staying in Saint Louis for a while. I hope we will have the chance to meet again.”

The dinner officially ended an hour later.

Hall and Christine said goodbye to Sophia together.

After the farewell, Sophia left with the arriving Tarasha through another path in the back garden.

Christine and Hall, on the other hand, planned to return to the front gate leading to the square.

“Baron Hall, when did you meet her?”

“A long time ago, didn’t I say that already?”

“Did you really hit your head falling off a cliff? What happened?”

She showed intense curiosity.

Hall knew that if he didn’t continue making things up, he wouldn’t be able to satisfy her, so he had to continue.

“At that time, it seemed I was pursuing some members of the Salvation Church. You know those cultists, they’re very cunning. Although I didn’t know what kind of opponent I was facing that year, I was still tricked by the Salvation Church, which led to some memory loss…”

As he said this, he suddenly extended an arm and cornered Christine, who was relatively petite compared to him, against the wall.

And she, like a rabbit, trembled in the corner.

“What’s wrong, Baron Hall? You couldn’t stand my teasing earlier, and now you’re finally going to make a move on me?”

During the meal, Christine had indeed secretly teased Hall.

For example, she had placed her left hand, which wasn’t eating, on Hall’s thigh and caressed it.

Hall couldn’t possibly stop her.

In his eyes, he had known the empress before, so being discovered by her might be a good thing.

So he let Christine do as she pleased.

But she was really skilled.

Even though she was a Saintess Candidate, she was so good at teasing people…

But what he wanted to say now was.

“About my amnesia, no one else knows, Miss Christine.”

“Oh, so is this a little secret between me and Baron Hall? Hehe.”

She smiled like a peach blossom.

She did not shrink back from Hall’s advance, but Christine’s heart was racing.

She could feel his breath, so intoxicating and familiar.

She even had the urge to wrap her arms around his neck right now.

But Christine resisted.

She couldn’t do it.

She knew now that Hall didn’t truly like her.

Before she revealed her hand, she couldn’t make such a formally intimate move.

“Mm, you’d better not tell our secret to anyone else.”

Hall’s voice was slightly magnetic.

He grabbed Christine’s wrist, intending to use this to test her true strength.

But the wrist was as slender and weak as it looked, as if it would break with a single twist.

‘Does Christine really have no strength?’

It didn’t seem like she was faking.

After all, both his swordsmanship talent and constitution were higher than Christine’s.

At such close range, there was no way she could have escaped his probing.

“Alright, Baron Hall. But… you’re hurting me.”

The holy maiden’s face was flushed with two shades of crimson, looking harmless.

After Hall let go, he could indeed see a red mark on her wrist.

“So mean. Can you be gentler next time?”

“Fine.”

Seeing her acting cute, he didn’t play along too much.

Mainly because those clear, shy pupils were just too endearing.

Originally, Christine was not that kind of weak character.

Hall knew her strength and composure.

But now, the strong contrast stirred some waves in his heart.

So he looked away.

‘If in this world, Elizabeth didn’t die, but Sophia did, then the fact that Christine has no strength seems to be explainable.’

Ten minutes later, Maria came to pick up Christine.

Hall arrived outside the square and muttered to himself.

But he still felt something was wrong.

All of this was likely related to his experiences before he lost his memory.

He somewhat wanted to find clues to his memory, within a safe range.

And at this moment, outside the square, there were still many people.

He glanced up and saw a familiar figure in a corner.

The person was wearing a veil, so he couldn’t see clearly.

But Hall was sure it was Mandosha Flower.

“Good thing your fiancée and cousin were invited by the head of the Russell family for a late-night snack, otherwise you wouldn’t have been able to find me. And I hear Leticia was also invited. It looks like your grandmother is choosing a truly good wife for you.”

“No need to tease me. It took me a lot of effort to track you down.”

Underground street, District Eleven, Saint Louis.

Hall finally met Mandosha Flower.

Ever since this person had appeared in the crowd in the square, every time Hall saw her figure again, it was at a street corner.

And so he had followed her all the way here.

“What’s wrong? You can’t take it after just this short distance?”

Mandosha Flower led Hall to the second floor of a small tavern.

There was some food in the private room on the second floor.

But Hall was already full.

“I’m eating alone, don’t even think about it.”

Mandosha Flower said this first, and then continued, “Tonight, you and Christine met the Empress of Cateline together.”

“Mm, but I have a question. Since you knew me before I lost my memory, I should have known that empress before I lost my memory, right?”

He asked her for confirmation.

“Wrong. You didn’t know her. You have never met her.”

“?”

Hall saw Mandosha Flower start eating after she finished speaking, but he hated people who spoke in riddles.

So he said, “What do you mean? Be clearer, or I’ll report you to the Conclave.”

“Literally. You have met Elizabeth Cateline, but you have not met her.”

“She’s not Elizabeth Cateline?”

The black-haired youth was stunned for a moment but quickly understood.

“She’s not.”

“Then who is she?”

“You have the answer in your heart.”

“Sophia Cateline?”

Hall felt a little surprised, but because in his game memory, Sophia Cateline was the Empress of Cateline he was familiar with, he wasn’t too surprised.

He accepted it quickly.

“Correct. She is Sophia Cateline, Elizabeth Cateline’s younger sister. This is a top secret of the Kingdom of Cateline. Even among the Seven Sages, I am currently the only one who knows.”

“You know so much. What on earth is going on?”

He wanted an answer.

But he also understood that Mandosha Flower was an old riddle-master.

He didn’t have much hope.

“Elizabeth Cateline is injured and should still be in a coma. Sophia Cateline has taken her place as her substitute. She sought you out because…”

Mandosha Flower’s words stopped there.

But Hall understood.

“Elizabeth Cateline is injured and in a coma, it’s not because of me from before I lost my memory, is it?”

“Ah, yes, you’re still so smart. I like that about you.”

“So Sophia Cateline came looking for me, is that it?”

Hall thought, ‘This is a mess.’

He felt that the worst outcome of getting involved with Sophia was being dragged into the plotline of finding the truth behind her sister’s death.

Now, although her sister wasn’t dead, she was injured and in a coma, and the reason was directly related to him.

‘Screwed!’

“Can you be a little clearer?”

“No, I can’t tell you the truth of this matter. I promised someone.”

Mandosha Flower’s expression was very serious.

Because it was true.

She had really promised someone not to tell Hall about this.

Her younger sister, that Angel.

“Then why did you deliberately lure me here? I don’t believe you were just wandering around in the square, and that as I followed you, you just happened to leave clues every time you were about to disappear.”

“It’s nothing. Just wanted to see how you’re doing now. The way you defeated your opponents with the Rainbow Sky Sword was very cool. If you had shown me that a few years ago, I might have fallen in love with you, haha.”

“Don’t make that kind of joke.”

He knew Mandosha Flower’s strength.

“I’m not joking. What are you planning to do next? I heard the Conclave is going to restructure the Black Knights. Are they planning to make you the leader?”

“Something like that. What, you want to play double agent?” Hall retorted.

“What’s a double agent?”

“I’m not explaining that much. In short, I won’t be a mole for the Salvation Church after becoming the leader of the Black Knights.”

“What a pity, Hall. Such a good opportunity.”

“It’s not good at all. What if I get caught by the Judgment Bureau?”

“So what if you get caught?”

“At worst—death?”

Hall was relatively relaxed with Mandosha Flower.

After all, this one was not a selectable starting heroine.

And she was indeed helping him.

But he didn’t expect Mandosha Flower’s expression to suddenly turn solemn, “You won’t die.”

“Indeed, I don’t want to die,” Hall agreed.

“Then what’s next? Are you going to marry Ye Wangxue, or choose Leticia, who likes you very much?”

“No rush. My lifelong affair is none of your business, you cultist.”

“Hehe, calling me a cultist. Be careful, or I’ll kill you.”

But he said as if he hadn’t heard her threat.

“How is the Red Queen? She wanted to take me and Christine away, but she left midway. She won’t come back, will she?”

“She won’t be back for a while.”

“That’s good. If there’s nothing else of importance, I’m heading back.”

Hall stood up.

“Wait a minute, wait until I finish eating before you go. Can’t you just keep me company? Am I not a beauty?”

Mandosha Flower didn’t remove her veil, so he could only see her beautiful purple hair.

But from her voice, Hall felt she sounded a little wronged.

His heart softened, and he agreed.

“Alright, you’re a beauty.”

“That’s more like it, Young Master Hall~”

She laughed again.

Late at night.

Christine, back at the Roan Cathedral, had a dream.

She dreamt that in a boundless snowy field, she was holding a longsword forged from white feathers.

The body of the sword emanated a pure starlight, a kind of indescribable holiness.

But the scene she dreamt of was not holy at all.

Because in the huge snowstorm, a white-haired girl with a blurred face was being pierced through by that sword she was holding.

In this dream, she once again heard a voice like a god’s.

That voice said.

“You can’t, neither of you can…”