By the time he snapped out of it, the priest had already vanished without a trace.
‘Hmm? Was this where he pointed?’
After thinking for a moment, Lance started walking in that general direction.
***
Meanwhile, in a luxurious room in the rear hall of the Hall of the Holy Tree, which overlooked a garden.
An elf with long, deep-gold hair, dressed in a princess gown, was kneeling on the ground, busy crafting something.
The continuous sound of fabric tearing rip echoed throughout the room for a long time.
Astrid had torn all the silk sheets in the room into numerous long strips of fabric.
She then tied them all together to form a rope of considerable length.
The corners of Astrid’s mouth curled up as she proudly inspected her masterpiece.
She gave it a few tugs and found it to be quite sturdy.
Turning toward the window, she poked her head out and estimated the height.
‘This is the fourth floor… hmm… it should be enough!’
‘But where should I tie it?’
Astrid looked around while carrying her homemade rope, finally setting her sights on her luxurious sandalwood bed.
After tying it to a corner of the bed, the elf girl felt it wasn’t quite secure enough, so she wrapped it two more rounds around the solid wood bedside table before finally tossing the silk rope out the window.
She took off her inconvenient white high heels, leaving her small feet clad in white velvet socks to step onto the solid wood floor.
A slight chill traveled up from her heels, making Astrid shudder as she stood before the window. Her emerald eyes flickered, appearing somewhat hesitant.
However, Astrid soon steeled her resolve.
‘I have to see the outside of the Island!’
At that thought, Astrid braced herself, gripped her homemade silk rope tightly, and climbed out of the window.
Yet, as soon as she stabilized herself outside, the elf girl looked down, and a wave of dizziness instantly washed over her.
‘Why is it so high?!’
Panic seized her heart in an instant! Her eyes clamped shut as tightly as magnets.
‘No, no! Astrid, how can you be so cowardly? How could someone like you ever go outside?! Don’t be afraid, open your eyes… open your eyes…’
However, just as Astrid was encouraging herself internally, a sudden sound of wood fracturing came from inside the room.
Crack
With a sudden jolt, the bed leg that Astrid had tied the rope to actually snapped!
Astrid suddenly dropped a short distance from the window, and the rope began to sway wildly.
Fortunately, Astrid had left a backup on the bedside table. After falling only a very short distance, she stabilized herself once again.
Exhaling a sigh of relief, the elf girl’s racing heart gradually began to calm down.
However, at this point, she refused to open her eyes no matter what.
She could only slide down bit by bit, no longer caring about her speed or whether she would be discovered.
***
‘Uh—where am I? A garden?’
Following the direction the white-robed priest had pointed, Lance hadn’t found any reception room.
Instead, he had blundered into a garden filled with all sorts of exquisite flowers.
With a thud, Lance’s helmet and head were suddenly struck. His body swayed, and caught off guard, he stumbled and fell right into a thick cluster of flowers.
‘Ouch! An enemy attack?’
‘But my Danger Sense didn’t trigger.’
Puzzled, Lance quickly stood up and looked around. Unsurprisingly, he found the hidden weapon.
Actually, there were two!
As he casually picked up the two hidden weapons, Lance’s movements suddenly froze. Looking at the pair of off-white high heels in his hands, Lance fell into silence.
What shocked Lance even more was that the heels still retained a bit of warmth!
‘What’s going on? Littering from above?’
Lance quickly took off his vision-obscuring helmet and looked up.
A single glance nearly scared Lance to death! Why was there someone outside the window?!
‘Wait, wait! They’re going to fall — hmm — they’ve stabilized…’
‘Wait, that hair looks familiar… The Elf Girl?!’
Lance quickly moved his feet and stood directly beneath the white rope, ready at any moment to catch her.
But as soon as Lance looked up, he hurriedly averted his gaze in a panic.
It was for no other reason than the fact that Astrid wasn’t wearing an adventurer’s leather dress and black leggings! She was wearing a wide-open, pure white gown!
And the elf girl was… wearing white!
Lance quickly shifted his gaze, focusing on the crude white rope.
‘The length isn’t enough…’
Looking at the rope that hung nearly 3 meters above the ground, Lance deduced that the elf girl probably intended to jump at the end.
He took two steps back to give Astrid enough space to land.
Seeing Astrid’s incredibly nervous face, Lance forcibly suppressed his urge to speak, fearing he might startle the descending girl.
In this manner, Lance watched Astrid slide down inch by inch.
There were no major mishaps in the middle, allowing Lance to breathe a sigh of relief.
However, a problem arose during the final stretch.
The elf girl also seemed to realize the rope wasn’t long enough.
She shifted her body bit by bit, reaching for the end of the rope.
Even when the end of the rope was at her chest, Astrid’s dainty feet still hadn’t touched the ground.
This was only natural!
The rope was nearly 3 meters from the ground, and the elf girl was only about 1.7 meters tall.
There was still a gap of over 1 meter.
This was no longer high! As long as she opened her eyes and looked, she would understand.
She just needed to find a good position and jump.
But Astrid happened to get stuck at this final step!
Upon realizing she couldn’t reach the ground, the elf girl panicked instantly.
Her legs and feet flailed around in the air, yet she refused to open her eyes.
Lance fell silent. He slowly stepped forward two paces and held out his large palms, placing them beneath the elf’s dangling toes.
Having finally touched something, how could Astrid possibly stop to think about what she was stepping on?
Her other foot also quickly descended, first testing with her toes.
She tapped lightly from top to bottom and found the space somewhat cramped, but it was enough to stand firmly.
Through the thin velvet socks, Lance could even see the faint flush of skin on the elf girl’s heels.
His heart tightened. The healthy body in this dream reacted instinctively, scaring Lance into quickly looking away while muttering prayers for forgiveness in his heart.
After standing firmly, the elf girl let out a long sigh of relief. Only then did she dare to open her eyes.
But when Astrid opened her emerald eyes, she discovered she was still suspended in mid-air.
She felt confused, and at that moment, a voice that was both familiar and strange suddenly came from behind her:
“Um, Astrid… Your Highness?”
Astrid hurriedly turned her head and found a black-haired young man she had ‘never seen before’ holding her up with both hands.
Her emerald eyes widened suddenly. The elf girl panicked instantly, her mind going completely blank.
“Ah—”
Astrid’s figure tilted. Her previously balanced body immediately lost its equilibrium, and she began to fall to the side.
“Watch out!”
Lance was quick and immediately moved.
One hand followed the elf girl’s heels upward, catching the curve of her legs just in time.
His other hand reached out, wrapping around her back and resting on her left shoulder.
He exhaled. Fortunately, he hadn’t let Astrid fall.
After muttering to himself, Lance soon realized something was wrong.
‘Wait… is this a bridal carry?’
Lance looked up at the elf girl’s face, only to find that Astrid didn’t seem to have recovered from the shock yet.
Her two emerald eyes were wide, staring blankly at the black-haired young man holding her.
Her body didn’t resist. Only one question echoed in Astrid’s mind:
‘Who is he?’