Helos’s academy life had once again settled into a delicate calm.
The classes hadn’t changed much at all.
Those boring alchemy theories were still boring. Those complicated ancient runes were still complicated. The teachers on the podium still looked at her with that mix of reverence and pity.
If there was one difference, it was that a perfect vacuum had spontaneously formed around Helos.
A barrier named “keep away.”
To her left sat a black-haired young man whose eyes were so sharp they looked like he was interrogating a criminal.
To her right sat a blonde girl in a maid’s uniform, her face expressionless, holding a pen and recording every movement around her.
Caught between these two Door Gods, any classmate who had thought about getting close to Helos was scared off before they could even get within ten feet, driven back by those two icy stares.
Over time, the corner where Helos sat became an island in the classroom.
Except for the teacher who had no choice but to lecture, no one dared to step even half a foot into that area.
Other than that, there wasn’t much difference.
Days of this excessive calm passed one after another.
No assassins. No Chaos Believers. No monsters that suddenly popped up.
Even that female ghost teacher who lived inside the painting was quiet as a corpse.
This made Helos, who was naturally restless, feel a bit bored.
She felt like a canary locked in a cage—clothes and food were no problem, and it was safe, but she had lost the most precious things: freedom and fun.
It was a rare day off with no classes.
The deep winter sunlight had broken through the thick clouds for the first time in a while, spilling onto the somewhat worn roof of the Rose Pavilion.
Four people had gathered in the spacious first-floor hall of the Rose Pavilion, each doing their own thing.
The flames in the fireplace crackled, driving away the chill in the room.
Sylvia hadn’t come out since that day she tasted Helos’s blood and said she needed to go back and think about how to teach her.
That painting had turned back into an ordinary oil painting, hanging quietly on the wall, gathering dust.
If Julius hadn’t made it a morning routine to shine holy light on the painting and listen to the female ghost pop her head out and shout a few curses, Helos would have really thought she’d been completely purified by the holy light that night.
The hall was very quiet.
Eleanor was sitting in an armchair by the window.
The sunlight spilled onto her golden hair, making her look like she was glowing.
She was holding a thick theological book, reading it with complete focus, occasionally running her finger lightly over the pages as if pondering some profound doctrine.
Gavi was standing on the other side of the hall.
She held a clean white cloth, carefully wiping down the ancient magic clock.
Her movements were so precise that the force and angle of each wipe were exactly the same.
For this maid, cleaning wasn’t just work—it was a daily routine that maintained her own sense of existence.
Julius was sitting on the rug in front of the fireplace, holding a whetstone, carefully maintaining an ordinary iron sword.
It was his backup weapon for practice.
As for the holy sword “Daybreak,” it was the manifestation of his soul, so it didn’t need special maintenance.
He was looking down, focused.
The whetstone slid along the blade, making a rhythmic scraping sound that became the only background noise in the whole hall.
Helos watched the three people around her, all seemingly wrapped in their own invisible barriers, completely immersed in their own worlds.
She lounged on the long sofa, absentmindedly playing with the decorative ring on her finger.
She stared at the intricate patterns on the ceiling, counting how many carved lines there were.
One.
Two.
Three.
When she reached one hundred and eight, she finally couldn’t take it anymore.
“Ahhh—!”
A wail full of resentment erupted from Helos.
She sat up abruptly on the sofa, startling Eleanor, who had been reading, and making Gavi stop what she was doing.
Only Julius didn’t even lift his head. He just slightly turned, looking sideways at the silver-haired girl, still steadily sharpening his sword.
“Hey, everyone.”
Helos sat cross-legged on the sofa, arms crossed, looking at them all with dissatisfaction.
“With weather like this! Sun like this! Are we really just going to stay moldy in this gloomy haunted house?”
“Aren’t you guys bored?”
Julius finally stopped what he was doing.
He put down the whetstone, raised his head, and looked at Helos calmly with his pitch-black eyes.
He knew this little troublemaker too well.
Once she started complaining about boredom, it meant this building was not far from chaos.
“So?”
Julius replied, his tone tinged with resignation.
“What brilliant idea have you come up with now?”
“What do you mean ‘brilliant idea’?!”
Helos pouted, looking as if she’d been deeply wronged.
But the next second, that aggrieved expression vanished.
In its place was a brilliant, almost fawning smile.
She slipped off the sofa as quietly as a guilty cat, sidled up to Julius, and tugged lightly at his sleeve. Her light purple eyes blinked, full of anticipation.
“Um, Mr. Julius.”
She gave his sleeve a gentle pull.
“I’d like to apply to go out for some fun—oh, I mean, apply to go out for practical combat training.”
“Training?”
Julius raised an eyebrow.
“Yeah! Training!”
Helos puffed out her chest with righteous justification.
“Think about it. That old hag Sylvia is hiding out and won’t come out, and I have nothing to do. You know what they say: skill comes from diligence, and waste from play. I can’t just sit around waiting forever, right?”
“I think I need to get some fresh air outside, find an open space, and stretch my legs a bit. And, what’s more…”
She paused, her eyes drifting, and the second half of that sentence somehow didn’t make it out.
Julius looked at Helos.
He sighed.
He knew this was just an excuse.
Training? Stretching her legs? This girl clearly just wanted to go out and mess around.
But he looked into her sparkling eyes.
He could already see that look of longing in a young lady’s eyes.
She really had been cooped up these past few days.
Even if it was for her safety, keeping her locked in this cage forever wasn’t good for her physical or mental recovery.
After a fierce internal struggle, Julius finally gave in.
“Fine.”
He stood up and sheathed the iron sword.
“Today only. And you have to be back before dark.”
“Yay! Long live Julius!”
Helos cheered, barely stopping herself from throwing her arms around him.
Julius shook his head helplessly.
He turned to look at the other two in the room.
As a guard, the more protectors, the better.
“Miss Eleanor, Gavi.”
He extended the invitation to both of them.
“Since we’re going out, why don’t you all come along? The weather is nice today, and we can take a stroll through the city. You don’t have anything else to do, right?”
Hearing this, Helos nodded vigorously.
“Yeah, yeah! Sister! Gavi! Let’s all go! Besides—”
However, unexpectedly.
Eleanor, who doted on her little sister the most, and Gavi, who always obeyed her master’s orders, didn’t show the excitement Helos had expected after hearing the proposal.
Instead, they exchanged a knowing glance.
There was a certain meaning in that look that only the two of them could read.
Then they each looked away, as if holding back a laugh that was about to burst out.
“I’ll pass.”
Eleanor picked up the heavy theological book again, putting on a busy look.
“I still haven’t finished my prayers for the day, and recently the Church has sent some documents I need to handle. You all go ahead. Don’t worry about me.”
Julius looked at the maid.
“Then, Gavi—”
“I’m not going either.”
Gavi refused even more bluntly.
She raised the cloth in her hand and pointed solemnly at the huge crystal chandelier hanging above.
“The cleaning work at the Rose Pavilion is not yet complete. According to my calculations, there is a large amount of dust accumulated in the gaps of that chandelier. If it isn’t cleaned in time, it could become unbalanced and fall on someone. That’s a serious safety hazard.”
“For the master’s safety, I must stay and clean.”
That excuse was terrible to the point of being ridiculous.
But Gavi said it with such a righteous face, as if that chandelier would turn into a murder weapon the next second.
Julius blinked.
Usually, weren’t these two unwilling to leave Helos’s side?
Why was everyone suddenly so busy today?
That struck him as a bit odd.
“Really not coming?”
He asked again.
The two answered in unison, not even lifting their heads.
“No.”
Though Julius found it strange, he wasn’t the type to force people.
“Alright.”
Since they weren’t going, he would just have to take a walk with Helos alone.
“We’re leaving then.”
He nodded to the two of them, then looked at Helos, who was already impatient.
“Let’s go, Second Young Lady. Time for your ‘special training.’”
“Yay! Let’s go!”
Helos cheered, like a bird released from its cage, and dashed out the door first.
Julius followed close behind, and the two figures quickly disappeared down the forest path outside the Rose Pavilion.
Only after the door closed again and the sound of footsteps faded away completely did Eleanor, who had been “praying intently,” and Gavi, who had been “cleaning seriously,” both let out a long sigh of relief, as if a heavy burden had been lifted.
The next second.
Without a word, they threw down their book and cloth in perfect sync, lifted their skirts, and dashed over to the French window facing the door.
They hid behind the curtains, only their eyes peeking out, secretly watching the outside.
In the sunlight.
The tall black-haired young man was walking in front, and the petite silver-haired girl was following beside him, seemingly waving her arms and talking about something.
Their backs looked so harmonious.
Eleanor watched this scene, a gentle, relieved smile appearing in her sapphire blue eyes.
She let out a soft sigh and murmured to herself:
“Sigh… our little Sisi has finally reached the age where her heart starts to bloom.”
“You’re right, Miss Eleanor.”
Gavi stood beside her. On that normally expressionless face, a rare auntie-like smile appeared.
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to be alone. If we tagged along, wouldn’t we be the two brightest magic lamps in the room?”
“Yeah.”
Eleanor nodded, then seemed to think of something and frowned slightly in worry.
She stared in the direction the two had gone, her tone hesitating.
“But…”
“I wonder where the two of them plan to go on their date? He said it was special training—surely they won’t actually find a place to practice swords, right?!”
“And… Julius is such a blockhead. He looks honest enough, but he is still a man.”
This overthinking older sister started imagining all kinds of things.
“He wouldn’t secretly do something he shouldn’t to Sisi, would he? Like… holding hands? Hugging? Or even…”
Eleanor covered her mouth, as if embarrassed by her own imagination.
“Don’t worry, Miss Eleanor.”
Gavi calmly took over from Eleanor.
Her gray eyes, which seemed to see through everything, fixed on the two figures that were almost out of sight.
“According to my observations, Mr. Julius may be emotionally dense, but he is strongly bound by the Knight’s Code.”
“He knows his limits. There’s no chance he would cross the line in a situation like this.”
“That’s good…”
Eleanor let out a sigh of relief.
But then Gavi changed her tone.
She paused slightly, adding a hint of playfulness to her voice.
“The biggest problem isn’t really whether Mr. Julius will do something.”
Gavi raised a finger and lightly drew two circles on the window glass.
She circled the two backs together.
“The real problem is—”
“Those two haven’t realized it themselves yet.”