“Is he unconscious?”
Cecilia looked puzzled, skeptical of the situation.
Noren looked anxious, speaking frantically, “Yes! Sister Cecilia, what do we do now!”
“Could Brother have suffered mental damage? Just now, he even opened the wardr—”
Hearing Noren expose him, Lance, who was playing dead, sat up abruptly, startling both women into taking a step back.
“Where is this?”
Lance feigned composure, clutching his head with a pained expression.
“Brother! Are you okay?”
Simple-minded Noren brightened instantly upon seeing her brother wake up, tossing the previous matter aside.
“No… Noren? What are you wearing?”
“Hmm? Princess Cecilia? Why are you here?”
Lance’s eyes widened in a display of surprise and joy, as if he never expected the former Princess of Midgar to be here.
Seeing Lance’s desperate attempt to cover up, Cecilia looked thoughtfully at her wardrobe. Recalling its contents, she came to a realization.
‘It’s not a big deal, is it? It’s not like he hasn’t seen them before…’
However, considering Noren was present, Cecilia didn’t show anything. She merely gave a faint smile, offering no explanation for her presence.
“Noren, please step out for a moment. I have some things to discuss with your brother.”
Noren, who was checking her brother’s condition, paused. She hesitated for a moment before obediently replying, “Then… please be quick.”
Noren gave her brother a worried look. Dependent on others as she was, she didn’t dare defy the former Priestess Princess and current Saintess.
Noren, the little maid, stood up and fled toward the bedroom door.
Seeing Noren about to leave and catching the smirk on the face of the commander he had once betrayed, panic instantly spread through Lance’s heart.
Lance hurriedly called out, “No… Noren, don’t you want to know what happened to your brother?”
“Hey! Noren! Don’t leave Brothe—”
Click
The door closed, leaving only Lance and Cecilia in the silent room.
Lance swallowed hard and slowly looked up at Cecilia, who was wearing pure white robes.
Lance asked tentatively, “Pri… Princess Cecilia, have you been well these past few years?”
“Well, and not well.”
After answering, Cecilia beckoned a chair over and leaned back, crossing her legs. She looked down at Lance like a queen.
Under immense psychological pressure, he slowly lowered his head.
‘Is there anything more awkward than being in a room alone with a superior I betrayed?’
“Your Highness, about the Restoration Army…”
“Stop!”
Cecilia waved her hand to cut him off, questioning him coldly instead.
“Is the Restoration Army the only thing on your mind now that we’ve met again?”
“Didn’t you just ask how I’ve been lately?”
“Do you really not know what I’ve been doing for the last two years? Did you not try to find any news of me at all?”
Cecilia’s words flowed like a beaded curtain, a barrage of questions hitting Lance like a storm.
Flustered by her mixed tone of reproach, resentment, and anger, Lance fell into a silent daze.
Seeing this, Cecilia sighed and spoke first.
“You did the right thing regarding Noren. I also bear much of the responsibility, so I don’t resent you, nor do I have the right to blame you.”
“But for an Oathbound Knight who was like family to leave without saying goodbye, and to kill so many core scholars before departing… don’t you think you owe me an explanation?”
“Your Highness, I…”
“Enough! I said not to mention those things again! Why are you still bringing them up?!”
Cecilia suddenly scolded Lance again, leaving him stammering.
‘I didn’t even say anything, yet she’s being so unreasonable…’
Fortunately, Lance knew the manual for dealing with Cecilia. He chose to lower his head like a misbehaving student, waiting for her to finish speaking.
This was the strategy he had developed over years of studying under her. Traditionally, Cecilia would talk to herself, venting all her bitterness and sorrow.
But Lance forgot that after two years, how could Cecilia remain the same as before?
Cecilia paused, her train of thought jumping away from the events of two years ago.
She frowned and asked, “Why don’t you ask me why I’ve been doing well these past few years, and why I haven’t?”
Lance hesitated. Seeing Cecilia staring at him expectantly, he asked cautiously, “Your Highness, what have you experienced during these years?”
With a cold snort, Cecilia became certain that the mummy before her had absolutely no idea about her whereabouts, and her mood soured.
But thinking about the good news—how she had left the Restoration Army and spent two years attaining the position of Radiant Saintess—and getting to share it with Lance, her mood instantly brightened.
Clearing her throat, Cecilia stood up slowly, assuming a dignified posture.
She stood before the kneeling Lance and spun around twice, showing off her pure white Saintess robes.
A smirk played on her lips, and despite her best efforts to suppress it, a hint of smugness escaped.
“Well? Isn’t it nice?”
But how could a ‘villain’ like Lance—an unofficial noble with no religious faith—recognize the attire of a Saintess?
Aside from noticing that Her Highness’s figure had become even more striking, he only thought the material of the white robes looked high-end and probably worth a lot.
Lance blinked, then hurriedly replied, “Your Highness is as elegant as ever, even surpassing the old days! You truly are our noble leader!”
“Hmph, of course.”
Elated to be praised by someone close to her, Cecilia only dropped her guard completely when she was with Lance.
When she was with Noren earlier, she still maintained her air as a Priestess Princess, but before Lance, she felt no such burden.
Enjoying the praise, Cecilia, well-versed in the art of manipulation, asked in return, “What is your situation? Why has our Oath Connection disappeared?”
“You don’t exactly look like a human right now…”
Asked about his experiences, Lance hesitated before slowly explaining his ordeal.
“Ah, that… Well… it’s not really a big deal.”
“I was just eaten by a real Giant Dragon in a hidden passage… and when I woke up, I’d become a Skeleton.”
“Fortunately, I ran into a friendly Adventurer… After that, I changed classes to a Ghoul. It took a lot of effort to finally return to the Surface.”
As he spoke, Lance deliberately glossed over Astrid’s situation, afraid of involving the Elf lady.
But as Cecilia listened to Lance’s account, her expression gradually darkened.
“That friendly Adventurer would be the Elf who fled with you yesterday, wouldn’t she?”
Lance: !
“How… How do you know?!”
Cecilia beckoned her staff over. Three rings formed the shape of the Three Suns World-Loop.
‘Isn’t… isn’t this the scepter of that Bishop who appeared yesterday?’
In an instant, a jolt of realization shot through Lance’s mind.
He asked in disbelief, “Your Highness, have you become a Bishop?”
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