“Senior Sophia…”
Cecilia whispered softly, her body leaning forward slightly as she moved to offer a hug.
“No matter how the world judges it, I will give your romance my blessing, Cecilia.”
Sophia opened her arms and returned Cecilia’s embrace.
The two held each other briefly before slowly pulling apart.
“Thank you for your encouragement, Senior Sophia. I will definitely be happy.”
“You’re welcome.”
Looking at Cecilia’s spirited expression, Sophia felt as if she had been infected by that optimism. The gloomy mood she had felt after being given the cold shoulder by Selim earlier today seemed to fade slightly.
“We have to be friends forever in the future, okay? Senior Sophia?” Cecilia reached out her hand, looking at Sophia expectantly.
“Friends?” Sophia looked at Cecilia’s hand, hesitating slightly.
In Sophia’s heart, the word “friend” held a special meaning and carried a completely different weight.
Looking at Cecilia’s sincere face, Sophia tried to project her into the daily scenes she shared with Selim.
However, what arose was not the unique emotion she felt toward Selim, but rather a faint, almost imperceptible sense of rejection.
As expected, Selim was different. Selim was her only true “friend.”
Out of politeness, Sophia did not verbally commit to the promise of “friendship.” She simply reached out and gave Cecilia’s hand a gentle squeeze.
Cecilia, naturally, could not interpret Sophia’s complex web of thoughts from this simple gesture. She was merely overjoyed to have found someone who understood her.
“Why are we only talking about me?” Cecilia pouted. “What about you, Senior Sophia?”
She scanned Sophia’s outfit from top to bottom, her gaze finally resting on the pendant on Sophia’s chest.
“As I thought, you ended up following that old man’s path and chose to become a Demon Hunter.”
“But…” Cecilia looked around at their surroundings, her expression turning puzzled. “As a Demon Hunter, why are you here, Senior Sophia?”
“That’s because…” Sophia opened her mouth, but she was too embarrassed to admit that she had actually been tricked into coming here, threatened by Selim, and eventually chose to stay by Selim’s side of her own free will.
“Perhaps… it’s because I met a decent fellow…”
“Eh?” Cecilia’s curiosity was piqued. “Could it be…”
She didn’t press further but changed the subject.
“Senior Sophia, have you signed that exclusive Demon Hunter seal with anyone yet?” Cecilia looked at Sophia with a smile.
Under Cecilia’s scrutinizing yet playful gaze, the tips of Sophia’s ears turned slightly red.
“Not… not yet.” Despite her shyness, Sophia answered honestly. “But, it should be soon.”
“Mm, no wonder.” Cecilia nodded while looking at Sophia. “That explains it. If you can acknowledge them, then that fellow must be quite good.”
Cecilia confirmed her suspicion internally—Senior Sophia’s lover must be that Charles fellow, who had a decent reputation.
Since he was the person Senior Sophia liked, she decided she shouldn’t beat him into the ground and force him to sign the papers later just because of any perceived neglect.
“Senior Sophia, let’s catch up more later. First, I need to go find the high noble here to sign a travel permit.”
Cecilia pulled a golden booklet from her bosom, which was covered in various stamps of different shapes and colors.
“What is that?” Sophia asked curiously. She wondered why Cecilia, who was supposedly just chasing true love, would need a travel permit signed by a local noble.
“This?” Cecilia held up the booklet and gave it a shake. “This is a permit for the ‘Eye of the Emperor.’ With this signed, I can travel freely through any area in the region.”
“Eye of the Emperor? I’ve never heard of that organization. Is it really okay to join something like that?” Sophia looked confused. Before her graduation, she had never heard even a whisper of such an organization’s existence.
“About that, I’m not entirely sure either.” Cecilia shrugged nonchalantly. “I heard from others that the management is very loose. I just need to travel more in the so-called peripheral human world and submit a report whenever I have time to fulfill my obligations.”
“In return, just by joining this organization, I get the Empire’s backing to enter and leave various countries as I please.”
“The Rhine Territory fits the criteria perfectly, so I applied to come here.”
“That is certainly casual… but it suits your personality.” Sophia couldn’t help but smile at the words, relaxing a bit. “Though that organization seems quite lax as well.”
“It is indeed casual, but it’s quite intimidating to others.” Cecilia tilted her head back and shared the intel she knew with Sophia.
“The guy who recommended I join even said that if someone refuses to sign this, the Emperor himself would send an army to let the uncooperative party know the meaning of Imperial power.”
“The Emperor is quite the casual fellow himself then…” Sophia shook her head, unable to suppress a chuckle.
“Isn’t he?” Cecilia laughed as well. “That so-called Emperor is said to have become very mysterious after hearing some words from a certain State Preceptor. Aside from issuing various orders, almost no one has seen him.”
“I even suspect that the person sitting high on the throne has long since become a corpse, and the real person in charge of the Empire is that even more mysterious State Preceptor.”
“Forget it, matters of the Imperial high command are too far removed from us. It’s none of our business.” Sophia now knew Cecilia’s purpose and didn’t want to ask more.
If it was just a matter of getting a simple stamp… it shouldn’t disturb Selim too much, right?
Sophia pointed toward Selim’s room in the distance.
“Go ahead. You can ask her for a permit stamp. She shouldn’t make things difficult for you.”
“Okay.” Following Sophia’s guidance, Cecilia stepped toward Selim’s room.
“What else was there?” Sophia suddenly remembered. “Oh right, ‘Candy.’ That was the secret signal agreed upon between Selim and Sharn.”
“Guard!”
“Miss Sophia, is there anything else you need?”
“Was there a delivery of candy just now?”
“Please wait a moment.”
An exquisitely packaged set of candies was handed to Sophia.
Sophia nodded and turned to leave, opening the package once she was out of sight.
Inside, not only was it filled with candies, but there was also a small box and two letters.
The container holding the candies was a beautiful armored cloud-shoulder piece. Sophia fell in love with it the moment she saw it.
The handwriting on the two letters was elegant and feminine, clearly written by a woman.
One bore Selim’s name, and the other bore Sophia’s.
Sophia opened the one addressed to her.
‘Miss Sophia, if you are the one to open this letter first, please hand the small box over to Miss Selim as a small token of my appreciation.’
‘As for how to use the cloud-shoulder… I will let Miss Selim inform you personally. I wouldn’t want to overstep.’
‘These candies are quite delicious. Please, both of you, enjoy them.’
After reading the letter, Sophia immediately realized she had an excuse.
She could use the excuse of being worried about Selim, or introducing Cecilia to her, or asking how to use the cloud-shoulder… in short, she had plenty of reasons to “defy” Selim’s order for her to leave.
“These things are definitely better delivered to Selim in person.”
Clutching the cloud-shoulder and the candies, Sophia walked toward Selim’s room with a light step.