“Lance Fallos.”
Thinking that the Saintess hadn’t heard clearly, Astrid repeated the name.
Immediately, in Cecilia’s eyes, the elf girl with deep golden hair became extremely dangerous.
Emotion urged Cecilia to reject the request immediately. However, logic stopped her just as the words were about to escape her lips.
Looking at the concern in the elf girl’s eyes, the two must be well-acquainted, but… ‘Why didn’t Lance tell me?’
‘Did he hide this from me?’
‘No, I must eliminate this threat.’
‘An Elf… the Nature Church… they should be extremely hostile toward the Undead…’
Thinking of this, Cecilia agreed at once. “So it is that gentleman.”
“I was just speaking with him not long ago, so Your Highness Astrid need not worry.”
“Mr. Fallos is currently well and has his freedom of movement. He has not been imprisoned by the Church of Holy Light.”
Hearing news of Lance for the first time since they lost contact and knowing that his life wasn’t in danger, the heavy stone in Astrid’s heart finally dropped. He was safe.
But then, a flash of insight hit her, and Astrid sensed something wasn’t quite right.
Lance was captured by the Church of Holy Light; there was no doubt about that.
Yet, according to the Saintess, the two of them had spoken? And the conversation had been pleasant?
‘Why?’
‘Even if he wasn’t locked up, he shouldn’t have been qualified to speak with the Radiant Saintess…’
Unable to hide her thoughts, Astrid asked directly, “Did you interrogate Lance?”
However, the normally gentle and polite Radiant Saintess did not give an answer.
Instead, she stood up and bowed to the City Lord, Gunther Hoffmann, indicating that she would take Astrid back to West City to resolve the misunderstanding.
Having finished his task, Gunther Hoffmann had no intention of keeping the Bishops from the two churches for idle chat.
He exchanged a few more pleasantries and agreed, waving for the butler to see the guests out.
Seeing this, Cecilia looked at Valerie and asked with a smile, “Lady Valerie, would you like to come along?”
“Hehe~ No, no. There are still matters to attend to at the church. Let little Astrid go with the Saintess.”
“Compared to me, I imagine little Astrid and the Saintess will have more in common.”
Nodding, Cecilia did not persist with the invitation.
After all, unless it was something extremely important, a Regional Cardinal was usually not allowed to leave their post at will, let alone travel to the territory of another church.
At this moment, Cecilia turned her warm gaze back to the young girl.
Her eyes narrowed slightly as she said with a cheerful smile, “Then I shall have to trouble Your Highness Astrid to make the trip.”
“O-Okay…”
……
Leaving the City Lord’s Mansion, Cecilia followed four or five steps behind the butler with a steady pace.
A trace of coldness flickered in her dark brown eyes, but it was hidden by her narrowed lids.
She wanted to fish for information, but Cecilia was in no hurry to speak… after all, the elf seemed more anxious than she was…
From the corner of her eye, she saw Astrid trailing half a step behind her.
Astrid opened her mouth several times as if to say something, but ultimately stopped herself.
She seemed to feel it was too abrupt… or perhaps she hadn’t organized her words yet.
Taking all these movements in, Cecilia shortened her stride, lengthening the path from the City Lord’s Mansion to the Teleportation Array.
As expected, the elf girl with deep golden hair thought it over and finally mustered the courage to speak. “Lady Saintess, is Lance really okay?”
‘Hmph — she isn’t going to ask directly?’
‘Then…’
“Of course, you need not worry about that,” Cecilia replied.
“After all, the Count of Fallos and I share some history. I naturally won’t allow anyone in the Church to make things difficult for him.”
“Huh? The Count of Fallos?”
Astrid only felt unfamiliar with this new title. ‘Does Lance have a title? How come I didn’t know?’
‘Wait… Lance seemed to have mentioned that he was a noble of the Kingdom of Midgard, the eldest son of the Count of Fallos.’
If one followed the rules of noble inheritance, as long as the royal family recognized it, he should indeed be called the Count of Fallos.
But now that the Kingdom of Midgard had fallen, people from other countries wouldn’t recognize such a title.
Suddenly, a thought flashed through her mind. If other countries didn’t recognize it, the exiled royal family certainly would.
“Are you a member of the Midgard Royal Family?”
“Hehe, indeed. The last Queen of Midgard was my mother.”
‘She really is part of the exiled Midgard Royal Family?’
“Then did you and Lance know each other before?”
“But of course.”
Astrid looked expectantly at the Saintess, who was covering her mouth with a light chuckle, waiting for further explanation.
But after a moment, the Saintess lowered her hand, her face returning to its calm state.
It was as if it were a trivial matter, and why would anyone provide further explanation for something so ordinary?
Just as Astrid was about to ask more questions, Cecilia spoke first. “How did Your Highness Astrid meet the Count of Fallos?”
“Previously… the Count of Fallos didn’t seem to mention anything about you to me.”
Hearing the Saintess repeatedly refer to him as the Count of Fallos, Astrid thought the two were not that close, perhaps only having a shallow connection.
Maybe it was just a simple relationship between a ruler and a subject…
Thinking of this, the vigilance in Astrid’s heart relaxed slightly, and she answered the Saintess’s question. “We met in a Maze.”
“Oh… a Maze… What exactly happened?”
Cecilia’s tone was unhurried, asking the question as if it were perfectly normal.
At the same time, a sharp light flashed in her narrowed eyes.
Her attention was entirely focused on her peripheral vision, meticulously observing the elf girl’s reaction.
Under Cecilia’s gaze, an imperceptible blush rose on the Elf Princess’s face.
As if thinking of something embarrassing, she stammered vaguely, “It’s… it’s just that Lance saved me when I was in danger…”
“Oh… he saved you…”
Cecilia’s expression darkened, but because Astrid was feeling shy, her eyes instinctively darted away.
She didn’t notice the change in the Saintess’s face at all.
“There are many similar plots in storybooks ~” Cecilia continued.
“A brave Adventurer saves a princess in distress… and the two naturally fall in love… Hehe~ Speaking of which, you seem very concerned about the Count of Fallos’s safety.”
Teased in such a way, the blush on Astrid’s face deepened, and she waved her hands repeatedly, trying to explain herself. “No… that, well… I…”
Astrid spoke tentatively, but she clearly didn’t know what to say.
Seeing this reaction, the cold light in Cecilia’s eyes grew stronger. She made up her mind! Intervention was necessary!
“It was just a joke. After all, you are the princess of the Elf race,” Cecilia said.
“Naturally, you wouldn’t have any involvement with the Count of Fallos, who has already turned into an Undead. You don’t need to mind it.”
Cecilia pointed out Astrid’s royal status and stated Lance’s current racial state.
Her goal was to remind the blushing girl: ‘You are a princess of the Elf royalty! You cannot have any connection with Lance, who has become an Undead! Give up now!’
At the same time, Cecilia left enough room by passing it off as a joke, so as not to destroy the friendly relationship they had established.
According to Cecilia’s prediction, the Elf Princess should be silent now, falling into a state of worry or resignation.
However… Astrid’s eyes simply widened, and she asked with some disbelief, “You already know?”
“Huh???”