Elena recognized this ring: it was the magic circle of Telepathy Magic.
In the silence of the three, time slowly passed.
And gradually, Tina’s smile gained a hint of her signature playfulness.
Obviously, what this saintess was hearing now would make the situation even more complicated.
And she—loved chaos and complicated situations.
“Miss Elena, earlier in the training ground you said you wanted to meet the Archbishop, right? The Holy Church welcomes it, and the Archbishop can meet with you this afternoon. I wonder… what do you think?”
But before Elena could respond, the silver-haired girl in her arms suddenly lifted her head.
At that moment, Ai’er suddenly sensed something.
A pair of golden eyes silently gazed at Elena, as if wanting to say something, but also as if just watching silently…
She wasn’t sure, but something was definitely off about Tina’s words.
She didn’t know why Elena had reacted so strongly just now when the doctor was mentioned, nor what Tina’s smile really meant…
But this saintess was definitely planning something.
So she looked into Elena’s eyes.
And in Elena’s eyes, those light-golden eyes seemed to speak, silently saying three words in the silence:
‘Don’t go.’
“……Ai’er?”
“Miss Elena, you don’t need to answer right away. At one o’clock this afternoon, a carriage from the Holy Church will be waiting for you at the academy gate. If you agree, we’ll wait for you there for an hour.”
“Then, I look forward to seeing you later, Miss Elena. Of~course~ Miss Ai’er as well.”
The saintess spoke these last words a bit slower, with a deliberate slowness.
“Wait! You—”
“I’m sorry, Miss Elena, but I have urgent matters to attend to back at the Archbishop’s. If you have any questions, we can talk when you visit the Holy Church’s cathedral this afternoon.”
As the words faded, a flash of white light from the teleportation array, and Tina disappeared from the spot.
*
“So you’re leaving again, aren’t you?”
Lize, who had been hastily leaving along the corridor with the doctor, suddenly stopped.
When the doctor turned around, Lize just stood there, her head lowered.
The doctor couldn’t see her face.
“Miss Lize, if there’s something to say, let’s first leave here—”
“I don’t want to.”
What interrupted the doctor was the girl’s resolute tone, and the tears that kept shimmering in her eyes as she lifted her head again.
“How long will you disappear this time?”
This voice was more like an accusation.
“This time I’ve obtained Miss Ai’er’s blood. Just give me another day or two, and I can complete the final research, and then—”
“So you’re going to the Duchy to do research again, aren’t you?”
In the empty corridor, Lize’s accusation became an echoing reverberation.
The circular corridor stretched forward and back, like a loop that would never end.
“Don’t think I don’t know… when you went to the Duchy before, you went to see Marquis Siris, right? I’ve already investigated, big brother… You would leave the Empire from time to time to go to the Duchy, but after the Duchy was under martial law and Marquis Siris stopped appearing in public, you never went again. And every time you came back from the Duchy, you said the research had progressed.”
After interrupting the doctor again, Lize clenched one hand tightly over her chest and took a step closer to the doctor.
“I only want to know one thing, big brother… I only have one question. Last time I went to your temporary residence to see you, I saw forbidden books related to monster research. Big brother, tell me… What are you and Marquis Siris really researching? Why were there forbidden books on monsters at your temporary place? Do you know… there have always been rumors here in the capital that the Black God Church has signs of activity in the Duchy. Big brother… I’m not stupid, I’m not stupid. But I beg you to promise me, don’t touch dangerous things like magic monsters anymore, okay? I beg you to swear to me, never get involved with the Black God Church, okay? I… I really can’t understand… If you would just wait for me, once I inherit the position of family head, what could stop us from being together? Why, why do you have to throw yourself into the fire—”
“It’s different, Miss Lize.”
A finger was placed in front of Lize’s lips.
“Nobles have always been slaves to money, reputation, and power ambitions. That is the fate of being in this circle. You might say to me—I don’t care about that. But I do care, Miss Lize. If being with the one I love would ruin their reputation and destroy everything they have in noble circles, then I would never do that. And I promise you, after this is over, I will return to the capital with results. So… please wait for that day, Miss Lize. I promise it will be soon, I promise.”
The doctor walked up to Lize and gently patted the head of his former sister.
Then he turned around and walked toward the exit of the training ground.
*
After leaving the training ground, Elena and Ai’er had not exchanged a word.
There was a subtle atmosphere between them, like a transparent wall temporarily separating their words.
But this wall had not completely separated them.
At least, they were still holding hands.
And whenever Elena gently squeezed Ai’er’s hand, Ai’er would gently squeeze Elena’s hand in return.
Thus, they walked quietly.
The deeds Elena had just performed in the training ground spread far faster than the two could walk out.
So along the way, people only watched silently from a distance, but no one dared to approach.
If before entering the training ground, everyone regarded Elena as the academy’s genius, someone to admire and look up to, then at this moment, Elena was an unreachable witch.
For an “inhuman” existence, when an insurmountable chasm stands before them—people’s admiration turns into awe and avoidance.
People can be people, but people cannot become “gods.”
Being feared like a witch, avoided like a witch.
This was originally what Elena feared most.
But now she didn’t care. And one could even say… she was enjoying this feeling.
Because this was everyone telling her—she had the ability to do everything she wanted.
Because this was everyone telling her—she had enough power to protect everything she wanted to protect.
Because this was everyone telling her—she was unstoppable now.
Whether it was retaking the Duchy, or keeping the girl beside her forever…
Everyone was telling her with their eyes: she had the ability to do it all.
“U-um… Elena, are you going to the Holy Church this afternoon?”
Hearing Ai’er’s sudden question, Elena stopped walking, smiled, and tilted her head, then poured all her attention onto this girl.
“Do you not want me to go, Ai’er?”
In Elena’s mind at that moment were Ai’er’s light-golden eyes from earlier, which seemed to say “don’t go.”
This was the sudden “abnormality” in Ai’er after Christina issued the invitation.
“I, I…”
The silver-haired girl stammered, unable to form a complete sentence for a long time.