Lynn’s brain spun frantically, his survival instincts straining every nerve in his body.
“There!”
‘A reason? Where am I supposed to find a reason for you people!’
“Because… because if you leave, what happens to me!”
Lynn blurted out.
His voice carried a hint of a sob — half of it was an act, but the other half was genuine fear.
He pointed at Vivian, then at Alicia.
“If you both leave, what if… what if that woman comes to find me in secret? I can’t beat her! Did you forget? She almost blew up the entire martial arts arena!”
He lowered his posture to the absolute limit, playing the part of a helpless and pitiful victim being harassed by a wicked woman.
As soon as those words left his mouth, Vivian and Alicia both froze.
They glanced at each other.
That was true.
They were so focused on dealing with that “vixen” that they had forgotten the “Tang Monk Flesh” sitting right here.
“If they both went to hunt down Lilith, who would watch over Lynn?”
“Let the other person watch him?”
Vivian was the first to dismiss that.
If she left, she was certain Alicia, that religious charlatan, would immediately pack Lynn up and haul him back to the church for some godforsaken Purification Ceremony.
Alicia didn’t trust Vivian either.
She had no doubt that the moment she left, this boorish Imperial Princess would drag Lynn back to the Imperial Palace and lock him in some dark, secluded dungeon.
Neither of them trusted the other.
The atmosphere in the locker room turned bizarre once again.
The murderous intent they had shared against a common enemy vanished, replaced by a much more complex, tense standoff of mutual suspicion, jealousy, and wariness.
And Lynn was right at the center of this confrontation.
Looking at the changes in their expressions, Lynn felt a slight sense of relief.
‘It worked!’
He had successfully shifted their attention from Lilith back to himself.
Even though this was equally dangerous, at least Lilith was safe for now.
“You’re right.”
Vivian was the first to speak.
She reeled in her killing intent, her golden eyes refocusing on Lynn with a scrutinizing gaze.
“Until the trouble around you is dealt with, you aren’t allowed to go anywhere.”
Alicia also nodded with a smile. Her tone was gentle, but her words made a chill run down Lynn’s spine.
“Lord Lynn makes a valid point. Before purifying that creature, we must ensure the safety of the Holy Artifact itself. We cannot give her another opportunity to strike.”
‘They… reached a consensus?’
Lynn’s heart leaped into his throat again.
“So…”
Vivian looked at Alicia, her tone stiff.
“We need to discuss how we’re going to ‘watch over’ him.”
“Naturally,” Alicia bowed her head.
“After all, none of us want Lord Lynn to suffer any more harm, do we, Princess Vivian?”
Their conversation was polite to the point of hypocrisy, but Lynn understood perfectly.
The so-called “watch over” meant imprisonment.
The so-called “discuss” was simply a way to divide their spheres of influence.
“It’s simple,” Vivian stated bluntly.
“He comes back to the Imperial Palace with me. I will have the Royal Knights surround his palace so thoroughly that not even a fly can get in.”
“I object.”
Alicia vetoed the idea without hesitation.
“A place like the Imperial Palace is full of power, lust, and intrigue. It would only tarnish Lord Lynn’s purity. He should move into the prayer room of the Grand Cathedral. Under the bath of the Holy Light, his polluted soul can be cleansed.”
“Ha! You want him to listen to your chanting every day in that dilapidated church until you’ve brainwashed him into a prayer-muttering idiot?”
“Vivian sneered.”
“It is far better than being treated as a collectible and locked in a dungeon by you,” Alicia shot back.
They started arguing again.
But this time, neither showed any intention of making a move.
They both knew that if one of them acted, the other would take the opportunity to snatch Lynn away.
Caught in the middle, Lynn watched as they argued incessantly over his “residency rights,” feeling a wave of dizziness wash over him.
He felt like his life was being treated as a piece of cake, with two crazy women deciding how to slice it.
Just as Lynn was about to crumble, Vivian seemed to lose her patience.
“Enough, stop arguing.”
She waved her hand irritably.
“Since you won’t agree to him coming with me, and I won’t agree to him going with you, there’s only one way.”
Alicia went quiet and looked at her.
Vivian took a deep breath as if making a monumental decision.
She spoke one word at a time:
“We will watch him together.”
“From this day forward, wherever he goes, we go. When he eats, we watch. When he sleeps, we guard. We do this until that black-haired, red-eyed woman is dragged out and burned to ashes.”
“Until then, the two of us will be his personal bodyguards… and his jailers.”
Vivian proposed this terrifying idea.
Alicia fell silent for a moment after hearing it.
Her emerald-blue eyes lingered on Lynn, seemingly calculating the feasibility of the plan.
A few seconds later, she displayed a holy smile.
“I agree.”
“To protect Lord Lynn from further harm, this is a necessary sacrifice. I am willing to temporarily set aside church affairs to devote myself entirely to guarding Lord Lynn’s side.”
Listening to their conversation, the blood in Lynn’s veins turned cold.
‘Watch him together? 24 hours, round-the-clock, double surveillance?’
This was 10,000 times more terrifying than being locked up by one person!
An Imperial Princess and a Saintess — the two most powerful women in the Empire — were now teaming up to be his nannies and jailers?
‘My life… is completely over.’
“As for them…”
Vivian’s gaze swept toward the few students in the corner who were already scared out of their wits.
The students shuddered, scrambling to their knees.
“If a single word of what happened here today gets out…”
Vivian didn’t finish the sentence, but the cold glint of her greatsword said everything that needed to be said.
“God forgives repentant sinners,” Alicia added, her voice tender. “But for gossips who cannot control their tongues, the sulfur of hell will burn their throats shut.”
One physical threat and one theological curse.
The students buried their heads even deeper, wishing they could just die on the spot.
***
And so, the matter was settled.
Following an absurd standoff and negotiation, an even more absurd Lynn Protection Alliance was forcibly established.
Vivian walked to Lynn’s left.
Alicia walked to his right.
The two of them flanked him tightly, as if escorting a high-profile prisoner.
“Let’s go,” Vivian said.
“We should head back, Lord Lynn,” Alicia said.
Lynn stiffly moved his legs.
He didn’t feel like he was walking; he felt like he was heading toward a guillotine.
He could already imagine the bizarre spectacle the entire Royal Academy would witness starting tomorrow.
No matter where he went, the Imperial Princess would be on his left.
The Church Saintess would always be on his right.
Just thinking about that image was enough to make him choke.