“Lady Saintess, I have finally been waiting for you, please—”
“Get out.”
The Holy See attendant, who had been waiting patiently outside, saw the door of the first floor slowly push open.
He immediately adjusted his posture, respectfully preparing to receive this “ancestor” who had made him wait for so long.
Then, he was glared at fiercely by a cold and somewhat irritable black-haired girl who slammed the door shut.
He didn’t know why, but that glare made his skin crawl.
‘And wasn’t it said that the Saintess lived alone? Why was that black-haired girl in the Saintess’s room? And they seemed to have a close relationship…’
He was just a messenger for the Holy See, but he had delivered letters or picked up the Saintess a few times before—though that was a long time ago.
At that time, the Saintess always had an expression that warned people not to come near, her eyes so cold they could pierce a person’s heart.
‘Maybe this is the difference between the Saintess and mortals like us?’
However, that black-haired girl just now somehow gave him the same sense of pressure and deep chill.
Especially those pink, snake-like, alert eyes.
Fortunately, she only looked similar.
Whether it was her hair color or her clothes, she looked nothing like the holy and noble Saintess.
‘It must just be my imagination.’
But—he had been assigned a task and had to wait until the Saintess herself appeared.
The attendant leaned his head against the carriage in despair and then sat back at the front, resigned to his fate.
Inside the house, Idledra’s face was terrifyingly grim.
Whether the Holy See’s people were the Pope’s confidants or not, they gave her a vague, ominous feeling that made her very frustrated.
Hailey sat on the sofa waiting for her response.
Hailey was now meticulously dressed by Idledra from head to toe, looking like a well-behaved porcelain doll.
“What’s wrong? Is it the Holy See’s carriage, or…?”
Before Hailey could finish, Idledra’s head leaned over.
Although she didn’t know what was happening, Hailey reached out and caught the collapsing body, looking at her helplessly.
“What should I do? Hailey is too cute. I really don’t want Hailey to go out and stay in the same place as those guys… especially people from the Holy See.”
Even though she had seen this attendant a few times before—he was just a low-level worker who knew nothing—who knew if there was a conspiracy behind it?
Moreover, at the thought of Hailey leaving her side, those Holy See people would definitely try their best to temporarily separate the two of them.
Only then could they ensure the success of their plan to Sacrifice the Pawn.
“Alright, alright. Since it’s all arranged, we should take things as they come. Besides, with me here, even if he wants to kick you off the carriage or something, I won’t let him succeed. He wouldn’t dare.”
Idledra was now her most important bodyguard; Hailey didn’t dare let her leave her side for a single moment.
After soothing her for a while, Hailey patted her cheeks and did her best to put on her usual gentle and kind expression.
She smiled and waved at the attendant, who looked as if he had seen a deity.
The reason the attendant was so excited wasn’t just because he saw the Holy Saintess, but because if she didn’t show up soon, he would probably have to sleep on a roadside bench tonight.
“Goddess above, Lady Idledra, you’ve finally appeared! You have no idea how terr—”
He was about to vent about his encounter of being coldly and rudely shut out, but he was instantly silenced by the cold and threatening figure behind Hailey.
He obediently sat back at the front of the carriage.
“Then, Lady Saintess, please follow me onto the carriage… Will this young lady, your friend or attendant, be joining us?”
Looking at Idledra behind Hailey with her threatening eyes, the attendant—or rather, the driver—spoke hesitantly.
His Holiness the Pope’s order was for the Saintess to come alone.
“Yes, I’ll have to trouble you to take care of us.”
Despite having orders, the driver could not refuse the Saintess’s gentle request and the mysterious, unknown killing intent from behind her.
Even if it meant disobeying the Pope’s orders, he felt that if he didn’t agree, he would be killed in the next second.
In the end, the driver had no choice but to accept this outcome, adding this “dangerous” passenger of unknown origin.
“Um, I’m sorry the space inside is quite small… Please don’t mind. We will reach our destination soon!”
The driver said this, but he didn’t even dare glance back.
After all, one was the noble and inviolable Saintess, and the other—well, even though he didn’t know her origin, if he even looked at the Saintess…
As he said, the carriage was very small.
Perhaps because it was custom-made for the Saintess, the space seemed only wide enough for one person.
With the two of them, it was a bit cramped.
As for now, Idledra leaned gently against Hailey, and the two sat silently in the carriage, shoulder to shoulder.
Since they were hidden by the curtain, they wouldn’t be discovered.
Hailey felt a bit embarrassed, but this was indeed the most comfortable way for them to sit in the small space.
At some point, Idledra’s arm reached for the hair hanging by Hailey’s ear, gently brushing the strands aside.
“There’s something dirty near Hailey. I need to clean it…”
Idledra whispered in a soft voice that only the two of them could hear.
She used Black Magic to gently sweep away the eyes around Hailey.
Hailey followed her example and lightly mobilized her Mana.
Although she wasn’t very skilled yet, Hailey’s Fusion Magic already had some offensive power, like a patrolling little insect eating up the ill-intentioned Mana nearby.
Just as she was about to share this with Idledra, Idledra suddenly covered her mouth and looked warily at the scenery visible outside the curtain.
They seemed to have left the Residential District.
Something was wrong.
“Do you two ladies need any help—what are you doing? Please, please stop…”
The driver heard the tapping on the window behind him.
Just as he was about to turn his head, he suddenly felt a sharp weapon pressed against his neck.
Idledra looked at him with a dark face, her eyes cold and full of killing intent.
“Now, stop the carriage immediately, and then leave this place yourself.”
The dagger was one she had seized from the Holy See soldiers.
Although she hadn’t expected the Holy See to use short daggers like assassins, it was precisely because of this that the Divine Dagger hadn’t been noticed by the driver.
“But, the Pope’s order…”
Idledra was already getting impatient.
Suddenly, the driver’s head spun, and he fell straight over.
Hailey looked at him with a helpless expression from behind.
“He talks too much. Just knocking him out is enough. It’s not like I’m a saint.”