She left, and didn’t say anything to her.
In the afternoon, Elia continued studying those ancient texts in the study, while Kiz was off doing who knows what.
Elia was so engrossed in her reading that she didn’t notice the door being gently pushed open.
The next second, she heard this voice: “Your Holiness, please have some tea.”
Only then did Elia look up and see a young maid standing before her.
She was fairly good-looking, but Elia hadn’t seen this face much during her long stay in the castle. Was she new?
“Put it down,” she said softly.
But after placing the teacup on the table, the maid didn’t leave immediately.
Instead, she stared at Elia’s face for a few seconds and said, “Your Holiness, you are truly beautiful.”
This made Elia pause.
“What?”
“I mean… it’s my honor to serve you…”
Hmm, confirmed. This was definitely a newcomer, and quite young at that.
So, Elia smiled at her and said, “Thank you.”
The maid seemed to want to say something more.
Suddenly, a cold, loli-like voice came from the doorway: “What are you doing here?”
The maid turned her head, and her face instantly turned deathly pale.
There stood Kiz, who had appeared at the doorway at some point, staring straight at her with her intimidating crimson eyes.
“Y-Your Highness! I-I was just delivering tea…” the maid hurriedly said.
“Oh? Then why didn’t you leave after delivering it?” Kiz slowly walked in.
The maid took a step back, stammering, “I-I just…”
“Just what? Wanted to stare a few more seconds because the Saint is so pretty?”
Before the maid could answer, Kiz directly reached out and pinched her chin, continuing in that icy tone, “What’s your name? Tell me. Now.”
“L-Loyas…”
“Loyas, from today on, you are not to come to the study anymore. Get lost and go help in the dungeons. If I ever see you in front of me again, I’ll tear out your tongue!”
In the entire Vampire Castle, the work in the dungeons was the most exhausting and bitter, especially for maids… one could say working there was hardly different from being punished.
Elia looked at the young maid with a slight hint of sympathy, but it was only a very slight hint. She was still absolutely on Kiz’s side.
“Y-yes!” The maid then fled the study as if escaping for her life.
After the door closed, Elia sighed helplessly. “Look how scared you made her.”
“That’s what she deserves. Who told her to look at you with that kind of gaze?”
“What kind of gaze?”
“The kind… that wants to get closer to you.”
“So you threw her into the dungeons?”
“Yes. If she dares do something like that again, I’ll kill her.” After saying this, Kiz crushed the corner of the table.
“You, you’re just too possessive,” Elia said, gently ruffling Kiz’s hair.
The next second, Kiz immediately threw herself into Elia’s embrace, mumbling into her chest, “You’re mine! No one can take you…”
“No one’s taking me…”
“Someone is. That little girl just now wanted to.”
“She just looked at me a few times.”
“Not even one extra glance is allowed. Your eyes can only look at me… your smile can only be for me… your hands can only hold mine… your…”
Then, Elia leaned down and used her lips to block the rest of her words.
This made Kiz freeze for a moment, her eyes widening.
But she still chose to close her eyes and respond to the kiss.
After a while, Elia smiled and asked, “Is this okay now?”
“Hmph! Barely acceptable,” Kiz said, turning her face away.
Elia smiled and pinched Kiz’s cheek. “Little vinegar jar.”
After laughing and playing around for a bit, the two quieted down again.
Elia continued reading that ancient text.
Kiz curled up in her arms, playing with her fingers.
Suddenly, Kiz said, “By the way, I received a piece of information today.”
“What?”
“A former researcher of the Holy Grail Order has appeared in the Blood Clan borderlands.”
Elia’s gaze turned serious. “A former researcher?”
“Mhm. Apparently, he was driven out of the Order for some reason and is now wandering around… I think he might know some inside information about the Order.”
“Do you know his exact location?”
“Roughly in the Northern Territory, near the ruins area. I’ve already sent people to investigate; we should have news soon,” Kiz said.
Two days later, the news arrived. The former researcher had indeed appeared in the Northern Territory, and the last time he was seen was in a small town.
Upon learning this, Kiz and Elia immediately set off. This time, they only brought a few elite guards… after all, too many people would easily alert the target.
By evening, they reached that small town.
“The target often wears a gray cloak. Just three days ago, someone saw him at the tavern, but he disappeared afterward… So, Your Highness, we’d better investigate the tavern first,” the Captain of the Guards reported to Kiz.
“Mhm.”
Kiz nodded, then entered the tavern with Elia.
The tavern owner nearly knelt in fright upon seeing them enter.
“Y-Your Highness! And Your Holiness!”
“Don’t be nervous. I’m just here to ask you a question,” Kiz said with a smile.
“Y-you ask!”
“Three days ago, was there a person wearing a gray cloak drinking here?”
The owner thought carefully, then said, “Yes, there was one. He drank a lot and kept muttering to himself for a long time.”
“What did he say?”
The owner tried hard to recall.
“It was something like ‘they won’t let me go,’ ‘I know too much,’ and such. I just thought he was drunk and rambling…”
Kiz and Elia exchanged a glance.
“Later, which direction did he go?” Kiz continued asking.
“To the eastern forest!”
Hearing this, Kiz tossed him a gold coin and said, “Thanks.”
Then, ignoring the overjoyed owner, the two turned and left the tavern, heading towards the eastern forest.
Once again, the two didn’t bring the guards inside. After all, Kiz brought the guards only as backup; the real execution of the task had to be done by them.
By now, the sky had completely darkened.
After walking for a while, a dilapidated small cabin appeared ahead, with a faint, weak light shining from its window.
“That should be the place…” Kiz said, lowering her voice.
However, just as the two reached the cabin’s door, Elia suddenly stopped.
“Wait.”
“What is it?”
“There’s a trap here.” Elia pointed at the ground.
Hearing this, Kiz narrowed her eyes and carefully sensed… There was indeed a hidden magic circle on the ground… stepping on it would trigger an alarm.
“Heh, seems he was prepared,” Kiz shrugged.
“So, what should we do?”
Elia thought for a moment. “Go around. Enter from the window.”
They carefully skirted around the magic circle to the side of the cabin. Then, Elia gently pushed the window, but it didn’t budge.
“It’s locked.”
“Let me.”
Kiz reached out and lightly scratched the window gap with her fingernail, directly opening the window.
Then, the two quietly climbed into the room.
The inside of the room was as dark as outside. A person wearing a gray cloak sat with their back to them at a table, seemingly drinking.
“Don’t move.” Kiz placed her scythe against the person’s neck.
The person slowly turned their head and said, “You’ve finally come…”