“So, Lady Saintess, please do not offer any more resistance and come with us…”
Maguire and his men pressed closer step by step.
Some of the curious crowd looked over, but they were too timid to intervene, deterred by the knights’ previous behavior.
Although everyone understood that these arrogant, boorish men intended to forcibly take them away, the wealthy cared more about their own riches than their faith.
Some commoner children tried to rush forward, only to be held back by their mothers.
After all, no one dared to offend these flaunting Temple Knights.
Hailey felt a mix of disappointment and helplessness.
No matter how popular or revered she was, she couldn’t expect people to risk their lives to rescue her.
“Sir Maguire, what makes you think you can take the Lady Saintess away so casually? You are merely a Temple Knight. How impolite!”
To cheer Hailey up, Idledra was the first to speak to Maguire.
By all accounts, a Temple Knight of his rank had no right to order her around.
“I am speaking to the Lady Saintess. Why is a low-life like you interrupting? If it weren’t for the Lady Saintess’s sake, I would have dealt with you long ago.”
Maguire swept a cold gaze toward her, but there wasn’t a hint of panic on Idledra’s face.
It was only when she hid piteously behind Hailey that she became “weak and powerless.”
“Look, Lady Saintess, he’s being mean to me…”
‘Wait, acting pitiful now is a bit of an exaggeration… but seeing this expression on Idledra isn’t bad. I’ll barely accept it.’
Seemingly encouraged by that coquettish expression, Hailey glared back sharply.
Although they were surrounded, Maguire hesitated to give the order.
He wasn’t sure if the Saintess had an ace up her sleeve.
After all, even as the Temple Knight Commander, he knew very little about this Saintess who had practically “fallen from the sky.”
All he knew was that she was the Saintess personally recognized by the Holy See, possessing the Goddess’s Blessing and serving as the Goddess’s spokesperson in the human world… everything else was shrouded in mist.
“Knight Maguire, let me ask you: between the Saintess and the Pope, who has more authority?”
“The Pope, naturally.”
To Maguire, even the Saintess was personally recognized by the Pope.
No matter how much respect and deference they showed each other, those titles still carried weight.
It could be said that without the Pope’s recognition, Idledra would likely just be some wild girl wandering near a village, undiscovered by anyone.
However, Maguire seemed to have forgotten why the Pope had personally enshrined Idledra as the Saintess…
“Then, Maguire, between the Goddess and the Pope, whose status is more noble? Who has more authority?”
“This… Saintess, please do not tease me so. The Goddess is the deity whom we all — the entire Holy See — believe in. Comparing the two is quite ridiculous.”
If one were to compare the Pope to the Goddess, what difference would there be between comparing a lake to the vast ocean?
He thought the Saintess was just making a desperate joke, but her words played right into Hailey’s hands.
“If that is the case, then since I am the Messenger of the Goddess, why should I obey your orders?”
“Even the Pope cannot defy the Goddess’s will, right? Isn’t that so, Knight Commander Maguire?”
‘Damn it, this girl… cough, the Saintess’s mouth is full of excuses. She’s truly difficult to deal with.’
Despite this, Maguire really couldn’t just take her away by force; everyone around them was watching.
If he didn’t provide a reasonable explanation, rumors might spread through the Empire the next day that the Holy See was imprisoning the Saintess…
“If I were you, I would report back to the Pope and say that the Goddess herself prevented you from taking the Saintess.”
Hailey seemed to sense his hesitation and decided to go a step further, slowly breaking down his defenses.
“If you take me away, even if the Pope could imprison me, he wouldn’t dare do anything to me.”
“Instead, it’s you, Sir Maguire — “
Hailey feigned composure and took a firm step toward Maguire.
The sudden change caused him to instinctively back away.
“If I say that you ignored the Goddess’s will and took me by force, whose story do you think the Pope will believe?”
Maguire was startled.
It was true that to the Pope, the Saintess was far more important than a knight like himself.
Even if they took her by force, the Pope couldn’t do anything to her.
On the contrary, they might offend the Saintess.
The Pope surely knew her importance; it wasn’t impossible for him to punish a few soldiers just to make the Saintess happy.
If the Saintess insisted on finding fault with them, between an expendable knight and a one-in-a-million Saintess…
“Tsk. Everyone, stop! We’re leaving…”
The soldiers were a bit confused, but they followed orders, packed their equipment, straightened their formation, and slowly departed.
Watching the knights leave, Hailey finally breathed a sigh of relief.
She collapsed into Idledra’s arms, her strength spent.
‘See that? That’s my outstanding acting! I can scare people away just by reciting lines!’
“They all ran away in fear of Hailey. Your acting was flawless.”
Idledra gently supported her, and the two walked lazily to a bench by the street.
Suddenly, Idledra’s own body began to go soft.
Forcing herself to use Magic earlier had consumed too much Mana…
“Hailey, open your arms and welcome your most pitiful patient.”
“Hey, wait a minute. No matter how you look at it, I’m the one who looks like she just went through a hard battle, right?”
‘Why is she acting so strange today? She was playing the victim earlier, too… why is she quiet?’
Hailey turned her head and saw that Idledra had fallen asleep against her shoulder at some point.
Occasionally, people from the crowd who had been watching earlier would approach, but Hailey turned them away with a single look.
Hailey was a bit nervous, but this was probably what Idledra’s usual intimidating gaze looked like…
‘I’m still not quite hitting the mark. There’s no way she could ever make that cold expression toward me.’
Every time, it was either a smile, a slight grin, or that wicked smirk at night…
‘Damn it, why am I suddenly thinking about what happens at night? Get out of my head!’
As she thought, Hailey found herself yawning, perhaps due to mental exhaustion.
‘Whatever. I might as well rest for a while. I just hope when I wake up, it isn’t another new scene.’
***
“Good evening, my dear Hailey. Do you want to eat dinner first, or take a bath?”
Opening her eyes once more, she saw that it was already late at night outside the window.
Idledra was looking at her with a gentle, blurry gaze.
The familiar time, the familiar scene, and the familiar person —
‘This must be a dream, right?’
“Or perhaps Hailey can’t wait and wants to be eaten by me instead?”
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