Time passed little by little.
Shilo understood that women usually took longer to get ready, but how could it possibly take this long out in the wilderness?
He was gradually losing patience. Just as he was about to head back to see what was going on, his gaze met the Saintess as she walked out carrying the girl.
‘This is bad…’
A sense of foreboding rose in his heart.
Sure enough, the next moment, the Saintess revealed a mischievous smile.
“Mr. Shilo is such a pervert~”
“I’m not! I was just—”
“Hehe, I’m not listening.”
Lintis closed her eyes, clearly unwilling to hear any explanation. Seeing her so willful, Shilo found himself at a loss for words.
At that moment, he noticed the girl sleeping in the Saintess’s arms. She had already changed into the dress he had taken out not long ago.
After a moment of thought, he asked, “Saintess, will she be able to live as a normal person after this?”
Realizing he was referring to the girl in her arms, Lintis initially raised her right hand, then reconsidered and switched to her left. Her sleeve slipped down, revealing her arm.
Her slender, pale hand curled slightly into a small fist. Then she raised an eyebrow at Shilo with a smug expression.
“Hehe, Mr. Shilo, who do you think I am? Living as a normal person won’t be a problem for this child, but…”
She paused before continuing.
“But she’ll probably need someone to take careful care of her. The pain she experienced as a human core wasn’t fake. It still lingers in her subconscious. As time passes, those memories will slowly resurface. Before that happens, someone needs to give her care and support, so she can face that pain when it returns.”
Shilo frowned slightly. “Then why not just erase those memories?”
Lintis’s fingertips trembled slightly. The corners of her lips lowered, her expression turning unusually serious.
“Mr. Shilo, I don’t have the right to make that decision for her. Whether she needs those memories or not is something she must decide herself after remembering everything.”
“Before that, if I were to erase them on my own… to me, that would be no different from destroying who she is as a person.”
After saying that, she quickly broke the heavy atmosphere with a grin.
“Alright~ enough about that. Mr. Shilo, do you have anyone suitable to take care of this child?”
Shilo didn’t answer immediately. After thinking it over carefully, he said, “Saintess, why don’t you raise her yourself?”
“Huh? Me?” Lintis looked surprised, then pretended to act shy as she fidgeted.
“That’s not a good idea, right? I’m a total mess myself—lazy, annoying, and quick-tempered. I’m super hard to deal with.”
“Mr. Shilo, you actually expect me to raise a child? I can barely take care of myself!”
Shilo shot her an annoyed glance. ‘So you do have some self-awareness…’
“Then let Marcus handle it. He’s idle all day anyway—might as well give him something to do.”
“The knight from before?”
“Yeah.”
“Eh! No way, that guy looks totally useless!”
Seeing the Saintess’s undisguised look of disdain, Shilo’s mouth twitched.
“Saintess, could you at least pay a little attention to your image? Is that really how a Saintess should react?”
“And Marcus may not look reliable, but for something like this, I think he’ll at least try his best.”
Lintis blinked, clearly not expecting Shilo to trust that knight so much.
“Really? You seem to know him well, Mr. Shilo.”
“Come to think of it, you rushed over to help earlier… was that also because of Mr. Marcus?”
Shilo glanced at her, realizing her curiosity had been fully piqued. At this point, there was no need to hide anything. After a brief pause, he said,
“Let’s talk while we walk. If we get back any later, it’ll be night.”
With that, he took the lead and started walking toward the edge of the Black Forest. Once the Saintess caught up, he continued.
“Marcus is a friend of my adoptive father, the knight Thor. Back then, he was the only one who supported Thor and gave him significant help.”
“At that time, he wasn’t like he is now. He was responsible, ambitious, and driven.”
“But all of that ended after my father died. When I needed him the most, he cut ties with us instantly and joined the Church without looking back, becoming one of those corrupt knights.”
“The ideals he once shouted alongside my father—he forgot them all. There’s no trace of honor left in him now, only decay, greed, and indifference.”
“I hate him. And I hate myself for becoming a knight as well. So I can’t let him die—at least not before I kill him with my own hands.”
A sudden “pfft” of laughter came from behind him. Shilo’s face darkened as he turned around.
The Saintess was laughing for some reason, looking thoroughly amused. She nearly lost her grip on the girl in her arms, almost dropping her, which startled both of them.
“What are you laughing at!?”
Lintis wiped away the tears that had formed from laughing too hard before replying.
“Well… Mr. Shilo, you’re really not honest at all~ Everything you just said was clearly full of concern for others, yet you insist on acting like you don’t care. I find that very interesting!”
“You—!”
Having his thoughts exposed, Shilo’s expression grew even worse. He reached out, trying to grab her, but her movements were far too nimble.
Dodging him easily, Lintis stuck out her tongue playfully, her teasing expression practically asking for trouble. Shilo gritted his teeth.
“Alright, alright, I’ll stop teasing~ Here, I’ll let you catch me. But if you do, what are you going to do, Mr. Shilo~?”
As she spoke, she held the girl with one arm and casually extended her left hand into the air.
Shilo, who had been angry just moments ago, stared at that pale hand, unsure how to react.
The two stood there in silence. Neither spoke, and the air fell into a brief stillness.
In the end, it was Lintis’s laughter—mocking, of course—that broke the stalemate.
Still laughing, she shook her head and began walking ahead.
“Ah~ Mr. Shilo is really cute~ If you care about someone, just say it~ Being so roundabout like this will cause trouble sooner or later~”
Her teasing voice tugged at Shilo’s nerves.
But the way he had been raised prevented him from actually doing anything to a girl, leaving him feeling deeply conflicted.
In the end, his overheated mind gave up on thinking altogether. He strode toward the Saintess, and under her curious gaze, he grabbed that slightly cool hand without hesitation.
After holding it, perhaps because his face was burning, the coolness felt strangely comforting. He instinctively tightened his grip.
Just like that, he held her hand—simply, without thinking about anything else—and continued walking forward, pulling the Saintess along.
He didn’t notice at all that the girl whose hand he held had a face so red it looked like it might drip blood. Her usually lively eyes were now clouded, and even her breathing had become completely unsteady.
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