Early in the morning, Elia opened her eyes only to see a certain little princess leaning over the edge of the bed, staring at her intently with two blood-red eyes.
“What are you doing? Have you lost your mind?”
“Watching you.”
‘Is this girl for real? Did the little princess take the wrong medicine today? Huh? Did she really stare at me like this all night? No, that can’t be right. I definitely felt her sleeping last night.’
Elia was still shocked, so she asked, “How long have you been watching?”
“Over 2 hours,” Kiz said without blinking or a change in her expression.
Elia fell silent for a few seconds before saying, “You’re quite the creep.”
“W-Who are you calling a creep!” Kiz shouted.
“You. Staring at me first thing in the morning for over 1 hour… isn’t that creepy?” Elia said with a smile.
“I-I just… I just couldn’t sleep!”
“So you used me as a bedtime story to help you drift off?”
“What kind of bedtime story is that! You aren’t even a book!”
The next second, Elia scooped Kiz into her arms.
“Eek!” Kiz didn’t even have time to react before she was pinned to the bed.
“What do you think you’re doing now! Let me go! Let go!”
“Being your bedtime story. Now, close your eyes and sleep.”
“But I can’t sleep anymore!” Kiz complained loudly.
“You can’t sleep… then… how about I tell you a story?”
Hearing this, Kiz paused and asked, “You know how to tell stories?”
Elia lowered her head and thought for a moment before saying, “Then let’s tell a story about a creepy little princess who stares at people every single morning!”
Sure enough, the “creepy” little princess got so angry she gave her a punch.
“You’re the creep! You’re not just a creep… you’re… you’re a jerk!”
“Fine, fine. I’m a creep, I’m a jerk. Are you happy now?”
In the next moment, Elia grabbed Kiz’s hand and said, “Since I’m a creep now, this creep wants to sleep. Are you going to stay with me?”
“I’ll stay…” Kiz whispered.
The two of them lay there quietly, holding each other for a while.
After some time, Kiz, leaning against Elia’s chest, suddenly remembered something. “By the way, I received a letter this morning.”
Elia’s brow furrowed slightly. “What letter?”
“I don’t know. There was no signature, and it was even delivered by a crow.”
She pulled the letter from under the pillow and handed it to Elia.
Elia took the letter and unfolded it, reading the line written inside aloud: “The Grail has opened; the Saint shall return…”
After reading it, her gaze turned cold.
“Kiz, when was this received?”
“Just this morning. And… this letter was meant for you.”
“This letter… could be a trap.” Elia rolled out of bed and walked to the window to look closely. Sure enough, she found one black feather.
Elia picked up the feather and examined it carefully.
At first glance, it looked like an ordinary crow feather.
But an ordinary crow wouldn’t appear on a windowsill of the Vampire Castle in the early morning.
Furthermore…
“There’s a residue of magic power on this feather,” Elia said in a low voice.
Kiz took the feather and looked at it. “Someone likely used magic to summon that crow and sent it here to deliver the letter.”
“Is it possible to track the source of this magic?”
Kiz closed her eyes and used Tracking Magic to investigate carefully.
After waiting a few seconds, she opened her eyes and shook her head. “My Tracking Magic was just wiped out… the other party seems to be very cautious.”
“Heh…” Elia suddenly laughed at those words.
“What is it? What do you know now?” Kiz asked.
“Nothing…” Elia folded the letter and tucked it into her pocket. “It’s just… I think this game is getting more and more interesting.”
She turned to face Kiz and asked, “So, are you afraid?”
“Huh? Afraid of what?”
“For example… what if those guys really come to take me away? Doesn’t the letter say ‘the Saint shall return’? Maybe I’ll have to leave you when that Holy Grail thing opens,” Elia said with a shrug.
Hearing this, Kiz spoke in her coldest voice. “If they actually dare to come and take you… I’ll make sure none of them leave alive.”
“Mm-hmm, now that’s the little princess I know.” Elia reached out and pinched her soft cheek again.
Kiz slapped her hand away, her face flushing. “Who is your little princess!”
“You are, of course. My little princess.”
“I am not!”
“You are.”
“I’m not!”
“You are.”
Completely unable to win the argument, Kiz stomped her foot in frustration and turned to leave.
She threw one last line over her shoulder: “I’m going to the study! Goodbye!”
As Elia watched her back, the smile on the corners of her lips deepened.
However… once Kiz had left, her smile slowly faded. She took out the letter and read it once more.
‘The Saint shall return… Return? That means going back… but where?’
‘Is it back to the Church?’
Regardless, there was no way she was going back. After all, the Church had personally discarded their super ace combatant, Saint Elia, for those utterly boring reasons… What reason did she have to return?
Besides, did the Church have a cute little princess to play with?
Elia then used Holy Light to incinerate the letter into ash, letting it scatter out the window.
She walked to the window and looked at the sky outside.
The sky was currently very blue, without a single cloud in sight… In short, the weather was wonderful.
But Elia knew a storm was coming.
She licked her lips, a spark of excitement flashing in her eyes.
‘Come then… no matter who you are, I’ll be waiting.’