The saintess felt anxious that her duplicitous nature was being called out. There were no hints of criticism to be found on Marchioness Lecandro's face or in the tone of her voice, but the remark weighed on Muriel in the awkward silence that followed. Everyone present seemed to feel the same way, evidenced by the Knights of Grace scrambling to turn their gaze away from the saintess they were guarding to save her the embarrassment.
Grand Duke Heathfenrir broke his silence and captured everyone's attention by straightening his massive body. "Marchioness Lecandro."
"Yes, Your Grace?"
"I have faith in my granddaughter and her husband. I believe they will return safely and join forces with us." The grand duke clenched his fists as he tried to turn his concern for Ailette into faith in her abilities.
The marchioness gave a firm nod and answered, "Then I share the same conviction."
However, the moment was ruined by a petty remark.
"Did you not hear how the master of the holy sword jumped into the Pit of Solitude?" Moriphys Marcellion asked gratingly. "The pink saintess might still be alive, but the master of the holy sword must be dead by now. As a grand mage myself, I know a thing or two about solitude. The black magic would have rendered him lifeless, even if he did survive the initialâ"
"Oh, shut up, shrimp."
"Do shut your mouth, Mad Mage."
Moriphys frowned and muttered, "Middle-aged folks these days don't show any respect for their elders." He was touching his leather choker, wearing an expression of exaggerated distress.
Muriel suddenly asked, "But where did the guild master of Nighthawks go? I thought he was standing right beside us."
"I am stepping on your shadow as we speak, Saintess Muriel."
The saintess turned around in shock. There was a good reason why this man was the guild master of the most powerful guild of assassins on the continent. A masked man with brown hair revealed himself. His face was covered, but his baritone voice sounded surprisingly young.
Having drawn her sword to respond to the threat, Romina Lecandro sheathed it once again and quietly voiced a warning. "Everyone is on high alert. Try not to raise any alarm with your movements, Fleagel Night."
"I will keep that in mind and exercise caution from now on, my lady."
Truth be told, Fleagel was already exercising ample prudence, which is why he chose to lurk behind Muriel and Moriphys instead of the other two aura masters.
Grand Duke Heathfenrir stared into Fleagel's yellow eyes and asked, "Where did you go?" It wasn't a question posed in disapproval. The Grand Duke simply wanted to engage the guild master in some small talk prior to battle, as they would soon have to fight alongside each other even though they had never met before. After all, light conversations did wonders to forge camaraderie in battle.
"I was observing a beloved pupil of mine who happened to be nearby."
"Were you only observing your pupil? Didn't you say hello?"
"No. I prefer to watch and gather intel without informing my target. Call it a force of habit."
"I see. Did you gather any useful information then?"
"It would seem my pupil has a new girlfriend," the guild master replied.
"A new girlfriend?"
"Yes."
Despite the guild master's dry and serious tone, the focus of his intelligence gathering activities seemed rather frivolous.
Oh, well. What does it matter as long as his skills are good? Grand Duke Heathfenrir, Marchioness Lecandro, and Muriel all shared the same thought on this matter.
On the other hand, Moriphys rejoiced and tried to build rapport. "I, too, enjoy observing and spying on others without consent. You and I will get along just fine."
"I see," the guild master replied rather hesitantly.
The five most powerful people in the world made small talk to ease their nerves in preparation for the impending battle against the Demon Lord. Meanwhile, the members of the Silver Citadel knight division, oblivious to Fleagel's silent visit, were fraught with concern and distress.
"God, please retract the hand of destruction hovering over our heads. Guide the two souls wandering in the cold and darkness back onto the path of light..."
The biting autumn winds did little to keep Hilde from her prayers. Ash quietly took off his cloak and put it over the vice-bishop's shoulders.
Ephael let out a long sigh and wondered aloud, "Do you think Tesilid and Ailette are safe?"
"Are you serious? Why are you worrying about them when we are about to face a Demon Lord ourselves?
"Come on, Hestio. Don't you feel worried about them?" Ephael barked back angrily.
Hestio didn't flinch. "I'm sure Ailette has a plan. She would pull Tesilid out of that pit by his hair if she had to and prove everyone wrong."
"Well... You have a point."
"Think about the time we hunted Anaxia down. Remember how she navigated through the dungeon and brought the boss down as if she knew everything like the back of her hand? What about the way she waited for us in the boss's chamber and pretended to be the boss herself?"
"Yeah, that was a nasty shock!"
"See? You're worried for nothing. I'm sure she'll be..." Hestio took a big gulp of breath as if he was trying to hold something back and finished, voice tense, "As always... they will both be fine."
That's when they were interrupted by a commotion. Someone had broken through the columns of soldiers on standby to approach the Silver Citadel knight division.
"Your Highness Prince Rigarez, this place isn't safe for you!"
"Your Highness... Please return to the palace."
"That's enough, Dame Chereli and Dame Shez."
"So stubborn... He never listens."
"Hush, Shez," the other knight chided.
It was Rigarez, the third prince of Vinchester, who had led a large group of royal knights through the ranks of soldiers. He came to a halt before the Silver Citadel knight division and pushed back his platinum hair, appearing agitated. He eyed the four knights and spoke to the one he deemed to be the highest ranking among them.
"Vice-Bishop Hilde."
"Yes? Oh! Your Highness!"
"Is it true? Has my brother sacrificed himself to save the subjects of the holy kingdom?"
As always, Rigarez was singularly and obsessively focused on his brother, and he made this clear by prioritizing Tesilid's safety over the impending battle against a Demon Lord.
Hilde dropped her soft eyes when she heard the question. "Yes, it's true... None of us saw it happen, but the survivors who made it out told us so. I-I heard he jumped off the cliff even though sister Ailette tried to stop him..."
The prince clenched his fists so hard that the whites of his bones stood out against the thin skin along his knuckles. "Why does he do this every time?!"
The vice-bishop couldn't answer.
"Damn it!"
Rigarez was reminded of how his brother had pushed him through a hole in a wall and walked into a mob of zealots to buy him time when they were little. The prince cursed out aloud to suppress the pain he was feeling, even though he knew it was immature of him to do so.
There were some familiar faces in the group of royal knights Rigarez had kindly brought along. Prinz and Raewyn wore grim expressions as they worried about the other person who was missing. Rigarez stopped cursing and finally asked about Ailette with a growl of anger he failed to keep hidden.
"What about my sister-in-law? She should have made it out safely if my brother carried out a substitutionary atonement. Why don't I see her here?"
"Sister Ailetteâ"
"Do you really think she would have left?"
Someone cut Hilde off before she could finish her sentence.
"Priest Hestio?"
The anger and sorrow in his amber eyes was clear. He was unable to contain his emotions, despite convincing Ephael not to worry just moments ago. "You know very well Ailette would never leave Tesilid there by himself. That's why we're all so worried here, okay?"
The prince was speechless.
"Do you actually think she would run for safety? That's easy for you to say. You don't deserve to call her your sister-in-law if you don't know anything about... Mmph!"
"Calm down, Hestio," Ephael hissed, his hand clamped around the other holy knight's mouth. "What's the matter with you? He's still a prince."
"Please forgive him, Your Highness!" Ash said frantically. "He shouldn't have said that. I hope you understand he's upset about big Sis Ailette."
As the two men tried to explain away Hestio's outburst, Rigarez stood still for some time before reacting. "No. I shouldn't have said that."
The vice-bishop was shocked to hear those words. But there was a good reason why Rigarez had managed to control his temper this time.
Upon discovering Tesilid's true identity as the lost prince Reminick, Queen Laviosa and Rigarez immediately hired people to find every little detail about his life. Thanks to their efforts, the two had learned how he had been mistreated by the religious order and what he had to endure inside dungeons in painstaking detail. Therefore, they knew all too well he would have certainly met horrifying deaths in many places had it not been for the Divine Emissary.
The Toy Mansion. The Sealed Dunes of the Holy Demon Sword. The Sculptor's Atelier. The Depths of Pandora. The Religious Trial of the Knights of Worship. The courtyard of the Vatican at the Feast of Harvest. The border zone where the dark mage knight had slaughtered countless mage knights. And Anaxia's throne room, where the dark mage knight had intervenedâall would have been lost if the Divine Emissary had not been by Tesilid's side in all those places.
The mighty power of the Divine Emissary could have given the impression that saving people was hardly a challenge for her at all. But the reports Queen Laviosa and Rigarez received suggested otherwise. Some of the things the Divine Emissary had to do could only be described as desperate, last ditch attempts to save Tesilid.
For instance, the commander of the Knights of Worship had admitted under interrogation that the Divine Emissary had jumped into a ravine to save the master of the holy sword without a moment of hesitation.
Later, the Divine Emissary and the master of the holy sword went missing for three hours following a fierce battle against the dark mage knight. The search party had reported finding odd traces by the Helkaion burst gate. Apparently, the marks had suggested one person lost a great deal of blood, while the other crawled over to the injured. The traces of divine power left behind would suggest the one who had crawled over had been the Divine Emissary.
She spared no effort to keep Tesilid alive. And yet, he willingly jumped into the pit once again in an act of self-sacrifice before her very eyes. What would have Ailette Rodeline felt as she watched the whole thing unfold? What if she followed Tesilid into the Pit of Solitude, as she did in the Depths of Pandora?
The prince realized that he had only been pretending to care about his sister-in-law without actually understanding her motives.
"I... I take back what I said. I should have considered what must have been going through my sister-in-law's mind and how all of you feel about it. I am... sorry."
An awkward silence followed for some time until a knight with ash brown hair decided to break the silence.
"Prince Rigarez... has finally matured."
"Shez, will you please keep your mouth shut?"