He was clearly an easy prey. Carme had hyena eyes she had trained for a long time.

“Yes, you cutie with the glasses!” She shouted and waved both hands, making the blonde-haired priest lean his forehead against the window. He was pretty far away, but she could clearly see that he was handsome. The light pink eyes underneath the glasses were showing both shock and curiosity at the same time. She purposely made one shoulder and clavicle show. The reaction was immediate. The handsome man didn’t know what to do and looked at everything except her. It had been a while since she had seen an easy target like this.

“How cute.” It would be fun keeping him around. She could probably fetch a high price for him at the end as well.

“Yes, I was calling out to you, honey! Are you a priest too? Are you confined like me?” She asked in a friendly voice and the young man’s lips seemed to hesitate before he nodded his head.

He did seem to be the cause of the issue in the lobby a few hours ago. She had heard there were two of them, but she only saw one right now. He must have closed off his ether very well as she did not clearly sense anything either. But Carme was extremely excited on the inside. It was difficult to approach a priest who was being protected by a Holy Knight, but it was easier than eating cake to steal one who was confined like this. Even if confined, this guy was not a child. It was easier than it looked to say the right things to get someone like this to walk out on their own accord.

Furthermore, she was a veteran in this field.

“I see. I thought we were in similar situations and called out……” Carme put on a sad face as she spoke. The young man had a complicated look on his face as he looked around.

– Creak, creak……

He then carefully opened the closed window. Carme continued to laugh internally as she looked at him. She could probably get him into her bedroom in about ten minutes.

– Tap!

It was only the difference of a single glass window, but she could see his handsome face much better than before. Based on the ice ring floating above his head, his partner should be someone with the water attribute. The object wrapped in black silk was obviously a sword. Based on his shoulders, his physique wasn’t bad either. She could hit it big if she took off some fees and sent him directly to a wealthy household in the Holy Kingdom. This was quite the catch!

“Did your Holy Knight partner leave you behind?” the cutie asked with concern.

Even his voice was nice to listen to and she still did not feel any ether. It seemed to be his first time in Moreno, but he looked to have been taught very well. Even she would have nagged him all day and night and kept him confined if he was her priest.

Carme licked her lips and answered. “Yeah. He’s probably fighting in the arena or something. He’ll demand that I give him ether as soon as he gets back.”

That was a lie. She didn’t have a Holy Knight partner. She herself was a Holy Knight.

“……He’ll demand it?”

The cutie seemed to have taken the bait. Carme decided to add some seasoning. She stayed silent for a moment before lowering her pretty eyelids and answering.

“It’s common in relationships like ours. We face all sorts of humiliation and get scolded if we are lacking ether. They even beat us if we don’t get ready on time.”

“He beats you?!” The man turned completely pale. Carme was surprised internally. The situation she mentioned was something that would happen maybe once in one hundred situations. Unless the Holy Knight was complete trash, they would never do something like that to a priest. But he must have heard about the worst of the worst, so she had no idea why he was acting so innocent.

At least this cutie’s Holy Knight seemed to be a respectful one. Or maybe the priest was the one holding the whip in this relationship. ‘He doesn’t seem like it, but maybe he’s a fox?’

“You have to report……! You need to get help. Should I help you?” The man raised his voice before quickly lowering it again. He looked so serious that she thought he might climb over the window at any moment.

Carme was truly worried about this guy for a moment. If she was this handsome man’s Holy Knight, she would not be satisfied with just keeping him confined in a room.

She clicked her tongue but thoroughly continued with the act. “No. Everybody lives like this. I’m nothing special. I guess you’ve never been humiliated by your Holy Knight.”

“……”

“How lucky.”

“Umm… My friends and I will help you. We will escort you to the Vatican. You’ll be able to get out of your current situation.” The man spoke even more desperately than before. Carme smiled bitterly and waived her hand.

“The Vatican? That place has no power.” She was also surprised. ‘My goodness. Not only is he kind-hearted, he is extremely meddlesome.’ She was perplexed and amused as she had never met this kind of person before. The Vatican had been powerless for about 100 years, but an infamous criminal like herself would not want to go into the home base of the Vicarius Generalis. She had abducted at least twenty priests before now-

‘Wait a minute.’

“……Honey, are you on your way to the Vatican?”

“Yes, ma’am. If it is hard to trust us, I can have the manager, Gonzalo, verify my identity. I’m sure my partners will help as well……”

He continued to speak. Carme focused on something else the man said. ‘Partners.’ The rumors she heard in the hallway had been right. There were two priests taking care of three Holy Knights and the Holy Knight who caused a scene was at the Bishop level. Therefore, the three who suppressed him with ether overpowering were either extremely strong Bishops or Archbishops. Even if she thought about it conservatively and they were three extremely strong bishops, priests at the clergy level would not be enough to handle such plates. They were both at the Bishop level or at least one Archbishop and one clergy. And based on the other pieces of information she had gathered……

‘I felt some damn awesome ether at the entrance earlier. It was only for a moment though.’

‘Are you about to make another dirty joke?’

‘No, seriously. Listen to me. I’ve been a Holy Knight for over 30 years and I had never felt such an aura before. It felt like a grassy paradise appeared in the middle of the desert all of a sudden. It was so pure that I couldn’t even speak and all of the strength in my body just went away! I almost got drunk and fell asleep on the roof. I think it was some priest coming with a caravan today. Should I ask if he’s on a pilgrimage?’

‘Oh dear. I’m sure your husband would be happy to hear about this.’

‘Hey! It’s not like that!’

‘Wahahaha!’

“……”

Her instincts had never been wrong. One of the two should be at the Archbishop level.

‘Is he the one?’

“It doesn’t matter if he isn’t,” Carme mumbled to herself. With a face like this, she could sell him at top prices even if his ether was terrible. She felt some greed to keep this guy for herself for a moment, but it was better to fetch a good price for a precious accessory like this guy.

The woman put on a heavy expression and opened her mouth. “Thank you for worrying about me. But I’m still scared of going far with unfamiliar people. My partner and I have been together for a long time. I’ll just accept your kind words, honey!”

The cutie’s face turned even more serious. Carme didn’t care and pretended to close the window. The priest became surprised and flustered once she acted like the conversation was over.

“Excuse me! Don’t you at least get to eat? Do you have a set time you go down to the dining area? Or can you at least tell me how long you will be staying here……”

It was quite funny how his voice slowly became quieter as if he knew he was asking too many things. There would be no Holy Knight on the continent who could reject such a priest. Carme held back a laugh and stopped moving. The handsome man’s eyes sparkled after seeing her hesitating. She suddenly became curious about how he looked without those glasses as well.

“I’m leaving early tomorrow morning! I think I will head down to eat dinner though. Are you coming too, honey? Won’t you get in trouble?”

“No! My friends are not that kind of people. Then can I meet you in the dining area at dinner? I want to hear your sto-”

All of the hair on her body suddenly stood up. Carme’s body was faster than her eyes.

– Baaaaang!

– Clang! Clang!

“Fuck!” She ducked underneath the window without even confirming anything. Baaaaaang! She heard the wall getting struck by something hard. Crumble! Broken bricks, sand, and glass fell on her head. Although it didn’t hurt, it was annoying and frustrating. ‘Fuck, it was almost done!’

“If you destroy the room……! We will get a warning!” She heard the cutie’s concerned voice.

Carme peeked her head out to see the crazy bastard’s face. Her hands were moving quickly to pack her bags. A man was standing at the destroyed window on the other side. Pure black hair that had water dripping down from it and eyes that looked to be on fire… This man’s beauty was out of this world. His body, which was only covered by a gown, was clearly a masterpiece even from a distance.

Craaaackle! His sleeve started to burn. Carme was horrified! “My worst possible kind of enemy. How fucking unlucky!”

She immediately pulled down her veil. It was impossible for an earth attribute clergy level Holy Knight like Carme to defeat someone of this caliber. The fluctuation of ether she could feel was at least at the Archbishop level, and the sharp murderous intent was already poking at her. She felt like it would not be weird if she started to bleed. She needed to run away right away, because she messed with the wrong person!

“Hey, come on! Don’t hold me up like this! Big bro is sorry!” She heard a desperate shout from the other side. She felt an unbelievably magnificent ether.

‘No way.’ Carme stopped moving and jerked her head back. This blonde cutie was the master of that ‘amazing ether.’ And the other animal-like man was lifting him up in the air.

The man looked ready to brutally murder someone. She wondered if he was going to abuse this precious priest, but…

– Plop!

“Eek!”

The man threw the priest on a nearby couch and-

– Clang!

He pulled out a sword as black as his hair!

“Fuck! Whiiiiistle!” Carme whistled as loud as she could.

She was calling for her swift horse, Randy.

‘Yeah, it’s weird that a crazy dog isn’t after such a desirable item!’

– Baaaaaaaang!

“Ah, I’m taking my hands off! I won’t steal him so calm down!” Swoosh, swoosh! She created a large leaf to use like an umbrella and started to run. Shame, embarrassment, she had cast away things like that from the moment she was born. In lawless areas, the survivor was the victor. Crackle! She patted her butt that was on fire and clenched her teeth as she ran. A heat hotter than the sand had its jaws open as it attacked her.

Slam! The guests who noticed the disturbance of ether ran out from all directions. It was the start of chaos.

“My goodness!”

“Did a fight break out inside?!”

“Shit, shit, shit!”

‘Survive as usual, Carme!’

*

At the same time at the heart of the desert… The Temple of Boundaries.

– Crack!

Elise Venetiaan blinked. She saw the quill pen broken in her hand. This was already the third one. Black ink started to stain the white paper. It was a letter she had been writing to Cornelisse. It looked like she would need to start again.

“……”

“Your heart seems unstable, your royal highness,” n old man drinking tea calmly commented. Elise slowly raised her head.

It was the Pope’s representative, the overseer of the neutral region. Vicarius Generalis Ronald Rupert. The almost seventy year old Carinal’s gaze showed no emotions or information. His simple plain clothes didn’t have a single speck of dirt on it. His neatly trimmed beard and white hair showed no issues either.

The crown princess had seen similar people in the Holy Kingdom’s political world. It was useless to try to shrink the distance with such people. Even the smallest of pretense would not work on someone like this.

“……It is because I have a younger sibling I cannot send a letter to.”

That was why she spoke the truth. It wasn’t like trying to hide it would actually hide her feelings. The Vicarius Generalis nodded his head ever so slightly. He motioned with his hand and a Deacon, who had been standing at a distance, came over and handed the crown princess a new writing utensil.

Her refreshments were starting to go cold. This room was extremely magnificent but extremely suffocating. Whether it was because of some sort of foreshadowing or just the solitude of being in an unfamiliar place…… Elise had no idea.

“His highness is heading to the temple being escorted by a caravan of the Empire. Imperial Crown Prince Cédric is also with him to discuss diplomacy with you. We have not received any information that there has been an issue with their journey.” His imposing voice echoed out.

“Yes, I have heard the same.”

“As such, there should be no need for you to worry.”

He then stopped speaking. The crown princess chose silence instead of answering. It was fine no matter what. This had been Elise’s plan from the beginning. Meeting her brother without any interference here in the neutral region, personally chatting with a member of the Riester imperial family, making arrangements for regular meetings, and achieving peace. Everything was going according to her wishes right now.

So why did she feel so anxious? Why did she feel so nervous and what was making her have such ominous feelings? ……What was this feeling deep in her heart that made her feel as if an extremely great fate was coming her way?

“The wait was long.” Rupert spoke as if answering her thoughts. Elise’s blue eyes started to move. “You’ve spent almost half a month here looking after the kingdom’s affairs, so it is normal for you to start worrying about your kingdom and your family, your Royal Highness.”

“……Yes, Father.”

It wasn’t a satisfying explanation. But the crown princess chose to believe it. She had no other choice.

– Scribble scribble……

‘To my dearest Cornelisse.’

She firmed her resolve and started to write again. Elise was someone who would always act like this. She was the type to strike a flame and hammer the metal despite the winds, the waves, or even earthquakes coming her way. This was both her innate nature as well as a result of her learning.

*

A third of the caravanserai’s second floor had been destroyed. No, seriously. This was no joke. Our pig managed to make that happen. In addition, we also did not manage to catch the attempted kidnapper.

“……Two warnings have been issued, sir.”

“I’m sorry! I’m very sorry. Of course we will pay for the damages as well.” I continued to apologize to Gonzalo. The manager, who seemed to have aged 20 years in just a few hours, blankly stared at us. Behind him were pale staff members holding brooms and rags. There was also a plasterer standing with bricks and dirt.

I felt so guilty and embarrassed that I could not raise my head. So I glared to my side instead.

“……”

The crown prince, who had ‘I’m annoyed’ written all over his face, was standing there with the Sword of Wisdom in his hand. A small amount of water was still dripping down from his black hair.

I threw him the first towel I could find since we were in a rush and then started to console Sand, who still thought this was all just a dream. I was seriously going crazy. ‘How do I explain this to the Viscount couple when they get back? Most of it is my fault, but……’

– Baaaaaaaang!

At that moment…

“Aaaaaah!”

– Shaaaaaaaaaaa!

“Waaaaaah! Ahhhhhh!”

I heard the sound of water bombs exploding from the other side of the lodging. Faint screams followed as well. It was the kind of sound you would hear at a water park. I blankly dropped my jaw and looked toward crown prince Cédric.

‘No way, right? Can’t be. There’s no way that our MC, who said she was going to go take a look at the arena, would have caused an issue. She even went with her mother.’

“Hmph.”

But the punk just snorted at me. ‘Ah, why?!’

—
Translator’s Comments

Can’t let Ced have all the spotlight, eh, Chris?