Chapter 28

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“Damn it!”

Oswin exploded in anger in the guest room assigned to him.

The guest room was spacious and luxurious, but it was far from enough to soothe his current mood.

The beautiful scenery of the castle outside the window and the expensive artwork hanging on the walls didn’t catch his eye.

Sweat continued to drip from his forehead, and his face was flushed red.

“How dare they treat me like this… How dare they treat a bishop like this!”

He roughly wiped the sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief.

The handkerchief was already soaked with sweat and was no longer usable.

Nevertheless, Oswin clung to it, shaking it as he paced around the room.

“What? ‘My children will grow up just fine without Your Excellency’s blessings’?”

Oswin mocked the Lord of Leyton’s words, imitating his tone.

His plump face twisted with contempt.

“Blasphemy… That’s blasphemy!”

Although he hadn’t said it in front of the Lord of Leyton, it was clearly blasphemy. (T/N:Not really)

“Do they even know who I am?!”

He huffed and plopped down on a chair in the corner of the guest room.

The chair creaked and wobbled under his heavy weight.

“Lord Leyton, you’ll regret this… You’ll pay dearly for daring to ignore me…” (T/N:So… what happened to not messing with him on his own land?)

He had already come up with a way to get revenge on the Lord of Leyton.

It was to take Ellie away.

It would also satisfy Oswin’s desires.

“And those cheeky brats… They think they can protect their sister, but it won’t go their way. Hehe.”

Oswin’s small eyes gleamed coldly.

◈

A refreshing breeze blew through the garden, and beautiful flowers were in full bloom.

If it were any other day, Ellie would have been running around the garden with a bright smile, but she wasn’t in the mood for that now.

She had just gone through an unpleasant experience.

Earlier, as she was leaving the dining hall after eating, a soldier approached her and said her father wanted to see her.

Ellie hesitated for a moment but eventually followed the soldier.

She wanted to see her father. She hadn’t seen him in a while because she had been holed up in her room.

Ellie wanted to hug her father warmly and apologize for hating him.

But she couldn’t.

Her father wasn’t alone.

“Is… is this Ellie?”

There was a man next to her father whom she had never seen before.

.

.

.

“…I was scared.”

Ellie spoke in a small voice.

Now, in the garden, Ellie was tightly clinging to Lucy’s arm, resting her head on Lucy’s shoulder.

Being close to Lucy made her feel safe.

“That man wanted to take me away… But I never want to go with him…”

At Ellie’s words, Ed clenched his fists beside her.

“Don’t worry, Ellie. No one’s going to take you away.”

“…Thank you, big brother Ed. I’m grateful for earlier too. For protecting me…”

“Of course, I’ll protect you. You’re my sister.”

“You’re so reliable. And thank you too, big brother Ron.”

“…”

Ron silently flipped through the pages of his book.

Then Ed tilted his head in confusion.

“But that person, he’s a bishop, right? Why did he come to the estate?”

“Father called him.”

Ron answered.

“There’s been a lot of bad stuff happening in the territory lately. Monsters have appeared too.”

“But I already took care of the monsters…”

“Still, it’s the first time they’ve appeared, so he’s worried. He wants to check if there’s a reason for the monsters appearing and, while he’s at it, receive some blessings.”

At Ron’s words, Ed awkwardly scratched his head.

Lucy also looked uncomfortable, her gaze fixed on the air.

The monster Ron was talking about was none other than Amon, whom Lucy had summoned.

In other words, the Lord of Leyton’s worries were because of Lucy.

“…Anyway, I hope he leaves soon.”

Ellie spoke in an uneasy voice.

“I don’t like that man being in the castle…”

She hugged Lucy’s arm even tighter.

When night fell, Lucy decided to return home.

Ellie begged her to stay and sleep over, but she couldn’t.

Her grandfather would worry.

After promising multiple times to visit again, she finally managed to leave the castle.

Just like when she arrived, Ed and Theodore safely escorted her home.

Though Lucy could have easily gone alone.

When they arrived at her house, Ed spoke.

“Lucy, thank you so much. Ellie seems to be doing better because of you.”

“…Yeah.”

Lucy nodded.

Ellie was definitely doing better.

She no longer locked herself in her room and was eating properly. She wasn’t crying either.

She wasn’t as bright as before, but she was clearly doing better. She’d continue to improve with time.

Still, Lucy felt uneasy.

It was because of that bishop they had talked about earlier.

Ellie was terrified of him and felt deeply unsettled.

“…Ed.”

Lucy spoke to Ed.

“Protect Ellie well.”

“…”

Ed looked at Lucy for a moment, then slowly nodded.

A sense of determination could be seen in his eyes.

“I’ll definitely protect Ellie. Don’t worry.”

“Yeah.”

Lucy turned her gaze to Theodore, who was standing next to Ed.

Theodore was diligently polishing the sword at his waist with a cloth.

The Aurora, bestowed upon him by the Lord of Leyton.

Seeing how carefully he treated it, it seemed he really cherished the sword.

“Theodore.”

When Lucy called, Theodore looked up.

“Yeah?”

“Protect Ed well.”

After saying that, Lucy quickly turned around.

She went straight into the house.

“…”

Ed and Theodore stood there for a moment, dumbfounded.

Then they looked at each other and chuckled.

◈

When Lucy returned home, her grandfather was asleep.

And Kairos was sitting at the table, reading some book intently.

Lucy approached Kairos.

“I’m back.”

“Welcome back.”

“What are you reading?”

“A book.”

“…What book?”

“This one.”

Kairos smirked.

It was a somewhat arrogant smile.

“The essence of all mushroom dishes in the world…”

“Goodnight, Kai.”

Lucy turned away. She didn’t feel the need to hear more.

Lucy closed the door and entered her room.

She quickly changed into her pajamas and flopped onto the bed.

Lucy’s white hair spread softly across the bed.

She stared at the ceiling, lost in thought.

It had been a hectic day.

Comforting Ellie, hugging Ellie, eating the food Ellie fed her…

It was all about Ellie.

“…”

Will she be okay?

Ellie’s unease bothered her.

Why was she so scared of that bishop?

If he’s a bishop, then he’s a clergyman, and aren’t clergymen supposed to be good people…

Lucy closed her eyes.

Surely, nothing bad will happen.

There are plenty of people in the castle to protect Ellie.

There’s the Lord of Leyton, Ed, Ron, and Theodore.

So Ellie should be safe.

Probably.

‘…This is strange.’

The Lord of Leyton sat in his office, deep in thought.

‘What is he even doing?’

It had already been two days since Bishop Oswin arrived at the castle.

Although there had been some unpleasantries on the first day, the Lord of Leyton had treated him as an honored guest.

But Oswin hadn’t done anything.

He hadn’t tried to investigate the issues in the territory, nor had he given any blessings.

He hadn’t even left the castle.

Oswin had simply stayed holed up in his guest room for two days.

Aside from devouring an enormous amount of food, he hadn’t done anything else.

It was suspicious.

The Lord of Leyton couldn’t shake the feeling that Oswin was plotting something.

And his suspicions were correct.

Knock knock!

The sound of urgent knocking.

“My lord, something terrible has happened!”

“What is it?”

The Lord of Leyton jumped up and opened the door.

A soldier stood there, panting heavily.

“A group of knights has gathered in front of the castle gates!”

“What? What knights?”

“They’re holy knights! They say they’ve come from the Papal Court, and there are over a hundred and fifty of them!”

The Lord of Leyton’s eyes sharpened instantly.

“What’s their purpose?”

“Th-that’s…”

At that moment, a voice chimed in from the side.

“Hoho, let me explain, Lord Leyton.”

It was Oswin.

He was waddling slowly down the corridor, his plump body swaying.

Behind him, armed holy knights followed.

A look of triumphant joy was evident on Oswin’s face.

“…It seems there are suspicions that your daughter is a witch. I sent a letter to the Papal Court requesting troops. I included your blasphemy in the letter, so the troops arrived faster than expected.”

“What?!”

The Lord of Leyton’s eyes flashed with anger.

“My daughter… a witch?”

The air around them seemed to freeze.

Oswin flinched momentarily under the Lord of Leyton’s threatening aura but quickly regained his composure.

Behind him were the holy knights, and outside the castle, there were even more.

Even the Lord of Leyton wouldn’t dare act recklessly in this situation.

If he antagonized Oswin now, it would mean making an enemy of the Papal Court.

“It’s not confirmed yet, but there are suspicious elements, you see. We’ll take her to the cathedral for an investigation, and if she’s not a witch, we’ll release her immediately, so don’t worry…”

Swoosh—!

The Lord of Leyton drew his sword.

Translator Note

T/N (Translator’s note):
And that he answered: ‘Yes, I indeed would act recklessly in this situation.’