Chapter 87

Chapter 87

The two relaxed and dropped to the ground. Despite their tiredness, they were joyful to have succeeded, and laughed.

The two raised their hands and bumped their fists.

“You’re the best!”

“You too. I didn’t know you had improved this much.”

“Hehe. It’s all thanks to you.”

Meanwhile, Hizen bent over and lifted the huge skull while looking at the remains of the skeleton soldier. An unpleasant burning sensation spread to his fingertips.

Hizen carefully examined the skeleton soldier’s bones without changing his facial expression. The same pattern as the magic circle seen at the Island of Death was engraved on the skull’s forehead.

There were not just one or two suspicious things, but Hizen bit the inside of his gums.

Leasis and Setchen, who had regained some energy, approached Hizen.

“Commander-nim?”

“…Leasis, Setchen. Don’t tell anyone about this.”

“Yes?”

“Max and the other members are no exception.”

The two were puzzled but nodded, believing it was because they had to be careful. At first glance, it did not seem like an ordinary case. There was no way such a monster could have appeared in this forest.

There was something dark on Hizen’s fingertips as he put the skull back on the ground. It was something like powder.

The remains of the skeleton on the floor gradually became black and turned into powder. The black powder scattered into the air of the night sky. Curious, Setchen smiled at it innocently.

Hizen stared quietly at Leasis. She seemed to be in a better shape than before, with a better complexion and a peaceful smile.

Hizen’s gaze went down a little. What she had in her hand was not a wooden sword, but a real sword.

He shut his mouth as he recalled the battle just before. Leasis had more natural talent than anyone else, and now she could even handle a real sword skillfully.

Was it a good thing or a bad thing?

Hizen wondered, and said.

“Leasis. As of today, you are allowed to use a real sword.”

On the last night of the escort mission, Ashley waited outside for Hizen, wearing a revealing dress with a deep neckline.

However, he did not even show his nose as if he had noticed her provocative intention. Eventually, she caught a cold and became sick in the Imperial Palace.

After that, Ashley made no progress in her relationship with Hizen. She tried everything, inviting Hizen to tea time or sending him letters.

The man, as cold as ice, still treated Ashley as if he were ignoring her, and she could not control her anger.

Ashley remembered that Leasis used to be a maid in the past and therefore treated her maids more contemptuously and coldly than before.

“Are you ignoring me now? Huh? The maids are out of their minds, aren’t they?”

Ashley spat out swear words while holding the hair of her maids with both hands.

The maids were only shedding tears, holding back their groans in the fear of losing their heads. If a sound came out of their mouth, she would beat them more, saying not to make a fuss.

The bodies of the maids who had to endure the pain were full of wounds. But the cruel thing was that Ashley was making their wounds rot, instead of giving them medecine.

Even the superior maid was vicious when angry. As a result, the maids could not sit properly or even eat. The soles of their feet and legs were sore from the harsh whipping, and they could not chew food because their mouth hurt.

Rumors about it spread throughout the Imperial Palace, through the mouths of the maids. It finally reached Leasis and Iddahak, who were doing laundry with Owen.

“Yes. She has a bad smell.”

“Puhaha.”

The maids doing laundry burst into laughter at Iddahak’s words. They loved Iddahak, a handsome boy who had a fine appearance.

Owen and Iddahak, in particular, got along very well. They talked informally to each other.

“Right? Anyway, she’s really an evil woman.”

“Do you want me to kill her?”

“That would be great!”

When Iddahak asked her an insignificant question, Owen nodded. He was not going to kill her anyway. It was only a joke.

But Iddahak’s skin began to turn into red scales. Leasis spoke low, holding the laundry bat in her hand.

“Stop.”

“Okay.”

Frightened, Iddahak quickly lowered his tail. For some reason, the atmosphere around Leasis was scary.

Leasis’ expression holding the laundry bat was dark. It was heartbreaking for her to see the girls who were in the same situation as she had been as a maid until recently, suffer like this.

After finishing the laundry, Leasis took some of her money and headed straight to the temple. Fortunately, she had a lot of time because she was free after the escort mission.

She saw an unexpected figure as she went through the splendid entrance of the temple. It was a dark-haired man walking with Contiben and a group of servants.

“Hello, El-nim.”

“Oh, my. Lea.”

Quick to understand the situation, Contiben stepped back with the servants. Elnos stared at Leasis and smiled mischievously. In the past, only the freshness could be seen on the girl’s face, but now she had a strange color. Did she become a woman from a girl?

“You’ve gotten prettier in the meantime.”

“What?”

Elnos laughed after saying ‘I’m serious’. It was a real laugh, with both his mouth and eyes smiling. Contiben, who was watching from afar, was surprised.

“By the way, why are you going to the temple?”

“I want to get some holy water.”

“Why? Where did you get hurt?”

Prince Elnos raised his voice. Contiben continued to look alternately between Elnos and Leasis with gloomy eyes.

It was his first time seeing the two in such a deep relationship. Then should he say it? Or should he hide it…

“No, I’m not hurt. There is somewhere I have to use it.”

“The holy water is expensive. Will you be okay?”

“How much is it?”

Elnos took out a small glass bottle. Then he said with an charming smile.

“About 10 gold per bottle like this?”

10 gold for that small one? Leasis opened her mouth wide. Stealing was bad, but for the first time she understood how Furgin had felt when he stole the operating expenses for his father’s medical treatment.

Elnos thought deeply as he saw Leasis’ expression become serious. She could use healing magic, but seeing that she came all the way here, she could not use it this time.

Healing magic could not be used on a lot of patients at the same time. So she came to buy holy water for a group of people. And seeing that they did not come themselves, they must be in a really serious situation.

Elnos easily gave her an answer to her problem.

“If the price of holy water is too high, you can dilute it with water.”

“Can I do that?”

“It will be a little less effective, but it will still be a lot more effective than most medecine.”

Leasis’ face became noticeably brighter. Elnos looked at her blankly, blinking his black eyes.

Twinkle Twinkle. The warm afternoon sun seemed to pour down on her.

“Thank you, El-nim. I’ll repay you next time!”

Leasis entered the temple with a big smile. Elnos looked at her back and murmured.

“You look better with a smile… No. This is not the time.”

Elnos shook his head hurriedly and approached Contiben. The two left the temple discussing their next plans in private.

Leasis purchased holy water from the temple, diluted it with water and put it in glass bottles as Elnos had said. When others saw it, they mistook it for water.

Leasis secretly provided treatment to Ashley’s maids through a acquainted servant. He was a quick-witted and well-behaved person among the imperial servants.

The servant soon entered Ashley’s palace. He said, delivering a bottle of water to the superior maid.

“I told you not to save it. There is no trace left, so there will be no problem avoiding Princess Ashley’s eyes.”

The superior maid could not understand. In the meantime, Ashley’s maids hated Leasis. The servant should too, because Ashley’s grip had worsened due to her.

So she had made bad rumors and pointed fingers at her from behind. Leasis must have noticed it as well.

“Why are you telling us…”

“What a fool. Leasis knows our troubles best. She has no choice but to worry because you will die if you force yourself to endure the Princess’ treatment when you are sick.”

“Anyway, use it well. If you use it entirely, tell me right away.”

The superior maid gave strength to the hand holding the glass bottle. When the servant disappeared, she cleverly called out the maids one by one and gave them holy water.

As Elnos had said, the effects of the diluted holy water were great. The maids’ wounds quickly healed.

“Ah… Ahh…”

A maid shed tears as she was mesmerized to see her rotten wound healed. In addition, those who had injuries making their daily life impossible were treated in an instant.

Their hate for Leasis disappeared like snow under the sun, and their minds changed. Considering the facts, wasn’t Ashley the reason why they had been suffering all this time?

They regretted their resentment so far. They wanted to return the favor for her good heart, as she cared about them when no one else did.

The maids voluntarily thought together at the palace after their work. Even if they could not do anything big, they wanted to show her their sincerity.

After much consideration, they decided to help Leasis catch Hizen’s eyes.

“There’s a party coming up, so let’s get her some makeup and a dress beautiful enough to make the Count-nim fall in love with her.”

“Okay! Since she’s busy, she probably doesn’t care about the accessories.”

“But what about the dress…?”

Even if they worked together to save money, it was difficult to prepare an beautiful dress worn by noble ladies. They sighed with a sad look.

However, the superior maid smiled after confirming that Ashley was asleep. She spoke with confidence.

“Don’t worry. There’s a good way.”

“How?”

The superior maid took a wooden box out of the palace’s cabinet. There was a beautiful red dress hidden inside.

It had been hidden there by the superior maid who was executed. The new superior maid looked at it and her eyes shone.

If the dexterous maids joined forces, reforming this dress would be easy.

Hizen visited Nathan’s office more often. As always, the two sat face to face on the sofa and discussed seriously.

“As time goes by, the number of monsters invading the Empire is increasing exponentially. We have to do something before it’s too late.”

“I will soon go and lead the Imperial Elite Knights to destroy the monsters and the magic circles on the western side of the Empire.”

“Please do so. It should be over sooner or later.”

Hizen nodded slightly at Nathan’s words. Nathan smiled bitterly at his determined appearance.

“I’m sorry.”

“What do you mean?”

“I heard that you rejected all the calls of Princess Ashley because of this incident.”

Nathan leaned on the sofa and thought. Ashley’s love for Hizen was already well known inside and outside of the Imperial Palace.

Now that both of them were adults, wouldn’t it be a good marriage if both felt the same way? Nathan stared at Hizen with eyes filled with anticipation.

Hizen, who noticed the misunderstanding, said straight away.

“No way.”

“It’s because of the maid who became a knight.”

At Hizen’s silence, Nathan smiled bitterly. Tens of thousands of nagging came to his mind, but he spoke as concisely as he could.

“I’m sure you’ll behave well.”

It was an advice to stay out of the Emperor’s sight. Hizen sighed softly at Nathan’s words.

“I’ll be there until the party, and then proceed with the mission.”