Hearing Amisa’s panicked scream, Vanessa immediately rose from the sofa.

Although the possibility was slim and the door lock remained intact, all the servants had left. There was a chance thieves could have sneaked into this estate and turned it into their temporary hideout. Could a burglar be hiding right in the kitchen and had just been discovered by Amisa??

Thinking this, Vanessa’s heart tightened. After all, this Horaleth family mansion had a weapons storage. If the thieves found it and armed themselves with weapons and armor, hiding in the kitchen and ready to attack, then Amisa would be in grave danger!

While Vanessa pondered how she should respond if the thieves had already taken Amisa hostage.

After all, Amisa wasn’t Fanya, she probably hadn’t learned any combat or sword techniques. She was simply a mage, dangerous in close combat. Once cornered, even an ordinary robber could easily overpower her.

Just as Vanessa entered the kitchen with all sorts of anxious thoughts, she found no one but Amisa inside. Amisa was currently cowering in a corner of the kitchen, hugging herself tightly with a look of utter fear.

“Miss Amisa, what happened? Are you alright??” Vanessa rushed to Amisa’s side and stood protectively in front of her.

“Where did the burglar attack you? Where did they go?” Vanessa asked.

“Eh? What burglar?” Amisa looked utterly bewildered. “Your Highness, what burglar are you talking about?”

“? You weren’t attacked by a burglar hiding in the kitchen?” Vanessa looked doubtful. “Then why did you just scream for help?”

“Ah, that is…” Realizing she had caused Vanessa to misunderstand, Amisa looked embarrassed. “Your Highness Vanessa, I’m sorry, there wasn’t actually any burglar.”

“So, what exactly happened to you?” Vanessa let out a sigh of relief. As long as it wasn’t burglars breaking in, anything else was trivial.

“Your Highness Vanessa, I… just now, when I opened the cupboard…” Amisa was clearly scared, her lovely face pale, hands clutching her chest as if still shaken.

“I… I saw…”

“You saw?” Vanessa didn’t understand.

“I saw… a… a cockroach inside!” Amisa said with a pale face, pitifully.

“…” Vanessa fell silent.

“That… Your Highness Vanessa, please don’t think poorly of me. I’m truly scared of this kind of creature. I’m really sorry for troubling you!” Thinking Vanessa was angry with her, Amisa cautiously tried to explain.

Yet Vanessa still didn’t speak.

Not only did she not speak, but Amisa couldn’t help feeling that Vanessa was pressing even closer against her.

Huh? Huh??

Amisa couldn’t comprehend, was this her imagination?

“Um, Your Highness Vanessa? Are you alright?” Amisa asked tentatively.

“Yes, I’m fine.” Vanessa nodded, her tone as elegant and composed as usual. Yet for some reason, her movements seemed slightly stiff.

“Don’t worry, Amisa, I’ll protect you.” Saying this, Vanessa froze in place, eyes tightly fixed on the direction of the cupboard, her back pressed tightly against Amisa, not moving an inch.

Although she claimed everything was fine, Vanessa stood motionless, staring intently at the cupboard as if facing a deadly enemy.

“Um, Your Highness Vanessa?” Amisa tried calling again.

“Hm? What is it?” Vanessa turned her head, her face still maintained that seemed calm and poised expression.

“N-nothing, ahh! It’s coming out!!” Amisa shrieked in panic, suddenly scared like a frightened little squirrel.

Upon hearing this, Vanessa’s expression stiffened almost imperceptibly. As if accepting her fate, her neck slowly turned back. Seeing that dark, wriggling creature with twitching antennae, capable of darting forward in an instant, Vanessa gulped hard, her forced smile freezing in place.

C-could it really be this unlucky?

Just as Vanessa clung to that faint hope, the cockroach, which had just crawled out and paused briefly, suddenly accelerated, dashing several meters straight toward Vanessa and Amisa.

“?!” Vanessa’s expression changed drastically, nearly squeezing herself into the corner with Amisa.

“Don’t worry, Miss Amisa, I’ll protect you.” Vanessa’s smile was so strained it seemed ready to collapse any second. She tightly hugged Amisa while speaking, her usual composure barely holding on.

“Uuuhhh!” Amisa let out an adorable whimper like a small animal, shut her eyes tight, and fearfully clinging to Vanessa, shrinking into Vanessa’s soft embrace like a chick seeking protection.

Vanessa had nowhere to retreat to. Besides holding the doll-like Amisa in her arms, she could do nothing else.

She slowly drew her legs back. Outwardly maintaining a calm demeanor as she comforted Amisa, inwardly she kept praying desperately for that cockroach gentleman to stop approaching, to turn back now while it was still not too late.

The two remained huddled together like this, watching the cockroach in the kitchen, too afraid to move.

Vanessa didn’t want to look at such a disgusting, horrifying creature, but she had no choice, these things moved so quickly. If she didn’t keep her eyes on it, what if it darted right beside her foot?

And what if, in a blink, it started crawling up her leg?!

Just imagining such a scene made Vanessa feel her heartbeat increasing.

She really wanted to turn and run, but with Amisa present and clinging to her, she couldn’t possibly do that.

What should she do?

Maybe, muster up courage and send the cockroach gentleman to meet the goddess??

After all, it’s just one simple action, lift her foot and stomp down. Was she really unable to do such a simple act?

Fanya was right, she’d never feared even losing her life before. Why should she fear a mere pest now??

At worst, she could just close her eyes while stepping!

With this thought, Vanessa took a deep, resigned breath.

Indeed, this task could only fall to her. She had to protect Amisa and the others.

Thus, Vanessa made her decision. Vanessa found her resolved. Vanessa gathered her courage.

Then, Vanessa’s wrist twitched, and that was it. There was no follow-through.

She had symbolically attempted resistance.

It wasn’t that she couldn’t crush the cockroach. But just imagining the scene of it bursting under her feet made her too uncomfortable.

Vanessa covered her mouth, suppressing the urge to vomit.

She realized she truly couldn’t do it, this was just too disgusting!

Unless absolutely necessary, she truly didn’t want to have anything to do with such filthy, nauseating creatures.

No, wait, why should she fear this thing? After all, it was just a tiny cockroach. Having grown up in such harsh environments since childhood, how could she possibly fear such a creature??

But, but…

No matter how she tried to reason, how she attempted to bolster her courage, she simply couldn’t do it??

Vanessa’s legs twitched, the thought of stepping forward flickered across her mind, but only for an instant. The moment it appeared, it disappeared just as quickly. Her legs merely showed a slight tendency to lift before immediately going limp.

Thus, the scene unfolded: Vanessa continuously comforted Amisa, yet remained huddled with her, too afraid to move, reluctant to deal with the cockroach rampaging around the kitchen.

Yes, yes, since she was supposed to protect Amisa, naturally she had to stay by her side every second. That’s perfectly reasonable, right? There’s nothing wrong with this, right?

Vanessa believed so.

The standoff continued until Fanya and Luna, having returned from selecting weapons and not finding Vanessa in the living room, grew curious. Wondering if Vanessa had grown tired and gone to rest, they became puzzled upon hearing Vanessa’s voice from the kitchen and entered with confusion.

Then they saw Vanessa and Amisa strangely huddled in the corner, clinging to each other, seemingly doing nothing in particular.

Luna instantly noticed that although Vanessa was trying her best to maintain a dignified posture, she was clearly at her breaking point, the elegant expression on her face was nearly crumbling.

“What’s going on?” Fanya, completely unaware of what had happened, instinctively assumed the two had encountered some danger and quickly drew her sword, positioning herself protectively in front of them.

“Your Highness, Amisa, are you both alright?!” Fanya shielded them while asking. “What happened?!”

“Miss Fanya, there’s no need for such an alarm.” Luna stopped Fanya. “I think nothing particularly noteworthy has occurred.”

“Eh, really?” Fanya hesitated. If nothing had happened, why were these two cowering in the corner, too afraid to move?

“They are fine.” Saying this, Luna casually tossed a small spark, reducing the cockroach that was attempting to scurry away into ashes. This action was extremely subtle and went unnoticed by Fanya, but Vanessa and Amisa certainly noticed, it was, after all, the sole focus of their attention since moments ago.

“Are you two alright, Your Highness, Miss Amisa?” Luna approached them with a cheerful smile.

“I’m alright, thank you, Lady Luna.” Amisa replied, somewhat embarrassed.

She had been trying to cook, got discouraged by a single cockroach, and ended up making the Saintess waste energy taking care of her.

“Thank you for coming so promptly, Your Highness. I’m sorry for troubling you.”

“It’s nothing, as long as you’re safe.” Vanessa, hearing Amisa praised her, felt awkward and didn’t know how to respond, so she could only say this.

She had come to save the day, yet ended up acting like this.

“Well then, it’s truly thanks to the Saintess’s timely arrival~” Luna’s eyes curved into crescent moons as she gazed at Vanessa with a teasing smile, her tone full of hidden meaning.

“Yes.” Vanessa, naturally picking up on Luna’s deliberate teasing, could only nod embarrassedly.

“Uh, huh?” Fanya looked from Vanessa to Luna, completely baffled.

Just what exactly had happened a moment ago?

The oblivious Fanya hadn’t noticed the burned cockroach, or perhaps her attention was simply elsewhere. There was no way she would ever imagine the Saintess being paralyzed with fear by a tiny cockroach.

The little incident ended. Amisa continued cooking. Given the limited ingredients and time, she couldn’t prepare anything elaborate, but it was enough to fill their stomachs. The food tasted quite good, clearly, Amisa was skilled at cooking. Fanya’s expression alone shows she often mooched meals from Amisa.

After finishing their meal, everyone’s moods improved, although they were also tired. Half an hour later, they each returned to their rooms to sleep.

The group stayed at the Horaleth family villa for several days. On the fifth day, the servants returned. Seeing people inside the house started them at first, but they calmed down upon seeing Luna. After Luna explained the situation, they understood what had happened.

As for other matters, since Luna didn’t mention them, they naturally didn’t inquire or speak out of turn.

“By the way, where did you all go?” Luna asked.

“You see, Miss, we noticed the recent anomalies at Mount Kamov too. Knowing that your study trip was scheduled here, we decided to notify the main family. But since we didn’t have communication scrolls here, we had to return to deliver the message. Plus, we were running low on supplies, so we figured we’d bring everything back together.” The explained servants. “We’re so relieved you’re safe. The head of the family will be at ease knowing this.”

Luna nodded. “What about Carillian Academy? Did you find out anything?”

“Oh, we were just about to mention that. On our way back, we saw a group from Carillian Academy heading toward the imperial border.” said the servant.

“Where exactly? Take us there.”

“Of course. Do you need us to send word to the family for reinforcements to pick you up?”

“No need. Just tell us the general directions.” Luna shook her head.

“Understood. If you can’t find them, you can always come back to us.” After the servant informed Luna of the approximate location where the Carillian Academy group had headed, the group took some food and water and continued onward. Before departing, Luna also took a set of male clothing.

Having rested for several days, they had fully recovered. After all, their Soul armament were all [Holy Envoys], any injuries could be instantly healed.

Fortunately, the Carillian Academy group hadn’t traveled far. They quickly spotted the tail end of their formation.

This group was likely formed when some instructors gathered up the students they could find upon exiting the Magic Cube alternate space.

Vanessa gazed at the distant group, wondering if any of her acquaintances were among them.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep