“Heidi! You’re alive!”

“Everyone on that ship survived.”

Rosie smiled faintly as she spoke.

“You said we’d stick together until Bellotsa Harbor, Lady Linna. We got separated for a bit, but I wanted to say goodbye properly. I thought you might worry.”

“Heidi.”

Linna grabbed Rosie’s hand as she spoke.

“Come with me. Let’s go to the Idra Duchy. How much do you want, how much for ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) you to—no.”

Linna, speaking hastily, shook her head and asked more politely.

“I really like your work ethic. How much should I pay you per hour to hire you?”

At Linna’s words, Madam Lorant, standing nearby, looked absolutely shocked. It was the first time she’d ever heard Linna say something so proper.

“Now that the Entoho is wrecked like that, you’ve lost your job too.”

“No, Lady Linna.”

Rosie shook her head.

“I have somewhere else to be. I really did come just to say goodbye. And as for yesterday’s wages…”

Rosie tapped the skull-shaped earring hanging from her ear.

“I’ll count these as payment, Lady Linna. My day’s labor was worth enough not to just give them back.”

“…Heidi, I need you to—.”

Linna, stepping toward Rosie without realizing it, suddenly stopped dead. She could feel Madam Lorant’s curious gaze on her.

“…Alright.”

Linna’s shoulders drooped. She looked at Rosie quietly and murmured,

“It’s probably… better if you go. Yeah. You’d only see bad things if you stayed by my side anyway… You’ve had it rough too.”

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Rosie stood in front of Linna, hesitating for a moment, but in the end she didn’t say anything.

Cashie, curled up in Linna’s arms, let out a deep sigh and just buried his head into her chest.

Rosie looked at Linna silently. Then after a pause, she slowly spoke.

“I didn’t have it rough. I ate some really delicious cake, took a bath in a first-class room, and got a pretty handkerchief.”

Tears welled up slightly in Linna’s eyes.

“Maybe there are people who only show you bad things, but you’re not one of them, Lady Linna. At least for me, I was glad to be with you, so don’t think like that anymore.”

“…Heidi.”

As Rosie’s words gently comforted her, Linna clenched her lower lip and took a deep breath.

Then it happened.

“I’ll need your cooperation, Duke Dyfenril.”

A cold voice called out from the distance.

There stood Sir Payton, the Holy Knight Commander who had just arrived with Linna, glaring fiercely at Zahid.

“We believe the destruction of the Entoho is your responsibility, Duke. We ask that you comply with the Temple’s investigation.”

Startled, Linna turned to look.

“Hm… My responsibility? I didn’t do anything.”

Zahid answered lazily.

Just then, Shulva appeared at Zahid’s side.

“Duke, I’ve been looking all over for you. You must have lost your pipe in all this mess, yes? Here it is.”

Shulva handed Zahid a new pipe.

“Good thing we bought them in bulk.”

“Thanks, Shulva.”

Zahid took the pipe slowly from Shulva, not caring one bit about Payton’s murderous glare.

He exhaled smoke nonchalantly, and Payton shouted, his face twisted with anger.

“You don’t deny this happened because of your Divine Beast. And your Divine Beast only obeys your commands, doesn’t it?”

“It doesn’t listen to anyone else, true, but that doesn’t mean it only listens to me. Divine Beasts do whatever they want.”

Zahid stroked Fire, sitting at his feet, as he spoke.

“Right now, I want Fire to rip your throat out, but he’s just sitting there, isn’t he? He knows it’d only make things worse for me.”

“What the hell…”

Payton trembled, his voice full of menace.

“Then why the hell did your Divine Beast go down to the lower decks on its own?”

“Who knows? Who can understand a Divine Beast’s will?”

Zahid took another drag on his pipe, completely indifferent.

“Maybe he was sulking because he didn’t get enough attention.”

“…What?”

“He probably didn’t like that I’ve been obsessed with my fiancée. Guess he was fed up.”

“What are you talking about! You’ve been like that for nine years, why now all of a sudden…?”

“Maybe not. Who knows. It’s not like I can talk to the beast.”

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

Zahid chuckled low in the haze of smoke.

“Too bad I can’t give you a straight answer.”

The angrier Payton got, the more amused Zahid looked.

Watching this, Linna clicked her tongue.

“You see that, Heidi? He’s a complete psycho. Sinks a whole ship and doesn’t even blink.”

And she added, seriously,

“Don’t get involved. Seriously, look at him—he’s only twenty, but he looks like he’s thirty.”

Then—

“That’s enough, Sir Payton.”

Someone stepped out from the crowd. It was Yuta, holding his rabbit Divine Beast.

As he appeared, dressed in immaculate priest robes, Payton bowed his head immediately.

“He’s just going to keep saying, ‘This damn brat Divine Beast doesn’t listen, I’m just here to screw with you.’ I know that all too well from teaching him back at the Academy.”

Yuta gave Zahid a cold glance and continued.

“Either way, it’s true the Duke’s Divine Beast caused trouble. Even if the Duke himself isn’t at fault, we can’t just let this keep happening.”

At that, Payton smirked triumphantly.

Zahid said nothing, simply staring at Yuta, and Yuta kept going.

“For now, the Divine Beast will be confined by the Temple. The beast needs to learn it did something wrong.”

Linna clicked her tongue again. She whispered to Rosie beside her.

“What bad luck. Lord Yuta’s really high up in the Temple, so he can hand down punishment like that. If he weren’t here, Zahid could’ve used his title to shut this down.”

Rosie just gave a vague smile, not answering.

“Duke.”

At Yuta’s words, Zahid let out a dry laugh.

“Funny, hearing this from someone with a Divine Beast of his own… How can a Divine Beast and its master be separated?”

“Oh, I have a great idea then. You can be confined too.”

“Fine.”

Zahid chuckled.

“Let’s go.”

Before Yuta could reply, Shulva shoved a box into Zahid’s hands.

“Our Duke here can skip meals, but he can’t go without a smoke. Please take this with you.”

“Shulva, maybe I should ask if adjutants are allowed in?”

At Zahid’s joking words, Shulva adjusted his glasses, deadly serious.

“I’ll be working from outside to get you released, Duke. I’ll make sure that ‘for now’ is as short as possible.”

“Alright, I’ll count on you.”

Yuta watched quietly, then gave the order.

“Let’s go. From here on, I’m taking you into custody under my authority.”

And Zahid followed Yuta, Fire at his side.

Linna, annoyed at Payton’s smug face, grumbled,

“…Didn’t even think about arresting the Duke back on the Entoho, just rushed to escape, and now he’s acting all high and mighty…”

She turned to Rosie, about to comment on how ridiculous it was—

“Ah.”

Rosie was gone. She’d really just come to say goodbye and left.

At that moment, a group of maids in Idra Duchy uniforms came running over.

“Lady Linna! Are you alright?”

“Are you hurt anywhere? Huh?”

“Come quickly. We’ve booked a room at the hotel.”

Linna slowly lowered her head, staring at her feet planted on the ground.

It felt like she was back to her normal life now.

She scratched absentmindedly at her upper thigh, an old habit that hadn’t shown itself on the Entoho.

The brown marks hidden beneath her underwear—scars layered on scars—were something Rosie hadn’t seen.

Linna slowly started walking. Her eyes, now dull, asked softly,

“Alcohol?”

“…Pardon?”

“Did you prepare alcohol?”

“Yes. We’ve stocked all kinds, so don’t worry.”

Only Cashie, in Linna’s arms, let out a long, drawn-out meow.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep