The commotion at the Clock Tower was not difficult to trace. There were only a few places the Saintess could have gone after failing to return at night.
Unlike the confused onlookers who were in the dark, those in the know only needed to combine their gathered intelligence with the lingering clues to find the missing Saintess.
It was merely a matter of time.
And so, late into the night.
With a crisp clang, the dormitory door belonging to Valo and her two daughters was torn off its hinges by a feminine figure.
The door was swatted aside, sent flying as easily as a piece of scrap paper.
Then, Sister Superior Kenes stepped into the dormitory with a smile, her pace elegant and composed.
“Good evening, Lady Valo,” she greeted “politely,” her voice slightly raised. “Even though you slipped away quickly, your scent and the Saintess’s still linger in the winds of the Clock Tower.”
Calling it a smile or a polite greeting felt somewhat inappropriate…
Because the trademark smile that usually graced the Sister Superior’s face regardless of the time or place…
Looked like it was on the verge of cracking.
“May I ask if you intended to kidnap the Saintess with such a clumsy method? Have you finally revealed your Demon Clan fangs?”
Her boots tapped a rhythmic, crisp beat against the floor. With steps that sounded like a death knell, the Sister Superior walked toward the only bedroom that still had its lights on.
“Why is the Hero involved in this? Did you manipulate her?”
She then slammed the door open!
And then…
The Sister Superior froze.
Under the warm glow of the lamp, the Saintess—whom the Sister Superior had been searching for—was sitting comfortably.
She was wearing a pair of pajamas borrowed from the Female Hero, sitting with Lady Valo and her two daughters as they played a game of Monopoly.
At that moment, the Saintess had just rolled the dice. Startled by the Sister Superior’s sudden appearance, all four women turned their heads in unison to look at her.
The scene was so eerily heartwarming that even the widely experienced Sister Superior was momentarily stunned.
“Uh… Saintess? What… what are you all doing?”
The bedroom fell silent.
“Sister Superior? Is something wrong?”
The Saintess blinked, her gaze pure and innocent as she asked, “Are you looking for me? Oh? Did you forget? Today is the day I oversee Lady Valo’s Qualification Review, so naturally, I would be staying with her.”
“Tsk… Saintess, please don’t try to brush this off,” the Sister Superior replied, almost laughing from sheer exasperation. “If that is the case, then what happened at the Clock Tower’s Colosseum? Why are there traces of a battle?”
“And do you realize what time it is? Everyone was in a panic after they couldn’t find you.”
Anqi tilted her head, maintaining her innocent facade.
“Oh—that. Finney and I were accompanying Lady Valo for a walk at the Clock Tower this evening to help her digest her food. When we passed the Colosseum, my hands felt a bit itchy, so I decided to have a long-overdue spar with Finney.”
“After we finished, I accepted Lady Valo’s invitation to use her bath. I’ve been playing board games with everyone ever since I finished bathing.”
The next moment.
“Haaa…”
The Sister Superior closed her eyes and took a long, deep breath. she rubbed her forehead gently, her words catching in her throat.
Something felt wrong about the scene and the explanation, yet the Saintess was indeed safe and sound, showing no signs of being threatened or coerced…
So, the Saintess’s account was correct.
Was it?
In the end, the Sister Superior could only let out a heavy sigh and stop pressing the matter. “Very well, Saintess. It is late. Will you return to the Church with me now?”
Before she could finish, Lady Valo hurriedly chimed in. “Yes, yes, the Sister Superior is right. Anqi, it’s late. You should… uh, go back to the Hidden Sea Church for a good night’s rest to calm your mind or something.”
“Just come see me tomorrow. I’m right here anyway; I’m not going to run away.”
The bedroom fell into a brief silence.
The Sister Superior felt that the atmosphere in the room was quite strange.
For instance… Kaika, who had been focused on the game pieces, silently raised her head to study Anqi.
Or… the Hero, who had been restless, had now clenched her fists and tensed her body as if she were ready to do something drastic!
Finally, the Saintess’s mumble broke the awkward silence.
“I don’t want to.”
“Today is the final day of Lady Valo’s Qualification Review. Is it so wrong for me to stay and share some heart-to-heart words with her, Sister Superior?”
Pausing, the Saintess turned her body. Ignoring the Hero’s hesitant movements, she wrapped an arm around Valo’s waist and leaned her head against the woman’s shoulder.
“You don’t need to worry about safety. Isn’t Finney here? Finney, if there’s real danger, you’ll protect me, right?”
“Uh… yeah. Yes.”
“See, Sister Superior? That’s what Finney said. So, I plan to stay the night here. Lady Valo, you won’t mind if I squeeze into your bed and sleep with you, right?”
The Sister Superior clearly saw Lady Valo freeze. She didn’t move an inch as she gave a stiff nod.
“No problem… I support it…”
“Thank you. Oh, Lady Valo, should we change to a thinner blanket later? You look a bit hot. You’re sweating at the neck.”
“Ah, haha… it’s just the humid weather. Too much moisture in the air.”
Faced with such a perfect and harmonious picture, the Sister Superior was left with no choice. She could only helplessly agree to Anqi’s proposal—after all, she still had to go back and inform the Church, which was currently in total chaos.
“I understand, Saintess. I shall take my leave then.”
With that, she turned to walk away.
Then, she heard the Saintess’s question from behind. “Sister Superior, did you forget something? Do you think the dormitory door you just tore off is going to fix itself?”
“Please use some of your messy magic to block it for the night! I’ll send someone to repair it tomorrow!”
…
The sound of the wind whistled.
Valo watched as the Sister Superior, who had been in the dormitory just a second ago, vanished in an instant.
As expected of the Saintess.
The Sister Superior was a sharp-minded woman who usually kept her emotions strictly regulated, yet she had looked like she was on the verge of a mental breakdown just now.
But Valo had no time to pity the Saintess’s babysitter.
With the Sister Superior’s departure, the four-person stage play they had been performing came to a close.
The peace in her bedroom was merely the calm before the storm.
Sure enough, the next moment.
While Finney silently used the Holy Relic, Pandora, to transform into a door panel to block the gaping entrance of the dormitory…
The Saintess, who had looked pure and holy a second ago, snapped her wings open as if venting her frustration. She sat upright on Valo’s bed.
With a gloomy face, she shot an displeased look at Valo.
“All right, Demon King Valo Rante II. I kept my promise and covered for you in front of the Sister Superior.”
“So, shouldn’t you give me a proper explanation now? What exactly did you mean by the exchange you proposed to me earlier?”
As she spoke, the girl’s holy and beautiful face twisted with discomfort, looking as if she had just eaten a bitter melon.
She looked as annoyed as could be!
“What do you mean by ‘let me become your daughter too’?”
“Is this how you tricked our Hero, Finney?”
Finney tried to speak up to explain, but the girl’s glare immediately silenced her!
Anqi was truly angry right now!
“Is it some kind of trap? Like, the moment I agree to your condition, I’ll become as obedient to you as Finney is?”
“I suggest you make yourself clear, or I won’t agree to it, Lady Valo.”
“Don’t forget: unless you want to lose everything in a desperate struggle, none of you can do anything to me. Meanwhile… I can make sure you all end up in a place beyond redemption at any time.”
The girl leaned down, showing a perfect “Saintess smile.”
Valo was starting to sweat.
A ‘hypnosis trap’?
She wished she had something like that. If she did, would Anqi still be standing there talking to her?
She’d be on her knees!
The reason she wanted Anqi to become her daughter was because one of the happy endings she had dreamed of in Valorant depended entirely on this one move.
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