Chapter 177: North

“You’re very good at sophistry. Even I can’t help but almost believe you.”

Aierteer said, “But your feelings for Cecilia and your loyalty to the kingdom cannot be lumped together. It’s perfectly fine for a personal knight to be loyal to their master, but your identity makes me uneasy.”

Just one more step. Lita knew she was only one step away from convincing Aierteer.

“But with Lady Aierteer watching over things, even if I had ulterior motives, what could I possibly do?” Lita flattered Aierteer subtly. “Besides, all I want is to stay by Lady Cecilia’s side and fulfill my knight’s oath. Nothing more.”

“Enough. I haven’t detected any ulterior motives from you these past few days, and I’ve gained a preliminary understanding of your ability. But I can’t keep my eyes on you forever. After all, I can’t guarantee someone isn’t scheming outside my line of sight.”

“Then what would you have me do, my lady?”

“Simple. Prove your loyalty to the kingdom.”

*

“I still can’t understand how carrying out a mission like that counts as loyalty to the kingdom. Alien ghosts and dream demons are completely unrelated, aren’t they? That’s not how you make an allegiance pledge.”

Lita complained while packing her luggage.

Aierteer’s test for Lita was actually very simple: go to the Everfrost Wasteland in the Northlands and prove her loyalty with actual merit. What kind of merit? How much was required? None of that was specified.

Lita only knew that Valfer had mentioned there was an icy great wall in the Northlands, and beyond that wall lay the Everfrost Wasteland, frozen all year round. Some foreign races lived in that wasteland, and the “alien ghosts” were the most dangerous of them. They were the higher forms of demon ghosts and corpse ghosts—intelligent and strong. The difference between them was as vast as the difference between a skeleton soldier and an undead archmage.

Lita figured she’d have to kill a few alien ghosts to earn recognition.

“I can understand Aierteer’s decision,” Cecilia said, sitting on Lita’s bed and watching her bustle about. “By sending you out of the royal capital, that’s one less thing for her to worry about. If you actually achieve merit, that’s also good for stabilizing the border. Even if it doesn’t prove your absolute loyalty, it does solve a problem for the kingdom.”

That was true. Her identity was essentially a hidden bomb. Throwing that bomb out of the royal capital was a good choice. If she died in the Northlands, the problem was solved. Otherwise, she could solve a big problem for the Northlands. Either way, Aierteer wouldn’t lose.

“But don’t think so negatively. If Aierteer truly didn’t trust you at all, she probably wouldn’t have listened to what you said. Your actions before might not seem like much, but they earned you some weight in her heart. Think about it—on the first day, how she defended you in front of Father.”

As Cecilia spoke, her tone grew more curious.

“But I really can’t imagine what you said to make her let her guard down in that situation.”

What had she said? She said she’d fallen in love with a “McSpicy Chicken Burger.” Of course, she couldn’t say that. And she absolutely could not let slip that she’d accidentally revealed to Cecilia that she was a dream demon!

“Nothing much. I already told you—I appealed to reason and emotion. Talked about maintaining the kingdom’s stability, about how neither of us are human…” Lita rattled off a few vague points, then quickly changed the subject to stop Cecilia from digging deeper. “Anyway, Lady Cecilia, just wait here for my good news!”

“Lita, what are you talking about?” Cecilia tilted her head.

Lita blinked in confusion and reluctantly explained, “Didn’t I just say? I’m going to the Northlands. I don’t know when I’ll be back, but when I return, I’ll truly be your personal knight in every sense. Don’t worry, I’ll be back before the Holy Knight Examination… hopefully.”

“Ah, that.” Cecilia nodded thoughtfully. “I’m coming with you.”

“How can that be?! That’s the Northlands—cold, barren, no good food, no place to bathe, and there are foreign races and alien ghosts!” Lita yelped, counting on her fingers like an old nanny telling scary stories to a child.

“If I don’t go, who will feed you?” Cecilia’s retort left Lita speechless. The implication was clear—were you planning to find another woman? That one reason alone was enough to crush any objection.

“Staying in the royal city is boring. All the maids are someone else’s people. There’s not much I can do. I might as well go out, see the world. Opportunities like this, with a legitimate reason to leave, don’t come often.” Cecilia continued to argue her case, as if afraid Lita wouldn’t take her. “Besides, even if there’s danger, you defeated Xingxian. You can definitely keep me safe.”

Since Cecilia had gone this far, Lita had no reason to refuse.

“Fine, fine! I’ll definitely keep Lady Cecilia safe!”

*

One day later.

This trip to the Northlands wasn’t a vacation, and they couldn’t travel slowly like when they returned from Solus City. So Cecilia used her status as a princess to requisition a warhorse from the military camp, picked a sturdy yet lightweight carriage, and loaded their luggage early. They left the royal capital’s gate and headed north.

Cecilia had faced plenty of resistance when she said she wanted to set out alone with Lita, especially from the King. But somehow, after whatever Cecilia told him, he allowed them to go together.

Back during the preliminary round of the Holy Knight Examination, the four princesses had each gone to different regions. Solus City, one of the exam sites, was in the Southern Lands—the exact opposite direction from the Northlands.

Lita didn’t know the way either, but her charm skill came in handy. She simply injected charm aura into the new horse, and the little horse started navigating on its own. To maintain their speed and minimize travel time, Lita even caught two male deer in the nearby forest to help pull the carriage. It looked a bit odd, but it saved the horse’s strength.

This way, apart from necessary meal breaks, they could spend most of the day traveling. If not for needing the horse as a navigator, Lita would have considered going nonstop for twenty-four hours.

And so, three days passed in the blink of an eye.

Just before dark, Lita stopped at the nearest city, Latom City. She left the nearly exhausted horse at the stable temporarily, to be sent back to the capital by a special attendant once it rested. Then, using Cecilia’s money, Lita bought a new horse. The two rested at an inn in the city overnight and planned to continue the next day.

“At this speed, we should reach our final destination within a week,” Cecilia said, looking at the map, marveling at Lita’s terrifying pace.

Speed was only natural. Charm aura was like a “twenty-eight-in-one shampoo”—the underlying logic of almost all dream demon magic. Making her animal companions hyper was a trivial matter.

Of course, if Lita traveled alone, she’d be much faster. The pace she’d kept while carrying out missions with Aierteer was like running a marathon at a hundred-meter sprint speed. In just this week, Lita felt her stamina had grown considerably.

“Lady Cecilia planned this route. I still don’t know exactly where we’re headed,” Lita said, craning her neck to peek at Cecilia’s map.

“Did I not mention it?” Cecilia pointed to a corner of the map. “Before we reach the Great Wall, we have to go here—the largest city in the Northlands, Snowfall City.”