“It’s exactly as you thought—my eye color changing is just a special kind of magic. I forgive you, so don’t beat yourself up over it.”
“Thank you for your understanding and forgiveness.”
After hearing Liyakade accept her apology, Natalia straightened her posture and gave a gentle smile.
“Miss Liyakade, is it? That is a very lovely name.”
“Ahem… your name is nice too. And… please don’t use formal titles like ‘Lady’ or ‘Excellency’ with me. It’s a bit embarrassing.”
Liyakade shifted her gaze awkwardly.
She had always been the type to respond better to kindness than to force.
Now that Natalia had taken the initiative to be soft, Liyakade found it hard to stay upset with her.
Besides, Natalia’s suspicions hadn’t actually been misplaced.
It was only because of Field’s and Alice’s status that Liyakade was no longer under scrutiny.
Consequently, Liyakade wasn’t just feeling awkward; she felt a bit guilty.
‘Think about it—someone who stays by the side of a Princess and the prophetic Light Element Magic User, and is on such good terms with them, couldn’t possibly be a real problem, even if they look a little strange.’
However, Natalia had actually overlooked one detail: when she had produced her token to prove her identity, Liyakade seemed to have been startled into retreating half a step.
That was also quite suspicious, but even if Natalia remembered and brought it up now, she would likely find an excuse for Liyakade herself.
“By the way, since you’re with the Church, how did you fail to recognize Alice?”
Field could see that Liyakade was feeling a bit put on the spot, so she stepped forward to take over the conversation with Natalia, pivoting to a new question.
“Alice… oh!”
Natalia looked confused for a moment upon hearing the name, but then a look of sudden realization dawned on her face.
She realized Field was referring to the Light Element Magic User beside her.
“So it is Lady Alice. I finally know your name.”
Natalia looked at Alice with eyes full of admiration.
Alice felt a bit overwhelmed by the sudden attention; she wondered why this little sister looked so star-struck.
“So… why is it that people from your Church don’t know who Alice is?”
Field looked at the starry-eyed Natalia and helplessly repeated her question to pull her back to reality.
“Oh, right! My apologies, Your Highness. I was a bit distracted just now.”
Reminded by Field, Natalia snapped out of her daze and hurried to answer the question.
“According to the Church, this is to provide a certain level of protection for Lady Alice’s identity. Subordinate members like us only know that a Light Element Magic User has emerged, but we don’t know exactly who she is. Only the high-level principals have access to Lady Alice’s personal information.”
“I see. Well, that’s reasonable enough.”
Field nodded, accepting the explanation.
Then, she continued.
“I know your reasons for approaching us now, and they are somewhat justifiable. However, since you did offend us, it’s impossible to let you go without any punishment at all.”
Field paused deliberately for a few seconds.
Natalia couldn’t help but swallow hard, her joy at learning Alice’s name and identity dampened significantly.
The atmosphere in the tent seemed to freeze.
In truth, Field had already decided on Natalia’s punishment; the pause was merely to put a little pressure on her.
Heh.
After a few seconds, Field gave a soft laugh.
The sound was like breaking ice, easily shattering the frozen atmosphere in the tent.
“Actually, our trip to the Kingdom border is just to visit Alice’s hometown. Didn’t you say earlier that you wanted to be our personal guard for free? I shall grant that request.”
“Consider it an honor. Being our personal guard is a stroke of good fortune for you.”
Coming from anyone else, such words would sound incredibly arrogant.
But coming from the Third Princess, it truly was an honorable matter.
“Of course, there will be no payment. After all, you already said you didn’t want any, and besides, this is your punishment.”
Upon hearing Field’s words, the heart Natalia had held in her throat finally settled.
This wasn’t a punishment at all; to Natalia, it was like a grand pardon.
No, in some ways, it was a reward.
She would get to personally safeguard the Princess and the Light Element Magic User—two people she deeply respected and loved.
Furthermore, since their destination was Alice’s hometown, being able to accompany Alice there was a stroke of luck for Natalia.
“Thank you, Your Highness!”
Natalia hurriedly bowed to Field, her voice trembling with excitement as she thanked her.
“Very well. Now that we’ve cleared things up, go outside and keep watch. Don’t let anyone like Vidar near us again.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Now that both sides had finally spoken their piece, Natalia happily left the tent to join the other guards in securing Liyakade and the others.
“Phew, finally managed to dispel that girl’s suspicions.”
Once Natalia had left, Liyakade sighed helplessly.
She hadn’t expected her everyday behavior to arouse such suspicion in others.
“Hey, you’ve got a lot of nerve. I was wondering why that Vidar suddenly scrambled away like a rabbit—turns out you used the power of the Demon Race to scare him. Don’t expose your power in front of so many people, you dummy.”
Having dealt with Natalia, Field naturally turned to give Liyakade a bit of a lecture.
How could she dare release her power in front of so many people?
Even a tiny bit could have been discovered.
“Ahem… sorry, sorry. But that Vidar was just so annoying; he was driving me crazy at the time.”
Liyakade started complaining to Field, her expression full of frustration.
“He was so respectful when talking to you, but his attitude toward me was garbage. He even called me ‘that woman’… I mean, sure, I am a girl, but he acted like he looked down on women. He even seemed to think you were a man. I just couldn’t hold it back anymore. That two-faced dog—I really wanted to punch him.”
“Such a temper…”
Field could only massage her temples slightly.
Although Liyakade had already vented about Vidar once before, Field hadn’t realized her resentment ran so deep that she’d use her energy perception to drive him away.
She only hoped Vidar hadn’t noticed anything unusual and would know to back off.
Dealing with such trash was honestly a waste of emotional energy.