Chapter 164: Aftereffects?

Did nothing really happen last night?

Lita opened her eyes, looking at the bright daylight, then turned her head to gaze at Cecilia’s sleeping face, with a few rays of morning light caught on her eyelashes.

When Cecilia climbed into bed last night, Lita had thought Cecilia would try something.

Lita sighed, suddenly feeling that it was a bit silly to have stayed awake all night worrying about Cecilia.

Still, for some reason she had passed out before and hadn’t felt sleepy anyway, so pulling an all-nighter on online classes wasn’t so bad.

The only pity was that so many things were still just theoretical for her; without practical experience, she was still a long way from real combat, and in the palace, she had no chance to practice at all.

She still remembered Cecilia saying that if Lita became a Holy Knight, the two of them would leave the palace together. It was probably just a joke, but Lita still kept it in her heart.

Forget it, better to focus on the trouble right in front of her.

Not long after, Cecilia woke up groggy. Lita helped tidy Cecilia’s hair, wiped her face with a wet towel, and then sent her back to her own room.

Lita quickly washed up herself, then returned to wait outside Cecilia’s door.

Along the way, Lita overheard some people whispering about Cecilia not returning all night.

“Last night, the Fourth Princess didn’t come back at all. It was really worrying.”

“Yeah, and quite a few people were sent to look for her.”

But there were also people who knew the truth and explained for her.

“After yesterday’s duel, the Fourth Princess stayed in Miss Lita’s room to take care of her. She must have spent the night there.”

“It’s really touching. For the Fourth Princess to show such respect to those beneath her.”

“But that’s her chosen personal knight. Of course her status is different.”

Thank goodness, everyone thought Cecilia was just taking care of her.

That was indeed the truth, and it was best that there were no misunderstandings.

After waiting a short while, Cecilia finished washing up and came out wearing a brand new set of casual clothes.

“Lady Cecilia, are you heading out?” Lita asked.

“Yes, you’re coming too,” Cecilia replied.

Counting it up, besides searching for weapons and visiting the Twilight Court, this was only the third time Lita and Cecilia had gone out together since coming to the capital.

Just like in Solus City, Cecilia tossed that little coin pouch to Lita.

They left the palace by carriage. Cecilia still hadn’t said where they were going, so Lita couldn’t help but ask.

“Lady Cecilia, do we have any plans for today?”

“No, I just want to wander around the royal city with you.”

“But what about my assessments?”

“Don’t worry, you’ve worked hard these past few days. Silver Ash Fang has already reported your situation to me, and you’ve proven your strength. There’s no need to be so tense. It’s good to relax for a day now and then.”

So domineering—she arranged Lita’s schedule directly.

“Well, you say that, but…”

“But you didn’t have any other plans today anyway. I already asked you before,” Cecilia cut off Lita’s unspoken protest.

That might be true, but Lita still wanted to put in some more effort.

“And from the time you accepted Father’s test, the biggest challenges have been these: Eltel, Twin Moons, Starstring, and Silver Ash Fang. The other Emblem Knights shouldn’t deliberately obstruct you. As for those remaining, have you come up with countermeasures?”

Silver Ash Fang shouldn’t be a problem since Lita had helped her Sister. Starstring had already been defeated by Lita, which was a settled fact. In other words, among the four big obstacles Cecilia mentioned, Lita had already dealt with half.

As for Twin Moons, she was Princess Amelia’s personal knight. Lita knew little about her, and Cecilia only knew she was very strong.

Eltel was the Emblem Knight who, during the multi-party conference, the king especially consulted, and who proposed recovering Lita’s gold blood. Lita knew almost nothing about her.

According to Cecilia, Eltel had already been an Emblem Knight since Cecilia could remember, and she might even be Father’s personal knight.

Lita didn’t think so—Eltel looked far too young—but she couldn’t ignore Cecilia’s words.

Honestly, Lita had no strategy at all.

Her silence was already the best answer. Cecilia continued.

“In that case, Lita, why not relax a little today?”

That’s true. She needed a balance between work and rest.

She should let go of her worries and just enjoy a break today.

Once they got off the carriage, Lita took a proper look at the royal capital for the first time.

Before, she was always gathering intel or learning the routes, never this relaxed. Now she realized how lively the capital truly was.

But after all, this was the royal capital, and Lita felt that holding hands with Cecilia wasn’t appropriate. Cecilia didn’t suggest it either, so Lita just followed half a step behind Cecilia as she walked in front.

There were plenty of nobles in the capital; the two of them walking down the street drew no attention at all.

Even Illya sitting on Helag’s shoulders only attracted a few glances from passersby.

Halfway along, Cecilia slowed down to wait for Lita to catch up and walk side by side, then casually turned her head and asked, “Lita, is there anywhere you want to go?”

Lita didn’t know any interesting places in the capital, and it didn’t seem right to suggest random ideas in front of Cecilia. So she answered, “I’ll go wherever Lady Cecilia wishes.”

“Mm.” Cecilia nodded and continued walking.

A little further on, Cecilia asked again.

“Is there anything you want to do?”

Though she felt puzzled, Lita kept to her previous answer.

“Whatever Lady Cecilia says, I’ll do.”

After a while, the conversation repeated a third time.

“Lita, what do you want to do?”

“Lady Cecilia, just do whatever you like. There’s no need to trouble yourself on my account.”

When Cecilia subtly altered her words and asked for the fourth time, Lita couldn’t help but blurt out, “You don’t know where to go, do you?”

“I grew up in the royal capital—how could I not know where to go?” Cecilia snorted.

A few seconds later, she contradicted herself, “Actually, I never liked bustling marketplaces and don’t know much about entertainment. As your master, you’re the one who should know.”

Although Lita had no idea what mental preparation Cecilia made in those seconds, there had to be a reason for the sudden change in attitude.

“Stop overthinking. Whatever you want to do, just take me along. Don’t go anywhere weird, understand?” Cecilia stopped, tapping Lita’s shoe with her little cane.

“…Fine…” Lita replied, feeling a bit aggrieved. “Then, Lady Cecilia, let’s just wander around.”

“That’s fine.”

With Cecilia’s agreement, Lita started to wander aimlessly through the city.

The “weird places” Cecilia referred to were probably things like casinos, brothels, taverns, or the black market. And since it was morning, even if Lita wanted to go, she’d be hard-pressed to find any open.

Not that she wanted to! Not at all! She’d already seen enough of that back in Solus City!

Speaking of which, back in Solus it was much the same—Lita leading Cecilia around aimlessly. Apart from the time she gave her the broken sword and the time they went out to eat, Cecilia had rarely made any decisions herself.

As they wandered, at some point Cecilia slipped her hand into Lita’s palm. Feeling the coldness of Cecilia’s hand, Lita somehow found more energy and became even more enthusiastic about wandering.

The royal city was huge; just walking a circuit through the bustling districts left both of them feeling a bit tired.

“Lita, are you alright?” Cecilia asked with some concern.

“I’m fine. Why do you ask?” Lita wiped the sweat from her brow.

“Because you look a little worn out.”

With Cecilia’s reminder, Lita realized that just a morning’s worth of walking shouldn’t have tired her out, but she was actually slightly out of breath, with beads of sweat on her forehead.

If Cecilia hadn’t pointed it out, Lita wouldn’t have noticed how bad her physical condition was.

“Phew.” Lita exhaled heavily and stopped to carefully check her physical state.

Tired. All she felt was tiredness—nothing else.

If it were an injury or something, she would have noticed. Plus, it had been quite a while since she woke up—if there were a problem, she’d have sensed it by now.

As Lita pondered this, Cecilia, as if reading her mind, asked, “Could it be that your injuries from yesterday were too severe and haven’t healed? I was watching you all yesterday…”

“No way, if I were injured, I’d know.”

“I’m just worried you’re hiding your wounds to keep me from worrying. After all, Nata didn’t check your body last night, so nobody really knows what happened.”

If Lita were truly hurt, she’d be eager for Cecilia to know; hiding her injuries had never even crossed her mind, so that was impossible.

“No, no, really, I’m fine.” Lita waved her hands. With Cecilia bringing it up, she felt even more tired. “The moment I activated my emblem, all my wounds disappeared! I tested this myself!”

She wasn’t lying. She first discovered it when she was sparring with Brownie—when she activated her emblem, her injuries mysteriously vanished.

It was only for injuries sustained during a certain period; she hadn’t counted the exact time, but it was within the same battle, right?

That’s how she realized her emblem likely had healing abilities. After being struck by Starstring, she’d used her emblem forcefully to secure victory in the end.

“If not that…” Cecilia pondered. “Then could it be an aftereffect from your emblem?”