CA – Chapter 14
Chapter 14
Marquis Davis was dead. His title was inherited by his youngest son, who was only three years old. It was said that he had “sacrificed” himself to protect Edry, but after leaving the marquis’s manor, Tang Qiu had her doubts about the truth of this information.
After all, she had never seen any self-sacrificing qualities in Marquis Davis.
Yelena, who had left the manor with her, saw Tang Qiu’s absent-minded expression and looked at her with confusion. “Grace?”
Tang Qiu snapped back to her senses and shook her head at Yelena, indicating that she was fine.
Tang Qiu had no desire to know the true cause of Marquis Davis’s death, but her plan to ask him for an entry and exit permit was now completely ruined. However, she couldn’t use the nameplate that proved her identity casually, so going through official channels was also unrealistic.
Tang Qiu’s brow furrowed slightly. After returning to Anna’s manor and bidding a reluctant farewell to Yelena, she stopped a passing maid and asked gently, “Where is Lady Anna?”
The maid recognized the blond priest and took the initiative to say, “I will lead the way for you, Your Excellency.”
Edry had experienced a disaster. The damaged buildings in the main city had not yet been fully repaired, and the common people were still in a state of shock. However, the aristocratic circles had already begun their celebratory banquets.
As the busiest and most popular socialite in Edry’s high society, Lady Anna’s graceful figure was always a fixture at these banquets.
On the way to Anna’s room with the maid, Tang Qiu happened to run into Anna herself, who was exquisitely dressed in a gorgeous court gown and about to leave.
Anna’s eyes lit up when she saw Tang Qiu. She lifted her skirt, walked over, and invited her with a smile, “Would you like to attend the banquet with me?”
Tang Qiu thought for a moment and nodded readily. “Of course.”
The banquet Anna was attending was hosted by a duke and had invited nearly every noble in Edry, with the exception of Charles II.
Ever since Lucille’s return and Marquis Davis’s “sacrifice for the country,” King Charles had been so angered that he had fallen ill and rarely attended to state affairs.
Tang Qiu had made an appearance at Marquis Davis’s banquet before, and the nobles present had a deep impression of the blond priest. Now, seeing her arrive with Anna, they were all somewhat surprised.
“You’ve completely stolen my spotlight.” Anna raised a hand to touch the pearl necklace around her neck and shot Tang Qiu a flirtatious wink. As the melodious music began, she curtsied elegantly and invited with an expectant look, “Would you care to dance with me?”
Tang Qiu looked at her with some difficulty and politely refused, “Actually, at the Holy See, I only studied light magic. I don’t know anything about dancing.”
Anna shook her head in regret and placed her hand on the arm of a handsome young nobleman. “Then I must excuse myself.”
Tang Qiu smiled and nodded at her. She watched Anna enter the dance floor with the young noble before her gaze returned, the smile on her face slowly fading.
On their way to the banquet, Anna had refused her request for an exit permit, the reason being that she couldn’t bear to see her leave.
Tang Qiu took a glass of fruit wine from a passing maid, politely declined the nobles who came over to chat, and went to a corner of the banquet hall by herself. The pale red liquid in the glass swirled gently.
Her gaze fell carelessly on the pairs of figures on the dance floor, seemingly admiring their graceful movements. But if one looked closely, they would see that she was completely lost in her own thoughts.
After the music reached its climax, it slowly softened. Anna declined the young noble’s invitation to continue dancing and retreated from the dance floor alone, lifting her skirt as she made her way to the balcony guarded by knights.
Lucille was dressed in a shirt and trousers, her long red hair casually braided behind her. Without the gloom in her eyes, she now looked like a cold and capable marshal.
Anna walked over and sat down beside her, following her line of sight. Sure enough, she saw the figure of the blond priest.
“Aren’t you going to say hello to Grace?”
Lucille withdrew her gaze, tapped her finger against the side of the glass, and said in a low voice, “No need.”
Anna looked at her suspiciously and said tentatively, “Are you scared?”
Lucille frowned and glanced at her.
Anna leaned closer and asked daringly, “Did you drink her blood?”
Lucille called out in a warning tone, “Anna.”
Anna shrank back and was quiet for a moment before suddenly saying, “Grace wants an exit permit.”
She looked at Lucille, who was now looking at her, and said with a winking smile, “But I didn’t give it to her.”
At first, she had just wanted to keep the priest around for a while longer to see if they could cultivate some feelings, but now it seemed this decision was more to Lucille’s liking?
Lucille didn’t speak. She lowered her eyes to stare at the red liquid in her glass, but the image of the blond priest’s fair and fragile neck suddenly flashed before her eyes. The pale blue veins seemed within reach, and a surge of thirst welled up from the bottom of her heart. The instinctive reaction made her frown, and she put the glass aside in displeasure.
“She’ll be safer staying in Edry,” Lucille said faintly, not looking at the blond priest but at the incomplete moon outside the window.
Whether her identity was discovered by the Holy See or the werewolves, the consequences for Tang Qiu would be fatal.
Anna didn’t understand the meaning behind Lucille’s words and just assumed she had taken a fancy to Tang Qiu. She let out a long sigh, glanced at the blond priest with pity, and teased Lucille, “As long as you don’t bully Grace, she’ll be safe.”
Lucille: “…”
Anna and Lucille’s gazes were so blatant that even though Tang Qiu was lost in thought, she still noticed them. She subconsciously turned her head to look and saw Anna waving at her, and Lucille sitting beside her, watching her with a blank expression.
Tang Qiu was startled. The faintly aching bite marks on her wrist clearly told her that the seemingly normal Lucille sitting over there was, in fact, a vampire whose identity even a priest couldn’t detect.
She raised her glass and smiled at Anna in acknowledgment, then turned her head back naturally.
She had to leave Edry.
Without an exit permit, she couldn’t leave Edry smoothly. After learning of Lucille’s intentions, Anna had been keeping an eye on Tang Qiu and had even sent someone to the mercenary guild to issue an order, temporarily halting all missions to escort people out.
In short, she had taken every precaution she could. However, to her surprise, Tang Qiu had been staying quietly in her manor all this time, occasionally attending a few banquets, not at all seeming like she was in a hurry to leave.
Yelena also noticed that Tang Qiu wasn’t in a rush to leave Edry. She had originally wanted to leave with Tang Qiu, hoping she might agree to let her travel along for experience, but after waiting for a long time, she saw no sign of her leaving.
Anna welcomed Tang Qiu to stay in her manor, but she did not welcome Yelena. After Yelena’s injuries had improved, a maid politely gave her the order to leave.
Yelena was angry, but there was nothing she could say. She could only move out of Anna’s manor and stay in a hotel in the main city for a while. But since she couldn’t see Tang Qiu there, she eventually gave up resentfully and left Edry with the remaining members of her mercenary squad to continue their training.
It was as if the blond priest truly intended to stay in Edry. Her figure appeared at all sorts of banquets, and the most talked-about topic in the entire aristocratic circle was no longer just Marshal Lucille or Lady Anna, but now also included a noble and kind priest.
Her gentle personality and approachable smile shattered everyone’s preconceived notions of priests. Her pure white priest robes and beautiful appearance made people unable to resist fawning over and admiring her.
A “priest craze” was sparked in Edry’s high society. The young ladies and married women of the nobility no longer imitated Lady Anna by wearing gorgeous dresses and exquisite makeup to banquets. They let their hair fall softly behind them, and simple, pure white dresses modeled after priest robes began to appear quietly in every corner of the banquets.
The young ladies and married women of the nobility were the trendsetters, and the “priest robe” style soon appeared in every nook and cranny of Edry.
Tang Qiu, the one who had made the priest robes so popular, walked along the streets of the main city, her eyes scanning her surroundings with a hint of a smile. She lifted the curtain of a tavern and walked in, greeting the busy, short-haired boy with a smile.
The short-haired boy looked at the blond priest who had been visiting frequently lately and smiled shyly. “Good morning. A glass of Forest Morning Dew, as usual?”
Tang Qiu nodded and said softly, “Thank you.”
The proprietress, who was also following Edry’s latest trend, wore a white dress. Seeing Tang Qiu sit down in front of her, her eyes glinted. She leaned in and said in a low voice, “Drinking?”
Tang Qiu pushed three silver coins to the proprietress’s side.
The proprietress pressed down on the silver coins, her eyes crinkling with a smile. “What do you want to know?”
A faint smile played on Tang Qiu’s lips. “Give me the letter David left here.”
The proprietress looked at her in surprise, then pulled an envelope from under the table and handed it to her, saying with a smile, “I was wondering who that kid’s letter was for.”
Tang Qiu smiled at her, opened the letter, and scanned it quickly. Then, she destroyed it with a light spell, stood up, and left.
When the short-haired boy came out with the drink, he could no longer see Tang Qiu’s figure, and the joy on his face turned to disappointment.
At dusk, Tang Qiu left the tavern wearing a cloak. She reached the street corner, tilted her head slightly to glance at the “tail” behind her, then turned into a side alley. After deliberately winding through the city a few more times to shake off her pursuer, she pulled her cloak tighter and lowered her head, heading for the location mentioned in David’s letter.
In the suburbs outside the city, Tang Qiu knocked on a somewhat dilapidated wooden door. After waiting a moment without a response, she was about to raise her hand to knock again when David suddenly emerged from the house opposite. “Hey, Priest Grace.”
Tang Qiu turned her head and pushed back her hood, her long golden hair falling over her chest. She nodded with a smile. “Long time no see.”
“I’m here to pay the rest of the fee.” Tang Qiu took out two bottles of Holy Water of Light and said with a grin, “The mission is to get me out of Edry.”
David accepted with pleasure and stepped aside to invite Tang Qiu in. “Perfect timing. I just accepted a similar mission.”
A similar mission? Tang Qiu was a little confused. She walked past David’s shoulder into the room, and as she looked up, she saw a familiar figure inside.
The perpetually sickly-looking girl with brown hair and gray eyes was staring blankly in boredom. Hearing the noise, she looked up, and her eyes immediately lit up. She cried out excitedly, “Grace.”
Tang Qiu: “…”
David was very surprised. “You know each other?”
Tang Qiu didn’t speak, because she was currently speechless. After running around in circles, how did she end up back at square one?
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