The Knight Commander of the Second Male Lead [Novel] Chapter 103

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter: 103

Chapter Title: Anticipating the Saintess

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It's gotten faster.

What has changed?

'Ah, of course, a tremendous amount has changed.'

There's no point in dwelling on it.

Still, to think I'll get to see Fiona in person.

'I'm looking forward to it.'

The Fiona she knew had the image of a small bird.

Her voice was so beautiful that if she sang, birds and squirrels would come to listen.

Her hair was a stunning platinum blonde.

Her eyes were a vibrant light green.

She was a petite, slender woman.

"Captain, are you lost in thought somewhere else?"

Rorokomo nudged her with his foot from the side, snapping Nina back to reality.

She looked up to meet Lui's softly smiling face and quickly bowed her head.

"Sorry. I was just wondering what the Saintess is like..."

"Yes, I suspect something quite interesting will unfold in the capital because of that."

Nina caught a glimpse of Lui's eyes as he looked down at the documents.

She gasped in surprise upon meeting his violet eyes.

For some reason, he was extremely angry right now.

"So, Knight Nina, prepare the elites."

"Understood."

Lui issued further orders one by one, then Adrian told Nina to stay behind before the group dispersed.

Nina hesitantly asked,

"Sir Lui? Are you alright? What's wrong?"

"I'm fine."

Lui glanced alternately at Nina and Adrian.

"I'm delighted that both of you have grown so splendidly."

Despite an environment where children could never thrive, they had grown this way.

Adrian furrowed his brow slightly, and Nina said in confusion,

"Why the long face? There really is something going on, isn't there?"

"Lui."

Lui just smiled at their reactions.

It was futile to try forcing an answer out of him, so Nina slumped her shoulders and asked,

"So why did you ask me to stay?"

"To talk about the Saintess. If I don't tell you beforehand, who knows where you'll pop up from."

Lui crossed his arms and greeted them.

"I'll head out first."

Adrian gave him a dissatisfied look but nodded.

As soon as Lui left, Jack entered as if he'd been waiting.

"The steward seems angry."

He spoke as if he'd been there the whole time, skipping greetings.

It was a remark possible only because everyone present knew he'd been there.

"Maybe you couldn't speak because of me."

Jack scratched his chin awkwardly, but Adrian shook his head.

"No. I'll talk to Lui separately."

"Me too. So, what is it you want to tell me about the Saintess?"

"Well, it seems that Saintess can purify corrupted spirit fragments and send them away."

For a moment, Nina panicked inwardly—'What do I do if you tell me something I already knew so seriously?'—but soon realized that to her, it should be astonishing news.

"Uh, um, wow. Really?"

Jack and Adrian gave her strange looks for a second.

"Your reaction is odd."

Jack said it outright, so Nina groaned and slumped her shoulders.

"No, I mean... really? It's not just their propaganda?"

Her skeptical tone made Jack's face serious.

"It's real. They demonstrated it after announcing her as the Saintess."

"Demonstrated? They showed her purifying a fragment?"

"Yes."

Nina grew even more baffled at Jack's words.

Weren't they collecting fragments to summon a spirit lord?

Why destroy them instead?

Had they verified a saintess this way before?

'I get purifying the fragments, but...'

Oddly, the details escaped her memory, so Nina clutched her head and groaned.

"Nina."

"Yes?"

She looked up to see Adrian speaking firmly.

"We won't take any actions regarding the Saintess."

"Huh? Is that okay? Can we?"

"We have to. The temple will surely demand we open the Violet Forest barrier, and they might send the Saintess here. But we can't predict what they'll demand as a pretext."

On top of that, there was the heretic issue.

Jack said with a contemptuous expression,

"Moreover, heretics seem more deeply infiltrated into the temple than we thought. We've grasped the heretics' structure roughly, but the leader is shrouded in absolute secrecy..."

Uncovering that was the problem, Jack shook his head. Adrian sneered,

"If we cut from the bottom up, we'll reach the top eventually."

In these three years, they'd eliminated most heretics from the Rubaenu Duchy.

They'd spread new plants as spirit gifts and threatened that worshippers of corrupted spirits would face problems.

Of course, they'd also offered bounties for reporting heretics.

Scattered cells might remain, but the Rubaenu Duchy had formed an atmosphere of extreme disgust toward heretics everywhere.

Proselytizing would be impossible.

"A high-ranking temple official?"

"Yes, we know it's someone high up, but the key is how high and how far the roots extend. For all we know, that Saintess could be a heretic."

Nina nodded at Jack's words—'Fair enough.'

Adrian said,

"So, make no demands of the Saintess and accept no requests from her."

"Got it."

Nina agreed readily, leaving Adrian looking caught off guard.

"Really?"

"Yes, really."

He'd clearly thought she'd charge into the temple to kidnap the Saintess and purify the Violet Forest right away.

'Maybe if I didn't know the situation, but...'

From the story's flow, the events would intersect anyway, and the current barrier was a spirit barrier.

It was safe without risk of bursting, so she felt much more at ease.

Adrian nodded.

"Alright."

"Then may I go? I want to hear more from the steward."

"Sure."

After Nina bowed and left the room, Jack said,

"How long are you going to leave her be?"

"What?"

"Lady Nina."

Adrian looked at Jack, who shrugged.

"Marriage alliance proposals coming her way aren't light either. She's even pen pals with that prince."

"So?"

"So what do you mean, 'so'?"

What if some guy from who-knows-where snatches her up?

Jack stared at Adrian with that expression, and he replied,

"It's fine for now."

"Hah, how long is that 'for now'? I don't want Lady Nina going anywhere else either."

Adrian glanced up at him sharply, and Jack grinned.

"There aren't many people I like, you know?"

"...I don't want to force Nina into anything either."

"Honestly, from what I see, you two are basically dating already."

"No."

Adrian stated firmly, and Jack laughed.

"It's fine for now."

Adrian repeated.

No matter how far Nina went, she'd come back if he needed her.

That was enough.

"Sir Lui."

Peeking into the steward's office, Nina saw Lui wasn't there.

Instead, the busy administrators looked up at her.

"Where's the steward?"

"He hasn't returned yet."

"Got it."

Where did he go?

Tilting her head, Nina walked past the office.

Uniformed servants greeted her politely when they passed.

According to Vivian, she didn't need to respond to each one.

It was more efficient for everyone that way.

The interior of the Silver Mansion was exceedingly luxurious yet simple.

The walls were entirely clad in Arakasan marble, and the floor featured a mosaic of the Rubaenu Ducal Family's shield emblem in special green marble.

A massive chandelier, imported piece by piece at eye-watering expense, hung prominently, but there were no other minor decorations.

Everything was just large and exorbitantly priced.

The garden plants were gathered from the northern Isle of Sages to the southern Arakil, artfully arranged.

Mimina loved such things and had personally overseen the garden's design; now it drew admiration from all who saw it.

Maybe head to where the plate flowers Sir Lui likes are blooming.

Nina hesitated for a moment when a sharp voice rang out from the garden.

Glancing out the window, she saw Randell and his apprentice.