Luna continued as she wiped her tears away with trembling hands.

“But I saw it. Every time she laughed on purpose, she always observed people’s faces. She always laughed like that when we were watching. She laughs brightly as if she’s only smiling when others are around. She laughs like that, but when people’s eyes turn away, her smiles die again and return to an expressionless face. No, her face looked sad.”

Tears fell uncontrollably, but Luna’s eyes were full of determination. She felt a certain sense of duty that she must convey her thoughts to Lionel.

“You don’t want to make us worry, so you’re doing that on purpose.”

“Because I don’t want to make you worry?”

“Dogs stay away from their owners when they are in bad shape, or when they are in danger. They hide their face and purposely act colder. Just as Lindel is now.” 

The knight listening to Luna recalled what happened before. Lindel’s answer to be exact. 

“Madam Lindel said, it’s to look good.” 

Lionel’s eyes turned to the knight. 

“What?”

“I-I asked her why she doesn’t always call us, and she said that. Well, it’s to look good.”

The knight’s voice became more frequent as it went on. His face was blurred.

Luna added as if continuing the knight’s words.

“There must be some reason why you keep alienating people from your side.”

Lionel, as well as all the knights who stood guard around him, listened to Luna. 

“Oh, maybe it’s dangerous. Maybe it’s too dangerous, and you’re hiding it from us?” 

The youngest knight expressed his opinion in a trembling voice. The knight was half terrified. 

“If the reason none of us felt it was because it was the work of someone too powerful for us to discern-”

“Even so, there were no signs! There were no signs of fighting anywhere, let alone any signs of a break-in!” 

The senior knight quickly refuted the youngest’s remarks. 

“There were signs of coming entering and leaving!” 

“Even so, there are more than one or two strange things!” 

“Even if it’s not a fight, it’s still strange!”

The surroundings quickly became noisy. Among them, only Lionel was silent with an expression on his face that couldn’t be read.

Speculations were rampant among those around them. At that moment, the door opened once again, and this time the priest came out.

The priest looked bewildered by the noisy atmosphere inside. 

“Priest.” 

Then, Lionel called out the priest in a stiff tone. 

“The state of Lindel’s body. Explain it clearly.” 

The priest sensed something strange in the atmosphere, and without asking twice, he quickly began to explain what he had figured out.

“Her whole body is weak and a lot of blood has been lost. However,”

The priest’s face looked confused.

“The strange thing is that when you check with divine power, her body is very healthy. Her heart rate became normal, and there were no other problems except for a few bruises or cuts. What’s strange is that even though she lost so much blood, she doesn’t have any symptoms of anemia.”

A young knight who was listening to the story intervened.

“Could it be the blood of the attacker?”

“That’s not it. Based on the condition of the mouth, it is true that Lindel shed blood.”

“You shed so much blood, but you don’t run out of blood?”

“That’s strange. The reason why she often collapsed in the past was mainly because her power was suddenly drained from her body. However, even though it is understood that she is in healthy condition, she often collapses. There’s definitely another factor.”

The priest looked very distraught.

“I apologize for saying this, but I don’t know what happened.”

More confusion was added on people’s faces.

At that time, Lionel quickly turned around with a stiff expression on his face and headed somewhere.

The knights behind him looked at their superior in confusion, but Lionel’s steps only became faster.

“Your Majesty!” 

“Send someone to the Temple of Rutte immediately.” 

“There, for some reason, the former priest. Bring it to me now.” 

Lionel ordered Melanie to be brought to him. In response to that cold voice, a knight immediately ran past him, and soon other knights followed Lionel’s side.

“Where is Your Majesty going?” 

“The former Empress Dowager’s grave.”

Lionel’s eyes flashed with murder.

“Go to the conference room and tell them that all meetings are canceled for the time being.” 

“I will obey your orders.” 

The atmosphere started to feel urgent as if something was going to happen at any moment.

* * * 

“Why is it so loud?” 

Lindel, who was lying alone in the bedroom where everyone had left, looked at the door, frowning at the commotion outside.

Because it was only a murmur through the thick door, she couldn’t tell what it was about, but it was clear that there was a commotion outside.

Thanks to the priest’s divine power, her stamina had recovered a little, so she should be able to move his body if she gathered his strength.

Lindel agonized for a while about going outside but soon decided against it. It shouldn’t be a big deal. 

I returned to a comfortable position again.

Lindel, who was lying down in a rather poor posture, scratched his thighs and yawned.

“Ah, it has become quiet.”

Not long after the priest left, it became quiet outside, probably because everyone had gone back.

Lindel soon stopped paying attention to the situation outside.

“I should’ve done this earlier. It’s nice to finally do what I want.”

It was a shame that Lionel and the others were worried, but Lindel’s stress was lessened significantly. Lindel smiled with a satisfied face.

Should we take advantage of this momentum and venture all the way into the kitchen next time?

Lindel felt giddy as she dreamed of a hot bowl of rice and something sweet.