“How do you walk so quietly?!”
“You scared the life out of me.”
Lu Li looked at the woman whose shoulders were covered in snowflakes. Adhering to the principle that attack is the best defense, he launched his interrogation first.
Julia did not answer. Instead, she stared at him with dark, heavy eyes.
That very morning, right after showing Lu Li around the train, Julia had turned around only to find the youth gone without a trace.
Heaven only knew how terrified she had been at that moment. She had even panicked enough to beg for God's protection.
After turning the holy capital upside down, Julia finally realized that he might have left the holy capital entirely.
And for that youth to slip past the knights' watchful eyes and leave the holy capital undetected, his only option was to board the train heading for Gargo.
Once Julia figured this out, she immediately used special means to contact the frontline camp. The reply from the front confirmed her suspicion.
Having confirmed it, Julia mounted a pegasus without hesitation and flew all the way from the holy capital.
On the way, she couldn't stop questioning whether she had been far too lenient with the Holy See.
Although the Holy See appeared to be striving to grow, he was ultimately still a child who needed her to discipline him more strictly. Otherwise, situations like today's would repeat themselves over and over again.
“Why... aren't you saying anything?”
Under that intense glare, Lu Li couldn't help feeling a bit guilty. But he quickly emboldened himself. He had come to Gargo City for serious business, not for a pleasure trip—why should he be afraid of her?
“I am thinking that Your Holiness is far too much trouble. I wonder what I can do to make you behave.”
Julia's voice was exceedingly calm, yet Lu Li could hear the undercurrents lurking beneath her placid tone.
He shivered and instinctively pulled the military coat tighter around himself before feigning composure.
“I didn't cause any trouble for Eleanor. If you don't believe me, you can ask her.”
It was a clumsy attempt to change the subject, yet Julia's mind was not on his answer at all. Instead, her eyes were locked onto the military coat he was clutching tightly.
“I will,” she replied casually, then narrowed her eyes and asked, “Whose coat is that?”
It was clearly the most ordinary of questions, yet Lu Li keenly sensed an inexplicably dangerous aura.
“Uh... Eleanor lent it to me,” he betrayed the loyal Legion Commander without hesitation.
Sorry, Eleanor, but I can barely save myself. Let's continue our comradeship in the next life...
“Oh.”
Julia stepped forward, took the ill-fitting coat off the youth's shoulders, and set it aside.
After a moment's thought, she took off her own lead-gray coat, draped it over the youth, and used her slender, pale fingers to clumsily button it up for him one by one.
Then she slowly looked up and said in a gentle voice, “Return the coat to Legion Commander Eleanor. Wear mine for now.”
Goosebumps rose across Lu Li's skin at her sudden change in demeanor. He instinctively took two steps back, bumping against the wall covered in maps.
The coat on his shoulders was warm and carried a faint scent of vanilla. It was clearly quite a heartwarming scene, yet he didn't even dare to look up at her.
“When does Your Holiness plan to return to the holy capital?” Julia asked, staring at him, her voice slightly raspy.
This was a question Lu Li could not avoid no matter what. Steeling his courage, he raised his head to meet the eyes of the woman before him.
Yet the moment his gaze met her expressionless face, the courage he had so painstakingly summoned vanished into thin air.
“At least not right now,” he said, his voice somewhat weak.
Julia gave a subtle nod. “Then when?”
“When victory is won,” Lu Li replied.
“Does Your Holiness wish to make a triumphant return like the generals in the history textbooks?” Julia asked.
A man lives for his pride, as a tree lives for its bark. Lu Li was utterly done with her agonizing, slow-burn interrogation. Worst came to worst, he would just snap at her.
He glared at the young Cardinal. “What? Is that not allowed?”
“Your Holiness, the front line is very dangerous.” Julia's expression finally shifted slightly as she knitted her brows.
“But my generals, my soldiers, and my knights are all here.”
“Yet beyond Gargo, you have far more subjects.”
Lu Li suddenly realized he couldn't beat her in an argument. But having made a promise, how could he go back on his word so easily?
“I promised them that I would stand with them,” Lu Li said.
Hearing this, Julia shook her head. “They would place your safety above all else.”
Lu Li naturally understood the principle that a wise person does not stand under a precarious wall. However, this was the only way he could harvest faith at the fastest rate to sustain the consumption of the Order of Light.
He didn't want to wake up from a sleep screaming in pain one day.
Enduring suffering for a single person had already nearly cost him half his life. Without the blessing of the miraculous power born from faith, he shuddered to imagine how agonizing it would be when thirty people were continuously injured, healed, injured again, and healed again.
“Just this once! Please!”
The youth looked at Julia with wet, pleading eyes, his tone full of entreaty.
He couldn't think of a better way. If the woman before him was set on dragging him back, even if Eleanor wanted to help him, she would never be able to stop her.
Julia certainly understood his thinking, but understanding did not mean she was willing to support it.
His Holiness was growing up, but he was also becoming far more disobedient.
Yet looking at that pitiable little face, the words of refusal she had prepared stuck in her throat.
“Just this once.”
The moment the words left Julia's mouth, she realized what she had said. She had actually agreed to his request to remain in danger.
But it was too late to regret it now, and she couldn't help letting out a deep sigh.
Meanwhile, Lu Li's expression brightened once more, his heart rejoicing: Good, good, good! I knew my Cardinal was a pillar of the Holy State.
He felt great once again.
Eleanor, on the other hand, realized she had breathed a sigh of relief far too early.
The Holy See had stayed behind after all, and along with him, that swift and decisive Cardinal had stayed as well.
Staying was one thing, but Julia had been summoning her for talks every single day.
Eleanor had seen people settling old accounts after the autumn harvest before, but never like this. In just two days, that Cardinal had dug up every single mistake—big or small—Eleanor had ever committed over all these years.
It was only when Lu Li came to return her coat and Eleanor saw the lead-gray coat draped over him that she finally understood—she hadn't suffered in vain.
“Legion Commander Eleanor, what's wrong with you?” Lu Li asked in concern upon seeing her looking so utterly devoid of life.
Now, the Holy State had completely occupied the Gargo region, the construction of the railway was basically complete, and the transportation system was officially in operation. With their worries resolved, the final battle against the Kingdom of Northland was about to begin.
At such a critical juncture, Eleanor, as the top commander of the Expeditionary Force, absolutely could not afford to have any issues!
“I... I'm fine. I just want to be alone for a moment...” Eleanor said listlessly.
Lu Li, however, acted as if he hadn't heard a word. He slowly stepped closer, reaching out under her terrified gaze to rest his hand on top of her head, gently ruffling her hair.
“How about now?”
“Feeling better?”
The youth flashed a bright smile, brazenly radiating his damned charm.
Rate on N.U.
