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With this bonus chapter, Iāve reached the part where the manhwa left you guys in cliffhanger. Next update is Silla and Jullius reunion! Wohooo~~\n\n
The horse-carriage that I used before was still parked there even though Captain Jullius had long returned first. Perhaps he left the carriage for me to use. But this place is too far to go back on foot, did he borrow a horse from the church? Nonetheless, I couldnāt just discard the horse-carriage so I got on it. Come to think of it, how is Snowy doing?\n\nāHowās Snowy doing?ā\n\nAdjutant Sieg who sat across of me, replied to my question.\n\nāHeās not here.ā\n\nāWhat? Then whereās he now?ā\n\nāHe didnāt want to leave from the Demon Kingās castle ruins, so we took off the rein and saddle then set him free. Anyway heās not any normal horse that could be ridden by just anyone.ā\n\nThe Demon Kingās castle wasnāt located beyond the Black Desert, but itās close to the Black Desert vicinity. In other words, itās not a safe area.\n\nāā¦, I wonder if heās doing fine.ā\n\nāHeāll be fine because heās the type of horse that could live well wherever heās fred to.ā\n\nHmm, thatās right. Although he looks like that, Snowy is a holy horse breed so heās strong and has holy power, but for some reasons heās a carnivore. Heās a horse that hunts wolves and or lions by himself, so there shouldnāt be any problems. Rather than worrying about Snowy, Iām more worried that he might pounced on any passerby instead. He shouldnāt prey on humans.\n\nāIt feels like my position has really gone for good.ā\n\nI wonder if perhaps I could bring Snowy away with me. Though Iād no intention of returning as a clergy, but my heart felt empty. Actually, I couldnāt say that I didnāt feel any regret about it. But still, as things stand, not only I couldnāt get my position back as a Captain, even becoming an ordinary knight would be hard.\n\nāā¦, now I wonāt hear others called me as āCaptainā anymore.ā\n\nIāve to hide my identity and Iām no longer a holy knight. I supposed Iām just Miss Epheria now. The way I was being addressed for a long while, suddenly sounded unfamiliar. Adjutant Sieg smile lightly in response to my words.\n
āThen Iāll call you āLadyā from now on.ā\n\nāNot Miss Epheria or Miss Silla?ā\n\nBeing called as āLadyā sounds weird though?\n\nāNow that it has come to this, Iām thinking of retiring from my post.ā\n\nāā¦, can you do that?ā\n\nāThe High Priest will permit it.ā\n\nāHmm, but do you really have to retire? You know, becoming an adjutant isnāt as simple as being a clergy for one to two years of service.ā\n\nāI was forced after all.ā\n\nāWhat?ā\n\nI widened my eyes. This is the first time I ever heard of it.\n\nāItās an old story, but a long time ago, the Duchess of Fortuna was severely ill and her life was in grave danger. The Duke asked the High Priest for help to save his wife. The Duchess wasnāt in a state where she could travel far away so he hoped for the High Priest to personally pay a visit.ā\n\nāā¦, thatās not allowed.ā\n\nThe High Priest couldnāt leave the Holy Church. Not to mention for a Duke, but even at the request of the Emperor, itās not possible.\n\nāOf course the Holy Church side rejected it, but the Duke who loved his wife dearly didnāt give up. Not only tremendous amount of wealth and various privileges, he even went so far as to offer his first child to the Goddess.ā\n\nāBut no matter what⦠could it be that the High Priest agreed to it?ā\n\nāYes.ā\n\nI was left speechless for a moment. The mighty holy power owned by the High Priest wouldnāt change whether heās inside or outside the Holy Church, but the blessings of immortality could only be attained within range of the church. So in other words, the High Priest could be killed if he left the Holy Church.\n\nLong time ago when the Goddess drove the demon clan away to the northern lands, all the demons who were called as ancient demon kings were all sealed by the Goddessā power. Unlike the current Demon Kings, the real ancient Demon Kings couldnāt be sealed by humanās power, the axis which was the central core of the earth was needed to securely seal all the demon kings for a very long time, and the axis is no other but the High Priest himself. To put it simply, if the High Priest was killed under the circumtances where there wasnāt any successor, then the seal wouldnāt just weakened, but could also broke at any given time.\n\nāThatās too dangerous!ā\n\nAlthough itās been a long time, it still sent a chill down my spine. The High Priest took too much risk to save a personās life.\n\nāThat was certainly an unprecedented event. But of course, because itās related to the High Priest, it was done in an utmost secrecy and considered as a top secret. So far, only a very few people knew what happened back then.ā\n\nI was close to swallowed down my saliva and looked at Sieg. For him to share this story here right now, meant heās somehow related to itā¦\n\nāā¦, wasnāt the last name different?ā\n\nāThatās because itās a secret. But Iām pretty sure most of the high-ranking officials in the Empire roughly know about it.ā\n\nā¦, So thatās the reason why vice captain Tess treated adjutant Sieg like his superior. Because Duke Fortuna was originally the Empireās Grand Duke and itās a higher position than Duke. Anyway, if itās like thatā¦\n\nāā¦, Prince?ā\n\nāFor a clergy, a worldly status is meaningless. But of course, I enjoy my rights in moderation.ā\n\nāYou said you want to retire from being a clergyā¦, didnāt you?ā\n\nāWell, nothingās changed. The heir position has already been given to my younger brother and Iāve no intention of coming back and causing any commotions.ā\n\nāIf thatās so, isnāt that the more reason you shouldnāt retire from being a clergy?ā\n\nIf heās not coming back to Fortuna duchy, then I donāt think he needs to leave the church.\n\nāLike I said, I became a clergy against my will. Even my holy power is very few that itās impossible to become a proper priest.ā\n\nActually adjutant Siegās holy power is almost nonexistent. Not to mention he couldnāt be classified as a low-tier, heās even scored last in power assessment and thus when heās appointed as the adjutant of Holy Knight Squad, thereāre lots of rumors flying around saying he made a shady deal behind the scene.\n
Soon after, when adjutant Sieg proved his talent and gained everyoneās recognition, no oneās gossiping about him anymore.\n\nāOn the contrary, my victim mentality has been getting worse because my ability is properly recognized in matters where it doesnāt require the usage of holy power.ā\n\nItās only justified for adjutant Sieg to feel unfair. Other than his outstanding administrative talent, with his adequate swordmanship, even if he joined a common knight squad and not the Holy Knight Squad then heās able to become a regular knight.\n\nāAt that time I met you, Captain. You were still a vice captain back then.ā\n\nāI remember. At that time you couldnāt believe that a person like me became the next Captain and saying that it didnāt make any sense.ā\n\nāWell, you know, I was right though.ā\n\nā¦, well, youāre right. From an ordinary personās perspective who wasnāt a holy knight, itās something that the more you saw it the more it couldnāt be comprehended. Weāre loved by the Goddess so we received a strong holy power, and thus we could have a high-ranking position within the church, but this rule didnāt apply outside the church.\n\nAdjutant Sieg looked at me with a confusing gaze I was unsure of whether if itās a caring gaze or a gaze that looked as if he wanted to kill me, then continued to speak.\n\nāAfter l met Captain, I soon realized the Goddessā intention for having me as a clergy. And what came to my mind was that somehow I had to do something about this person.ā\n\nWhatās that? Iām a little upset but Iāve to bear with it because Sieg has all the rights to nitpick me.\n\nāWhen you had to make a debut in high society after you were made a Captain, everything was going bleak before my eyes. Thanks to you, I didnāt have to think about useless things.ā\n\nāAt that time, I also couldnāt afford to think about anything else.ā\n\nBecause Iād suffered terribly under your immense pressure.\n\nāAnd now, arenāt you the Captain who has been engaged like this all of a sudden? And here I thought that things couldnāt get any worse. Donāt you think so?ā\n\nāI was completely in the wrong.ā\n\nāNonetheless, my effort wasnāt in vain and itās totally worth it. Because Captain is definitely a great person. So just shut up and just swing your sword.ā\n\nāFine, itās all my fault.ā\n\nāIām not scolding you, so please listen carefully.ā\n\nWerenāt you? The contents of your talking seemed like youāre blaming me though.\n\nāHowever Iām not interested in serving vice captain Tess who will be promoted to Captain soon. Though heās a bit inferior in holy power and combat prowess compared to you, but since heās someone from Duke Irhas household, thereās only a few matters that need my help. Even if I keep staying at the church like this, Iāll just left to do menial chores at best.ā\n\nActually the Holy Knight Squad almost didnāt have any political strife within it, unlike other knight squads.\n\nāIn contrast to me, vice captain Tess doesnāt have much enemy.ā\n\nāThatās right. Actually Iāve been questioning on why he became a holy knight.ā\n\nāI made a bet, the one who lost in a fight would become the winnerās subordinate.ā\n\nāDid you really do that?ā\n\nāMhm. I think I was 13 at that time.ā\n\nBack then, I still had some traces of girly features on me. Testa who visited the Holy Church at that time, saw me while I was in the middle of training, then he made a scene by provoking me saying āhow could a girl become a knight?ā and we had a quarrel that lead to a big fight. But I had never thought he would really became a holy knight so I was very surprised to see him 3 years later. For nobles, especially the high-ranking nobles, they rarely became a clergy even if they had a strong holy power. A clergy couldnāt marry so thereās really no case where a noble became a clergy, unless heās lost in family struggle to become a heir apparent. If only vice captain Tess wasnāt the youngest with two older brothers, his family would definitely opposed him to become a holy knight.\n\nāThen, what do you want to do if you leave the church while youāre not coming back to the duchy?ā\n
āWell, Iām not sure. But Iām considering to become a butler of Count Epheria household.ā\n\nI subconsciously shrank my shoulders.\n\nāPlease donāt be like this, Prince.ā\n\nāYou donāt have to be burdened by it. Iām doing it because it looks like itās going to be fun and interesting.ā\n\nA burden is still a burden, but Iām scared! Compared to the time when I was still a Captain of Holy Knight Squad, the manners I should have as a Countās daughter or Countess Epheria is far more complicated so heās going to be a lot more picky. Just Sofia alone is already enough!\n\nāā¦, do I perhaps have a veto on this?ā\n\nāSadly, no.ā\n\nDamn it, someone save me pleaseā¦