Dreams of the Holy Knight - Chapter 11

Dreams of the Holy Knight - Chapter 11

They hurried out and returned to Count Stevan’s.  As soon as he contacted the magic tower, a wizard arrived at the Count’s.  The woman, who was yawning, roughly combed her disheveled brown hair with her hands, and approached them as she dusted off her robe. 

“Yawn, I see the Little Sun of the Empire.”  

“Velita?  are you here?”  

It was Velita Evans, the daughter of Duke Evans.  A playmate of the Crown Princess, she showed a prominence in magic from an early age.  

She was easy-going, at best, and at worst, an eccentric wizard with no interest in world affairs.  

“I heard you found something similar to black magic. No one can match me with black magic in the tower. Your highness, oh, except for the tower owner.”  

“Yes, I guess so.”  

“I will take that as a compliment, your highness.  Let’s go at once. Where there are traces of it.”  

“I will guide you.”  

“Oh, it’s been a while, Sir Noel.  Are you still pretending to be a holy knight? This older sister told you to not let your face rot like that.”  

Velita, who was the playmate of the Crown Princess, had quite a few memories of her childhood with Noel.  

Noel now had two mischievous older sisters to deal with and sighed as he rubbed his temples. 

"Ha……  Let’s go.”  

* * * (read on pink-grapes.blogspot.com)  

Since they mostly got rid of the monsters, they were able to get to the cave quickly.  

After leaving the knights standing on the guard, they entered the cave, and they frowned at the terrible sight they encountered again.  Velita also gasped and covered her mouth.  

“Ugh……  .  What is all this?  Some lunatics are experimenting with monsters.”  

“That's the pattern of the problem. Can you recognize it?”

Velita approached Noel and carefully looked at the pattern.  After staring for a while, she closed her eyes and moved her fingers as if she were painting, and she opened her eyes with an intriguing smile.  

“I think that’s right?”  

“You mean there are people who use black magic in the Empire?”  

“Wouldn't there be? Why do you think I'm studying black magic? Saint Adelaide only sealed the gates of the demonic realm.  She didn’t kill all those who practiced black magic.” 

Next to Velita, who raised her eyebrows as if she was talking about something obvious, Evgena came up and put her arms around her.  

“Our holy knight commander may not know because he has a narrow mind, aren’t you being too harsh, Velita?”  

“It's frustrating to just see him to swing a sword or kill a beast with that kind of face, Your Highness.”

Noel sighed softly as he looked at the two women who were in good harmony. 

He also knew that black magic wasn't dead at all.  However, it was the first time someone had used black magic without fear in the empire, so he said such a thing, but the Crown Princess and Lady Evans were making fun of him even though they knew what he meant. 

“I'll kindly explain for my cousin. Few people in the Empire use black magic, Noel. However, in some kingdoms in the desert, you can still occasionally meet people who use black magic.”

“……  I know that.”  

“Right, right.  If you say so, it is. Anyway, can you tell what this is for. Velita?”

“It's almost half erased, so I think I'll have to study it a little more. First, I'll go back to the tower and look into it and let you know, Your Highness.”

They left the cave with their uneasy feelings behind. Evgena put up a barrier around it with Velita's help so that no one could peek near the cave, and then placed her knights there.

Their faces were dark as they returned to the capital, thinking that a more dangerous scheme might be hiding.

* * * (read on pink-grapes.blogspot.com)  

At that time, Liliana was having dinner with Ian at the Alphonse County in the capital.  Wearing a dark green dress that Ian had asked her to wear to dinner, and her hair up to his liking, she tried hard to smile, unable to make eye contact with Ian, who was looking at her affectionately.  

“Oh, Liliana.  Do you perhaps know how to play the piano?”  

"Well……  I know how to play, but I'm not very good at it.  It’s because I only learned the basics.”  

Liliana, who was cracking the surface of the creme brulee for dessert, answered awkwardly.  Ian's expression brightened at her words that she learned to play the piano.  

“I want to see you play the piano.  In fact, the Count's women used to enjoy playing the piano from generation to generation.”  

"Is that so?  But my playing skills aren't that great.  I can't let Sir Ian hear it.”

“Oh, don’t be too pressured, Liliana.  I haven't heard the piano since my mother died...…. I must have been excited for a moment at the thought of seeing my fiance play.”

Liliana felt a little guilty at Ian's pitiful expression.  He missed the piano that his mother played...…  Shouldn't she give him some effort as a fiancée?  

“Then, then, I will practice. If I practice, wouldn’t I be able to play at least one song?”  

"Really?  Thank you, Liliana.”  

Liliana looked at him as he rejoiced and she tried to smile. Let's focus on reality, Lily.  On reality...….  She moistened her lips with champagne as she kept trying to hold herself back from going back to her dreams. 

After seeing Ian off, Liliana returned home, changed clothes with Betty's help, and soaked herself in warm water.  With her body relaxed in the lavender scented bath water, she threw herself on the bed and turned her head to the sound of knocking on her window.  Outside the window, the magic carrier bird was pecking at the window, looking at her.  

“That……  Is that Diana’s carrier bird?”  

Liliana, who had not seen Diana since Freesia’s engagement banquet, scrambled out of bed and walked towards the window.  

The weather was getting warmer, but as night fell, a cool breeze swayed her hair.  Reaching out her hand to take the letter and open it, Diana's handwriting laid neatly on the stationery, as expected.  

[How have you been, Lily?  I miss the tea time I had with you in the warmer weather.  I have decided to go down to my estate soon and take a manor management class.  Can we meet for a moment before then?  I recently brought in a new tea from the eastern continent, and I want you to give it a try.  I don't know what herb was used, but the sweet and exotic scent really impressed me.  Then I'll wait for a reply and end here.  

From Diana, a friend who always wants you to be happy.] 

"It's a big deal that Diana asked me to meet her first.”

It was almost Freesia or Liliana who hosted the meeting first, so Diana's request for a meeting came unfamiliar. Worry flashed on Liliana's face as she recalled her friend who always scrawled short sentences, saying that sending letters were annoying.  

“Did something happen?”  

She wrote down her acceptance letter and tied it to carrier bird’s leg, who was sitting by her window.  The arduous day faded away with the flapping of the wings of the carrier bird.  

* * * (read on pink-grapes.blogspot.com) 

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