Leticia had barely slept all night.
She lay in bed, her eyes wide open as she watched the two glows in the distant room.
The platinum-blonde glow was warm, while the purple glow was deep.
They pressed close against each other, staying quietly like that for the entire night.
And Leticia watched them the whole time.
From the pitch-black darkness of the room until the first ray of morning light peeked through the gap in the window.
Only then did the deep purple glow seem to suddenly realize something, pulling away from the platinum-blonde glow with extreme speed.
The movement was so fast it almost seemed hurried.
Leticia sat up, silently watching the purple glow recede.
She pulled her blanket up.
Even though it was already morning.
She still felt a bit cold under the covers.
Just then, the sound of a door opening came from next door.
Leticia turned her head slightly.
She saw a soft pink glow enter Lin Ling's room.
That glow was very familiar.
It was the demon maid named Niya.
Inside Lin Ling's room—
“Miss Saintess, are you awake?”
Niya tiptoed into the room carrying breakfast.
“The weather is lovely today.”
She set the tray on the small table beside the bed.
Soft bread and a small dish of jam.
Along with a cup of warm water.
She had specifically requested this from the kitchen.
Since Miss Saintess had trained all afternoon yesterday, she was bound to be starving this morning.
Thinking of this, a small smile appeared on Niya's face.
She walked to the window and reached out to draw the curtains.
The morning light instantly flooded the room.
“Miss Saintess, it is time to wake up—”
Mid-sentence, Niya suddenly froze.
The bed was empty.
Even the blanket was gone.
Niya blinked.
“Eh?”
In the next second, her voice spiked.
“Where is Miss Saintess?!”
Niya's face paled instantly.
She rushed to the bed and lifted the pillow.
Nothing.
She squatted down to look under the bed.
Nothing.
Inside the wardrobe.
Nothing.
Under the table.
Still nothing.
Niya's movements grew increasingly frantic.
“Miss Saintess? Miss Saintess!”
“Where are you?”
She called out as she searched back and forth in the room.
In her haste, she completely failed to control the strength in her steps.
Thud.
The floor shook.
Thud.
The entire main building of the Demon King's Castle seemed to vibrate slightly from Niya's movements.
The demon guards in the hallway looked up one after another.
“An earthquake?”
“No, it's Miss Niya in Miss Saintess's room.”
“Oh, then it's fine.”
“Well, not necessarily fine, right?”
Meanwhile, inside Lin Ling's room, Niya's eyes were turning red with anxiety.
“Miss Saintess is gone...”
“Even the blanket is gone...”
“Could... could Miss Saintess have been kidnapped by the blanket?”
The more she thought about it, the more panicked she became.
Just then, a hand gently patted her on the back.
“Niya.”
“What happened?”
Cecil's voice sounded from behind her.
Niya spun around.
Cecil stood at the doorway with his usual smile, though his hair was a bit messier than usual.
It looked as if he had just experienced some rather unpleasant morning wake-up call.
The moment Niya saw him, she grabbed his sleeve.
“Lord Cecil!”
“M-Miss Saintess is gone!”
She said in a panic:
“She's not in bed, not in the wardrobe, and not behind the curtains!”
“And the blanket is gone too!”
Cecil's expression grew a bit more serious when he heard the first half of her sentence.
But when he heard “and the blanket is gone too,” his smile stiffened subtly.
He suddenly recalled the scene he had witnessed last night.
The Demon King, Lin Ling, and the blanket roll.
Cecil fell silent.
Niya stared at him.
“Lord Cecil?”
Cecil cleared his throat.
“Uh, well.”
“While it's not very easy to explain.”
“She should be...”
He carefully chose his words.
“She should be perfectly safe.”
Niya froze.
“R-Really?”
She looked at Cecil.
But as Cecil said this, his eyes kept darting to the side.
This made Niya feel he wasn't very trustworthy.
Cecil realized this too.
It felt as though a light drizzle was falling in his heart.
Was it just because something had gone wrong with his dream magic last time that little Niya had started to lose faith in him?
This was truly heartbreaking.
Just then, Baroque also walked over from the other end of the corridor.
“What's all the racket?”
He glanced at the situation in the room, then at Niya.
He more or less understood.
Niya immediately turned to Baroque.
“Lord Baroque, Miss Saintess is gone!”
Baroque went silent for a moment.
He, too, recalled last night's scene.
He glanced at Cecil.
Cecil returned a “you know how it is” smile.
A vein throbbed on Baroque's temple.
At a time like this, he didn't want to understand at all.
But to calm Niya down, he still spoke up:
“Don't worry, Lin Ling is fine.”
Niya clutched her skirt.
“Really?”
“Really.”
Baroque said:
“At least she isn't in any danger.”
Hearing Baroque's assurance as well, Niya finally breathed a small sigh of relief.
She pressed a hand to her chest and murmured softly:
“That is wonderful, whew~”
“As long as Miss Saintess is safe.”
Cecil stood to the side, watching how Niya clearly trusted Baroque more. The smile remained plastered on his face.
But the rain in his heart seemed to pour even harder.
...
Meanwhile, while the others were talking in Lin Ling's room, Leticia quietly slipped out of her own room.
She glanced down the corridor.
After making sure no one was paying attention to her, she gently closed the door.
“Lin Ling.”
She whispered.
“I will definitely find you. Wait for me.”
She raised her eyes and looked in the direction of the platinum-blonde glow.
The light wasn't far away.
But the problem was that the corridors of the Demon King's Castle were never built with the goal of “direct access” in mind.
Leticia quickly realized this.
She walked in the direction of the light.
It went smoothly enough at first.
But halfway there, patrolling demon soldiers appeared ahead.
Leticia stopped in her tracks.
Although she was currently permitted to temporarily stay in the Demon King's Castle, she was clearly not in a position to wander around freely.
At the very least, she didn't want to be stopped and questioned before she could find Lin Ling.
So she turned around and chose to take a detour.
After taking a series of detours, she successfully avoided the patrol.
But she also succeeded in getting further and further away from the platinum-blonde glow.
Standing at a fork in the road, Leticia fell into silence as she stared at the three almost identical corridors ahead.
Clearly, Lin Ling's light seemed to be just a short distance away.
Yet every time she walked toward it, she would always be blocked by walls, stairs, corners, and long corridors that led to who knew where.
After navigating a few more forks, Leticia finally faced the exact same problem Lin Ling had once encountered.
She was lost.
Standing in the middle of the corridor, Leticia took a soft breath.
“No.”
“I cannot be considered lost yet.”
She looked in a certain direction.
“Lin Ling's light is not far away.”
As long as she could see the light, she wasn't completely lost.
Probably.
Just then, her gaze suddenly locked onto the wall.
There was a hole in that wall.
A hole that was clearly not part of the normal architecture.
The edges of the opening still bore traces of being forcefully smashed through, with highly uneven fragments of shattered stone.
Evidently, it had been created with extreme violence.
Leticia stared at the hole in silence.
The position of the hole was quite subtle.
Judging by the position of the light, if she crawled through, she would indeed end up closer to where Lin Ling was.
She turned her head to look in the other direction.
There was another path at the fork ahead that seemed to lead around.
On that path, there were some doodles she couldn't understand.
There were strange arrows.
Crooked drawings of bread.
And a very comical drawing of a little Saintess.
Leticia stared at the doodle for a moment.
Ultimately, her gaze returned to the hole in the wall.
Crawl through?
She, Leticia.
The Saintess of the Camillaya Holy See.
The Saintess for whom handmaids would bow and step aside well in advance whenever she walked down the corridors of the White Tower.
Now she was going to crawl through a hole in the wall?
Leticia's expression was incredibly complex.
But the platinum-blonde glow was on the other side.
She could even sense that Lin Ling was nearby.
Leticia closed her eyes.
Lin Ling's face suddenly flashed in her mind.
If it were Lin Ling—
The scene manifested almost instantly.
Lin Ling would probably peer through the opening, her eyes lighting up.
“Wow, if we can get there faster through this hole, I guess we'll just have to sacrifice Miss Saintess's dignity!”
And then, she would crawl through without a single shred of hesitation.
After squeezing through, she would probably comment with absolute sincerity:
“This is a shortcut!”
“The great Miss Saintess has discovered a hidden passage!”
Leticia opened her eyes.
For some reason, she felt as though she could already hear Lin Ling's voice.
She looked down at her dress.
Then she looked at the hole in the wall.
After a moment, Leticia murmured softly:
“Seeing Lin Ling is more important.”
Thus, she chose the hole in the wall.
Leticia bent down.
Her movements were a bit stiff at first.
After all, she had never done anything like this before.
Her skirt got in the way, and her long hair almost brushed against the edge of the opening.
She carefully supported herself against the wall, squeezing through the hole inch by inch.
By the time she finally made it to the other side, her hem was covered in dust, and the ends of her hair were a bit disheveled.
Leticia stood up straight and patted her skirt.
Her face remained dignified.
Only the tips of her ears were slightly flushed.
She raised her eyes.
The platinum-blonde glow was indeed much closer.
Right to the right of the fork ahead.
Leticia felt a slight wave of relief in her heart.
It seemed her judgment was correct.
Even though she didn't know who had smashed this hole, it had indeed helped her.
“Thank you.”
She whispered.
Then, she continued walking in the direction of the glow.
After passing through several more forks, she finally arrived in front of a door.
The platinum-blonde glow was inside.
Very close.
Leticia stood outside the door, gently tidying her hair and dress.
Even though she had just crawled through a hole, she at least hoped not to look too disheveled when she saw Lin Ling.
She raised her hand, preparing to knock.
Meanwhile, Niya, who was delivering meals on the other side of the corridor, suddenly sneezed.
“Achoo!”
She rubbed her nose, blinking in confusion.
“Strange.”
“Is someone talking about me?”
Niya looked down at the tray in her hands, and then suddenly remembered something.
“Oh, right.”
“The hole I accidentally smashed in the wall the other day doesn't seem to have been repaired yet.”
She thought about it seriously.
“Once I'm done with my work, I should go ask the soldiers who know earth magic to help fix it.”
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