When she realized that the Lord Ansu she had been yearning for was truly standing before her eyes, Freya's eyes suddenly reddened, and her voice grew choked with emotion.
"Lord Ansu..."
All the grievances and anxieties of the past few days finally found an outlet at this moment; she hugged Ansu tightly, as if using every ounce of her strength.
The room fell into a deep silence.
Being held so tightly, Ansu could feel her slightly trembling body, and the air was filled with the faint, elegant fragrance unique to Freya.
"Er... Freya." Ansu was being hugged so hard he could barely breathe; he couldn't help but look down, his gaze struggling to move away from the ample softness being pressed out of shape.
He then chuckled and teased, "Alright, alright, haven't I returned? Don't be so tragic; I thought I was about to kick the bucket..."
"Ah!" Freya only then realized her loss of composure, and she released her grip with flushed cheeks.
"Lord Ansu... why did you suddenly come back?" Suppressing the joy of their reunion, Freya asked curiously, "Is your mission complete? Have you found that ancient ruins?"
"I've found it." Ansu nodded with a smile. "And for this mission, I really have to thank you for your help!"
Freya had not only helped him find a legitimate reason for his journey with the expedition party but had also helped him pin down Samantha in the Royal Capital.
Although they hadn't managed to kill Samantha herself in the end, her trusted subordinates had suffered heavy casualties, essentially leaving her a commander without an army.
"That's good!" Freya wore a smile, feeling happy to have been of help to Lord Ansu.
The atmosphere remained quiet for a moment before Freya remembered she needed to host her guest.
"Lord Ansu, please find a place to sit! I'll go brew some tea for you!"
She hurriedly ran to the living room, rummaging through cabinets to prepare black tea for Ansu.
Ansu sat on her sofa just like last time, silently observing the overly minimalist home furnishings around him.
It looked empty at a glance, completely devoid of any zest for life... to the point that, other than being clean and white, it felt more like a prison cell.
Freya's daily life was indeed very dull; at the cathedral, she at least had work to keep her busy, but when the Church gave her freedom, she instead couldn't find a direction in life.
"Huh...?" As Ansu looked around, he suddenly noticed something familiar.
He walked over and stopped in front of a glass cabinet, discovering that the candy jar he had casually given her was placed inside.
This jar of candy had been carefully placed in the glass cabinet as if it were a sacred relic being enshrined.
As soon as Freya returned, she saw Ansu staring at that candy jar, and the blush on her face became even more pronounced.
"Lord Ansu..." She explained awkwardly and with embarrassment, "Um... because I cherish food, I put away the candies I hadn't finished eating, thinking... I'd eat them next time."
Ansu looked at the little Holy Maiden, whose ears were now flushed red with shame, and didn't expose her, merely echoing her words casually.
"Oh, is that so... then you're quite thrifty."
"Yes, yes..." Freya nodded repeatedly, and seeing Ansu sit down again, she hurriedly pushed the steaming black tea in front of him. "Please, have some tea!"
Ansu blew on the steam, the aroma of black tea filling the living room.
Freya sat quietly on the other side of the sofa.
Although the two didn't say much for a long while, she felt a long-lost sense of peace and tranquility in her heart; she truly enjoyed the time spent with Lord Ansu.
"By the way." Because food had just been mentioned, Ansu thought of something. "Are you hungry? Having been locked at home these past few days, are your food supplies almost gone?"
"I'm not hungry." Freya shook her head with a faint smile. "Since I don't go out often, I have a lot of food stored at home. Besides, it's only been a few days; Lord Ansu doesn't need to worry about me."
"Oh, then never mind." Ansu shrugged. "I specifically bought some for you on the way..."
"I'm hungry!" Freya immediately changed her tune.
"Huh?"
"Yes!" Freya nodded repeatedly, her expression full of anticipation.
Watching Freya's excited expression, Ansu silently took out the sweet pastries and bread he had bought on the way and placed them on the coffee table, then inexplicably wondered... she wouldn't refrain from eating these and enshrine them too, would she?
"Wow! How did Lord Ansu know I liked these?" Freya blinked in surprise, picked up a small pastry covered in cream, and put it into her mouth, saying indistinctly as she ate, "Mmm... so delicious!"
Ansu watched the little Holy Maiden, who had suddenly lost her poise; she narrowed her eyes in satisfaction, a bit of white cream stuck to the corner of her mouth, and he couldn't help but laugh.
"The last time we were at school, you told me you liked this kind of pastry, so I remembered it when I was buying food."
Freya froze for a moment and looked up, her clear, almond-shaped eyes fixed intently on Ansu.
Lord Ansu had not only brought her food specifically but even remembered exactly what she liked to eat... thinking of this, a trace of an indescribable emotion suddenly welled up in her heart.
"Lord Ansu is so good to me!"
Freya wore a bright smile, and her heart felt warm.
Ansu felt a bit helpless; she was so happy just from this... the little Holy Maiden was truly easy to please.
While Freya was eating, Ansu finally brought up the main business; he looked at her furry pointed ears that were twitching slightly from happiness and suddenly asked, "Is it because of the previous battle? You can't return to your original appearance?"
At this point, Ansu paused, thinking that this should actually be her original appearance, while the human side was the image she had worked hard to disguise.
"Yes." Mentioning that battle, Freya's brow furrowed slightly. "Lord Ansu must have heard about what happened a few days ago, but there was actually no demihuman terrorist attack at all. After I went to provide support, I found that the demon hunters were just surrounding and killing an old tribal priest..."
"A priest?"
Freya nodded gently. "That's right, and that priest was likely a target the demon hunters had specifically sought out. When he was besieged, he suddenly performed an ancient secret technique and let out a bestial roar. That sound... it felt as if it directly awakened the power sleeping deep within my bloodline, making it impossible for me to maintain my human disguise."
"Then..." Freya's voice gradually lowered, her gaze turning disappointed. "Those demon hunters, as well as other colleagues from the Church of Holy Light, looked at me with shock, as if I were some hideous beast. After dealing with that priest, they all turned their spears toward me..."
She was indeed incredibly disappointed.
Just because she had exposed such an appearance, the Church colleagues she had worked with showed such expressions and even treated her like an enemy...
Ansu looked at the little Holy Maiden who had suddenly fallen silent; it seemed it was exactly as he thought—this was a carefully designed trap for her, and Freya had been set up.
"Is being a demihuman really a sin..." Freya murmured dejectedly to herself. "Just like everyone says, I possess impure, fallen, and savage bestial blood... no matter how much I've done for everyone, I can't change the original sin brought by my birth..."
"Of course not!" Ansu suddenly scoffed. "Everyone who has a prejudice against you because of your bloodline is an idiot! Those opportunists in the Church are the real scum who defile the name of the Holy Light."
If someone who had sincerely given so much to the Church, a person of supreme kindness who wholeheartedly yearned for the Holy Light, could be treated like this, then this Church of Holy Light... had no reason to exist.
"Lord Ansu..." Freya murmured as she looked up, her pale gold eyes shimmering slightly.
Rate on N.U.
