Large snowflakes were falling from the sky. It was snowing heavily.
Fortunately, there was no damage to the barracks, as they were guarded by the branches of the silver laurel tree and the divine power of the renowned High Priest.
Well, if Lina’s power was controlled properly, she would be able to cast spells that would be more powerful than in the original story.
As they climbed a relatively high hill and looked down over a wide plain, the high ranking Priest approached.
"Stern, did you get the map?"
Seria nodded.
Stern, along with the commander-in-chief, was the first to be informed of the overall map when it came to defeating the Demons.
It was a relief that the original Seria's knowledge was still in Seria’s head.
For now, the constellation armor with Stern’s presence was effective at a radius of up to five kilometers.
If the strike force accidentally went beyond 5km from Stern, the constellation gold armor would take away the body heat of the wearer. Knights would die from hypothermia.
So at first glance, it was easy to think that even if they accidentally got more than 5 km away, they should quickly run towards the direction where Stern was.
The problem was that it would be difficult to do so.
First of all, it would not be easy for a person to grasp 5km with his eyes, and above all, it would be a desperate battle to defeat demons that could kill them if they look away. There were only a few great men who could measure the distance calmly.
If they were not calm and thorough, they would panic left and right, and in many cases die of hypothermia.
So the larger the scale of the battle, the more careful they had to be. The knights had to maintain their original formation to the maximum extent possible, and Stern had to learn the terrain of the battlefield to the same extent.
In the unlikely event that the formation should collapse, Seria had to be able to keep track of the large crowd of knights and others and balance them by crossing the line of movement at the shortest distance possible.
"Neighhh!”
That was why horses were important to Stern, too, and when Seria stroked his nose, her intelligent horse let out a lush voice in reply.
‘He's a cute guy.’
"Stern! Priest! I've brought it here."
The holy knight ran over and held out the box.
The high ranking Priest took the ceremonial robe out of the box and handed it to Seria. It was the priestly uniform that Stern customarily wore at all times in the battle to defeat the demons.
Seria put it on. The cloak, shimmering with a variety of colors like mermaid scales, seemed to have been slowly developed to be worn to make Stern's position visible, aside from being pretty.
"Those Berg Knights are really strong.”
The high priest, who spoke admirably, asked.
“By the way, where did Stern's knight go?"
“Bibi?”
"Yes. Abigail Orrien. If she’s a dedicated knight, she’s supposed to protect Stern… Isn't that a breach of duty?"
The hard voice revealed an unconcealed disdain for Abigail. Well, he was a high-ranking priest who worshipped the High Priest Amos. All the priests from the High Temple disliked Abigail, who had a history of almost being executed in the temple.
‘But those are his feelings. It’s none of my business.’
Seria crossed her arms and said,
"I sent her and Berg Commander to provide support at the front because she is a very strong knight. Do you mean that I gave the wrong order? Shall I tell her to come back? I'm sure that would make me very uncomfortable."
"Ah…no.”
The high ranking Priest, who knew her personality well, immediately lowered his head.
He left and began to examine the situation in the plains while the two holy knights were assigned to protect Seria. Of course it was because she didn’t have the guts to command the battlefield like a commander-in-chief. She was just a scared commoner who hated blood.
At that moment, a woman dressed like Seria came running towards her, calling her name.
"Seria.”
The holy knights immediately bowed their heads.
"Saintess.”
It was Lina. She had short, shimmering black hair. As soon as she saw Seria, she looked happy and tried to shake Seria’s hand, but then she saw Seria’s pale face and withdrew her hand.
"You know, Seria! The necklace you wore yesterday. Where did it come from? I was going to ask you about it yesterday.”
It may be an illusion, but it seemed that Lina was obsessed with this necklace. However, Seria answered insincerely.
"I got it from His Highness.”
"Wow…! So it's a wedding present! So the Grand Duke and his wife are exchanging such things!”
Lina murmured, her cheeks blushed.
From behind Lina, a few knights were approaching from afar. They seemed to have come for Lina. When Seria turned her head to the side without replying, Lina spoke.
"I wish I had one like that too…”
‘She wants it?’
Was there a chance that the necklace would show up at the auction house like in the original book, and Seria’s half brother, Nissos Kellyden, won the bid and gave it to Lina as a birthday present? Of course not.
While Seria was pondering these silly thoughts, Lina's voice rang in her ears.
"When you divorce later, you will return it to His Highness right?"
***
For a moment, Kalis Haneton thought he had misheard.
But Lina's voice was high pitched and full of life, and it pierced his ears well. A look of concern crossed the face of the second-in-command knight who followed Kalis.
"Marquis, did the Saintess….?”
Kalis raised his hand to indicate that the knight should be quiet. Even if his second-in-command knight didn't say anything, Kalis knew well what Lina just said was problematic.
On the one hand, Seria was feeling tired.
Not long ago, on the way back to the Great Temple with High Priest Amos, Lina kept crying. She stubbornly refused to go back.
No matter how strict High Priest Amos was, he couldn't bend his will when the Saintess was crying to the point of exhausting her energy. So High Priest Amos changed his direction. For the sake of Lina's stability, he called for Marquis Haneton.
Kalis had a lot of urgent matters to deal with, such as settling his marriage with Seria, which was also in dispute.
He put away the proposal ring that Seria returned to him in the most important drawer of his desk for a while, and after busily processing his work with a bitter smile on his face, he decided to escort Lina again in the name of her protector.
It was a decision that Kalis could not fail to make, as the temple had offered unbeatable compensation, including generous gold and holy objects, in exchange for the escort.
However, Kalis didn't expect to meet Seria like this. Apart from the fact that it was awkward, Kalis was happy.
"Lina.”
Seria said, raising one eyebrow.
"You seem to want this necklace very much.”
Lina hesitated and spoke.
“It’s just that…..the necklace is very beautiful. Oh, Seria! If you ever get tired of that necklace, can you give it to me as a birthday present?"
Kalis was troubled. Even though they were at some distance, Seria’s eyes went past Lina to him.
Eyes that faced each other for a while. Kalis felt his heart throb. She was the fiancée whom he had promised eternity at one time. His heart ached at the fact that he could no longer call Seria his fiancée. Kalis’s emotions were still leaning toward Seria.
At that moment, Lina followed along Seria’s gaze, as if she had an ominous premonition.
"Kalis!"
Lina said as she ran over to him.
"I was having a little chat with Seria… I was about to go back."
Kalis became a little curious. Because by all accounts, Lina seemed to be trying to cover up her conversation with Seria earlier. Could it be that she was aware that the words she had said to Seria were not appropriate?
"Lina.”
"Yes?”
"It’s disrespectful to tell a Glick nobleman about divorce.”
“I'm just….. Seria is going to marry you anyway. I'm sure she and Grand Duke Berg will divorce soon. I did it because I was thinking of you."
‘Thinking of me? No, if anything, you provoked Seria.’
If it was the Seria from before, she would have already slapped Lina in the face.
"She’ll return the necklace to His Highness when they divorced, won’t she?”
Kalis said once and for all.
"Even if that was unintentional, it didn't sound good, Lina."
"…"
Lina fell silent and looked at Kalis with resentful eyes. They were black with a hint of brown. In an instant, clear tears fell from the eyes of the unique color, which was different from those of any aristocrats in this empire.
“Lina….Lina? Lina!”
Kalis called her name in an attempt to soothe her, but Lina instantly ran down the hill. The knight said in surprise at Lina's sudden behavior.
"I'll go after the Saintess.”
The second-in-command knight ran off in a hurry. Kalis shifted his gaze for a moment as the knight moved. Seria looked at Kalis.
He seemed to have lost some weight.
Up until a month ago, he had always been by her side. Her heart felt uneasy for no reason when she saw Kalis’s bright blue eyes.
"…"
Their gazes met, and Seria turned her head away without much reaction. Kalis was about to grab Seria’s hand, but he turned around. An instinctive sense of foreboding stopped Kalis. He raised his head. Seria’s eyes and Kalis’s immediately widened. The demon was right beside them.
"De….Demon!”
A holy knight in the vicinity of Kalis shouted. Seria panicked and rushed to avoid it, but the demon moved more swiftly.
"How did it come all the way here?”
"Seria!”
It was the moment when Kalis hurriedly shouted Seria’s name. Seria closed her eyes tightly.
