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Chapter 14
“According to a YouTube video I watched before, ducks are actually smarter than they look.”
Who knew that all those animal videos she watched after work—whenever her hatred of people reached its peak—would be useful like this?
Siena’s eyes sparkled as she looked at the knight in front of her.
The knight was still blushing and awkwardly making excuses.
“I didn’t follow you for any strange reason, Saintess. It was dark, and I was worried something might happen to you.”
Siena waved her hands dismissively.
“Don’t worry, Sir Knight. If something happens, the ducks will let you know.”
“…Are the temple ducks messenger birds or something?”
The knight looked at her with confusion as she smiled gently.
“Just wait and see.”
A duck waddled up to her feet. Siena tore off a piece of bread and tossed it.
The duck quickly swallowed the bread and then stared at her hand.
“Quack, quack.”
Just as she expected.
When the duck begged for more, she gave it another piece.
“Quack, quack.”
The duck, suddenly gifted with a delicious midnight snack, kept quacking happily at her.
Siena glanced sideways at the knight and smiled in satisfaction.
“See? The ducks make noise when they want food.”
“I see.”
“So if you hear them quacking, that means I’m safely feeding them. If you’re worried about me, only come if the ducks suddenly start flapping wildly or if everything goes completely quiet. That would mean something really happened.”
The knight scratched the back of his reddened neck.
“Yes, ma’am.”
Leaving him behind, Siena walked toward the pond. The duck that had been eating bread waddled after her.
* * *
Some time later.
The knight in a white cloak had fallen asleep with his head lowered. He suddenly woke with a start when a pair of polished leather shoes stopped in front of him.
“Y-Your Highness…?”
“I told you to keep the Saintess safely inside the temple.”
“Y-Your Highness, I—!”
The knight turned pale and quickly dropped to the ground at Haullaner’s feet.
Just then—
“Quack, quack.”
Faint duck sounds could be heard in the distance.
The knight’s face brightened.
“T-The Saintess is by the pond feeding the ducks!”
The moment he said that, the quacking stopped.
“……”
“……”
An eerie silence filled the air.
“Your Highness! Your Highness!”
Another knight came running, carrying a large brown cloth sack tied tightly with a long ribbon. There was a small hole in it.
When he shook the sack, a few crumbs of bread fell out through the hole.
“This was hanging from a tree by the pond, swaying in the wind!”
The mystery of the duck sounds was solved.
The kneeling knight’s face turned as pale as a corpse.
Before Haullaner could even show his anger, the knight holding the sack urged him.
“Your Highness! Shall we send a pursuit team? We must find the Saintess before the Grand Duke of Bledel does—”
“The Grand Duke of Bledel?”
Haullaner suddenly looked around. Come to think of it, the black cloaks were nowhere to be seen.
Arthur was not the type to overlook the possibility that the Saintess might run away.
Haullaner’s expression turned thoughtful. After a moment, he spoke.
“There’s no need for a pursuit team.”
* * *
At dawn, before the darkness had fully faded—
Siena ran across the temple’s front square as fast as she could. She had only one goal: the hired carriage waiting at the corner of the square.
‘First, I need to get out of the capital!’
She jumped straight into the carriage.
The coachman inside, who had been dozing, jumped in surprise.
“Good heavens! A thief?”
“Shh! Not a thief—a customer.”
Siena quickly covered his mouth.
The shouting coachman suddenly sniffed the air.
He smelled expensive perfume. His mouth spread into a grin. It seemed he thought he had caught a wealthy customer at dawn.
He rubbed his hands together eagerly.
“My lady, where shall I take you?”
“Just start moving first.”
Siena was in a hurry.
‘Once the wind stops, they’ll figure out the trick with the bread sack.’
She glanced out the window at the temple, still buried in darkness. The leaves that had been rustling earlier were no longer moving.
Just then—
The temple suddenly became noisy, and orange lights began lighting up here and there.
Siena hurried the coachman.
“Sir! Quickly!”
“Where exactly are we going?”
It seemed he would not move unless he heard a clear destination.
At that moment, Siena’s eyes fell on her bracelet, “Tears of Dawn.”
Right.
A place where she could sell this bracelet.
But she had to go somewhere as far away as possible from the Grand Duke and the Crown Prince.
“Take me to the closest port city to the capital—the one with a pawnshop!”
“If it’s that kind of place, it would be Aveiru. It’ll take at least half a day. Do you have any luggage?”
Siena shook her head quickly.
Only then did the coachman step outside.
Unlike Siena, who was anxious, he moved painfully slowly.
“Now then~♪ Where could that bridle be~♪”
It took forever for him to put the harness on the horse and light the carriage lamps.
‘What if I get caught like this?’
The noise from the temple grew louder. Even the beggars sleeping against the walls began waking up. Soon, knights in black cloaks and white cloaks poured out of the temple entrance like chess pieces.
“Sir, please hurry! I’ll pay you double!”
The coachman, now sitting at the front, peeked inside through the window. Unlike before, his movements were quick.
“…That’ll be quite a sum.”
“I don’t care!”
Siena answered firmly.
As soon as she reached Aveiru, she planned to pawn the bracelet and pay the fare.
When the coachman still looked uncertain, she briefly showed him the bracelet.
Recognizing it as something valuable, he finally loosened the reins energetically.
“Hyah!”
* * *
Arthur had just woken up and felt unusually refreshed.
For the first time in a while, he had slept well without relying on holy water or cold compresses. It was thanks to receiving holy power from the Saintess the day before.
‘As expected, I need to keep the Saintess by my side.’
Even just holding her hand had reduced his pain this much.
‘I can’t even imagine how light my body would feel if she completely removed the curse.’
Of course, the method was still unknown.
And even if they discovered it, only one of them—either himself or Haullaner—would be freed from the curse.
‘I’ll think about that later. First, I need to keep the Saintess close.’
At least then, he would fear sudden attacks less.
He rose from the simple wooden bed.
The moment his feet touched the floor, there was a loud bang. Someone was knocking urgently.
“Your Grace! It’s Simon!”
So urgent that his aide Simon entered without waiting for permission.
Arthur, still in his shirt, sat on the bed with his chin resting on his hand and said calmly,
“How predictable.”
