TFWSDW 59

~Chapter 59~

I was stunned.

‘Why is he here?’

Honestly, I knew full well that Dad’s offensive barrier wouldn’t be enough to stop Usher right now.

That’s why I’d been waiting for one thing.

‘The person Dad said he’d send instead.’

He’d promised they’d arrive within an hour, no matter what.

And even if that person hadn’t arrived in time, I had another card to play…

‘But I really didn’t want to use it…’

It had too big a backlash, so I’d put it off until the very last moment.

So someone did come, sure.

But—why the royal spy?

“Cough, what are you—”

“Ah, Sir Usher! Good, keep talking~. You’re caught in the act, red-handed! Kyaaa, someone arrest him!”

Antonio traced a line through the air with his index finger. Suddenly, as if by magic, Usher’s mouth was sealed.

“……!!”

The veins on his temple bulged.

But only for a moment.

“……”

He glanced at me, then at the wrecked room and the situation, and grew still.

He’d realized it was too late. That the odds were against him.

At the same time, Antonio’s holy power restrained Usher’s body as well.

‘Tch. Quick-witted bastard. Should’ve kept thrashing so I could finish him off easily.’

Instead, he’d chosen to submit.

I dropped heavily onto the floor.

‘Haa… crisis averted…’

Or maybe not yet?

I glanced warily at the royal spy, his eyes hidden under thick bandages. Shrinking back a little, I asked,

“Are you all right?”

Antonio asked kindly. I stayed silent.

“…How did you know to come?”

“Ahaha~. With all that commotion in front of headquarters, how could I not know?”

So he’d been among the bystanders?

“And since you were spending the morning alone without your Guardian, I ran over—swift as the wind!”

“…Only Laura should’ve known that…”

“Sir Laura and I are close~!”

Yeah, right.

Then when’s the person Dad promised actually arriving?

I glanced at Usher, now quietly bound, and was about to speak with a frown when—

“Huh? Ugh…! Was it really okay to bust down the door like that?”

A voice came from behind Antonio.

“The knights on watch will come running because of the barrier breach… You’d better take responsibility like you promised, Sir Antonio.”

Someone stepped through the doorway.

Long dark-blue hair, tied back in a high ponytail.

A tall, broad-shouldered female knight.

‘That’s…’

Her familiar face made me recognize her immediately.

She was the temporary Guardian Dad had promised.

According to the setting, she’d once served under Dad when he led the Azure Knights.

For the record, after Dad was corrupted, the Azure Knights had scattered and disbanded.

“You hear me? Don’t you dare leave me to take the blame.”

“Haha~ of course, of course, Dame Alexa.”

Our eyes met.

Her eyes widened.

“Heavens above, is this plump, perfectly baked little bun truly our old Captain’s papal candidate? She’s too pretty!”

“Tada~ that’s right!”

“Why are you the one so happy about it, Antonio?”

I turned my head—
and though Antonio’s eyes were wrapped in bandages, it felt like our gazes met.

For a moment, I even thought I glimpsed golden eyes behind the bandages.

Antonio beamed.

“You can thank me as much as you like~!”

I wrinkled my nose, ignoring the sharp glare Usher was still burning into me.

…Like I’d want to.

A short while later—

“Are you unharmed, Candidate? We’ll take Sir Tatum—no, the suspect—into custody!”

Not long after Antonio and Alexa arrived, holy knights rushed in, heard the situation, and hauled Usher away.

Some of Usher’s subordinates were among them, looking rattled.

‘With two witnesses, there’s no way he can wriggle out of this.’

And one of those witnesses was a priest under a Cardinal—
the kind of person you’d call the core department of the Church.

‘But he’ll slip away again, no doubt.’

After over ten years of infiltration, Usher’s foundation here was too solid to ignore.

Still, since this was already the second official incident after his intrusion into my room last time, he wouldn’t be able to pull the same stunt again so easily.

“Haa…”

I really needed to level up soon. Only then would they stop targeting me. Being a noob was exhausting!

“Are you well, Candidate?”

At the sound of a low voice—unusually deep for a woman—I turned my head to see the knight standing firmly before me.

‘She even stands just like Dad…’

Alexa hesitated, then suddenly went down on one knee before me.

As if thinking she had to meet my eyes, she lowered herself even further, one hand braced against the floor.

‘How low are you going…?’

At this rate, she’d be lying flat.

“W-what are you doing?”

“Hm? Ah… I thought I read somewhere that a holy knight’s gaze should never be above a papal candidate’s. Is that right? My memory’s fuzzy, but…”

“That’s only when I’m sitting in a chair…”

“Aha! The little one—no, the Candidate—is clever indeed!”

Alexa straightened up at once.

“My apologies for the late introduction. I am Alexa Mischere, sent at the request of our Captain—Sir Derrick. Please, call me Alexa!”

Her sharp eyes contrasted with her cheerful voice.

The greeting was rough, but the respect was clear—just like Dad’s.

“You were in real danger. I don’t know what happened, but I’m glad I wasn’t too late. I ran here the moment I got our Captain’s message!”

“…Then why’d you come with him?”

Right now, Antonio was watching me with desperate eagerness. I was ignoring him.

Not from the start. I had thanked him politely.

Then he suddenly invited me to visit his department, and I’d gone silent.

‘As if I’d walk into a den of spies.’

“Ah, Sir Antonio? We met on the way. He insisted on seeing you, since you were alone…”

Just then, a pale-blue light shimmered between us. Holy power.

Alexa, still wearing her sly smile, lowered her voice.

“Doesn’t it feel… a bit off? As a rule, you don’t get too close with Central Department types.”

When she smiled again, the blue glow vanished without a trace.

‘Wow. Sharp. I thought she’d be more bluff than bite.’

While I was quietly impressed, Alexa raised her voice again.

“You have no idea how shocked I was! On my way here, Sir Antonio suddenly left Papal Candidate Emmet with me and ran off!”

My eyes widened.

“Gasp. So that’s why you were late?”

“Nope! I left Emmet with someone else and ran right after him!”

“……”

Yikes.

Antonio, who had been staring at me so intently, finally burst out,

“Cruel! You abandoned our precious Emmet in a freezing hallway? Dame Alexa, I’ll report you to the Committee!”

“Heh! Go ahead. I’m not scared! Who in their right mind dumps their own papal candidate first, huh?”

…Scary how they acted like fools, but clearly weren’t.

While the two bickered out of nowhere, someone else approached.