Chapter 123 – Rendezvous with the Rescue Team

“Marie… I’m so glad you’re safe.”

Heart dismounted his horse without ever taking his eyes off me, a soft, gentle smile blooming on his face.

“Heart…”

I felt such overwhelming relief that I lost my words for a moment.

No, no. Get it together.

“Heart, this is Second Prince Mels Debius. He escorted me all the way here.”

I pulled myself together and introduced the prince. Heart promptly pulled out the faintly glowing “God’s Oracle”.

Whoa, it’s glowing!

“I’m Heart of the Saintess’s Dedicated Escort Team. I’ve come to retrieve the Saintess.”

Saintess’s Dedicated Escort Team?

“It’s glowing!”

“Prince! This is in front of the ‘God’s Oracle’!”

Suzy immediately smacked the prince on the shoulder with a sharp whack.

“Snake’s…?”

Heart, watching the exchange, tilted his head quizzically.

“Yes, that’s right. ‘Snake’s.’ Thank you so much for your help back then. It’s an honor to meet you again.”

“What an incredible coincidence, right? I was shocked at first too.”

Heart’s face lit up with recognition as he looked at the prince, a smile spreading across it.

There’s just something different about running into someone you already know—it brings a whole new level of comfort.

“The ringleader, the First Prince, has been detained by the king, and all the arrangements are in place to hand him over to the church.”

Heart nodded in satisfaction upon hearing that.

“Understood. We’ll leave the rest to the church. As for us, we’ll escort the Saintess back home without a moment’s delay.”

The prince and Suzy took my hands and squeezed them tightly.

It was only a short time together, but we’d gotten so close—parting like this felt truly regrettable.

“I’ll write you letters. Next time, I’ll come visit under my own power. Thank you so much for everything.”

Holding back my tears, I said my goodbyes. Suzy nodded back, tears streaming down her cheeks.

As reluctant as I was, I parted from the two of them and headed to Heart’s side.

“Gain and the others are waiting.”

Ted called out kindly from atop his horse.

“Right. I need to get back quick and show everyone I’m fine.”

Gain’s such a crybaby—he’s probably worried sick and bawling his eyes out. And Grandfather’s no doubt raising an absolute ruckus.

Without a word, Heart took my hand and helped me up onto the horse.

“Marie, mind handling the wind magic?”

I cast my usual wind spell, lifting the two of us into the air.

I turned back with a smile, and Heart’s grip on me tightened.

“I’m never letting you out of my sight again.”

“Hehe. Count on it.”

Heart gave Ted a quiet “Let’s move,” then turned his back on the prince and Suzy.

“Take care!” “Leave the prince to us!”

“Got it! You two stay safe too!”

The prince and Suzy waved their hands vigorously with beaming smiles until we were completely out of sight.

Heart issued various orders to the second captain as we passed through the castle gates and out the outer wall gate.

There, an unbelievable number of holy knights had the outer wall gate completely surrounded.

“What… is with all these holy knights…?”

The words slipped out of me unbidden.

Hearing it, Heart, Ted, and even the captain all gave awkward, bitter smiles.

“Saintess, truth be told, we were shocked too,” the captain said.

“I might’ve gone a bit overboard with the letter…” Ted chuckled sheepishly, which was rare for him.

I see.

Ted was the one who stirred things up.

“We’ll be splitting off from the holy knights here. They’ll keep watch until the criminal handover is done.”

The holy knights encircling the castle parted one after another, lining up along both sides of the path and saluting with hands over their hearts.

“Marie, give them a smile.”

I slowly paraded my horse through their ranks, smiling at them all.

Sorry for worrying so many people.

With the holy knights seeing us off, we finally passed through the outer wall gate. Now it was just Heart, Ted, and me.

“Camping out feels more relaxing, doesn’t it?”

Staying at the church in a foreign kingdom would’ve been awkward—I probably couldn’t have let my guard down anyway.

“Hehe. You know me so well.”

Before long, the alert-level warning torches winked out one by one, and the capital reclaimed its usual peaceful night.

“Let’s go.”

And just like always, we got to work setting up camp.

Just like always, I took a bath and had dinner.

Little by little, my everyday routine was coming back.

“I was worried sick. Seeing you in that white robe was such a relief.”

“Sorry for making you worry.”

Now that we could finally chat leisurely, Ted brewed my favorite tea.

“Mind telling us what happened?”

“Yeah, I wanna hear too.”

The two of them sat side by side across from me, tea in hand.

“I see… So none of you knew anything…”

From there, I gave them a concise rundown—from the moment Lily showed up at the lab up to reuniting with Heart.

They listened intently, nodding along.

The story about meeting Suzy, in particular, was a huge hit.

“Heard Lily got dosed with the same poison. Looks like she got used too.”

“Eh? Lily too? Is she okay?”

I don’t like her, but I sure don’t want her dead.

“Yeah, she’s fine. We even got some intel out of her because of it.”

“Good. She is my sister, nominally speaking.”

When I apologized for all the trouble Lily caused, Heart just laughed it off with a “Don’t sweat it.”

I’m really glad Lily made it out okay.

I don’t want to rob Mom and Dad of another daughter.

Would be nice if she could handle the filial duties in my place, though.

“Marie. Once we’re back, they’ll discuss Lily’s punishment. Your say will probably carry the most weight. Give it some serious thought on the road. Ted and I are here anytime you wanna talk it over.”

Heart laid it out straight, and Ted nodded with a grim expression.

“Got it.”

“But she ain’t walking free, that’s for sure.”

Yeah.

This blew up way bigger than any sisterly spat.

The stuff from when I was five—Lily was just a kid too, so no real blame there.

But this time, we’re both adults. I’ll hear her side properly.

If that ‘Saintess Assault’ status sticks, though, Lily’s as good as done for.

Truth be told, I don’t wanna shoulder that burden for her sake.

“Don’t worry. If push comes to shove, I’ll make the call.”

From across the table, Heart reached out toward my hair… and I conked out.

“Haha. Some things never change, huh?”

“Hehe. He was strung tight as a bow. During the rescue op, he was so hardcore I thought he’d snap.”

Ted hoisted Heart onto his shoulder and carried him off to the private tent.

I attached the paper from Suzy—along with the letter I’d just finished—to a fluffy tuft of cotton and sent it soaring high into the night sky.

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