From that moment on, his waist, back, stomach, and even his b*ttocks, although they were certainly not touching their bare skin, felt like they were on fire wherever her body touched.

Especially her groin pressing against his b*ttocks with Swift’s movements felt provocatively stimulating.

‘It’s a good thing I didn’t sit behind Ariel.’

Every time her hips stimulated his center, it was clear that all his nerves would focus there. He could vividly imagine himself breathing roughly around her neck.

While entertaining such thoughts, Leopold smirked and leaned forward to press close to the horse’s back and urged it on.

For Ariel’s safety, they had to reach the mansion before the sun completely set.

When they crossed the wide Edon plains, the sun had disappeared behind the mountains. The red sunset that dyed the sky set the golden reeds ablaze as well.

“Your Majesty.”

Ariel’s voice came through amidst the sound of horse hooves.

‘The sound of the wind makes it hard to hear her voice even when close.’

He wished he could hear her voice a little better and activated his mana.

“Your Majesty.”

Ariel raised her head to whisper close to his ear. Leopold could clearly hear her panting breath in his ear.

“The sky and the reed fields look as if they are engulfed in flames.”

After finishing her sentence, Ariel placed her head back in position.

“It’s as if dark sorcerers have appeared and set fire to the whole world.”

He recited jokingly.

‘Really… Such a thought befits a demon hunter.’

He chuckled again at his own description of the beautiful scene. A playful smile brightened her face.

She naturally assumed that Leopold wouldn’t have heard her, but with his mana activated, her voice was vividly planted in his ear.

“How strange.”

His voice scattered with the wind.

His face had been hard to keep straight while pushing through the reed forest on horseback, but her silly jest brought a gentle smile to Leopold’s face.

‘Ah…’

Ariel tightened her grip around Leopold’s waist to adjust her disheveled posture.

The warmth from her back. Ariel’s dependence on him for her entire body made Leopold’s heart tickle.

And on the one hand, he felt like he could go crazy from her cuteness. He imagined Ariel clinging to him like a cicada to an old tree, enjoying the scenery.

If someone tickled the heart with a feather, would it feel like this? Leopold’s heart swelled.

***

“This is serious…”

After Leopold and Ariel had left, Liese collapsed to the ground as her legs gave way.

Had Noah not appeared at the right time to save Ariel, she might have ended her life at this moment.

“Are you alright, priest!”

“What’s there not to be alright about. We should tidy up and leave before it gets any later.”

Only after everything was settled did the coachman rush to Liese to support her.

Although she could have harbored resentment towards them, she stood up with a calm face.

‘Ah. Noah Diaz.’

Her mind had been so preoccupied with Leopold’s arrival that she had completely forgotten about Noah’s presence and turned to look for him.

He was still standing right where he had handed Ariel over to Leopold, staring intently in the direction the two had disappeared.

“Thank you. I owe you my life.”

Liese approached him to express her gratitude.

But Noah merely glanced at her once as a response.

It was a completely different attitude from how respectfully he had treated her when Ariel was present.

Liese raised her eyebrows in confusion, but soon faced reality.

She was a low-ranking priest without any significant backing.

Life in the Holy See was not easy without any support from her family.

It was normal for her to be looked down upon by the ordinary nobility, let alone being ignored by the high-ranking imperial, it was nothing unusual.

It was when she bowed her head to Noah and turned to walk towards the carriage.

“Leave distributing goods in such dangerous places to men from now on.”

Noah locked his golden eyes with those of the coachman.

He glared sharply, as if to shame the coachman who had watched Ariel and Liese fall into danger from a distance without intervening.

Noah casually brushed his dark red hair behind his ear and sheathed his sword.

He walked past the villains who had fallen by his sword and disappeared smoothly into the forest.

Liese stared blankly in the direction he had vanished for a while before suddenly remembering what she had to do.

“Let’s hurry and get things sorted before it gets any later.”

“Yes, priest.”

As Liese began to pick up the items that had spilled from the carriage and load them back on, the ground trembled.

“Priest, what is that sound?”

“I’m not sure. The source of the sound is getting closer.”

“Look over there!”

The coachman pointed in the direction where Ariel had disappeared.

It was the Imperial Knights.

About ten knights were riding, each holding a torch.

One of the men dismounted from his horse and approached Liese.

“I am Evan, the Captain of the Imperial Knights.”

“I am Priest Liese from the Holy See.”

The man, Evan, with blonde hair and light-colored eyes, had double eyelids, large eyes, and full lips.

Apart from his tan skin, he bore a striking resemblance to Ariel.

‘It must be my imagination that he somewhat resembles Lady Ariel.’

“Are those men lying on the ground the ones who threatened Ariel?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

As soon as Liese answered, Evan kicked them with his foot and trampled on their wounded parts with disgust.

Then he ground his teeth in anger and said,

“Be thankful to His Majesty. Even the lives of scum like you are respected by him.”

Evan had encountered the two on their way to Norca.

Leopold had briefly explained the situation to him, and he mentioned that perhaps their savagery was due to the negligence of a depraved emperor, who instructed them that their lives be spared.

Thinking about how terrified Ariel must have been threatened by those drunkards made him furious, and he wanted to deal with them immediately, but he could not dare disobey His Majesty’s command.

Evan approached Liese again.

“It seems you will need to come to the palace tomorrow.”

“For what reason?”

“We need to understand the circumstances of this incident. It won’t take long.”

Evan did not believe that a low-ranking priest without any power could have brought a young lady from a high-ranking family to such a dangerous place.

But it was necessary to ascertain whose fault this incident was.

If it was Ariel’s fault, then he intended to make her realize that her misguided judgment had put many people in danger and tell her to reflect on it.

Ariel’s naive curiosity could have cost the priests their livelihoods or even their lives.

“By when should I come?”

“Come at a time convenient for you.”

“Then I will come after the morning prayers.”

“You can find me at the entrance of the palace. My name is Evan Clark.”

Evan stated his name emphatically.

‘It’s my jurisdiction, so in the end, I have to take responsibility. If I get expelled from the Holy See, I have nowhere else to go… What should I do?’

Although she had told Ariel it was her responsibility… she couldn’t deny her fear of what might happen afterward.

Liese’s large eyes drooped downwards.

The sight of the innocent beauty’s frightened eyes rushed into Evan’s field of vision, causing his heart to lurch.

With his ears reddening at her beauty, Evan coughed a couple of times.

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Evan couldn’t look directly at Liese anymore, overwhelmed by an unfamiliar emotion. He hastily turned his head and shouted to his knights.

“We need to meet with the Lord of Norca. Bring all these men with us.”

As Evan entered the town, the blue cloak that symbolized the Imperial Knights fluttered in the air behind him.

Liese stared blankly at where he had disappeared. He had shown a friendly demeanor with kind words and expressions, and then he suddenly left with a cold farewell.

‘Why do I feel so suffocated… I haven’t eaten anything, could it be indigestion?’

Liese thumped her chest.

The coachman misunderstood this as her pounding on her chest out of frustration.

“What should we do now, Priest? We’ve got ourselves thoroughly entangled because the young lady from the Marquis’s family was so stubborn. If you need my testimony at any time, please request it. I will assist you.”

“Thank you. Now, let’s not worry about me and set off. It seems we’ve roughly sorted everything out.”

Liese responded as if it were nothing and boarded the carriage, trying to ignore the tightness spreading across her chest.

Under the pitch-black night sky, the carriage of the Holy See began to move.

The waning moon emitted a forlorn light, illuminating the dark sky.

***

It was only after the sun had completely set that the two arrived in front of the Clark estate.

Because Swift had to carry both of them, they couldn’t increase speed much and it took quite a long time.

Ariel slowly unwrapped her arm from around Leopold’s waist.

‘We’ve arrived too early. It’s a pity.’

As the warm heat from around his waist dissipated, he exhaled a shallow sigh, dismounted from the horse first, and then promptly lifted Ariel up and gently set her down on the ground.

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

Ariel bowed her head towards Leopold in gratitude.

The words ‘you didn’t have to go out of your way to help me down’ rose to her throat, but Ariel kept her mouth shut, thinking of his effort to come all this way to rescue her.

“Swift, thank you. We made it safely because of you.”

After the hard journey carrying the two of them, she gently stroked Swift on the mane, and the pleased horse neighed.

Her lips curled up into a pretty smile.

“You must have been very surprised and had a hard time with the sudden events, but I am grateful that you endured it for me.”

Leopold suppressed the urge to stroke her hair as he spoke.