Rinascita, Porto-Veno Castle.
"Finally have time to come sit with me today?"
Cantarella crossed her round, slender legs, the delicate white stockings clinging tightly to her skin. She lazily brewed tea, her long, graceful fingers gently placing a cup of tea in front of Cartethyia opposite her.
The latter drank it all in one gulp.
"It's so hot."
Cartethyia stuck out her tongue and fanned it with her small hand. After a while, she continued:
"These past few days, the Sentinel has been entrusting me with all sorts of tasks. I only managed to free up time today."
"Oh? Have all the matters the Sentinel needed handled been resolved?"
"About half of them. They're actually all minor things—either visiting the descendants of those who perished in the Black Tide on Its behalf, or dealing with some of the Threnodians' remaining arrangements."
Overall, it was quite relaxed. After all, the real difficulty, the Threnodian Leviathan, had already been defeated by Noah.
"Right, right."
As if remembering the purpose of her visit, Cartethyia's eyes lit up as she looked at Cantarella:
"Can you tell me in detail what exactly you all did after I fell unconscious? I missed such a wonderful segment of my life. It feels like such a loss to only know the general outline!"
"Of course I can. But to make my explanation easier, you should first tell me in detail what you two talked about at that time."
Guided by Cantarella, Cartethyia immediately recalled the events of that night.
A Threnodian creation with a will to die, and a true hero determined to save everything. At the time, she might not have felt much, but upon reflection, she realized how captivating this story truly was.
"At that time, he saw through my plan to die, and said that this was not the ending he wanted to see. He wanted me to live."
Cartethyia recounted the experience bit by bit, as if immersing herself in it once more. She became increasingly enchanted and spoke with great seriousness, imitating an unquestionable tone:
"Guilt toward the deceased of the Black Tide, the pain of being a puppet, worries about the Threnodian threat..."
"If these illusory things can decide your life, then—so can I! I insist that you live a wonderful life."
At this point, Cartethyia excitedly patted Cantarella's thigh and repeated incoherently:
"At that time, I was really, truly in so much pain. The pain made me want to use my life to make up for the mistakes of my existence as much as possible."
"But he said he wanted me to live on, and to live wonderfully. He wanted to decide my life for me."
"Turns out saying something like that would be so cool. At the time, I was too immersed in my own pain and didn't react at all."
Cantarella felt the vigorous force on her thigh and found her already hard-to-maintain calm expression becoming even harder to sustain.
"Alright, alright, it's my turn now."
Quickly interrupting Cartethyia's excitement, Cantarella helplessly shook her head and filled in the remaining latter half for her:
"After he knocked you unconscious, he immediately came to find me and entrusted me to bring your consciousness to Whisperwind Haven, Egla Town."
"That was my home before I became a Saintess!"
Cartethyia covered her mouth, her eyes fixed intently on Cantarella, eagerly awaiting what came next.
"Then, he set off immediately, inserted the final aberrant power sword into the stone seat, returned Leviathan's power to its position, and went straight to battle the Threnodian."
"Ah, he was in such a hurry. He must have been worried that I would try to kill myself again after waking up. He did all this for me."
Cartethyia's heart tightened, completely drawn into Cantarella's narration. The latter's mouth twitched slightly as she decided to speak faster:
"After a long and arduous battle, he finally defeated the Threnodian, carried your body, and flew from the distant suspended tower all the way to Egla Town—nearly crossing the entire Rinascita."
"Hiss~" Cartethyia widened her eyes, both hands tightly covering her lips. Her gaze sparkled, and a blush gradually crept up her cheeks:
"Doesn't that mean... everyone in Rinascita... saw it?"
Seeing Cartethyia looking as if she was about to faint from joy, Cantarella shook her head and continued:
"After that, I brought your consciousness to find him, and he merged your consciousness with your body."
"But there seemed to be a problem with your consciousness and body. After the fusion, not only did you not recover fully, your breathing became even weaker, as if you were about to die at any moment."
"At this time, he reached out and touched your... um... touched your body, and then your breathing gradually stabilized and you miraculously improved."
"Wait."
Cartethyia suddenly interrupted:
"Where exactly did he touch? Don't be vague, tell me in detail."
"Oh dear, why are you suddenly so concerned about these details..."
Cantarella gritted her teeth and confessed honestly:
"First, he grabbed your foot."
"My foot?" Cartethyia felt as if she were there in person. Her toes curled tightly together, and she felt a strange tingling numbness there.
"Then he moved up from your foot to your calf, then your thigh."
"Ah, my legs?"
Cartethyia tightly closed her perfectly curved legs together. Her cheeks began to heat up, and she suddenly felt parched. She poured herself another cup of tea to moisten her throat.
"Next, from your lower abdomen upward to... um... it's really hard to say... when he reached your chest, he switched to your arms, and finally along your neck, pressing down on your head."
"Then that means... he... my entire body, he..."
After drinking a cup of tea, Cartethyia's mouth no longer felt dry. Instead, her whole body gradually grew hot, her face becoming redder and redder. She was so embarrassed that she couldn't speak.
Opposite her, Cantarella smiled lightly and shook her head before continuing:
"Then—he flipped you over..."
As soon as the words fell, Cantarella saw that Cartethyia's face opposite her had turned red all the way to her neck.
Cartethyia lowered her head to hide her shyness, yet visible steam actually rose from the top of her head.
"Um... Cartethyia, what's wrong with you?"
"I..."
Cartethyia's mind was in chaos. She felt like her brain was about to short-circuit from the heat. She was so embarrassed she wished she could crawl into a hole, but she couldn't ignore Cantarella's question.
Her hands desperately covered her flushed cheeks. Her gaze peeked through the gaps in her fingers toward the teacup on the table as she found an excuse. Her voice was so soft it seemed like it could drip water:
"It's so hot. What did you add to my cup?"
"I added..." Cantarella's eyelid twitched as she looked at the teapot on the table:
"I added hot water."
...
Jinzhou.
"We are very sorry, Magistrate. Hero of Jinzhou."
The two patrollers bowed at ninety degrees and hurriedly spoke:
"We were momentarily blind and failed to recognize you two. We disturbed you."
Jinhsi let out a soft breath without speaking. She turned her head and looked toward Noah. The latter waved his hand:
"It's fine. You two were very dutiful and did a good job."
After the words fell, the two patrollers did not move. Seeing this, Jinhsi then spoke:
"Since the Hero of Jinzhou says it's fine, you may return to your posts."
"Yes."
The two patrollers looked as if a heavy burden had been lifted and quickly left.
" Noah..." Jinhsi turned her head, about to speak, only to find Noah lowering his gaze and staring fixedly at her.
Strange. Why did she suddenly feel a sense of guilt?
She naturally could not guess that at this moment, Noah was once again recalling that classic story from Earth.
The emperor ordered the general's soldiers to remove their armor, but the soldiers refused. Only when the general ordered them to remove their armor did the soldiers comply.
After returning to the palace, the emperor became angrier the more he thought about it. He summoned the general's sister in the harem and ordered her to remove her armor.
Remove your armor. I command you to remove your armor.
Shaking his head, Noah cast the messy thoughts in his mind aside:
"It's been less than a month since I left, and Jinzhou already has flight capabilities. Xixi, oh Xixi, how many more surprises do you have that I don't know about?"
"Well..."
The first thing Jinhsi thought of was her feelings toward the person in front of her. Feeling too shy to say it, she said coyly:
"Now is not the time to talk about that."
"Alright, if you don't want to say it, then don't."
Noah looked at Jinzhou City right before his eyes. He stopped using flight and walked side by side with Jinhsi. Suddenly, he turned his head and smiled:
"You. Treat me to dinner."
...