"Y-you… hello."
After timidly greeting Hel, Zephyra immediately darted behind Irina, hiding herself in a flash.
She seems even more withdrawn than before, Hel thought.
With a flick of her hand, a small piece of cake appeared in her palm.
When Zephyra saw the cake, her eyes lit up. She then looked at Hel suspiciously.
"Y-you're… the Lord Brother?"
"Yes, it's me. It's been more than half a year since we last met, hasn't it?"
Hel took two tentative steps forward, but Zephyra reacted like a startled kitten, instantly shrinking back behind Irina again.
Hel coaxed her with the little cake for quite a while before Zephyra finally peeked out from behind Irina.
However, after carefully taking the cake from Hel's hand, she immediately retreated back again.
After a long moment, a soft voice of thanks came from behind Irina.
"Thank you, Lord Brother."
"You're welcome."
Hel smiled. Seeing Zephyra like this, Irina spoke to Hel with some apology:
"Sorry, Hel. Zephyra is a bit afraid of strangers. Please don't mind it."
"It's nothing."
Hel smiled at Zephyra and praised her:
"Miss Zephyra is very cute."
"I didn't expect you to know both Lady Irina and little Zephyra as well, Cousin Hel. In that case, I'm relieved."
Xixi joined them at this point, though her expression was somewhat strange—as if she were scheming something.
"Just so happens that you chose the Mystic Arts Department, Cousin Hel, and little Zephyra is also a new student in the Mystic Arts Department this year."
"So… we're classmates?"
"That's right. And your dear cousin here just happens to be your professional course instructor."
Uh… that's one heck of a coincidence.
Hel looked at Xixi suspiciously. If she didn't already know Zephyra's background, she might actually have believed this nonsense.
Shouldn't Zephyra have been taken to the Night Empire's capital by Roland? Why is she here? And Xixi suddenly coming to serve as an instructor is far too coincidental as well.
As Hel thought about it, her expression grew increasingly odd.
Is their target me? But why? A divine offspring's intuition? Or some other reason?
In the span of an instant, countless thoughts flashed through Hel's mind. Yet on the surface, she still smiled warmly and said:
"I never expected you to be our instructor, Cousin Xixi. What a coincidence."
"What's so strange about that? The Mystic Arts Department only has a handful of instructors to begin with. The one who was originally supposed to teach the first-year beginners went on maternity leave, so I had to fill in."
Xixi looked at Hel with a long-suffering expression, as if she were pouring out all the pent-up grievances she had accumulated over the past few days.
Irina, standing to the side, looked at Xixi with a rather peculiar expression. She opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something, but out of consideration for Xixi's pride, she ultimately said nothing.
After exchanging a few more pleasantries, Hel took her leave.
Just moments earlier, Irina had stared at the catgirl Niv with puzzlement for quite some time, making Hel think that Niv had been exposed. That was why she casually made an excuse and left.
Only long after Hel had gone did Irina turn back to Xixi and say, somewhat speechlessly:
"Teacher Xixi, if I remember correctly, wasn't the instructor for the first-year beginners this year supposed to be a male teacher?"
"Eh—? Is that so? Hahaha…"
Xixi scratched her cheek awkwardly. After wracking her brain for quite a while, she finally came up with a barely passable excuse.
Wasn't it possible that the male teacher was accompanying his wife during her maternity leave?
"Well… all right. Teacher Xixi probably knows this place better than I do."
Faced with such a far-fetched explanation, Irina could only accept it.
Meanwhile, Hel—who had already gone far away—heard the exchange relayed by Niv and felt even more speechless.
There really is something fishy going on.
Frowning, Hel pondered what exactly she might have exposed.
After an intense bout of mental gymnastics, the only explanation she could come up with was the broken Durandal sword in her possession.
Perhaps Roland is already dead, and Irina and the others have also discovered the problem with Zephyra's constitution. So they're looking for someone who can guide Zephyra—and I, someone acknowledged by Roland, am undoubtedly one of the suitable candidates. But didn't Roland say he was going to look for Vivian?
Hel thought about this question all the way until nightfall, when she finally contacted Vivian through the soul network.
Within the blank soul space—
A girl wearing a pure white long cloak, with a white high-slit dress underneath, its hem decorated with gold and blue patterns, walked in.
"It's been a long time, Vivian."
Hel greeted her, and Vivian returned the smile politely.
Then she trotted up to Hel and gently hugged her.
With a slightly aggrieved tone, she said:
"Lord Hel hasn't contacted me for 145 days. I thought you had forgotten about me."
"Uh… how could that be?"
Hel smiled awkwardly and gently patted Vivian's back.
"You're at the Church headquarters in Night City now. If I contacted you recklessly, it might have caused you trouble."
"All right."
Vivian nodded, accepting Hel's explanation. She then released Hel and stood quietly in front of her, as if waiting for instructions—just like she used to back in Heim Territory.
The change in her status had not altered her attitude toward Hel in the slightest.
"By the way, Vivian—do you know Zephyra?"
"Zephyra?"
Vivian frowned slightly and asked,
"Do you mean the thirteenth child of Holy Knight Roland, the one left outside? It seems the elders of the Night royal family had quite a few objections to that little princess's identity, so she was taken by the Radiant Knight Irina to study in another country."
"Is that all?" Hel felt that the matter couldn't possibly be so simple.
After thinking for a moment, Vivian replied somewhat uncertainly:
"A few days after that Holy Knight returned, the Church's archbishop hurriedly left for a time. When he came back, he looked rather disheveled—almost as if he'd been beaten up. Then, the very next day, the archbishop warned everyone in the Church not to have any contact with Princess Zephyra. Not long after that, a funeral was held in the imperial capital for Holy Knight Roland."
"I see… Did Roland or Irina ever try to contact you?" Hel asked, still unwilling to give up.
Vivian, however, shook her head again.