The Sword and The Shadow

Alaine's Intentions

Before Leguna could react, she leapt into his embrace. If the two injured weren't in the room, she would no doubt start bawling.

Leguna was stumped by that sudden act. It didn't feel too right. Wasn't Alaine always calling him a lecher? Her fierceness could even compare to Annelotte's. Yet, now, she was acting like a frail girl all of a sudden.

Leguna was struck with realization that it was probably because Annelotte collapsed. Alaine had lost a mental pillar of support. Wasn't she an opportunistic one? When the invincible was up and about, Alaine was daring and brash. But now that Annelotte was unconscious and there was nobody she could count on, she started acting all helpless.

Hehe… it's my chance… But, oh well. It's not an appropriate time to get back at her. Let's check on Annie and Innie first.

Leguna patted her on the back and gently pushed her aside.

Alaine herself was quite shocked at her own behavior. Didn't she usually hate that fellow the most?

In truth, there were two people Alaine respected. The first was definitely Annelotte. The cold girl was the perfect role model all woman should aspire to be. Alaine was particularly fascinated by how she commanded respect despite being a woman. It was only natural for Annelotte to be her idol.

The other person was surprisingly, not Marolyt. Instead, it was the one who didn't mind all her verbal chiding, Leguna.

Though, this wasn't that hard to understand.

Leguna was the one who wiped out the bandit group, Bloodhand, and avenged her family.

Even though she called him lecher day in and out, she saw for herself how hard Leguna worked for the sake of the women around him. She even heard from Marolyt that Leguna was even willing to piss him off for Eirinn's sake. Alaine could respect his bravery for that alone.

Lastly, even though Leguna was the head of the bureau, he didn't put up airs with other people. Alaine was no fool and well aware of her own status. But despite their difference in status, Leguna had never truly gotten mad at her for their little squabbles, which was a rare quality to be admired.

Though, it wasn't like Leguna had any other option. He couldn't afford to anger Annelotte for being hard on her maidservant lest he wanted to risk his life.

Those were the reasons why Alaine subconsciously held Leguna to be someone special despite their constant quarrels. But just like her mistress, Alaine hadn't noticed her own change of heart.

But now, with Annelotte's collapse, Alaine was finally made aware of that. Marolyt was incredibly strong in her eyes, but the formless wall he put around himself made him an unreliable person. She didn't feel that divide with Leguna, though. So, when Annelotte collapsed, he was the only one left she could rely on. That was the reason she lost control and hugged him on sight.

If it were Annelotte, she would no doubt find an excuse for the sudden hug and treat it as an accident.

But Alaine wasn't her. She wasn't as tough as the glacial girl and was even more sensitive than her. When she noticed her actions, she was made aware of her feelings for him.

The realization caused her to blush. She shot Leguna a troubled gaze and saw that he had his attention fully focused on Annelotte and Innilis, not her.

Alaine let out a sigh of relief at not being noticed, but a hint of disappointment flashed across her expression.

How could I do that? He's the mistress's man! I'm just a lowly servant, how could I be his match? No, how could he be the mistress's match anyway? Alaine felt a little pain in her heart as the one Leguna cared for wasn't her.

Looking at him, she suddenly thought, So what if I've realized my feelings for him? As long as I don't tell that lecher, I won't let him have his way with me!

After repeatedly calling him lecher a few more times in her mind, she managed to calm down. But now, she noticed an odd gaze. Turning around, she was surprised to see Xeno looking at her without making a sound.

The Stokian had a half-smiling look on his face. It appeared that he had seen her flustered look.

Alaine felt her face burn at that realization, but she didn't shy back and shot him a fierce glare that spelt 'if you dare tell anyone, I'll kill you'.

Xeno struggled with great difficulty to stop himself from laughing. He held his mouth closed, shrugged, and held his hand up to show that he wouldn't speak of it.

'You better not!' she mouthed soundlessly, before turning around and ignoring him.

Xeno felt his heartbeat quicken at the sight of the embarrassed Alaine.

Even though all that happen right beside Leguna, he didn't notice any of it with his attention laser-focused on the two hurt girls.

Annie has quite a lot of wounds on her. It's probably because of the collapsing building… He felt a little unpleasant at the sight of the wounds on her limbs. She wasn't that badly hurt even in her fight against Saron!

But after a few days of healing, her wounds recovered considerably. Even so, Leguna could still tell that she had broken at least three bones and had countless wounds and bruises all over.

Don't let me catch you, or I'll show you true hell! Leguna thought with his teeth grit. He was dead set on finding the culprit no matter what.

He then turned to the basically unharmed Innilis. Even though she wasn't hurt anywhere, she was still unconscious.

The thought of that caused him to furrow his brow. According to Xeno, Annelotte and Innilis passed out at the same location. They should have the same injuries, yet Innilis was unharmed. Annelotte probably used some spell to shield her, but why didn't she use it on herself? She could've instant cast it if necessary.

There was only one explanation: she wasn't able to use magic. There were too many reasons why that could be the case.

However, based on the unharmed but unconscious Inniis, he reasoned that it had something to do with suffering some kind of mental shock.

He pondered in silence for so long and even forgot about having lunch. Xeno didn't want to interrupt. Since he still had lots of work to deal with at the bureau, he told Alaine about it before quietly leaving.

Alaine, on the other hand, wasn't aware of the situation at all and could only quietly look after the two injured. She prayed that Leguna could find some kind of solution for this.

During the evening, Eirinn and Madin came over again. As the two still hadn't woken up, the two healers looked elsewhere for other solutions.

In fact, letting they could let the court magi association analyze them for any problems. Chairman Myr even took the initiative to go to the church to offer help.

But as Marolyt suspected Hocke could be behind this, he forbade anyone related to the empire to help his daughter. Annelotte's condition was relatively stable anyway, so it was best to wait for Leguna to return first before deciding on anything.

Myr was obviously quite mad at being refused by the stubborn old man, so the top fighter and magus of Hocke started bickering inside the church. If not for the devotees that desperately pushed them apart, they might've broken out into a fight. While it wasn't certain whether a saint realm swordsman or a quasi-myth magus would win, one thing was for certain. If they fought, the whole city, let alone the church, would be leveled and flattened.

In the end, the two old fellows put aside their differences and stopped arguing thanks to the mediation of everyone else.

Having no other solution, Madin suggested that they ask their deity, Pyro for help. However, for some reason, the sun god didn't respond to Eirinn's prayers initially. When he finally did, he babbled a bunch of useless stuff like there wasn't enough time and how they had to protect themselves and what they cherished. In the end, Eirinn still didn't know why they couldn't wake up.

When they left the prayer room, they heard Leguna had arrived, so they rushed over.

After a briefing, Leguna came to know how it happened. He gave it some thought and spoke of his thoughts on the matter.

"If it's a mental issue, it's best to have Grandmaster Myr help out," Madin said. Even though priests could heal physical injuries with divine power, they were inferior to magi when it came to an understanding of the psyche.

"We have no choice. I'll pay him a visit tomorrow. He cares about Annie a lot and won't refuse me," Leguna decided.

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