It was the morning of another day of waiting.

Yu Valarfin told them they had work to do in İlonya and sent them to Andromedia, asking them to go ahead and announce the arrival of Neko, the new Cardinal of Virgo.

Yu had explained their plans before the four of them left, saying that they would arrive in Andromedia a few weeks after their arrival, but today she knew very well that things had not gone as planned.

They had arrived and had done their duty and delivered the bad news and the good news, but even after weeks, even months, the Valarfins still had not arrived.

Both Sivina and Ana were worried about them. They told the people in the city who were waiting for Neko that she would be here soon, so that those who were waiting for Neko would also be worried.

Sivina couldn't stop thinking: what if something bad happened to them? What would they do then? She didn't want to think about it, but she couldn't get the questions out of her mind.

“Those two are too beautiful to die.”

It was the first time in her life she had ever used that expression, but that was exactly how she felt. Especially the fact that Yu's handsome face would never be seen again was almost unfair.

“I hate praying.”

All they could do was pray for their well-being, but Sivina was not used to entrusting things to the gods or anyone else. Her father taught her to do things by her own work.

The two of them had been waiting for the Valarfin for months, and every day they sat outside the door to see them coming up the forest path.

“I have prepared tea for you to rest.”

There were four people working in this cathedral. An old butler, a middle-aged maid and two young maid with her. One of the servants came to them. She did this every morning.

“Thank you.”

She and Ana had been practicing swordplay in the backyard of the cathedral since sunrise. They had nothing else to do to pass the time, except to train and read while they waited. Of course, there had been a couple of incidents here and there, but these were small things that were normal for a knight.

Sivina was a knight and Yu had offered Ana a knighthood, but she said she was not worthy of it and chose to become a special kind of maid. Yu accepted this request without much discussion.

Ana tried to help with the work here as a maid, but the cathedral servants wasn’t let her have a hand in the work, saying that the two of them were guests.

“Your skills are improving, Ana. Soon you will make me jealous.”

As they entered the cathedral to drink tea and rest for a while, Sivina began to reflect on her student's progress.

“You are on a completely different level than you were in Rolderhelm. I think you will soon be able to use the sword against simple opponents.”

It was better than that, but she had ideas about Ana's use of the sword that made her uneasy. A sword meant close combat and she saw that as more dangerous than magic and she was worried about Ana getting hurt.

She had had experiences like this before and she didn't want a scar on her beautiful body.

“I am happy that I was able to reach the ‘simple’ level in nine months.”

Even though she was above the level of a simple, Sivina would not tell her that and would only allow her to compete against simple opponents.

As Sivina continued her comments, they made their way through the cathedral and were about to enter the library when they heard the voice of the maid who had just brought them tea.

“Lady Ecues! They're coming!”

***

After a short time in the Andromeda Church, they had nothing more to do and left, heading for an obscure corner of the city.

Their destination was a remote place that Yu would have hesitated to go to alone at night. A stranger walking around the city could find the church of any cathedral, but Yu and Yurine could not find it without someone who knew where they were going.

Since the sect re-founded by Rie was both new and small, it was given a small place in Andromedia. So they moved towards this small and insignificant place reserved for the Cathedral of Virgo.

“It's a nice place, Yu. It's surrounded by trees and there's a garden to play in.”

“Playing games... How did I not think of that? Kids are supposed to play, right? Why don't I see you playing?”

“W-what are you saying! I'm not one to waste time with games. Besides, we've played tag before, we've played snowballs.”

“I'm talking about things like hopscotch or hide and seek, but you need friends to play those, don't you? I'm sorry, I haven't tried to get you friends so far.”

She was a lonely girl with no friends. As Yurine's situation reminded Yu of himself, compassion swelled inside him.

“Only you are enough,” Yurine whispered.

Their vehicle drove through the side streets and entered a road with more trees than buildings. In the alleys it was difficult to move as there was no one to clear the snow and their speed was slowing down, but when they got to the dirt road, their speed slowed down even more because the road was bad.

“Look at the place they gave us for the Virgo Cathedral, it's an insult.”

As they moved, their vehicle swayed constantly, making Yu nauseous.

“Do you think those two were waiting at the door when they heard us coming?”

It was unnecessary to take the prisoners with them to the Andromeda Church, so Dimen and Tobias were sent with the prisoners to the Cathedral of Virgo.

He wondered about Sivina and Ana's reaction when they saw a pink-headed human and a lion-man coming toward them with seventeen other prisoners.

But what he was most curious about was their reaction when they finally found out that they had arrived. In Yu's mind, he pictured two excited and beautiful girls pacing in front of the door.

“They should. When a great and precious being like me comes, they should welcome me in the best possible way and do their best to fulfill my needs and cherish me. Anything else is disrespectful and I cannot accept that.”

“The young lady is so vain.”

“Yu, what do you want with my cheek today? Ugh!”

Kigaro watched as Yu grabbed the arrogant sword fairy's cheek and pulled her towards him.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

Yurine had asked to ride with Yu again, in the driver's compartment. When their vehicle turned out of the alleys and onto a wider road, Kigaro drove the animal he had been riding and the three of them began to move side by side.

“Shouldn't you be more humble? Arrogant commanders can find it difficult to garner people's love and respect.”

“I am not arrogant or conceited, I am just telling the plain truth. Everything I say is the truth! Who do you think I am? Anyone can see my nobility at first glance.”

“Ah, father and daughter are smugness in the flesh.”

“I command you to be quiet!”

It was as if Kigaro had said something he had kept inside for a long time. It was surprising for Yu, who had never heard him make such criticisms before, to hear them now.

“Should I perceive this as impudence or intimacy?”

Although there were a few houses and shops around, it was mostly a jungle and anyone would have felt uneasy walking here alone.

“I didn't expect to see such a forest inside the city walls. The city is much bigger than it looks from the outside...”

“Yu, we're here!”

When a tower appeared in front of them, Yurine jumped up and Yu, startled by her sudden movement, had to hold her to prevent her from falling.

“Come on, Yu! Drive faster!”

“If we go any faster, the wagon will tip over.”

Even though the falling snow covered most of the tracks, the tire tracks were still faintly visible on the ground, indicating that Tobias and Dimen, whom they had sent ahead of them, had arrived. Yu's carriage kept tilting to the left and right as their own wagon passed over the tire tracks they had left.

“Yu! Yu! Hahaha! They're waiting for us!”

Seeing the people waiting in the cathedral garden, Yurine cheered up and started laughing. She hugged and kissed Yu to share her joy.

There were prisoners on a trailer waiting in the cathedral garden. Dimen, a two-meter lion, noticed them standing in front of the trailer, turned around and called out to someone.

Tobias came out from behind Dimen first, and two seconds later, two beautiful girls, ready to feast Yu's eyes, stepped in front of them both and started waving their hands.

“They really waited outside the door.”

“As it should be!”

They were still far away and in thick clothes, but he could still recognize the girls by their green and silver hair as they raised their hands and tried to make themselves heard.

“Normally they were excited by my arrival, they haven't seen the most handsome man in the world for a long time. They will feast on my face for a while.”

“Ha!”

Yurine grabbed Yu's ear and pulled it down to punish him, but his jealousy made Yu laugh.

"I'd be happier today if it wasn't for that son of a bitch Cecilus..."

He decided to deal with Yurine again to calm his frayed nerves.

“I guess you don't want to give your daddy away.”

“You've got your nose up again!”

Their wagon had just entered the cathedral when Sivina and Ana blocked their way.

“Welcome!” Two beautiful girls greeted them at the same time.

They both couldn't stop giggling and there was a joy on their faces that Yu was glad to see. Their eyes sparkled and warmed Yu's chest.

“To be loved and missed...”

He stopped the car before it went any further and got out. Then he took Yurine in his arms and brought her down.

“Mr. Valarfin, you're even more handsome than I remember!”

After months of separation, it was satisfying to see that he had been faithfully waited for and he was happy to have them with him, but he had not expected such a warm welcome.

Sivina hugged Yu's neck and planted a kiss on his cheek.

Yu brought his left hand to his cheek and put it where Sivina had kissed him, while Yurine and Ana looked at them with open mouths.

“And you're warmer than I remember.”

Sivina's silver hair was tied back so Yu didn't notice a change, but Ana's hair had grown longer. Her straight green hair, which used to reach her shoulders, now fell gently down her back.

“You think so?” Sivina smiled. She squinted her eyes and tilted her head to the side. She laughed as she covered her pink lips with her hand as she kissed Yu.

“Y-yo-you... YOU! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?”

Sivina was caught by Ana as Yurine grabbed Yu by the leg and pulled him to her. Unlike Yurine, Ana had no words for Sivina, but she was clearly angry. She looked at Yu.

“Mr. Valarfin... It's so strange that you do such things as soon as you meet...”

“I don't think I've done anything but be born handsome.”

After Yu's arrogant reply, Yurine twisted Yu's flesh with both hands.

“YOU PERVERT!”

“I didn't even do anything. And Sivina is clearly the one to blame here, why am I being scolded?”

Yu was hurting, at first he didn't show it to protect his charisma, but when Yurine continued to twist his flesh a little more, he had to pull her apart with his hand.

“Don't make such a big deal, little lady, I'll kiss you too.”

"Nya! What are you doing! You're a pervert!"

Sivina took Yurine in her arms and started kissing her.

“I can agree with that.”

When Ana joined them, Yurine tried to shield her cheeks from their lips, but her attempts failed. Meanwhile Yu was watching them with his mouth open.

“I'm a little jealous.”

In Rolderhelm's case, instead of finding such a sight sweet, he would have been driven out of his mind by the fear of losing Yurine, but now things were very different.

“Yu! Save me!”

“I'm sorry, but the view in front of my eyes is very nice, I want to watch it for a while longer.”

Yu left Yurine at the mercy of the girls and crossed his arms, watching them. He did not regret his decision at all.

“After being away from my little lady’s sweet face for so long, she should let us endear ourselves to her and make up for it. Mr. Valarfin would think the same in our place.”

When the two released Yurine, Yurine immediately ran behind Yu and started wiping her cheeks, which were decorated with kisses.

“Yu, I told you to save me.”

“Sorry, I can disobey orders from time to time.”

Even though Yu didn't save Yurine from Sivina and Ana, Yurine still stood next to him and held his hand. Her cheeks were flushed, but it was unclear whether it was because she had been kissed too much or because she was embarrassed.

At that moment Sivina and Ana stepped aside and others appeared behind them, who had been waiting for Neko's arrival for a very long time.

An old butler leaning on his cane, a middle-aged woman and two young girls greeted them as the entourage of the Virgo Cathedral.

“The old butler cliché, never fails.”

The old butler bowed his head.

“Young lady, welcome.”

“Thank you, Bart.”

Yurine's eyes seemed to be searching for others. She looked around to see if there were others, but she couldn't see more than Yu did.

“Is that it?” Yurine asked.

“There used to be more people? Four people seem to be enough to keep this place running.”

Although it was a cathedral in name, it was not as big as the cathedrals Yu knew. Four servants seemed to be enough to take care of the Virgo Cathedral's business.

At least in Rie's place, the maximum number of employees she would have hired for this place would have been four, he would have thought it unnecessary to pay more people wasted salaries.

“Forgive us, we are the only ones left. The other staff didn't hear from you for a long time and left the cathedral before the young ladies here arrived.”

“I see.”

“We are at your service.”

The old butler knelt down and the other three maids imitated him.

“You don't need to feel sorry for those who have left. If they left, they lacked loyalty and would only hurt us if they stayed. Come on, smile.”

He also sympathized with the servants who had abandoned them. They had been gone too long and no one wanted to wait for months as if their own life did not exist.

“Instead of waiting in the cold any longer, let's go inside, we'll bombard you with questions!”

Sivina first turned towards Yu, but then changed her mind, turned to Yurine, took her by the hand and started walking into the cathedral. Ana had joined Yu.

“Mr. Valarfin will be reprimanded for worrying us so much.”

“I may have deserved a bit of a scolding, so be it. But don't be too hard on me because I had good reasons.”

Unexpectedly, they had gotten into a battle and the journey they had planned for two people had ended up with two hundred. He believed that the two girls would agree with him when he heard their reasons.

“As for you, which of you were with Link?”

Yu was holding Yurine's hand and when he stopped, Sivina had to stop too.

Before Yu went inside, he turned and counted the prisoners in the trailer. Twelve of them were with Link.

He had doubts about whether to release them, he didn't want them to go around telling the world that they had been captured by the Virgo Cathedral, but if Link's story was true, they were not bandits and there was no need to keep them as prisoners.

“The fact that they attacked us and put Yurine's life in danger is reason enough to keep them as prisoners, but I don't want any trouble between us and the Andromeda Church.”

If they turned against the Church on the first day, they were doomed.

“In this day Link will come for you, and the rest of you will be sold as slaves.”

“Sir, please!”

When the prisoners to be enslaved began to plead with Yu in unison, Dimen slapped his hand on the trailer to silence them, and the prisoners jumped up and shut up.

If Yu or Yurine had fallen into their hands they would not have been kind, so there was no need to be kind to them.

He did not know what Sivina and Ana thought about his slave trade, but he was not going to let the prisoners go, and he had a clear conscience in passing such a sentence because they were guilty.

“There is a cellar downstairs in the cathedral where you can house prisoners. I can accompany you.”

“Dimen, put the prisoners in the cellar with him and come back.”

As Dimen unloaded the prisoners from the vehicle and lined them up, Yu and Yurine walked into the cathedral with the girls dragging them. The maids continued to greet Yurine as she passed them.