TBATE | PROVIDENCE

Chapter 14 - An Ally in Disguise

A/N: It's been a while, readers. Happy reading!

ARTHUR LEYWIN

'Should we go and say hello to them?' Sylvie transmitted, climbing on my shoulders.

I glanced around the room to confirm the current situation. Unlike previously, Blaine had brought his personal Templar Knights along with him, which means he was certainly expecting something like this to happen. Although I knew those two outside wouldn't engage in a meaningless brawl, you can never be too careful.

'I think we should. But let me talk to that woman first before we make our move. Regis, keep everyone safe here.'

'Fine... but make sure you say hello to the blonde baker for me, Princess.' Regis grunted as I watched his incorporeal form drift out of me before vanishing inside Ellie's body.

After making sure no one saw us, I walked out of the VIP lounge and made my way through the hallways, guiding myself towards the private booths reserved for distinguished guests.

The woman who stood in front of the door gave me and my bond a quizzical look as I took in her appearance and inspected her mana core. Strangely, something felt off about her, or more particularly her mana signature, but I decided not to dwell on it since I had other more pressing concerns at the moment.

“It's alright. Please let him in.” Sarah's pleasant voice came from behind the doors. The female host gave me a silent bow before letting me into the room.

“I see you were having quite fun in there, Lord Caerwyn.” She spoke warmly, sitting on a plush lounge, one leg crossed over the other. “To think that you could even show those sorts of expressions.”

“Only when I'm around my loved ones, Sarah.” I replied, taking a seat next to her with Sylvie curled up on top of my head. “I thought a business-minded woman like you would much prefer to look after your bakery rather than attend social events like these.”

Sarah giggled as she turned to face the balcony and peered at the crowd of nobles seated below us. “And who's going to buy a loaf of bread from this poor lady when all these rich imbeciles are present over here?”

'A certain perverted shadowy wolf is eager to buy your entire bakery,' I wanted to retort, but all I could muster was a feeble chuckle in response.

“By the way, I know this room has soundproofing and all, but just for careful measures...” With a snap of her fingers, she cast a strong barrier of wind in the entire room, preventing anyone from further eavesdropping on our conversation. She took a sip from her glass of wine after giving a satisfied nod to herself, looking at the crowd of nobles bidding on several beast cores.

'She's quite skilled for a light-yellow core mage.' Sylvie noted, looking at the woman with a renewed interest.

Knowing this was probably going to take a while, I started off with the topic I had been most concerned about since the last few weeks. “So, how's Lucia? I heard she was able to reach Elenoir safely.”

“Lucia finally regained consciousness a few days ago. Whatever transpired at the Wykes' estate... must have taken a huge toll on her. Surprisingly, she accepted her son's outcome quite easily before falling back to sleep again. In my opinion, she just needs some time to recover. That's all.” She let out a sigh.

“And where is she living currently? I heard she's not in Zestier.”

“You don't have to worry about it. His Majesty was gracious enough to offer her a residence in the city of Asyphin. So, she'll likely have plenty of people to look after her from now on.”