Chapter 66: Self-Emitting Saintess

“I-I’ll close the door!”

Rexton quickly turned around, fixing his gaze on his shoes as he shouted.

No, don’t close it! Don’t close it!

But my plea was in vain as the door shut firmly.

“What a fine aide.”

“We can’t let Rexton leave like this!”

Why hadn’t the door been closed? What kind of thoughts would that reserved man have after leaving?

The thought of Rexton having indecent thoughts because of me was horrifying.

“Xavier, please move! We can’t let Rexton leave like this!”

As I tried to get up, my wrist was grabbed, and I was pulled back onto the bed.

“I can’t let you go like this.”

Xavier’s eyes were unfocused as he looked down at me intently.

“Do you know how hard it was for me the whole way here? …Ha.”

“I had a hard time too; my butt was hurting!”

Xavier seemed strangely out of it, like he was drunk. Perhaps exhaustion was catching up with him, as his eyes were unfocused. He climbed onto the bed entirely.

“You have a scent.”

“Huh? A scent?”

“Since you returned from the everlasting snow mountains, there’s been an irresistible scent coming from your body. It’s driving me crazy.”

I wasn’t sure what scent he was talking about, but if there was a change in my body, it might have been due to the explosion of holy power. I felt that the holy power contained within me had increased and that the vessel holding it had grown larger.

Xavier’s face drew closer and closer.

Well, whatever.

I grabbed his approaching face and kissed him deeply.

As his teal eyes widened, I inhaled his breath and took in his saliva deeply. As our essences mixed, a golden glow gently filled the room.

“Yuria?”

“Are you coming to your senses now? Let’s go.”

I slapped his cheek lightly with my palm and got up from the bed. Leaving the dazed Xavier behind, I briskly exited the room. My cheeks were burning, and I needed the cool air outside.

Rexton was nowhere to be seen in the hallway.

‘Looks like Rexton ran away.’

If we had met here, I would have wanted to jump off in embarrassment.

Just then…

“Catch it!”

A sharp voice echoed down the hallway.

At the end of the hallway, a female knight with a lithe figure and a burly man were leading knights in a frenzied chase after something platinum-colored, heading in my direction.

The platinum-colored figure being chased looked very familiar.

‘Lulu?’

“Ah.”

“Nice catch.”

It all happened in an instant. The plump raccoon leaped toward my arms but suddenly disappeared from view.

Turning to the side, I saw Xavier, who had somehow left the room and was now holding the raccoon by the scruff of its neck. The raccoon dangled under Xavier’s hand like laundry hanging on a line.

“Ah, Xavier?”

Xavier grinned at me and wrapped his arm around my shoulders. In an instant, a standoff developed between Xavier and the knights.

“The Beast Kingdom’s delegation is quite rude.”

“I’m sorry, but His Highness, no, this raccoon ran away.”

The lithe female knight who had sprinted over answered in a calm tone, as if she wasn’t out of breath at all.

“Should I be grateful it didn’t transform into a giant eagle, Eaglin?”

“I apologize. I was afraid it might escape again.”

The female knight, who had nodded politely to Xavier, turned her head toward me.

“Were you startled?”

“Yes, quite a bit.”

“I’m sorry.”

The woman called Eaglin bowed her waist in apology. I nodded to accept her apology.

‘Is this woman an eagle?’

Her bright yellow eyes with round, black pupils, her overall white hair with only the ends dyed black, made for a unique hairstyle.

Ah, Eaglin! An eagle.

‘Wow, does that beautiful face really have a large, sharp beak?’

I couldn’t imagine it, so I just blinked. Then the knight, who rubbed her nose with her finger, suddenly blushed as she looked at me.

“You smell wonderful.”

Huh? Smell?

At the same time, Xavier’s grip on my shoulder tightened. Judging by the tension in his jaw, he was clearly displeased with that comment.

“Kkiiing!”

Apparently, Xavier’s grip on Lulu’s scruff also tightened, as Lulu tried to claw at Xavier’s arm with its front paws, but he didn’t budge.

“Eaglin, do you want to die?”

“My apologies.”

Eaglin immediately apologized. However, Xavier’s sharp gaze did not waver.

In the meantime, several people who appeared to be knights from the Beast Kingdom approached. Among them, a robust man with broad shoulders stepped forward, swinging his arms as he greeted us.

“Greetings to the Duke and Duchess. This knight with half-black, half-white hair is ‘Eaglin,’ and I am General ‘Tiger’ of Moirai.”

“We meet again, Tiger.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

Their handshake was firm, as if they were trying to finish an unfinished battle of wills from the battlefield. I also responded to the man who introduced himself as Tiger.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Yuria Auguste.”

The man who introduced himself as Tiger had sunset-orange hair and a prominent scar on his forehead. After greeting us, Tiger slowly straightened his back.

‘Tiger, so he’s a tiger?’

Thinking of the yellow bear’s forest friend, I looked at Tiger.

Tiger and Eaglin were a different class from the vagrants who had tried to harm me at the clock tower before. The dangerous and eerie feeling I had gotten from them was absent in these two.

Instead, they exuded dignity and reverence. The discipline and spirit felt from human knights were also present in these beastmen knights.

At that moment, Tiger, who had been watching me, flared his nostrils as his eyes lit up. Other knights standing beside him also had their eyes shining.

“You must be the Saintess. There’s… a scent.”

A scent again? I sniffed my hand, but I couldn’t detect any scent. Just to be sure, I rubbed my palms together and sniffed them, but all I could smell was a peculiar odor.

‘Ugh, it smells like chicken manure.’

Suddenly, a long arm stretched out, cutting between me and the two Moirai delegates. Xavier’s cold voice came from above my head.

“Stop staring, and stop sniffing. You’re wearing out my wife.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I apologize. For us beastmen, the presence of the Saintess is so overwhelming that I couldn’t help myself…”

Beastmen are instinctual. So that’s why Xavier kept burying his nose in my shoulder. The whole scent thing in the carriage was because of this, huh?

But being bitten on the neck by a tiger is not something I want. I sighed and firmly told General Tiger.

“Please be careful.”

“Yes, I will be cautious.”

I glanced at Lulu, who was turning her head toward the wall, and asked Tiger.

“Did you come to find Lulu?”

General Tiger turned his gaze to Lulu and made eye contact with him. Lulu flinched and avoided Tiger’s gaze.

They are indeed his guardians. That rascal Lulu needs to be scolded.

“Yes. Here.”

Dame Eaglin pulled out a pendant from her pocket. It was the pendant that had been around Lulu’s neck. The chain was torn and in a mess.

“That’s right. You must have been worried when Lulu disappeared.”

“Haha, we’re used to it since this isn’t the first time. This necklace was found in the forest in the opposite direction of Berk. It’s a damnable raccoon.”

As Eaglin tucked the pendant back into her pocket, Tiger laughed heartily. Knowing he was being insulted, Lulu, who had been turning his head away, glared at General Tiger with his eyes wide open.

Judging by how flustered he was when asked if he was human at the campsite before, he’s definitely a beastman. It would be nice if he could reveal himself in human form.

Smiling with my eyes, I asked Eaglin and Tiger, who claimed to be Lulu’s owners.

“Lulu, he’s a beastman, right?”

“……!”

“…….”

The unexpected question made the two of them close their mouths tightly. Even Xavier, who was looking down at me, showed a rare sign of tension.

Xavier, Tiger, and Eaglin exchanged wary glances.

“Did I ask a difficult question?”

Xavier rubbed his chin with the hand that had been on my shoulder, General Tiger cleared his throat, and Eaglin lowered her eyes but offered no response.

Lulu, who had been secretly watching me, covered his  eyes with his hands when I gave him a stern look.

Why is no one answering? I already know.

At this point, even a fool in the neighborhood would know that Lulu is a beastman. I understand Xavier can’t say anything because he can’t let Lulu know he was a cat, but why are those beastmen keeping quiet?

‘Does this mean they can’t confirm it verbally? Because it’s confirmed?’

What on earth is Lulu’s true identity?

“Then, we’ll take this one with us. If we take our eyes off him for even a moment,she causes trouble.”

“Please do.”

Without any meaningful eye contact with the three, General Tiger concluded the situation, and Xavier handed Lulu over to Eaglin without resistance.

For some reason, Lulu went along quietly. Eaglin put a new necklace around Lulu’s neck and placed her in a large, dedicated cage to prevent her from escaping.

With a light nod from Tiger, the Beast Kingdom’s delegation disappeared with Lulu. To put it nicely, they took him away, but in reality, it was almost like capturing a wild animal.

Watching the procession of the Beast Kingdom’s people disappear down the hallway, Xavier spoke to me.

“Yuria, as General Tiger mentioned, be careful when meeting beastmen.”

“Oh, because of the scent?”

I rubbed the back of my hand and sniffed it, but it still smelled like chicken manure.

“I don’t know, what kind of scent are they talking about?”

“It seems beastmen can smell the Saintess’s healing scent. I can too…”

Now that I think about it, the female knight, Eaglin, as well as Tiger and the other beastmen behind him, had strange expressions when they looked at me.

Ugh, am I a human air freshener? One that emits its own scent?

“How could I not go crazy over it?”