Chapter 9: Nights before school starts where you don’t have to make up homework.

The royal capital at night had no curfew or similar restrictions.
CocoLiss could always catch the faint scent of fireworks and bustling life not far away.

In comparison, however, the area where the two of them were located felt relatively quiet.

That made sense.
People with identities like the Hero and the Saintess naturally could not live like ordinary folk.

At least this let her experience the special privileges that came with her status first.

“This will be where you live in the royal capital from now on. The corresponding facilities inside should all be available. If you need anything, you can mention it tomorrow when Bishop Zain takes you to enroll.”

The golden-haired Hero spoke fewer words to the little nun in front of him, yet also more words.

He had reduced much of his suspicion and bluntness.
For example, he had already walked out the door and waited for quite a while earlier, while CocoLiss remained inside flipping through the blank black notebook.

After all, he had been in the wrong first and had made her recall long-buried sadness.

He had added much more care and kindness.
For instance, he would never speak this much or this gently to other young girls.

“Tomorrow…”
CocoLiss folded her hands over her lower abdomen, dignified and graceful. “Will you be coming as well, Lord Joshua?”

“I have other matters tomorrow.”
The youth unconsciously shifted his gaze away, then added to avoid letting the little nun think he was lying, “I have to go outside tomorrow morning to train with the knight order.”

“It’s alright, Lord Joshua.”

CocoLiss walked lightly to the door, used the key Joshua had handed her to open it, then stood at the entrance with her hands behind her back and her upper body leaning forward slightly. “I will keep my mother’s memento inside the room and won’t take it out to cause trouble. Lord Joshua should rest early too. It’s getting quite late.”

“Mm, I understand.”

The golden-haired Hero was not skilled with words. He simply watched the girl walk inside, and the door slowly closed.

Until the very last moment when it shut tightly, that pair of eyes like crystalline snowflakes still seemed to carry an indelible trace of melancholy.

Looking into those eyes felt like overlapping with certain memories.

“You rest early too.”

The motion of closing the door paused slightly. The gap widened once more to accommodate that pair of beautiful eyes carrying a hint of delight. “Lord Joshua is truly a very, very good person.”

Then the closed door separated their gazes, leaving only the bright moon hanging above both their heads.

The little nun inspected her new domain with her usual dignified and virtuous posture. After confirming that she was the only person inside the house, she finally let her facial expression collapse.

“So tiring… and I accidentally became a mother…”
Her delicate little hands kneaded her soft, delicate cheeks.

Then she found her bedroom and flopped onto the bed.

A little boy with golden hair, name unknown…

The golden-haired males she had encountered so far weren’t many, so her mind unconsciously recalled the figure who had stood in front of her holding a longsword.

That was too exaggerated though. No matter what, he was the Hero. How could he possibly be the unwanted little brat written about in her diary?

Besides, she didn’t know the timeline. That little brat might already be buried in the ground.

CocoLiss took out the black notebook once again, but no matter how hard she tried, she still couldn’t open the next page.

She didn’t know what conditions needed to be met.

She didn’t know where her cheap son was, or whether he was even still alive.

She also didn’t know whether she could keep her abyssal kin identity secret after enrolling in school.

The future truly looked bleak.

She buried her head in the soft quilt and let out two muffled curses that couldn’t be heard clearly. Then CocoLiss stood up, preparing to sleep after washing up.

Today’s experiences had been far too much. Even with two lifetimes behind her, she needed time to digest everything.

She hoped tomorrow’s enrollment wouldn’t be as eventful as today.

After washing up, CocoLiss used wind magic to dry her long hair, lay down on the bed with a sweet smile, and fell asleep.

Gentle moonlight continued to shine, and the noisy bustle of the city faded into the distance.

She couldn’t sleep.

It wasn’t hard to understand. Today’s overly dramatic experiences were worth remembering for anyone.

She might as well go for a walk. Consider it preparation so that if her identity was ever exposed in the future, she could escape by knowing the terrain.

Although she didn’t think she could actually escape even if exposed.

She put on a white robe over her nightgown, then quietly opened her room door.

Outside felt overly quiet. There was only the slight cold night wind and the rustling of swaying grass blades.

Perhaps due to the elevation, when CocoLiss looked out over the open area, she could still see the distant lights and lanterns of the city. But in her own area, there was hardly any sign of life. Only a few houses had lights on.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”

“Wah!”

The sudden voice nearly made CocoLiss activate her spiny dragon form and hiss on the spot. She almost summoned her staff.

But when she clearly saw who was beside her, it was a girl wearing a standard uniform. The black hood seemed unable to suppress a pair of large fox ears.

“Ah, sorry sorry. Did I scare you?”
The girl hurriedly waved her hands. “Reserve candidate for the royal capital’s night patrol team, Noile.”

“Candidate?”
CocoLiss, having recovered, resumed her dignified and graceful demeanor when facing outsiders.

“Yeah. Because there might be abyssal kin capable of disguising themselves as others who have infiltrated recently, they increased the manpower…”
Her gaze shifted to CocoLiss. “By the way, those who can live in this area are either rich or noble. This is the first time I’ve seen you.”

“I…”

CocoLiss was still hesitating whether she should reveal her Saintess identity at this moment.

“Oh~”
The fox-eared girl noticed the white robe with gold-trimmed patterns on CocoLiss. “You’re from Bishop Zain’s side. You must be enrolling in the academy. But classes start tomorrow, and you only arrived today?”

“We ran into some trouble on the road…”
CocoLiss spoke nothing but the truth.

“Actually, even though I look like this, I’m also a student who will be enrolling soon. Maybe tomorrow when you enroll, we’ll even be in the same class.”

Then she muttered, “I have to study properly and make something of myself. Otherwise I’ll just have to inherit the family’s night patrol position.”

CocoLiss hadn’t expected this job to be hereditary.

“It’s alright. You will definitely succeed.”
She offered comfort as she would to others.

“You’re really nice.”
Noile’s fox ears twitched under the hood. “But you shouldn’t wander around outside so late at night. That abyssal kin with strong concealment abilities that can imitate others might have already infiltrated the royal capital. It might even be between you and me right now.”

CocoLiss felt that sentence sounded a bit eerie.

“Actually, I am that abyssal kin!”
Noile bared her teeth and claws, but unfortunately CocoLiss didn’t move an inch from her spot. Only then did she cooperatively cover her mouth and let out a couple of slightly surprised sounds.

“You really are a good person. But I have to patrol other places now. See you at the academy tomorrow.”

She came like the wind and left like the wind—an always impatient girl.

Only after she turned around did CocoLiss notice that the other party’s large tail had forcibly propped up the lower half of her coat, making it look like a skirt with a petticoat.

So beast-eared girls existed too?

It seemed her previous understanding in the remote border town had been rather shallow.

“Ah…”
CocoLiss yawned.

Now she could sleep.

She hoped tomorrow’s enrollment wouldn’t be as full of ups and downs as today.