Nateaser: Reborn As My Love Interest

Stern - Ch. 93

I reluctantly entered.

The Elder seemed irritable when she occupied the library or worked all day to reanimate corpses. She finally got her toy back but Lambert got away again. The most cowardly plaything of them all left her to work overtime again. I stepped in expecting a hail of curses, but she surprised me.

"What is it, Stern?" She asked, a bit grumpy but nothing out of the ordinary. I saw fewer wrinkles on her face too, indicating something good happened. She got me curious but I knew better than to ask her directly. She glanced up from her work and seemed impatient. "Go ahead, don't wait for an invitation. Let's get this over with."

"I, um... My lady! None of our scouts reported back from that village still." I claimed, starting with the bad news. If I survived her initial reaction, I had a smooth ride to the end. She didn't seem surprised, letting out a tired sigh before she put down the parchment she read. She moved her office into the Church's library now, at least I usually found her here. However, this happened way before she attacked the beasts.

"It is to be expected... I take it, they still have a wyvern or two out on patrol. But Lambert went back there, I'm sure of it." She said calmly. The shouting match I expected seemed to be postponed. What was her deal? She failed to point out how useless I was too. "So? Is that all? As you see, I'm busy... The manor house still needs my attention too."

"Ugh, lady Elder, if you know he returned there, why don't you drag him back again?" I asked, instead of switching right over to the good news. Her apathy concerned me, she was my future wife, after all, political wedding or not. I liked it better when she was more... How to say? Vigorous? Vitriolous? "You overwork yourself again."

"No, not quite..." She claimed after a long sigh. I wasn't convinced but she explained it in detail. "I managed to learn the spell he used. He almost finished the job anyway. We'll get to the harvest next week, no distractions until then. Every time I go to that village, I return half-dead, even if they aren't a real threat... There is only so much humiliation I can take."

Oh yes, under the disguise of calmness, she was most certainly mad. She just looked lethargic instead of the usual craziness. Normally I'd twist the knife a bit to mess with her, but I felt pity this time. She barked more than bite, being a good sport about it, but if I pissed her off right now, she might take my head off, and literally.

"In another news though... I got reports about the Princess and Catherine." I announced cheerfully. Her eyes suddenly regained their shine, opening wide. Now that I grabbed her attention, I decided to play with her a bit. "Spies spotted them in the arena of the Saipole capital, but not as spectators. They won the beginner group match, and apparently, our Princess struck down their royal heir with lightning."

"What?!" Yes, she didn't let me down with that reaction. "What are you talking about, Stern? Princess Elizabeth, not Cath? Wait, no... Cath carries Remmol's blessings, she couldn't possibly use lightning either. Who told you this nonsense? Sounds like some drunken rambling."

"I can assure you, my sources are genuine." I bowed my head, struggling to suppress a grin. I knew this news would shake her up. The last time we heard about the rogue Princess was when they escaped her grasp. I still remembered how she raved about that, injured by the blue-haired paladin and losing sight of them. "They probably arrived at Saipole two weeks ago. No idea why there though."

"I think I hinted at the pope running away to the Sea People..." The Elder pondered, dropping everything she worked on before. But she seemed hesitant. "No, I said no distractions until harvest. This is the most important part of my plan to become a saint. Still, they took me seriously, just how gullible is the Princess?"

"From the looks of things, Lambert worked with the Goddess, or at the very least, she forced him to stay there. And the girls did not consider her an ally, they went to find the pope in Saipole instead?" I tried to sum it up. She forgot to mention that little detail earlier, but considering she bluffed, I imagined she forgot about it herself. Still, if the Princess or Cath took it seriously enough to go all the way...