When Agnes lifted her veil and looked Ed up and down from head to toe with interest, the young man shuddered unconsciously, and suddenly had the feeling that he was being targeted by some beast—perhaps not as dangerous as the "beast", but it also made people's hearts beat faster and uneasy, and instinctively wanted to avoid her gaze.

He bet Agnes could see through the panic he was trying to hide at a glance, but deliberately chuckled and slowly approached, even reaching out a finger to lazily lift his chin.

"Oh. She narrowed her eyes and smiled wickedly at him, "Has anyone ever told you that you have eyes that can make girls fall in love?"

Ed felt the blood all over his face...... My mind went blank.

It wasn't that he hadn't learned how to deal with such a "lady" - even though his father and mother had told him very different ways. But honestly, none of the ones he'd ever encountered before would be so bold!

“...... Enough, ma'am, don't tease children like that. ”

Fili pulled Ed, who was standing stiffly there, and did not hide his displeasure at all.

"Gods, knights, where have your manners gone?" Agnes frowned half-truthfully, "shouldn't you introduce us to each other?"

"Is that necessary?" said Filly's rhetorical question, which looked rude, "no doubt you know very well who he is, and he ...... I don't think he hasn't heard of your name. ”

Ed was slightly surprised. The Queen's sister, Agnes Gaskel, did not have a good reputation...... Fili Zeri, though he had always been a big man, was so rude to a woman. But it didn't look like something he would normally do.

"It is an honour to meet you, Countess Maurice. He stepped back and saluted respectfully. Intentionally or unintentionally, it reminds Fili, who is unusually anxious for some reason...... By the way, it also made the distance between him and Agnes even farther away.

"Please, please call me Agnes...... Don't you like my name?" the countess looked at him with a smirk, not coming any closer, but not seeming to let him go.

"It's a beautiful name, ma'am. Ed bowed his head slightly, perhaps too far away to smell the scent of roses emanating from her, as if he could finally shake off her magical charm. Regain your composure: "But I'm afraid I don't deserve the honor of calling it yet." ”

“...... All right. Agnes sighed, "Congratulations, you've managed to make yourself as disgusting as the other young people in this castle - but that's not really you. Isn't it?"

Ed, who had just breathed a sigh of relief, immediately became nervous again, almost wanting to shout "No! this is me! I'm such a disgusting young man!" ......

He cast a pleading look at Filly. The paladin's face was not very good-looking, but his eyes seemed to reveal a little involuntary schadenfreude in annoyance. He shook his head and reached out to grab Agnes' arm.

"I suppose you're coming for me?" he said. "Leave the poor little creature alone. He was also in a hurry to see Scott. ”

Shadows flickered through cat-like eyes. The smile on Agnes' face stiffened for a moment, though briefly as if it were an illusion...... But it was enough for Ed to realize that she was so jealous of Scott that even if she heard his name, she seemed to be afraid.

"So...... Goodbye, 'little one'. The smile quickly returned, and Agnes lowered her veil and calmly turned around to take Filly's arm. After taking a few steps, he looked back at Ed, and whispered a word that was completely unexpected to him:

"I'm sorry you lost your mother...... There is nothing worse than the loss of a loved one. You may not need my comfort. But I believe she must be in a better place than this world. ”

After a moment of surprise, Ed fell silent and bowed his head deeply to her.

He listened to their footsteps in the distance, and stood alone for a long time in the scorching sun before he came to his senses and hurried out of the garden.

He wasn't really in a hurry to see Scott, but he suddenly wondered if Scott was aware of it, and how he felt about it—that Philip Zeri, who had intended to be happy with celibate for the rest of his life, surprisingly seemed to be attracted to a rather troublesome woman.

He may be a little stupid, but he's not blind. Fili was unusually agitated, and the way Agnes looked at her as he turned to speak to her...... Probably even he himself was panicked by the unwarranted admiration, but he was helpless.

Ed felt that he had the right to gloat once, but at this moment, there was only infinite sorrow in his heart.

Those who are able to find their loved ones and live happily together...... Do you know how lucky you are?

They walked for a long time along the long, criss-crossed corridors, not saying a word to each other. It wasn't until there was no way out and they had to turn into where they had already walked that Filly finally asked, "What the hell?"

"You're getting more and more rude, knight. Agnes looked up and rolled her eyes at him, and smiled reservedly at a daughter of an unknown family who had walked past them and saluted her courteously.

"You did save me, but I saved you, and I don't owe you anything. She said, "Now that I'm doing you a favor, how about showing a little gratitude?"

"I'll also say 'what if,' 'sorry,' 'please,' 'thank you,'...... 'appreciate,'" Filly replied, "if you like to hear it." ”

Agnes was silent for a moment, then sighed.

"Forget it. "I did get some useful information," she said...... But come to think of it, I'm not sure if I should tell you. ”

“...... Why?" said Filly, frowning.

"Because you probably won't believe me. Agnes shrugged, "No, there's no way you can trust me. ”

"If I hadn't believed you, I wouldn't have looked for you in the first place. Once again, Fili couldn't help but get agitated—he could feel his loss of control, and he was even more agitated by it.

For a moment, he wondered if he had fallen under some spell...... But Scott was already looking at him with a strange look and telling him he didn't have ...... At least the kind he thought he had won.

"Really?" said Agnes chuckled, stopping abruptly and turning to face him, her blue eyes burning even beneath the black veil.

"So you can trust me—" Her voice was cold:

"Better than believing in your best friend...... Is it better than believing Scott Christus?

(To be continued.) )