Bab 57: The Fallen Saintess (53)

(City of Lunarian- Inner Region)

(Mansion of House Rochela)

Night had fallen and the interior of the mansion was lit up by luminous stones harvested from the western region of the continent.

There was a somber atmosphere inside the mansion and none of the servants dared to raise their voices above a whisper.

"My lady please… do not be upset!" Butler William gently spoke as he handed another glass of wine to his mistress.

"They took him! THEY TOOK HIM AWAY!" Duchess Rochela sobbed loudly as she clutched a white handkerchief against her slender chest.

She grabbed the glass out of the butler's hand and flung it against the nearest wall where it shattered into tiny pieces.

The duchess' heartbroken sobs echoed through her private bedroom as the maids standing by the door averted their eyes.

Butler William tried to calm down his mistress and softly spoke, "My lady… I am sure that Master Harper will return safe and sound…"

"Nonsense! House Rochela have always been loyal subjects to the royal family, and this is how they treat us!" Duchess Rochela roared in anger.

"That saintess bitch! She leads over a group of those… those… ANIMALS into our home and take my husband away!"

Butler William bowed his head and allowed his mistress to finish her rant against the church and their current actions.

The Varion Church appeared to be displaying their power now that the saintess had successfully become the fiancée of the crown prince.

Over the last few weeks, dozens of powerful noble families had been raided under the suspicion of heresy and corruption.

Saintess Marie personally led the efforts and was escorted by a group of high-ranking paladins who were loyal to her every command.

They would lead the captured nobles to the headquarters of the Inquisition… and not all would emerge unscathed from that terrible tower.

"My lady… let us… let us…" Butler William furrowed his brows as he was suddenly struck by a wave of exhaustion.

He opened his mouth to apologise for his rude actions, but his vision slowly faded away to darkness.

The butler was not alone and the other servants in the room also collapsed to the ground and fell unconscious.

Even the grieving duchess gradually closed her eyes and drifted away into a blissful slumber.

The wine bottle by her side was knocked to the floor and the purplish liquid inside flowed out and stained the expensive fur carpet.

Loud snores could be heard echoing through the mansion since all its residents were now in a deep sleep.

Elisa stood quietly outside the mansion and continued to manipulate the threads of black magic dancing around her fingertips.

"Noxium Hypno Sluperi…" the dark elf princess muttered as her fingers began to move in a peculiar circular pattern.

Four dark elf warriors stood quietly by her side with their hands already on the hilt of their swords.

A figure leapt from the top of a nearby wall and entered the mansion smoothly by kicking open one of the doors.

She was a short-haired knight with a lean muscular frame and cold noble features that made her seem like a Greek goddess.

Claire easily entered a private guest bedroom and a strange look flashed across her face when she saw two maids sleeping peacefully together naked on the floor.

Clearly, they were enjoying some time alone before Elisa's spell had taken effect.

Claire casually picked up a blanket on the mattress and tossed it on the two maids to cover up their bodies.

Claire's eyes shone with purity and righteousness as she manipulated the golden threads surrounding her body.

She touched the thread belonging to Duchess Rochela and the memories of her sins flowed into Claire's mind.

Hmm… it seems like the duchess was aware of her husband's dark elf slaves.

In fact, in those memories, she was the one who used and abused them more often than her lover.

Claire fought down the murderous urges surfacing in her mind and kept a level head.

The first priority of this operation was to rescue the trapped dark elf slaves.

Eventually Duchess Rochela would be punished for her crimes… but not tonight.

Killing the nobles would just raise the alert which is why the rescue efforts were done in secrecy at night.

Claire let out a heavy sigh and took in a few deep breaths to clear the mental fog that was affecting her judgement.

She dove back into the duchess' memories and found the information that she was looking for.

Claire confidently walked through a labyrinth of corridors and side passageways until she arrived at a wooden door that was the entrance to the basement.

The female knight opened the door which was unlocked and found a wide-open space.

The floors of the room were cold stone tiles, and the walls were a dull grey colour.

Several dark elves were chained to the walls using heavy metal chain links that clanged softly as they moved.

They were all fast asleep which made it easier for Claire to approach them before anyone started to panic.

The female knight unsheathed her longsword and a burst of holy light erupted from the tip of her blade.

Claire slashed forward and easily destroyed the metal chains that linked the captured dark elf slaves to the walls.

She whistled softly twice, and three dark elf warriors emerged from a dark shadowy portal that suddenly appeared.

Elisa had placed a dark rune on her mask that acted as a kind of positioning device for her to summon spatial rifts.

"Deal with this situation," Claire coldly spoke as she turned around to leave.

The dark elf warriors nodded respectfully and then moved towards their sleeping brethren. They lifted them up with well practised movements and brought them into the portal.

Claire wandered through the halls absentmindedly as she heard a familiar voice echoing through her mind.

[So… did you all succeed? I must say… Duke Rochela is currently squealing like a pig after my men gave him some light punishment.]

[Well… maybe anyone would scream after their tongue was pulled out… hehehe…]

[Prince Raul truly is the perfect man… no matter what I do… he supports me! Can that dark elf princess do the same?]

Claire furrowed her brow and did not bother to reply. Eventually Saintess Marie would get tired and stop using the mental link.

She didn't understand why the current saintess would randomly start a chat using the mental link, but it was really annoying.

Claire placed her longsword back in its sheath and walked out of the front door of the mansion with slow purposeful steps.

Elisa was currently muttering something incomprehensible under her breath and Claire's golden eyes could spot dark shadowy threads surrounding her girlfriend's body.

Those dark threads made Claire's murderous urges surface once more, but she fought down that feeling immediately.

No one was going to hurt Elisa.

Especially not her.

"Thank you for freeing them," Elisa gently spoke as she opened her eyes.

"Please… how many times do I have to tell you… I don't need thanks," Claire warmly replied as she stared at the beautiful princess.

"Maybe I should reward you later tonight…" Elisa shyly teased as she winked seductively.

The other dark elves surrounding the princess pretended to not hear the conversation that was happening.

Not all of them approved of their princess' romantic entanglements with a human but Claire's actions had silenced most of the criticism.

"Cancellius Remines Lumenr…" Elisa chanted solemnly.

Hundreds of black seeds flew out of her fingertips and headed for the residents of the mansion.

This was the final step of the rescue operation. Elisa would modify the memories of everyone inside the building so that no one would know that something strange had occurred.

She would even make those who had knowledge of the foreign race slaves forget that they had even seen them in the first place.

"Should we move on to the next target?" Elisa sweetly asked as she stopped for a moment to catch her breath.

"Of course…" Claire softly replied as her lips curled up into a small smile.