Book 4: Chapter 41
Steam was coming out from the entrance. I took a deep breath. The air was very astringent. It looks like they purify the salt here. When I was about to enter, a person came out. Nier drew her sword. I pressed my hand on hers and watched the person coming out. What was surprising was that it was a girl dressed in simple clothing made from coarse cloth. She had her mouth covered with her hands. She narrowed her blue eyes to look at us, bowed deeply and finally said: “Thank you very much for your help.”
“You are…?”
“I am Freya Vestalia. I am the eldest daughter of the Vestalia household. My family fell after my father passed away. The church then purchased us as labourers. You must be the prince, your majesty. When I heard shouting from where I was down below here, I took hot water and poured it into the entrance so that you would be able to find it. Thank you very much for coming to the rescue, your majesty.”
The young girl bowed elegantly. She looked at me with a look that was neither humble or arrogant. Normally speaking, the rescued party should be frightened or surprised, and cry to me. However, she didn’t shed a single tear, nor did she look scared. Instead, she looked at me calmly with the proud and calm demeanour of nobility.
I couldn’t help but respect her. Even though she was now a slave, she didn’t part with her dignity and pride as nobility deep down. I smiled, bowed and said: “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Vestalia. Your intelligence helped me find the entrance. Please stay above-ground now. Come with me to the palace afterwards to continue our conversation.”
“Your majesty, I have something I would like to speak to you about.”
She looked at me and calmly said: “I hope you can take me in. My home is gone. If you could take me in, I would be very grateful.”
“Take you in as my maid or my bodyguard?” I chuckled and said, “What do I get out of taking you in? I can promise to help you regain your status and money, but if you want to stay by my side, you need to be able to offer me help in some capacity.”
“I understand, therefore I can help you. If you wish to destroy the church, I can help you achieve that.” As she looked at me she continued, “I know you will not believe me, but please believe me because you and I both want to destroy the church.”