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※ This work contains depictions of coercive relationships, explicit language, and other graphic content. Reader discretion is advised.

Part 3. The Saintess

“…Young Lady?”

While she was sitting on the floor, silently crying in pain, the knight commander’s voice came from behind Edith. It was impossible to tell if he’d woken to her cry or had been awake all along.

‘I can’t look at his face…!’

Even if the memories weren’t originally hers, she wasn’t the type to boldly face someone she’d been so physically entangled with.

Behind Edith, frozen on the floor, Carlton, who had been sheepishly scratching his cheek, got out of bed and carefully lifted her.

“Eek!”

“The floor is cold, my lady.”

“Ah, n-no, I’m fine! Please put me down…!”

“Can you even walk properly?”

Placed back on the bed, Edith finally realized she was completely naked. She hurriedly covered herself with the blanket. A burning sensation spread across her entire face; she was sure it must be bright red now.

“About yesterday…”

“Yes?”

“I… I must have had too much to drink! Please forget about yesterday, Sir Knight!”

The only excuse she could think of was being drunk. Of course, she hadn’t even gotten to drink the wine she’d wanted yesterday, but there was no other way to get past this situation.

At her words, Carlton recalled yesterday’s events in his memory. But there had been no scent of alcohol, only a faint floral fragrance.

“To think I did such a thing, not realizing you were inebriated… If you wish to press charges, I will accept any punishment. I am deeply sorry, my lady…”

His apology was sincere. He’d heard gossip about noble ladies sometimes taking a liking to knights and sharing their beds easily, but it never aligned with his chivalry, so he’d paid it no mind.

But yesterday, he had failed to uphold that chivalry. He acknowledged his clear wrong and apologized earnestly to this unnamed young lady.

“Huh? No! Press charges… I have no intention of that…”

Flustered by Carlton’s words, Edith, now embarrassed, finally lifted her head to look at his face. Seeing Carlton’s face clearly for the first time, she found it closely matched the description of the knight commander from the game.

[Knight Commander, Carlton Flow, Age 26]

Of course, seeing the status window floating above his head confirmed his name was indeed the same. So, it really is that character, she thought with certainty.

Short, dark gray hair like a soldier’s, fierce reddish-brown eyes. Lightly tanned skin radiating a wild masculinity, covering well-defined muscles—just as she remembered from last night. A body bearing the glorious scars of many battlefields.

‘The knight commander who guards the Crown Prince’s side, nicknamed the Gray Wolf…’

With his consistently stoic expression, rigid posture, and formal speech, this knight was exactly as described in the game’s text.

Had she stared too intently?

Coming to her senses, she noticed the stoic knight’s expression seemed somewhat uneasy. Feeling embarrassed herself, Edith wanted to escape this situation.

To do that, she needed to return to the estate. But to get back…

‘How do I return?’

To cover that distance, she needed a carriage. The one she arrived in was surely gone, taken by Viscount Moulton. It wasn’t as if she could hail a carriage like a taxi in this world.

‘It’s too far to walk… Never mind that, an overnight stay! I can’t imagine how the maids or the Viscount would react.’

Worried their stares and contempt might become even worse, Edith’s face darkened rapidly.

As if sensing her dilemma, Carlton asked at just the right moment,

“Do you have a carriage to take you back to your estate?”

“No, I don’t think so. Probably not…” she replied.

Ah, great. She could see a flicker of pity cross his expression.

“Then, as I have caused you trouble, I shall escort you to your estate.”

Escort!

Could there be a carriage available at this early hour? Relieved at the solution, Edith’s face brightened. She was grateful to have a way back to the estate safely.

* * *

Hiiing.

Arriving at the small estate on the outskirts of the capital, Edith was pale as she dismounted the horse with Carlton’s help, her legs trembling.

‘Why didn’t I think he’d bring me on horseback…! And it’s my first time riding a horse.’

After being worn out by Carlton all night, her lower back and intimate areas were sore and throbbing. Riding a heavily trotting horse in that state, it was no wonder she could barely stand.

“My lady, might we meet again?”

Holding Edith’s hand tightly—her face white with the sharp pain in her back—Carlton spoke with apparent reluctance.

“It is late for introductions, but I am Knight Commander Carlton Flow of the Imperial Knights. And you are…?”

“Edith! Edith Moulton, Sir Knight.”

Not that she needed to say it, the status window had already given her name away.

“Thank you for bringing me back. Now, please return safely…!”

Edith, anxious that someone might see this situation, urged the knight commander to head back. Releasing her hand with a lingering look, Carlton gave a short bow, turned his horse, and rode back the way he came.

The sun was already up upon their arrival, so Edith hurried. She slipped into her room like a stray cat, climbing through an open first-floor window to avoid the maids.

Finally able to lie on her own bed, the tension left her body. A wave of fatigue crashed over her, and she fell asleep right then and there.