Chapter 491: A Knight’s Truth

Once Isolde had fallen asleep, Adam quietly checked on the others. They were all sleeping soundly, so he decided not to disturb them and slipped out of the room.

His mind immediately returned to Lilith. He still had a promise to keep, and knowing her, he had no idea what she might ask of him this time.

"I just hope she doesn’t ask for anything too strange..."

Adam continued down the corridor, though part of his attention remained on what awaited him later. Lilith’s teasing smile from earlier kept coming back to him, making him slightly uneasy.

He passed several rooms before noticing that the light in Sera’s room was still on, with the door left slightly ajar.

It looked like she had only just finished speaking with her subordinates.

Adam was about to walk past when he heard movement from inside. A moment later, Sera’s voice came from the room.

She had apparently noticed someone outside.

"Adam? Is that you?"

Hearing his name, Adam opened the door and found Sera sitting on the edge of her bed, dressed in casual clothes.

He had seen her like this before, but somehow, she looked different tonight. Maybe it was because he hadn’t seen her in a while, or perhaps it was simply her longer blonde hair, which had grown noticeably since their last meeting.

Either way, Adam found himself staring for a moment longer than he intended.

"Can I come in?" he asked.

Sera glanced at the open door, then back at him.

"You already did. Why are you asking now?"

Adam chuckled awkwardly. "I just wanted to make sure."

He stepped inside and looked around the room.

"Were you talking with your subordinates?"

"Yeah. We needed to report everything that happened to the kingdom. One of my subordinates managed to escape, but if the situation is misunderstood, it could cause problems later. So I asked one of our mages to send a message."

"I see."

Adam pulled out the empty chair and sat down.

"So mages can send messages over long distances too?"

Sera nodded. "Some can. It’s a fairly common form of magic, especially for communication between the kingdom and its forces."

"Huh... I didn’t know magic could be used like that."

Sera smiled softly, her expression carrying a hint of warmth.

"You’re still the same as ever. You really don’t know much about this world, do you?"

Adam leaned back in his chair and looked up at the ceiling.

"Yeah. I’m just too lazy to study."

Sera immediately frowned at him.

"Then don’t be lazy!"

After Sera said that, a small laugh escaped her lips.

Adam lowered his gaze and looked at her, confused.

"Why are you suddenly laughing?"

"Nothing," Sera said, still smiling. "It’s just... talking to you like this again feels familiar."

Adam raised an eyebrow.

"Familiar?"

Sera hesitated for a moment before looking away.

"I guess I missed it."

Adam froze for a moment.

He hadn’t expected to hear something like that from Sera. The woman he knew was a disciplined and serious knight who rarely let her emotions show so openly.

’What the hell...?’

’Is the knight route finally opening up?’

Before Adam could think too much about it, Sera casually continued,

"Didn’t you want to ask how the princess is doing?"

Adam’s fingers unconsciously brushed against his lips as he remembered the last time he had seen Elise. She had boldly kissed him back then, and the memory still hadn’t completely faded.

"She’s probably doing fine. She’s a strong princess now, after all."

Sera smiled softly. "You’re not wrong. She really has grown stronger and more confident."

Her smile faded slightly as she continued.

"But she still complains about missing you almost every night. Since I’m usually the one beside her, I have to listen to it all the time. Honestly, it gets exhausting."

Sera sighed before adding, "So eventually, I told her, ’If you miss him that much, why don’t you just run away again like you did last time?’"

She said it so seriously that Adam couldn’t help but stare at her.

"Wait, you actually told her that?"

"Of course."

"Then what did she say?"

Sera tried to imitate Elise’s voice, clasping her hands together with an excited expression.

"That’s a great idea, Sera! Let’s run away and go see Adam!"

Adam couldn’t help but stare at her. The excitement in Sera’s voice was convincing but her eyes said otherwise.

Sera sighed and returned to her normal voice. "The moment she said that, I knew I couldn’t take any chances, so I locked her in her room before she could actually try anything."

"That’s cruel," Adam said.

"Maybe, but if she ran away again, it wouldn’t be as simple as last time."

Her expression grew more serious.

"Her siblings have become much more aggressive lately. They’re already starting to turn against one another, and Elise could easily become a target if she stepped outside the kingdom’s protection."

Sera paused before continuing.

"Inside the palace, there are still people who can protect her. But if she leaves on her own, she’d be putting herself in danger. I can’t just let her run off every time she misses you."

"You’re right," Adam said, giving her a sympathetic look. "You must have had a hard time..."

"Not really," Sera replied with a small smile. "Being assigned to travel outside the kingdom actually helped me clear my head. Even though Elise cried and didn’t want me to leave," she added proudly.

Adam couldn’t help but smile at the way she said it. "You sound pretty happy about that."

His gaze then fell to her right arm, or rather, the hand that was no longer there. His expression softened. "About your hand... I’m sorry I couldn’t heal it."

Sera glanced down at the severed end of her right arm and gently touched it with her left hand. "You don’t have to worry about it. This is a reminder that I’m still weak. If I want to protect the princess, I have to keep getting stronger."

Her fingers tightened around the end of her missing hand, her expression becoming more determined.

"But there’s one thing this injury allowed me to confirm."

Adam looked at her curiously.

Sera raised her eyes to him. "The Deathless King is still alive."