Chapter 78

Getaway (2)

The marquis’ carriage ran leisurely and reached the front of the temple. The coachman had come here several times, so he leisurely parked the carriage in the front yard of the temple. Soon the door of the carriage opened and Lyria and her maid, Anna, got out.

Kian… Is he here?

She looked around, but she couldn’t find anyone resembling Kian. Lyria headed to the temple with Anna and a guard-knight.

The coachman leaned against the carriage and pulled out a chewing cigarette from his hand.

It was early, so there were not many people in the temple. It was relatively quiet because the time for morning worship had passed.

Some of the priests recognized Lyria and greeted her. The Marquis of Wenson was stingy with donations, but the faithful appearance of Lyria was considered to be an example of the nobility.

“You wait here.”

He nodded slightly when she spoke to the guard. He seemed unwilling to follow her as a guard into a boring place like a temple, not anywhere else. He seemed to be rather happy when the annoying Lady said he should stay there.

I picked the right person.

If it were any other loyal person, he would have followed her to the front of the prayer room.

Lyria and Anna entered the corridor leading to the prayer room. Since this place was a temple, it was natural for the guard knight to have such an attitude.

Since the temple had separate sacred knights and new officers to focus on safety, it was rare for unsavory things to happen in it.

“Lady.”

The new lady greeted Lyria as if she had been waiting. The temple, which enshrined the goddess of mercy, had two prayer rooms.

There were prayer rooms for the safety or health of family, friends, and lovers, and prayer rooms for personal wishes, passing the test, and fortune, at both ends.

It was a busy time in the prayer room on the other side because the test results were coming out. The prayer room here was relatively quiet.

Lyria greeted the lady and entered the prayer room where she pointed to. The prayer room was a place she had previously used with Rowena.

Anna, who followed, found clothes in the corner of the prayer room and nodded.

“Get ready, My Lady.”

Two clothes were prepared in the prayer room. It was plain and unpatterned clothes of commoners. By the time she was done changing, she heard a knock outside the door.

Four times. It was a sign of a new girl.

Anna opened the door, and the priestess looked around and followed in.

“Let’s go now.”

The approaching priestess untied the necklace from her neck and put it in the groove on the wall. As if it were a key when she put it in and turned it, one wall of the prayer room opened without a sound.

While the priestess opened the door to the secret aisle, Anna was carrying her clothes in a bag. Lyria and Anna disappeared into the secret aisle at the behest of the priestess.

* * *

Kian was waiting for them at the end of the secret passage of the temple. Next to him was Pina, whom he met an hour prior.

Pina had just come on Rowena’s orders. Because the exit of this secret passage should not be shown to others, the accompanying guards that came with her waited in the teahouse at the intersection just ahead.

The place where Kian and Pina were hiding was behind the building of a ruined herbal store. The warehouse where the firewood of the building was kept was the exit of the secret passage.

The warehouse was always full of firewood, and dirty old clothes and tents were scattered, but it had a secret passage.

Creak.

From the inside of the warehouse, the door opened, and the priestess and Anna appeared. The person who followed was Lyria, whom everyone was waiting for.

“My Lady!”

One step closer, Kian held Lyria in his arms. Pina quickly reached out to Anna.

“Give me the changed clothes.”

“Why?”

“I’ll wear it! I’ve brought a knight to replace Kian!”

At Rowena’s request, Pina planned to lure the guards by acting like Lyria and Lancelot. She had explained to Lancelot that she had to get out of the capital for Rowena to get her favorite perfume.

Rowena judged that Lancelot had something in common with Kian; that he was handsome and had excellent skills, so he could protect Pina in case of an emergency.

“Wouldn’t that be… dangerous?”

Pina grinned at Lyria’s worried expression.