PATH OF THE STAR HUNTER

But nothing prepared him for Desmond’s cheeky response: “Yes.”

Immediately Desmond disappeared from his field of vision and a fraction of a second later, two more blows landed this time on the dorsal part of his back, the bursts of pain were followed by the sight of Desmond who once again appeared before him with the same mocking expression this time tinged with some sadism.

What followed couldn’t even be called a fight, from start to finish, Desmond slowly and cruelly crushed his opponent, at some point the sounds of bones breaking were present but Desmond didn’t stop; not until the man was beaten to his knees.

The applause from the crowd had stopped long ago and even Priestess’s face had turned dark, but Desmond didn’t care, he had gotten what he wanted, just from the expressions of the people in the church around Cecilia; Desmond knew that they were the sponsors of the idiot in front of him.

With that matter over, Desmond no longer had any reason to continue torturing his opponent, after all, cruelty and violence had always been nothing more than a tool for Desmond; not something he did for pleasure.

So with a meaningful expression, Desmond expressed some words, apparently to the audience: “You see, you shouldn′t offend a woman as beautiful and holy as Miss Cecilia, bad things happen to people who commit that sin”

The warning was given, and Desmond spun around and nailed his unconscious opponent to the ground with an overhand blow, before wiping his hands in a showy manner, then with a gentle smile no one would dare to trust; Desmond walked up to the main box to receive the prize he had so brazenly stolen.

“I hope that the holy priestess is not upset by my rude behavior, I just do not tolerate when someone behaves in such a rude way in front of a lady of your height, to prevent those things from happening again I would love to have the honor and privilege to serve as your guardian knight; I promise that I will protect you... no matter what happens”

.....

Lies, all the words that came out of Desmond’s lips were lies, at least Cecilia believed at first, she was even preparing to decline when she heard Desmond’s last words.

From everything said or done until now, only those words were sincere, Cecilia was sure of that, although she didn’t understand why from everything said by Desmond; precisely those words would be the only truth that came out of his lips.

I will protect you, no matter what happens. Those were the only trustworthy words said by Desmond and only because of that, based on that sincerity, Cecilia accepted Desmond’s request, as much as her common sense told her to stay away from such a dangerous man.

The expressions of the priests around Cecilia greatly worsened, but in front of the crowd, they did not dare to oppose the holy priestess. Cecilia might have fallen from the sphere of power of the church, but when it came to prestige among the common people; she was even more loved than the imperial family.

With that, the little farce ended and the crowd withdrew contentedly as the various court and church officials departed to inform their superiors of the events that had transpired.

Meanwhile, Desmond was being escorted to the church to be handed over all the proper papers and clearances, this included a residence near the Holy Priestess’ chambers as well as church weaponry.

These kinds of formalities were one of the things that Desmond hated the most, but that fake smile that he had practiced so much in the past was quite useful for such events. Although Desmond always had the feeling of being a wolf in sheep’s clothing whenever he used his charms and calm demeanor to get what he wanted.

But as he had always been, Desmond wasn’t going to worry about the moral dilemmas involved, so he kept the polite smile from start to finish.

One didn’t know whether to marvel at his acting skills or be horrified at the ease with which Desmond wore a mask. Cecilia for her part had her own opinion that she did not fall into either of the two categories, she felt wary, even when she was the one who allowed Desmond to serve as her knight; she didn’t trust him.

She knew that Desmond was sincere about protecting her, which is why she agreed to his request, but she also knew that Desmond was a liar, she knew that Desmond’s intentions were much more complex than they seemed on the surface he was dangerous.

Just from the way he basically tortured his opponent, it was clear that Desmond didn’t mind wielding violence and what was even worse was that he didn’t seem to feel anything at all when he wielded it.

His naturally sadistic smile didn’t waver at all as he tortured the man as if he was just part of his personality and he didn’t feel any pleasure from the torture.

Somehow that was even more threatening, Cecilia even wondered if she made a hasty decision, now that things happened; she had no choice but to go with everything for the time being.

So she went herself and dressed in her official clothes, something a little less ostentatious than what she was wearing a few moments ago, dressed in a white tunic with some golden religious patterns; Cecilia was in no way less beautiful than she was a few moments ago, only she now gave off a less regal air, giving way to a more motherly and caring image.

Looking in the mirror, Cecilia sighed tiredly, thinking about how difficult her life had become recently, oppressed with every step she took; she was just a naive child who ended up in this position as she followed her faith.

Every time she thought about her situation, in the church, Cecilia was filled with a strong feeling of loneliness and sadness, she felt helpless while she kept trying to do something; Her title of holy priestess felt incomparably heavy.

Pushing those feelings and emotions down, Cecilia finished preparing for her meeting with Desmond, hoping to get to know the man who became her knight a little better; since she was destined to spend a lot of time in his company.

Under the guidance of her maids, Cecilia descended from the highest floor of her tower to one of the intermediate floors where Desmond was to stay, dismissing the maids; Cecilia knocked on the door hoping Desmond would let her in.

On the other side of the door, Desmond watched in amusement as Kyuru flew back and forth inside the room. Hearing that someone had arrived at the door, Kyuru immediately covered herself with a thin layer of mana and distorted the light around her to become invisible again; Having seen the faery disappear, Desmond opened the door looking surprised to see Cecilia just outside.

“Holy Priestess.” Showing a respectful and cordial expression, Desmond stepped to the side of her allowing Cecilia to enter the room.

Cecilia, for her part, sighed inside of herself when she saw that the man continued to lie, even when it was just about showing respect to her, entering the room Cecilia was stunned to clearly see the little fairy in the room.

It was an awkward moment when two creatures with extremely sensitive senses noticed each other’s presence and gaze, Kyuru almost wanted to cry when she noticed that Cecilia could easily see her even though she was hidden under a veil of mana, while Cecilia was still trying to process the fairy look.

Desmond was the only person in the room who had no idea what was going on, raising an eyebrow at Kyuru, who removed her invisibility cloak to look back at him with her cute little tear-filled eyes; As she said, “She can see me”

Feeling the urge to bang his head against a stone, Desmond looked cautiously in Cecilia’s direction only to find a most peculiar thing, dozens of tiny little golden hearts; they shimmered pulsating within the girl’s pupils.

No matter how adaptable Desmond was, it was not possible for him to fully understand or process what was happening, the first being how Cecilia was able to detect Kyuru with almost no effort, the second being the strange and cartoonish phenomenon in the girl′s eyes.

The tension was broken when Desmond was unable to repress a small giggle as he watched Cecilia panic, her panic being illustrated by the image of a trembling little rabbit within the girl’s pupils; even the normally serious Desmond couldn’t keep a calm expression.

A few minutes later, inside the room, both Desmond and Cecilia sat across from each other in a small seating area, with Kyuru sitting on Desmond’s lap with a spoiled expression on her cute little face as she was caressed by Desmond; Cecilia watched the pair’s interaction curiously as she prepared to question the mysterious man in front of her.

It is worth mentioning that Kyuru had managed to calm down quite a bit after her initial surprise because she did not feel any bad intentions on Cecilia’s part, moreover, the fairy was sure that Cecilia would not do anything that would put her in danger; rarely did the fairy meet someone with such pure and beautiful emotions.