A Morning’s Misunderstanding

As the sun rose as usual on the second morning, Anto naturally opened his eyes. Though he felt he hadn’t slept for long, having a beautiful maiden knight sharing his bed, despite his healthy mind, made it impossible for him not to overthink some things, which in turn diminished the quality of his sleep.

“Lord Anto, are you awake already?” As he opened his eyes, Ilivy had already sat up and begun redressing in her armor. “Did I disturb you? It’s still quite early; would you like to lie down a bit longer?”

“There’s no need,” Anto replied, sighing as he lay naturally on the blanket. “I usually wake at this hour. After all, knights aren’t the only ones who need morning exercise, are they? Though I am quite sleepy, I can always catch up on the carriage, can’t I?” He rose, straightened his clothes, and then donned his hat and the accessories marking his identity as a nun. Ilivy, with practiced ease, came to his side to help him tend to his long, soft, silky golden hair.

“Please allow me to assist you, my lord.”

“You can help, but the request remains the same,” Anto said with a helpless smile. “Please don’t call me ‘my lord’… I’m really not used to it. Just call me by my name.”

“That would be disrespectful.”

“Ha… we’ve already gotten to know each other so well since last night.” Anto tilted his head, sitting cross-legged on the blanket, beginning with a sleepy yawn. Then, squinting, he sat in the tent, allowing Ilivy to kneel and tend to his hair. The lovely nun also looked up, her gaze fixed on the pink-haired knight before her.

“I can call you by your name, and you can call me by mine. All those ‘Miss,’ ‘My Lord,’ ‘Your Eminence’ titles can step aside. If you want to deepen our relationship, this is very important. Because I truly detest being called by those honorifics.”

Facing the words of the angelic young man before her, Ilivy smoothed his long hair, as slick as fine silk, then nodded. “Understood… Anto.”

“That sounds much better.” The golden-haired young nun smiled like a child. While he was indeed a child, it was only in these matters that he truly revealed his childlike side.

“Speaking of which, Ilivy, your skill in styling hair is truly impressive,” Anto said, turning his head and fully entrusting his long hair to Ilivy. She had also done this job for him when they went to banquets in the past, and Ilivy’s technique was indeed much better than others’. Lu Wei’s impetuous nature ensured she could never master such a meticulous and patient task; she herself had sacrificed her orange-red hair for a short cut to avoid styling it. Xi’er An, on the other hand, was somewhat unaccustomed to such things; her hands were delicate but often too rigid and formal. As for certain others… men were out of the question; Anto had sworn never to let Eric touch his hair. Mula, meanwhile, was used to styling her own hair in many elaborate ways—twin ponytails, buns… one after another, all part of what the Otherworld Travelers called ‘fashionable,’ but he found them a bit much.

“Because when I was in the knight order, I used to style the junior members’ hair,” Ilivy responded. “Aletta also had long, straight, soft hair like yours, but…”

“Aletta,” Anto suddenly repeated. “Is that her name? Your sister’s?”

“…Yes.” Ilivy took a deep breath, then abruptly stood. “My apologies, I shouldn’t have mentioned such a thing so suddenly. It might cause you trouble. I shouldn’t compare you to others…”

“It’s fine, continue. I don’t mind such things. How much of a tyrant would one have to be to care about that?” Anto said, then gestured for Ilivy to continue styling his hair. “There’s no need to worry about such matters. If we get a chance to return, we must go and do it. At the very least, we must hold a belated mass.” Anto’s sudden words invigorated Ilivy, and he, sitting there, felt her emotional shift and immediately continued, “I told you, you are innocent. Therefore, I will prove my point and convince others. Since I judge her innocent, is there any problem with me praying a mass for her?” Anto turned his head. “Surely, such a matter doesn’t require divine permission, does it? If so, I’ll spend an hour or two on the carriage today seeking guidance. Unless the Almighty truly stands before me, or sends me an oracle or some other proof of Their actual existence and concern for me, then based on rational thought, the only conclusions are either that They don’t exist, or that ‘They strongly approve of my ideas and genuinely find them quite good.’ Wouldn’t my actions then be even more in line with divine will?”

“Lord Anto…” Ilivy’s eyes suddenly shimmered with gratitude. “Thank you so much… Thank you for… for proving their innocence.”

“We’ll talk about that later. For now, we must thoroughly resolve the task at hand.” After his hair and face were perfectly groomed, Anto stood. He looked into the small mirror; the holy Sister Antolia had once again returned to the world, just like the sun, opening the tent precisely on time. Then…

“*Clatter!*”

“Huh?” Anto tilted his head, seeing a basin on the ground outside, and a figure flashing past. He seemed to realize something…

“Hey, hey, hey, surely there isn’t an internal spy monitoring me even at a time like this, right?” Anto suddenly asked. Ilivy immediately stiffened. “Should I pursue them, Lord Anto?”

“For now… well, no need.” Anto briefly noted the type of basin on the ground and its unique marking, a helpless smile appearing on his face. “It’s just that explaining this will be much harder than not explaining it. The two of us seem to have been misunderstood.”

****

‘How could this be?! Oh God! Merciful, almighty Lord! I swear I truly didn’t intend to eavesdrop by the tent! Truly, I just wanted to prepare some morning wash water and breakfast for little Anto! Of course I knew the knight was in that tent too, but I didn’t think much of it, after all, they both… but… but…’

‘What was it I heard?! “Understood each other all night, just call me by name directly” “If you want to go a step further, please continue…” Oh, those words… I shouldn’t have heard such things, I really shouldn’t have! I never thought, never thought little Anto would actually… What should I do, my Lord! Please tell me what to do!’

At this moment, Sister Lu Wei was in a state of utter disarray, unable to extricate herself.