Working Hard Even in Another World

The meeting ended on a sour note.

It wasn’t hard to tell from everyone’s mental state that such a gathering wouldn’t happen again.

As Luke was leaving the residence, Thomas caught up with him.

‘Sir Luke, I’m terribly sorry to have disappointed you, but I will not give up. I still maintain my previous view: the Saintess is definitely not a kind person; she must have some ulterior motive… After all, a normal person cannot undergo such a massive change without reason!’

‘I’ll keep that in mind. I’ll be in touch if an opportunity arises.’

Luke did not cut off this avenue, but the information Thomas possessed was limited to what Old George had provided, thus the clues effectively ended there.

However, his journey today had another significance: to let the Royal Family know he suspected the Saintess.

Don’t misunderstand, the King trusted that scummy pinkette, but not him. He not only ignored the righteous image Luke painstakingly cultivated but, similar to Iris initially, suspected him of using some means to mislead their Saintess.

So much so that when he later had another audience with the King, the King was mentally preoccupied with what to do if Luke tried to overthrow him and Elia wouldn’t help…

Therefore, along Luke’s route to visit Old George, Thomas, and attend the meeting, the King’s secret agents had been tracking him from a distance.

But thanks to this, the intelligence that he and the Saintess were “united in appearance but divided in heart” successfully spread… Although the King wouldn’t dismiss all his doubts based on this, he could at least sleep peacefully for a few nights.

Returning to his residence in the evening, after entering the bathroom with its surveillance blind spots, Luke began to use the organizing function of his mind-reading ability.

Specifically, he could divide memories into individual frames or video segments, pulling them out for analysis and observation.

Yes, that’s right; he was learning from Garlton to analyze that scummy pinkette with a microscope.

He ultimately discovered, to his surprise, that the scummy pinkette genuinely would raise her head by 0.013 centimeters when feeling smug.

‘You really are something.’

Between laughter and exasperation, he also felt a slight admiration for that scummy pinkette’s disguise skills.

But there’s a saying that the best way to respect an enemy is to decisively defeat them… So he quickly thought of a new method to deal with that scummy pinkette.

…

‘So annoying, so annoying, why is there so much work!’

Three days had passed since the Marquis’s Mansion incident concluded.

In these three days, although Elia hated Luke even more deeply, she never made a move against him.

Because as the Hero’s arrival’s fervor and novelty passed, and the coldness of winter slightly lessened, everything in the kingdom slowly began to return to normal.

And Elia had no choice but to start dealing with the Saintess’s work that had accumulated.

Perhaps feeling she would soon leave, many people entrusted even trivial matters to her, quickly filling her schedule for a week, not counting potential urgent tasks.

‘Damn it, why do I, a dignified Saintess of the Seven, have to live such a miserable life like a wage s*ave?’

‘What the hell? Why don’t they let those ordinary Saintesses solve such simple problems? Do they just want to see my super invincible cute and beautiful face that much!’

‘I can’t take it anymore, I want to relax in my study and have afternoon tea!’

Elia grumbled incessantly in her mind, yet wore a worried expression on her face, stepping with an urgent yet elegant pace towards her next work location.

Yes, our Saintess-sama was currently in the midst of a superb act of disguise.

Someone once asked her why she didn’t take a carriage, and her excuse was that for such a short distance, she didn’t want to waste manpower and resources.

But the actual reason was that she wanted others to see her diligent working posture to gain more praise and adoration.

‘Woah, it’s Her Highness the Saintess! She’s still so beautiful and charming today!’

‘Every movement of Her Highness Elia is utterly captivating!’

‘Our Saintess-sama, who is concerned about us at all times, is truly so diligent and great!’

Even without words of praise, simply receiving admiring, moved, amazed, and appreciative glances was enough for Elia to feel completely satisfied, involuntarily wanting to hold her head high.

Of course, she ultimately didn’t do so, or only raised it by an insignificant amount, but overall still maintained her previous posture.

Not swayed by external things, not saddened by personal setbacks, with her mind fully focused on the targets needing salvation and assistance, single-mindedly… this was the perfect image she deliberately cultivated in front of everyone.

Unfortunately, she was perfect, but the encounters along the way were not.

‘Her Highness Elia, good afternoon.’

Or rather, they were utterly terrible.

That bastard Hero suddenly appeared, blocking her path.

‘Sir Luke, long time no see.’

Elia showed a slightly excited and expectant expression.

The only thing that had brought Elia comfort and joy in these three days was that that bastard Hero hadn’t appeared in her sight even once.

Yes, her goal was to ruin his reputation, thereby making the King abandon their team-up plan. But work was too busy, and she really had no energy to think of new methods; she could only rely on out of sight, out of mind.

As for what that bastard Hero had been doing during this time?

She didn’t care at all.

Unfortunately, these thoughts couldn’t be revealed. Elia had no choice but to respond with the best and most appropriate reaction for the current situation, while inwardly urging that bastard Hero to quickly disappear.

Regrettably, her wish was once again unfulfilled.

‘Her Highness Elia, are you going to perform a Saintess’s task next? May I come along to observe?’

A seventeen-level blizzard instantly swept through Elia’s heart; she was completely numb.

Work was already irritating and depressing enough; did she really have to look at a hateful face too?

Was this even letting a person live?

‘Of course you can.’

Helplessly, no matter how much she resisted and cursed inwardly, she still had to force out… oh no, she had to carefully select a cheerful yet not overly eager, joyful smile, and then respond to the request with a bright and welcoming sweet voice.

‘I’m so angry! Why do I have to be so nice to this bastard Hero! When will this bastard leave the kingdom and grant me some peace and quiet!’

As soon as she finished speaking, Elia began to regret not showing her dislike for the bastard Hero from the very beginning, leading to a situation where she was now somewhat stuck and had no choice but to continue pretending to have a good impression of that bastard Hero.

The golden-haired elf maid, following closely behind, was overtly excited and happy about the two of them going to act together, and secretly vowed in her heart to create opportunities for them to be alone later.

As for the Hero himself, so utterly hated by a certain Saintess, he was already struggling to suppress his laughter inwardly.

‘If you hate it so much, why not just say so? Is there a need to pretend so much? Isn’t it tiring to pretend?’

Luke had no intention of transmitting his thoughts, but if a certain scummy pinkette genuinely couldn’t hold back and exposed herself in front of him, then there would be a good show to watch.

At the very least, photos, videos, audio recordings, threats… that full-service package was indispensable.

The Saintess’s kindness, nobility, and impregnability?

Luke had come here this time precisely to see how far this scummy pinkette could endure under his relentless pressure.