Chapter 31 Thinking without doing

This, of course, was Luke’s doing. Since the scummy pinkette was consumed by guilt, he decided to continue frightening her to see if he could force out some extreme behavior, which he could then use as leverage to threaten her for information.

Based on this reasoning, Luke deliberately created the impression that the threat was merely an impulse, lacking much planning or preparation. This was to make that scummy pinkette believe she could solve the problem by killing the witness.

It must be said, Elia certainly felt Luke’s elaborate intentions.

So she didn’t tell anyone about the letter’s content. That night, she skillfully left her holy light clone behind and went alone to the appointed location, near the Everspring Woods in the wealthy district.

Although it was spring-like here all year round, on a winter night, nobles rarely roamed here. The guards who should have been on patrol had also slacked off and gone home.

Furthermore, commoners were forbidden from approaching this area, with violators being summarily executed and their deaths unpunished or uncompensated… At this moment, from the woods to the surroundings, there wasn’t a single person.

Seeing no one, Elia withdrew her senses and waited silently… Not long after, a furtive figure circled through the woods and approached.

‘Lady Elia?’

The person asked tentatively from behind a bush. From the voice, it was clearly a man.

‘It’s me.’

Elia replied calmly.

Just as a certain person had anticipated, she did indeed realize that the arriving person might have temporarily thought of threatening her, and immediately considered whether she should kill to silence him.

But it concerned her reputation, it concerned her future good life. The word ‘possibly’ was something Elia couldn’t accept, so after much thought, she ultimately decided to continue feigning ignorance, observing the situation before making a decision.

Objectively speaking, this was indeed a good approach. At least Elia’s actions could be consistent from start to finish; anyone trying to find fault with her using recordings or photos would only return empty-handed.

Unfortunately, the mind-reading prankster hidden in the dark wouldn’t let her proceed so smoothly.

‘You’ve come indeed.’

The man emerged from the bushes. Although there was only a faint, dim moonlight, Elia, with the Saintess’s blessing, still saw his face clearly.

She quickly found his information in her memory:

‘You are… Mr. Novas?’

‘It is my honor to be remembered by Lady Elia.’ The man revealed a disgusting smile, no less repulsive than Count Lecherley’s, as if a fervent fan had met their idol.

Elia remembered his name because she had specifically memorized lists of various noble attendants to appear approachable to lower-ranking staff.

Thanks to this preparatory work to win people over, she confirmed that he was indeed the guard who had previously hidden in the secret chamber.

‘May I ask what business you have with me so late?’

Upon hearing this, Novas suddenly became somewhat bashful and awkward, much like a fan who was too nervous to speak properly after seeing their idol—in the eyes of a certain invisible prankster, this was the actual situation.

Novas’s identity was real, and he did write the letter.

But he had never worked in the secret chamber and knew nothing about that incident. His responsibility was to guard Count Lecherley’s young son.

Although Luke hadn’t personally gone to look after the child, “Psychological Presence” not only made others believe he was present but also made them imagine how they would interact with him. Afterwards, chat logs would also be saved, making it convenient for Luke to coordinate statements or revise content later.

Therefore, when Novas requested Luke’s help in introducing him to the Saintess that afternoon, Luke immediately agreed and even instructed Novas to write a fan letter overflowing with admiration, and soon brought him the good news that the Saintess was willing to meet him that night.

Novas was so excited that he stammered continuously throughout, looking as if he couldn’t believe it was real, saying things like, ‘Y-you actually came, I-I’m not dreaming, am I?’

Huh? You ask why a certain scummy pinkette saw and heard something different?

When you have a guilty conscience and delusions, it’s quite normal to have auditory and visual hallucinations. Later, he would use his mind-reading ability to give her a secondary treatment, so no need to worry.

Indeed, Novas, gathering immense courage, uttered various praises and words of adoration towards her, which in Elia’s ears sounded like this:

‘No need to pretend. I saw everything you did at the Count’s place. Tsk, tsk, tsk, I never thought that Her Highness the Saintess, revered and loved by the world, would be such a despicable person who casually manipulates people’s hearts and controls others’ wills… If this were to spread, I wonder how many people’s illusions would be shattered…’

Elia’s mood gradually turned somber.

What the other party said were all the developments she cared about most, worried about most, and feared most.

Even—

‘By the way, I’ve been following you for a long time. Your drastic change in temperament eight years ago, you claimed it was enlightenment, but that was a lie, wasn’t it? The real situation is that you became a different person…’ Novas grinned, his expression looking simple but his words incredibly sinister. ‘And you were originally a man!’

‘Thank you for your support.’

This wasn’t Elia realizing something and breaking through the auditory hallucination; it was Elia, after hearing the other party expose her situation, quickly shifting from a state of utter confusion to one of complete blankness.

So much so that she could only react instinctively, subconsciously uttering the lines she usually used to deal with overly enthusiastic fans.

‘How did this guy get so lucky?’

A certain person thought for a moment, then decided to add more fuel to the fire.

‘Still playing dumb? Or has your brain crashed? But you don’t need to worry or be afraid so much; only I know about this matter for now. As long as you obediently listen to me from now on, I guarantee I won’t leak these things.’

Under a certain person’s manipulation, Novas’s words, expressing concern about disturbing the Saintess’s rest, turned into naked threats.

‘Think it over carefully. Give me an answer tomorrow.’

The only constant was Novas’s defenseless back after he said goodbye and turned around.

Looking at Novas like that, Elia also regained her clarity, and a fierce gleam shot out from her eyes.

‘It seems this is the end.’

Luke drew the Village Sword from his waist, ready to block the scummy pinkette’s attack.

However, one second, two seconds, three seconds… until Novas’s figure disappeared, Elia took no action.

Elia indeed had the thought of killing to silence him, but she didn’t believe a single word of the other party’s guarantee or what he said.

Because if it were her, she would definitely prepare a timed email to be sent before keeping the appointment.

Even if not, she would write a will, which would be announced to the world if she were to be murdered.

Moreover, the surroundings seemed empty, but perhaps someone was actually monitoring from afar. Once she did something out of line, even without Novas exposing her, she would be utterly ruined, then forever infamous, no longer able to enjoy that privileged Saintess life… She wouldn’t want that.

‘Don’t be silly, there’s nobody around. The other party doesn’t seem like someone who’d leave a backup plan; he’s just a small guard, get rid of him!’ A certain person was somewhat speechless and quickly fabricated an inner voice to urge Elia.

Elia wavered, but in less than a second, she immediately dismissed the thought in her mind.

‘N-no, I can’t. I just visited the Count’s mansion today, and then someone dies in the blink of an eye? Everyone will suspect me… Even if the Count’s household doesn’t care, his family will frantically search for the murderer. Once they find the Archbishop, or some other powerful magician, and recreate the scene, they will definitely suspect me…’

A certain person now understood: this scummy pinkette simply lacked the courage to kill, and was constantly making excuses in her mind.