Chapter 1431: Chapter 48: Gate Panel_3
The door swung open, and in an instant it revealed Moli standing outside, dressed in the Dragon Court’s red Priest Robe. Right now she was peering about, sizing up the very quiet corridor beside her, as if afraid someone might come by.
When Fisher opened the door, revealing his well‑built upper body, Moli’s eyes were instantly caught and dragged back.
Her small face flushed a little; while dodging her gaze she still greedily took everything in, then she swallowed a mouthful of saliva and was about to step into the room.
"Fisher, can we talk inside?"
"..."
Inside the room, Rafael, who was lying on her side, trembled slightly, clearly having heard that soft, gentle voice.
Fisher didn’t look back, but he sensed danger. He didn’t move aside, yet he took just the right half‑step back, and because of that, the gap in the doorway his body had been blocking now revealed more of the scene inside the room.
For example, the armor and clothes scattered messily across the floor...
Moli froze at once. Her gaze flickered and caught Rafael, who was "sound asleep" lying on her side in bed. She realized almost instantly what had just happened here, and her face turned even redder.
Her voice shrank in a heartbeat to something nearly imperceptible, as though worried about waking Rafael. In a mumble, she said,
"R‑Rafael is inside?"
"...Yeah. Did you need something, Moli?"
Fisher lowered his voice as well, apparently also afraid of waking Rafael, but he was still thinking about how to remind Moli that Rafael was actually awake right now, so she wouldn’t blurt out anything shocking and set the powder keg alight.
"S‑Something, right, I... ugh, what was I going to say..."
But Moli had already been scared silly by the "out‑of‑syllabus" scene in front of her. She was still too young, too green; maybe she really had come with something she needed to say to Fisher, but between the scattered clothes in the room and the impact of Fisher’s body, her brain had completely disconnected.
Looking at how clumsy she was right now, Fisher relaxed a bit from his earlier worry about what she might say. He had no choice but to help her straighten things out.
"Then where are you coming back from just now? You didn’t come back here to rest last night either, did you?"
"Ah, I’ve been outside preparing logistics, so... I remember now, I came here to tell you that another West Continent people arrived at the seaside this morning, saying he was here to look for you."
"West Continent people?"
"Mm, seems to be a man from Kado. He looks... well, very tall and very thin, like he hasn’t slept in many days. His condition is really, really bad. He was found by the fishermen on the shore and is now being held outside the coastal defense line. Then someone came to notify me, so I..."
Rafael’s ears, which had silently pricked up, relaxed a little again. She had thought it was some dangerous, adulterous topic; now it seemed that wasn’t the case.
The guarded, ready‑to‑explode tension in her heart slowly eased, and she simply kept listening to their conversation.
As soon as Fisher heard that description, he knew the call he had made a week ago to the Death Lord Holan had paid off. His landlord had passed his message along, and so he had hurried here.
Honestly, that was pretty fast—only a week to get here from the Western Continent?
Still, the people in the Creation Society, even though their numbers had dwindled, did have some foundation left. A Cardinal or the Cardinal of Destiny might well be capable of that.
"Ah, he’s a friend of mine, and he’s very important to this war... You didn’t tell anyone else about this, did you?"
"Of course not, because it’s very dangerous for West Continent people to show up here. That Ingrid has also been properly settled by me in the Flower Garden. With Aunt Yaril taking care of her, she won’t be in any danger for the time being... Also, if they were exposed to the eyes of the Dragon Court, it would affect Rafael, and it would affect the morale of the coming war."
Moli smiled faintly, quietly having arranged everything. Yes, Fisher had completely forgotten about Ingrid’s existence; Rafael was probably the same when she got busy. But even though Moli had so many things to deal with herself, she still remembered these trivial odds and ends.
Even though she and Fisher had secretly agreed before that they lived close enough to slip into her room in secret, Rafael’s possessiveness meant she had to stay by her side every single night. That made it utterly impossible for Fisher to go see Moli—he was afraid of stirring up any conflict with the storm about to break.
Yet the Moli who came here now showed no sign of coming to question him or complain with resentment. It was as if, in her eyes, everything could be understood.
"Thank you, Moli. This was my oversight."
"...It’s all right, Fisher. Rafael has also been... very tired these days. She has to personally lead the army and face that General from a few years ago. To be honest, I think there’s probably... not much chance of winning. Maybe she thinks so too, but she’s never shown it in front of others, she just keeps it buried in her heart... That kind of feeling is exhausting. I’m really worried about her condition, but because of you, Fisher... I don’t know how to face her either... So, let her rest well for a while. With you, she’ll feel at ease... I... feel the same way."
Moli no longer looked at the scene in the room that would make a person blush. She simply whispered everything out, and only at the very, very end did she say a line that was dangerously "across the line."
