Chapter 690: Honourable duel

"Ah... is that so?" the princess asked thoughtfully. "I would have thought you’d head towards the landmass to the west, considering Sir Albert mentioned the abundance of crumbling ruins there."

Elion shrugged. "We have a separate reason for going north, and it’s not as though there’s nothing there. Besides, an abundance of ruins doesn’t guarantee that you’ll find anything worthwhile. Perhaps we’ll make better gains in the north."

Princess Isla gave him a wry smile. "I hadn’t thought of it that way, but perhaps you’re right. It seems we’ll be going our separate ways after this."

Elion returned her smile with a shameless one of his own. "I see you’re starting to miss me already, though I can’t say I’m surprised. I am amazing, after all."

He puffed out his chest before continuing. "And I’ll gladly admit that the last half-day I’ve spent with you beautiful ladies has been filled with such blinding brightness that I feel as though a heavy weight has been lifted from my shoulders."

His gaze moved towards the veiled Solara. "Of course, that includes you, Holy Daughter Solara."

The princess giggled, while Maya nudged Elion in the side, hoping to stop him before he said anything else.

"Forgive my companion, Princess, Holy Daughter. He tends to be rather shameless at times, and I’m ashamed to say I’m simply not strong enough to restrain him."

"That much I can see," Isla replied with a pleasant laugh. "I’m beginning to understand how he managed to make even the cold Celeste Chronos fall for his charms."

"You know Celeste?" Elion asked, looking at her with interest.

"Of course." Isla chuckled. "Everyone knows Celeste Chronos. In fact, she’s someone I look up to."

"Then perhaps I should arrange a meeting between you two."

"Oh, no!" Isla shook her head, waving both hands vehemently. "I wouldn’t want to impose."

"I’m sure she wouldn’t mind," Elion replied. "So leave that to me."

In the end, the princess could only nod in defeat, accepting his proposition. Elion smiled before turning his attention back towards Solara.

It was unfortunate that he couldn’t see her face clearly with that veil covering it at all times, though it did little to conceal her obvious beauty. More so since his eyes allowed him to see considerably more than most people could.

At some point, he had stopped trying quite so hard to keep his gaze from wandering towards her chest.

At least she didn’t seem to mind, though her attendant showed enough displeasure for both of them, and Elion was beginning to think it was only a matter of time before the woman tried to cut him down.

Solara was easily the most racked woman he had ever seen, surpassing even the likes of Ophelia.

It was a wonder that someone who was supposed to embody purity and holiness, dedicating herself to the goddess, possessed a figure that stirred lust and depravity even more.

Her fleshy mounds were so bountiful that Elion imagined he might be smothered to death if he buried his face between those breasts.

He entertained the thought for a moment before banishing it, quickly concealing the perverted expression that had briefly slipped onto his face.

From what he had seen during his shameless glances, which had been plenty, the rest of her figure was just as sinfully bewitching, especially her thick thighs and bulbous ass.

Had she been wearing anything other than those loose robes, he would have been able to admire its contours far more easily.

"Holy Daughter Solara," Elion began.

"Please, just call me Solara," she said pleasantly.

Elion smiled. "Solara it is. I’ve never been to the empire. What’s it like there?"

"Before that, tell me, Elion..." Her attention settled upon his face. "Do you believe in the goddess?"

Elion stroked his chin, considering the question. "If you mean whether I believe she exists, then yes, I do. But if you’re asking whether I worship her as you do, then no."

"Perhaps we could enlighten you about the goddess’s grace," Solara replied. "I’m sure you know that the church and the vampires haven’t always gotten along. As the next Holy Mother, it’s my duty to spread word of her grace, and I find it distasteful that we would even consider excluding an entire race from our faith simply because of past grievances."

Elion shook his head before she could continue. "Unfortunately, I don’t ever see myself worshipping any being, even a so-called goddess. If I’m being honest, I find it hard to believe that they are as magnanimous as you all make them out to be," he said coldly.

"How dare you!" Althea exclaimed, finally breaking the silence she had maintained behind Solara. "Allow me to put this heathen in his place, Holy Daughter!"

Her hands were already reaching for the sabres at her sides as she stepped forward. Solara, however, quickly shook her head and extended a hand to stop her.

"Calm yourself, Althea," Solara said.

Despite her quickened breathing and the sharp glare she directed at Elion, Althea eventually stepped back.

It was obvious to him that this outburst had been quietly brewing for a while, though he found that he didn’t particularly care about her displeasure.

"Please forgive my attendant’s outburst." Solara bowed her head, deeply shocking Althea.

Seeing the Holy Daughter apologise on her behalf only made her more embarrassed and angry with herself, and she bit her lip so fiercely that it began to bleed.

"I’m sorry," Althea said. "I’m going to get some air. I’ll take this opportunity to reflect on my actions."

"Please do," Solara replied, and before long, Althea was out the door.

"Allow me to apologise once again," Solara said after a moment. Elion waved her off with a sheepish chuckle.

"There’s no need to apologise when you haven’t done anything wrong."

Solara shook her head. "I’ve always been told that a superior should ensure their subordinates behave appropriately. If they speak or act out of turn, then I share responsibility for their actions."

Elion smiled but said nothing further, seeing how stubborn she was being.

The matter of the goddess and their faith was dropped, and Solara began telling them about the goddess’s empire instead, though everything she had to say was good.

Most of it amounted to bragging about how comfortably its people lived thanks to the church.

She didn’t seem to realise she was bragging, however, and the others could only listen with wry smiles as she explained how fairly the goddess treated everyone, so long as they placed their faith in her.

’What a load of crap,’ Elion thought inwardly. ’There’s no way life in the empire is all sunshine and rainbows, as she makes it out to be.’

Every good thing had a dark side, after all, and all sorts of nasty things happened in the places one would least expect. Regardless, he kept those thoughts to himself and let her continue.

Eventually, breakfast was cleared away, and almost on cue, Althea returned. She seemed to have calmed herself, though the resolute expression on her face gave Elion a bad feeling.

He assumed she would return to her place behind Solara like the loyal dog she was.

Instead, she walked past the Holy Daughter and stopped on the opposite side of the table, directly across from him.

Everyone watched her in confusion as she drew a sabre from its curved sheath and tossed it onto the table in front of Elion.

"Elion Nova, I challenge you to an honourable duel!" she declared loudly enough for everyone to hear.