"No."
Sister Devlin answered almost immediately. Shade looked at her, but as usual, there was little expression on the nun's face.
"Shade went out of town to search for his missing friend and was seriously injured while fighting enemies during that time. I happened to be in the area then and encountered his cat. The cat led me to him."
That part of the account was indeed true, but she was describing what had happened during the Battle of Sikar Mountain. The two had known each other even before that.
"The seriously injured Shade had no choice but to ask me for help, so I shared the power of the First Fire with him. That was last year."
Shade recalled the scene after the divine battle on Sikar Mountain last autumn, when Sister Devlin had taken the pocket watch holding the Youthful Immortality Leaf from him. She had then knelt beside the bonfire on one knee, lifted that slender flame in both hands, and nearly pleaded in a trembling voice, "I ask you, I beg you, touch this flame."
"That's how it was. I had no choice but to ask Sister Devlin for help."
He nodded and glanced at the nun again, only to find that she had no reaction whatsoever.
Although Miss Winslet still felt that there was something suspicious about this, she was too embarrassed to pry closely into someone else's privacy.
"So that's how it was. Oh, why did you do something so dangerous? What would you have done if Sister Devlin hadn't found you? But I knew your cat was clever. I noticed that the last time you asked me to take care of it."
Sister Devlin's sudden visit had surprised everyone, but since Miss Isabella had asked her to try lifting the curse, everyone was