The gentle, magnificent twilight of evening poured in through the narrow, cramped entrance to the alley, falling on the visitor's flowing silver hair and making it shine brilliantly. Though he wore nothing but an utterly ordinary suit of knight's armor, he still exuded an air of extraordinary distinction, as if he were a god born to rule.
"You're... His Highness Lucia-Sancus?" Kristoff, who had met Lucia outside the city before, was the first to react.
But he did not lose his composure over Lucia's identity or his own "presumptuous words" just now. He simply took a deep breath, gave a perfectly proper knight's salute, and said, "Kristoff, Ancient Dragon Knight, at your service, Your Highness."
After a moment of confusion, Trisha hurriedly bowed as well. "Trisha, Perfumer, at your service, Your Highness."
Before Lucia could speak, Kristoff stepped forward, removed the sword from his waist, and held it out to Lucia. His expression grave, he said, "Your Highness, I presume you heard my presumptuous words just now. If you believe I insulted the dignity of the Ancient Dragon Prince and the Empyrean, I will accept any punishment. But Trisha had nothing to do with it, nor did the other patients here. I beg you, for the sake of Teacher Lance, not to hold it against them."
"Kristoff, you..." Seeing this, Trisha looked anxious. She turned to Lucia, wanting to say a few words in Kristoff's defense, but he immediately stopped her with a look.
"Tsk. This is how status can be such a troublesome and useless thing sometimes..." Seeing the two of them like this, Lucia rubbed his brow helplessly. "I told you who I was to prove that my divine power was strong enough to help save someone, but it seems nobody actually listened to what I said!"
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