"Have there been any movement from the Dark Elve's side? They should know by now that we have their comrade. So, they should be ready to come here any second now."

Brother Gustav looked at his subordinates with passionate eyes. He was certain his plan would work, and the thought of failure had never crossed his mind.

His words made Kolvar let out a startled laugh.

"Ha, my people are not foolish enough to fall for this. Besides, even if they did, what is one man's sacrifice in front of the survival of the whole race?

Whatever you are thinking about will never come true."

Kolvar laughed as he looked at the priest who had bound him and humiliated him.

He had not been hurt badly enough not to be able to move, but he had been hurt badly enough not to be able to speak much.

Despite that, he knew he needed to show his devolution to his cause and keep his people safe.

"You talk too much for someone who is on the brink of death. Now, be a good victim and stay quiet. I do not want to hear you speak."

A spell forced Kolvar's mouth to become stiff before he could no longer speak. Resentful eyes looked at Brother Gustav, but there was nothing the owner of those resentful eyes could do to change what happened.

He had to accept his reality and live with it for now.

Just when things began to calm down, one of the guards came running inside and forcefully pushed the door open.

The man immediately kneeled before Gustav, whose panicked face looked riddled with sweat.

"B-Brother Gustav, we have a problem here. T-The Duke's people are here to interrogate us. What should we do? The young lady and her maid would reach us in no time."

The guard asked, and Brother Gustav had a frowning expression after hearing this news.

"The Duke's people? Which Duke is it? Don't they know how important it is for the temple to be focused at this time? How dare they come after me like this. Do not let them approach. Hold them at bay.

No matter what Duke it is, they must respect the temple and its branches. That is the doctrine that was signed, right?"

Brother Gustav asked in an annoyed voice. He was justified in thinking, but his guard frowned and flinched again.

"S-Sir, the maid said we started all this first by kidnapping one of her workers. W-Was she talking about the Dark Elf? What should we do?"

Those words also made Brother Gustav feel scared.

If his subordinate's statement was true, he had committed a crime and could be punished.

And if that were the reason, Gustav would lose all the support he had gathered from the temple and local lords. He would also lose his chance at a promotion.

He could not allow that to happen.

"Just how is this noble, and how many people do they have? We will need to devise a plan based on all this information."

Gustav asked, but the guard hesitated before he answered.

"T-There is just one young lady and her maid who came here on behalf of the Ducal household. What should we do now?"

The guard asked. Brother Gustav felt a heart chill from the news.

'One? Just one young lady and her guard? What is there to fear?'

This news relieved Brother Gustav, and he looked angry at the same time. He could deal with one person without any problems.

"Ah, if it's like that, we do not need to fear. Seeing how the young lady came here without any support from the Ducal house, it seems she has not been favored.

We don't need to feel scared of her. So, go ahead and reject her. Tell her that we are too busy for her. And if she still insists on meeting, then scare her away."

Brother Gustav ordered with a resigned expression. He wanted to sigh as he thought about how carefree today's youth was.

Back in his day, a noble child would have thought twice before they went anywhere or decided to do anything.

He felt justified in his approach, but his guard felt slightly scared.

The smile the young noble and her maid had given him felt scary and intentful at the same time. It was warning him that he needed to be careful or he would die a painful death.

It scared the man, but he kept calm and trusted his superior. That man had navigated these people out of more than one kind of trouble.

"I understand, Brother Gustav. I will go and deliver this news."

The guard agreed and delivered this news to Layla and Mary.

He straightened his back and coughed into his fist to hide how awkward he felt about all this. But then he brightened his expression and looked at the Duo in front of him with a justified expression.

"I am sorry, but our boss asked for you to leave. This is no place for a kid like you to come to. If anything were to happen to you, we won't be held responsible."

The guard spoke with conviction. He looked at Layla with his sincere eyes, and it made Layla chuckle.

"So, you have no intention of listening to me, huh? Then, we will have to take some drastic measures. Don't say that I did not warn you people about this."

When Layla spoke, the guard felt chills. But he held his ground, which did not mean the guard feared her.

Layla was still a young aristocratic child with no idea what she was doing. She used her borrowed authority to create trouble for everyone she knew.

Suddenly, the guard felt sorry for the Duke. He did not even know how the Duke's money was used on an arrogant girl like this.

At this rate, this girl would destroy the Duke and everything he stood for. And no one would be able to do anything.