For the girls of the Heavenly Dao Palace, life went on as usual.

But for the people of Albion, it was a completely different story.

In fact, when the Albion Fleet entered Tolisstin and smashed Tolisstin’s fleet, the Albion Noble Council felt like they’d just taken some miracle drug and turned invincible.

However, when the entire Albion Fleet was wiped out in a single Void explosion from Louise, everyone in the Albion Noble Council was dumbfounded.

And when they then learned that Tolisstin had organized an army of forty thousand to counterattack Albion, and that among them were Warships from the once-destroyed Albion Fleet, the Noble Council were left feeling like complete idiots.

"What the hell is going on!!"

Staring at the General before him, the Chief councillor of the Albion Noble Council could no longer suppress the anger and fear in his heart.

"Didn’t the military’s report say the Albion First Fleet was completely annihilated by the enemy’s Magic? Didn’t it say those Warships were utterly destroyed? Then what is this now? You tell me! Why are Albion’s Warships appearing in Tolisstin’s fleet!? And more importantly, the Lexington is among them!"

At this, the members of the Noble Council all twisted their faces in rage. The Lexington was the largest Warship in the Albion Fleet and their trump card. It had over a hundred massive cannons, practically an aerial fortress. It was precisely because they had this Warship that they’d felt at ease sending it to execute the plan to seize Tolisstin.

What the Albion people hadn’t expected was that the Lexington would be directly destroyed under the opponent’s mysterious Magic. They had been utterly shocked at the time.

Even so, the Noble Council hadn’t been particularly anxious back then, because Albion was a continent floating in the sky, while Tolisstin was a tiny kingdom. On top of that, Tolisstin’s fleet had been completely wiped out in the very first strike, so even if Tolisstin wanted revenge, they simply didn’t have the means.

But now... upon learning that Tolisstin possessed a fleet even stronger than before, the Nobility all felt as if they’d just been indescribably violated from behind by some POI; their whole bodies were burning.

"Tolisstin’s fleet has been destroyed! And our fleet has been destroyed! So where did these Warships come from?!"

"I don’t know either......"

Facing the Nobility’s furious interrogation, the man below was drenched in cold sweat.

"But according to some rumors, it’s said that Divine Envoy used some sort of miraculous method to restore those originally destroyed Warships back to their original state......."

"Nonsense! How could something like that possibly happen!"

Although most of the Nobility scoffed at this, a few of them exchanged uneasy glances. Indeed, according to common sense, such a thing was impossible. But according to common sense, the Albion Fleet shouldn’t have been wiped out either, and yet the current reality was that not only had Tolisstin stopped Albion’s offensive, they had even captured their General and Soldiers, and did in fact possess the Warships that should have been destroyed......

The fact that Tolisstin’s Princess had Summoned an Otherworldly Messenger for help was no longer a secret across the continent. Of course, most people didn’t believe it. As for that Red Dragon that had appeared, many believed it was nothing more than Illusion Magic, and the mysterious power that destroyed the Albion Fleet was written off as some secret Spell of Tolisstin.

After all, Tolisstin had a Royal Family too; it was perfectly normal for them to have a few trump cards. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

So while rumors of the Deity were raging among the common folk, the upper echelons of each nation didn’t put much stock in them.

But now...... if one could really restore Warships that had already been destroyed back to their original state—if that method didn’t come from a Deity, then what was it?

Every heart was filled with a vague, restless fear.

"Get out! Order the fortresses to tighten their defenses! Dispatch the Dragon Cavalry Squadron! Albion will never sit here and wait to die!"

At this moment the Chief councillor of the Noble Council furiously flung the report aside. By now, the thrill he’d felt when he destroyed the Royal Family and stood at the pinnacle of power in Albion was long gone, replaced by a fear and anxiety like that of a condemned man being marched to the gallows. By all rights, the rumors about Tolisstin shouldn’t have had a shred of credibility.

But what if?

What if they really had gained the protection of an Otherworld Deity—what would become of Albion? And what would become of him?

Not to mention, in recent days the Chief councillor’s own household had suffered a string of thefts. Several vaults had been cleaned out without anyone realizing it, and it wasn’t just him; many people in the Noble Council had experienced similar incidents one after another. They had strengthened their security, but to no effect.

That alone was already headache enough......

Thinking of this, the Chief councillor let out a helpless sigh and slumped into his chair.

For the Nobility of Albion, this was destined to be a sleepless night.

And for Louise, it was the same.

"Sigh......"

Looking at the two moons outside the window, Louise turned over.

She couldn’t sleep......

With that thought, Louise reached out to touch the cold mattress beside her. Normally, Red Ponytail would already be asleep at her side. But now she wasn’t here; she’d gone off to lead some Expedition Army, leaving Louise all alone...... and that made Louise feel somewhat lonely and desolate.

It was really strange. How could she be thinking like this?

Louise shook her head and sighed again. She’d only Summoned SABER a little over a month ago. Before that, she’d always been by herself, and she’d never thought anything of it. So when Red Ponytail left, she hadn’t paid it much mind.

But when she came back to her room that night, Louise realized...... her room actually looked so empty, not lively at all. Normally by this hour, Kuruk would have already dragged Tabasa over, and she and Kuruk would be bickering around SABER while Tabasa sat off to the side reading...... Without even noticing, Louise had already grown used to days like that.

And now SABER was gone, Kuruk seemed to have gone home with Tabasa because the academy was on break, and in the end she was the only one left......

"Idiot!"

Gently stroking the mattress beside her, Louise slapped it in anger.

"Why aren’t you back yet? Hurry up and come back already! It’s just Albion—shouldn’t it only take you a few minutes to settle it? You’re a Divine Envoy! For you that should be a piece of cake, shouldn’t it?! Hmph!"

After saying this, Louise buried her face in the pillow, then took a deep breath.

This was...... SABER’s scent......

Breathing in that faint, fresh fragrance, Louise unconsciously rubbed her thighs together, then slowly closed her eyes.

That night, Louise had a dream.

A dream just like the ones she used to have. She was at home, back then she always failed whenever she used Magic and got scolded by her parents. Whenever that happened, Louise would run off to hide in the little boat by the lake and cry in secret. At those times, Waludo would always come find her, comforting her with a gentle smile. It was because of this that Louise had come to like that man.

But...... after Waludo became a traitor, that dream had never appeared again.

And now, it appeared once again in Louise’s mind, but this time...

"Saber?"

Looking at Saber, who had appeared in front of her, Louise stared wide‑eyed in shock.

It wasn’t Waludo, it was Saber?

"Found you, Louise."

The Saber before her was just the same as in Louise’s memories, wearing that big, carefree yet irresistibly charming smile, and the bright red ponytail that looked like a blaze of fire swayed with her movements. Then Louise saw Saber reach out, grab her, and in one motion... pull her into her arms.

"Saber?"

"I’ve always really liked you, Louise."

"Eh? Eh, eh?!"

"Do you like me?"

"I, um, this..."

Looking at the adorable face framed by that red ponytail right in front of her, Louise couldn’t help flushing bright red as she nodded.

"I...I of course really like Saber too..."

"I see, my Louise..."

As she spoke, Louise saw Saber reach out her hand, gently caress her face, then lean in closer...

"Mmph..."

"Louise, don’t cry..."

Saber’s whisper brushed past her ear; Louise’s mind had already gone completely blank, and then...

"———!!"

Louise snapped her eyes open and sat bolt upright. By now, it was already dark outside.

"It...it was a dream..."

Staring at the full moon outside the window, Louise let out a breath of relief, then reached out and pressed a hand to her chest.

Her heart was pounding so fast...

No, that wasn’t the point, the point was—what the heck was that dream!

Saber’s a girl, and I’m a girl too...

Ugh, how could I have a dream like that, aaaaah!!

Louise grabbed the blanket and yanked it up over her head.

If Saber ever found out about this, what would I even do!!

"Achoo!"

The red ponytail girl sneezed, then rubbed her nose.

"Divine Envoy, are you all right? You didn’t catch a cold, did you?"

"Hahaha, I’m still a Divine Envoy, you know. How could I possibly catch a cold?"

Facing the General’s question beside her, the red ponytail girl laughed heartily.

"Someone’s probably thinking about me."

"Hm? What do you mean by that?"

"In my world, there’s this saying: if someone sneezes for no reason, it means somebody’s thinking about them. Yeah, I’m sure someone out there’s thinking of me."

"Hahaha, Divine Envoy, you really know how to joke."

Hearing this, the General also burst out laughing.

"If that’s really the case, I’m afraid your sneezes would never stop, Divine Envoy."

"That would just be hay fever..."

As she said this, the red ponytail girl shrugged, then jumped into the cockpit in one smooth motion and gave a hand signal to the people outside.

"All right then, just like we planned—I’ll spearhead the attack, you follow up, and we’ll settle it all in one go! No problem, right?"

"Of course, everything will be done exactly as you command, Divine Envoy!"

"Good, then let’s head out."

With those words, the fighter roared to life. An instant later, with a howling Skybreaker shriek, the metal red eagle shot straight into the sky and vanished into the clouds in the blink of an eye.

"May all go well, Divine Envoy."

He saluted toward the direction she had flown off in, then the General turned around to face the subordinates behind him.

"Pass the order—full speed ahead! Prepare for battle! Whatever the Albion people did to us, we’ll pay them back tenfold!"