Since we decided to stay here tonight, the maids who served tea earlier came back to take us upstairs to choose rooms.
As for Elder Gwendolyn, after Altima teased her and made her embarrassing, she suddenly shook her head and ran away angrily when everyone else came in.
"Is she really angry?" I was a bit worried. I didn't expect the Elder to be so thin-skinned. If I had known, we wouldn't have teased... I mean, joked with her earlier.
"Don't worry, this is normal! She's just upset with me. She'll get over it soon. Please don't take it to heart!" Altima didn't seem worried at all. She waved her hand to hurry the maids still standing in the room, and stood up to leave and rest.
"It's too late for dinner, but if you get hungry at night, you can ask the servants anytime. Their cooking skills were trained by Gwendolyn herself, so the taste won't disappoint you!"
We couldn't refuse the hostess's warm welcome. We thanked her many times, then followed the servants up the stairs to the upper floors of the castle.
Along the way, we could see old walls blackened by smoke on both sides of the hallway. This was left over from the era of torch lighting. Magic lamps were invented only in the last 200 years. After the Sage Council was formed, the empire's magic technology slowly developed. Then various magical devices based on magic circles appeared and quickly spread across the continent. Although the castle's lighting system had been updated, it couldn't hide its very old history.
We reached the top floor and were each given a very fancy guest room. These rooms had balconies with nice views.
It was almost midnight. In the nearby main area of Sifur, a few lights were still on. On the other side, wolf howls suddenly came from the dark forest. As a cool breeze blew in, I yawned and was about to go to bed.
"Hahaha, so that Elder Gwendolyn is a total tsundere!"
Suddenly there was a loud "BANG" as the door was kicked open. Cyra looked very excited as she jumped onto my bed, talking non-stop. "I always thought those Elders in Edenmere all had sour faces. So boring! I didn't expect there'd be such a cute one like Elder Gwendolyn. She's so adorable! Hey, do you think she'll help us? If we have a ten-winged Elder's help, this mission would be much easier, right?"
"... Have you done your nightly prayers?"
Watching her roll around and mess up my nicely made bed, I held back the urge to kick her out and reminded her gently.
Actually, I felt similar to Cyra about Elder Gwendolyn's attitude. Although we didn't achieve our main goal in Sifur, getting an unexpected powerful ally would be a huge win.
"Not yet, I'll do it later!"
Cyra wasn't in a hurry at all. She stayed on my bed for a long time, not wanting to leave. She seemed to really like my bed and didn't want to get up. She even made the outrageous request to switch rooms.
"Strange, why does your bed feel softer and more comfortable than mine? Anyway, you and Adrian are already an old married couple. Why don't you go sleep in his room tonight? Let me have this one!"
"What do you mean 'old married couple'!"
Her words almost made my stomach hurt. The hidden meaning was clear. I quickly drank my tea and had to repeat myself.
"We just started dating. How could things move so fast normally? And even if we're dating, you know my situation before. Why are you saying this on purpose? Are you making fun of me?"
"Tch, I knew you'd answer like that! You're just hung up on your past life! But there's nothing we can do. You were like this in high school too, always hesitating. In the end you didn't do anything and Quinn got away. Now you can only slowly get used to it..."
Cyra seemed to see right through my concerns. She looked very disdainful and started bragging. "Of course I'm different from you! If I hadn't found the right person, I'd really want to try it. They say men and women feel very different in that area~"
"Pffft-"
I almost spat out the rest of my tea. This girl was too much! She switched so easily when it came to gender! A while ago she was rolling in bed with a light elf beauty, and now she's interested in men? Well, she's certainly open-minded, but I can only admire her.
"If you're so thirsty, why didn't you go for Cysper back then?"
I snapped back, really wanting to kick her out. Honestly, I wasn't totally unprepared, but I thought that as a girl, I should be more reserved about these things. Luckily Adrian always respects me and hasn't pressured me much, so I'm not in a hurry.
"Hey, what do you mean 'thirsty'? I'm just curious, what's wrong with that! And Cysper is already dead, it's not nice to bring up painful memories!"
Cyra was clearly unhappy and protested. "He was the Pope, devoted to serving God for life. He definitely wouldn't break his vows casually. And I told you there was nothing between us. You always bring up the wrong things, that's too much!"
"So that Pope who lived for thousands of years is dead? No wonder I heard people saying the Cresthaven Papal Dominion has a new leader! The former cardinal Eminem took over as Pope of the True Church. This is huge news that could affect the whole continent!"
Just then, a very small but familiar voice came from outside.
The newcomer had ten unusually large wings spread behind her, standing steadily on the balcony railing. But her extremely short stature immediately revealed her true identity.
"Elder Gwendolyn!"
Cyra and I were startled and couldn't believe it. We really didn't understand why she suddenly came here, especially so late at night...
"Don't sleep tonight. Didn't you want to find a way into the border military base? I remembered a place that might help you. If you want to know, come with me. Don't dawdle! It would be bad if I'm late getting back. I have a lot to do later!"
Seeing our confused looks, she coughed and quickly explained why she came.
"Of course we want to know! Let's go now!"
Cyra spread her wings and flew out first when she heard this.
We definitely wouldn't refuse an opportunity that came to us. Although the Elder looked very serious and sounded impatient, we all knew she was just being tsundere.
"Oh, wait! There's one more person. Shouldn't we call him to come too?"
I couldn't help looking at the room next door. Adrian had said goodnight to me and was probably asleep by now, but I felt bad leaving him behind to go off alone.
"Adrian? That human who came with you? No need to bring him! The place we're going is easier to reach by flying. Bringing a human would just make things troublesome."
Unfortunately, Elder Gwendolyn firmly refused my request. There was nothing I could do - she was an Elder after all! I could only obediently follow behind her as we flew into the dark night.
"It seems you have a special relationship with that Adrian. Are you sure you want to be together with him?"
Flying east, three angels flew in formation. There was no moon tonight and visibility was low in the vast night sky. Cyra and I could barely keep up behind. After a long wait, Elder Gwendolyn spoke again, but her first words were suddenly about this.
"Of course! Adrian is very good to me. I definitely trust him!"
Her tone didn't sound like she was joking, so I quickly answered honestly. Elara might be open-minded, but that doesn't mean other Elders are the same!
Although Gwendolyn looked like a 10-year-old girl, her actual age was not much less than Elara's. Her Elder status was real, so I had to take her seriously when needed.
"I hope you didn't misjudge him! But even so, you need to think it through first. Humans have very short lifespans compared to angels. You might need to prepare yourself mentally..."
She sighed deeply. She didn't seem to oppose it, but she brought up the lifespan issue, which surprised me. To be honest, my actual age was similar to Adrian's. Unlike other angels who were hundreds or thousands of years old, I had never thought about this problem.
But thinking about it won't help! Even angels can't extend human lifespans. But from Elder Gwendolyn's manner, she seemed to speak from experience. Could she have some experience in this area?
"Yeah, Elder, why do you live in this rural imperial castle for years? And you're willing to be a maid here. Is there some hidden story?"
Sure enough, this kind of juicy gossip couldn't escape Cyra's eyes! Before I could speak, she had already asked first.