"Has Ayanokouji been holding my hand? What time is it now? How long have I been asleep?"
Emilia's heart was filled with questions, but two red hues appeared on her white cheeks.
"Emilia, you're awake." Ayanokouji's voice sounded slowly. He was always awake, and he loosened his grip on Emilia's hand, "I'm sorry, I was a bit rough, Emilia. I saw you looking a bit uncomfortable when you just fell asleep, so I thought if I could hold your hand, Emilia, to ease your pain."
"Have you always been by my side again?" Emilia asked softly.
"Of course, but sometimes I wake up and walk around when my back hurts." Ayanokouji said.
In reality, he did not stay here. When Emilia fell asleep, he had already prepared a plan, written it down on paper, and then asked Otto to implement it with quality tools.
Not only that, during this period, Ayanokouji also entered the Dream City and obtained more information from Echidna.
"Thank you..." Emilia felt a bit touched and involuntarily remembered the warm touch when Ayanokouji held her hand earlier.
However, she quickly remembered that Puck had left her, and her face once again became clouded, her eyes filled with sadness.
"Puck left..." Emilia's voice still trembled.
Puck's departure gave her an unreal feeling, as if she had just dreamed, full of unreal feelings.
"Puck did this so you can remember the past." Ayanokouji gently patted her shoulder.
"But..."
"Don't worry, I will stay with you, Emilia, and I will never leave." Ayanokouji continued.
These words were like a warm stream, flowing into Emilia's heart that was initially very lost because of Puck. When someone's mood reaches its lowest point, any kindness shown by others will be magnified several times.
"But I'm really useless... I can't do anything well..." Emilia lowered her head and said, "I can't do anything well..."
"No, Emilia, you are extraordinary. You have extraordinary magical abilities, you are a candidate for the throne because of your lofty aspirations, and you protect the village residents from Demon Beasts and the Witch Cult. All these are your achievements, what you can do is something that no one else can do."
"But all of this is because of your help, Ayanokouji—"
"You got the order wrong, Emilia. It's not because of my help that you succeeded, but because you have the ability to succeed, I chose to help you." Ayanokouji said, "I believe you can do it."
He held Emilia's hand tightly. This was an action that could strengthen memory points.
He wanted to take advantage of the fact that he would always support Emilia to overcome the negative impact of Puck's departure.
"I, I, I..." Emilia was incoherent and her heartbeat suddenly accelerated.
After a few seconds, she looked at him seriously, "Ayanokouji, will you always be by my side..."
As she spoke, she lowered her head confidently.
"I will, I will always protect you, Emilia." Ayanokouji looked directly into her eyes, which could make others feel that his words were more serious.
However, this verbal agreement was not a contract and did not have substantial binding effects on Ayanokouji. However, it was consistent with his own goals, and he did not need to terminate the contract.
"Ayanokouji... Thank you!"
Emilia's eyes were slightly wet. She was truly touched by those words. Now that Puck was gone, Ayanokouji was the only one she could unconditionally trust, holding her hand tightly.
After looking at each other like this for a few seconds, Emilia blushed and turned to the side with embarrassment, but still glanced at him from the corner of her eye, trying her best to slow down her already very fast breathing.
"By the way, it's almost time for the trial! I will leave after a little preparation..." Emilia quickly said, then got out of bed.
"It's okay. If you rest a bit today, you'll be fine."
"But..."
"Not less than today, and Emilia, your physical condition is the most important, so you can better participate in the trial later, right?" Ayanokouji said, "I have informed Roswaal as I told you, and he agreed."
In fact, Roswaal had no right to refuse at all.
"Garfiel, he..."
"Don't worry, Garfiel is fine." Ayanokouji said meaningfully, "I will see if the village residents need help. Emilia, please rest first. Do you want to prepare well for the trial tomorrow."
"Okay, thank you for your hard work! I will do my best too!" Emilia nodded enthusiastically, seeming to have truly come out of the fog.
The camera turned, and Ayanokouji left the residence. Otto had been waiting outside for a long time.
"Ayanokouji-sama! The things you arranged are basically done. You arranged some magic stones in the village, spread rumors, etc., and now there is only one thing left!" Otto said with a smile, being able to complete the task given by his savior was also very important to him.
But there was a bit of gossip in his smile at the moment.
"Good job." Ayanokouji nodded. Deserved praise could make someone like Otto more loyal to him.
"My friend just told me that he is on his way and will arrive in the village in about ten minutes. Towards that direction..." Otto reached out his hand and pointed in a certain direction.
"Yes." Ayanokouji answered, "Go and finish the rest."
"Okay, leave it to me!" Otto showed a meaningful smile, "I didn't expect to see this side of Ayanokouji-sama."
However, Ayanokouji did not speak, but immediately left from there and walked towards the forest.
Beside the narrow road from the forest to the village, he stood by, waiting for Garfiel.
Not long after, he could hear the sound of breaking branches and very fast footsteps.
Soon, Garfiel appeared, accompanied by the white-clad Ryuzu clone. Ayanokouji knew that she was not a mass-produced clone, but his original body.
"Hey, what did you write?" Garfiel said angrily, looking around to make sure Beatrice was not near him.
Without Beatrice, Garfiel was not too afraid of Ayanokouji's presence.
"It's time for the trial, why didn't you let Emilia go to the trial?" Garfiel asked sharply, but Ayanokouji knew well that the other party was just bluffing, he actually did not want Sanctuary to be freed at all.
As Garfiel spoke, Shima standing beside him stared sharply at the black pendant on Ayanokouji's chest.
"Sorry, Emilia felt a little uncomfortable today. Let her rest today." Faced with Garfiel's aggressiveness, Ayanokouji said very calmly.
"What did you say?" Garfiel was very angry and frowned. Although deep down he really didn't want Sanctuary to be freed, Ayanokouji's expressionless and straightforward words made him very unhappy.
And Garfiel always watched out for him, not to mention Shima telling him that Ayanokouji emitted the scent of a witch.
"Listen, I'm not afraid of you. Don't slap your face just because I gave you a little help!" Garfiel grabbed Ayanokouji's collar and said with an unhappy expression on his face, "Are you deliberately not letting Emilia participate in the trial? What's your goal? I know your body emits an unbearable foul smell! What are you doing in Sanctuary? You're really a Witch Cult worshipper!"
Ayanokouji could feel a strong murderous aura emanating from Garfiel.
"A Witch Cult worshipper? Sorry, I am not one of them." Ayanokouji said slowly, "Can you smell the witch's aroma lingering on my body? No, you shouldn't be able to smell it. If you can smell it, you shouldn't behave like that when you met me on the first day. I'm worried that it's not you who can smell the witch's scent, but Shima."
"Do you know my name?" The Ryuzu clone's eyes widened slightly. She did not expect that someone who had been in Sanctuary for more than a day would know her true identity.
"I know, and I know a lot." Ayanokouji continued, "I also know that Garfiel has participated in the trial, and even know the contents of the trial you are following. You saw your mother fall from the cliff. Next, you were so stressed that you didn't want to leave Sanctuary at all, right? Actually, you don't want to free Sanctuary at all, you just use this place as a hiding place to escape from reality..."
This was all information Ayanokouji obtained from Echidna. He knew that Garfiel would likely be an obstacle to his plan, so he made preparations in advance.
And now he wanted to anger Garfiel.
"You're looking for death!" Garfiel heard those words, and it felt like his own wounds were torn open again. His eyes burned with anger, and his heart was filled with the desire to kill. Then, his arms began to change shape, becoming thicker, and golden mane appeared.
This was one of his abilities, animal transformation! It allowed him to gain immense power.
This was also information Ayanokouji obtained from Echidna – during beast transformation, Garfiel needed to push the magical power in his body, and Ayanokouji was waiting for this moment.
He took out the stake that Puck had placed in his pocket and firmly attached it to Garfiel's body. At this moment, Puck, who was impaled on the stake, absorbed the magical power in Garfiel's body in a few seconds, forcibly stopping Garfiel's transformation into a wild beast and also adding a lot of magic power to Puck.
Ayanokouji had made Garfiel angry for this purpose. For someone who did not hide his heart at all, it was too easy to provoke his emotions.
His magic power was almost depleted, and Garfiel knelt on the ground exhausted, Shima rushed to help him.
"What do you want to do! What do you want to do to us! Who are you!"
Garfiel's energy was basically exhausted, but he still used his last strength to question.
"This territory is under Roswaal's jurisdiction, and now I am Roswaal's ruler, so now I am also the ruler of this territory." Ayanokouji said calmly, "You can rest assured that for now my goal is to free Sanctuary and will not harm the village residents living within it."
"Are you Roswaal master?"
Ayanokouji ignored Garfiel's doubts: "Of course, this assumes that you will be obedient and not resist."