The journey through the desert was less cumbersome for Judith now...actually, not cumbersome at all. This was because as opposed to last time when she was in chains, barely clothed so most of her skin was exposed to prying eyes and the onslaught of the night's cold air, and walking barefooted on the sinking sands that made walking a stress-filled endeavor. She was now riding on a mount, not a Lergobeast, but a mount nonetheless, and this time, she was fully clothed.
Not to mention she was now officially a personal maid to Qui Lin, with the all the rights a personal maid to a noble possessed.
Judith at once exerted one of those rights, by instating a maid of her own, which was Tsai, who was riding on a mount of her own beside Judith.
Pulling her thoughts back to the instant she had a talk with Qui Lin, she began to rerun how everything went down.
Qui Lin had accepted to believe that Judith was not a threat to the Kingdom of Qugan, but on one condition. That Judith proved her loyalty, in that, she should tell her of everyone that was plotting against the King, all their schemes against him and how far along they are in executing their plans.
This condition had left Judith at a very difficult place. Because revealing all of this would completely defeat the point of her being Qui Lin's maid in the first place. Judith knew that with the information she had on Qui Lin, she could have been a noble, or be given riches beyond comprehension, or just about anything she wanted.
But she chose to be Qui Lin's maid because that was the path the original protagonist Sarah had taken. Though she found herself to be Qui Lin's maid due to the most bizarre circumstances, Judith still thought she could reenact the scenario so she too could be Qui Lin's maid.
Of course things had worked out differently so she decided to seize the opportunity and become Qui Lin's maid there and then. She wanted to walk the same path as Sarah because she wanted to keep the events of the world as close to the novel as she could. So she could always predict the future and shape it to her advantage.
But now with what Qui Lin had asked, that all would have come undone because she would rain down fire on the enemies of the throne and thereby drastically alter the world and its events.
Of course Judith knew she wouldn't always be in control of this world, but at least for now, she wanted to hold on to it as much as she could. Carving out the perfect life for herself was not an easy endeavor after all, but she was determined to do so.
With this in Judith's mind, she refused to tell Qui Lin what she had asked. And just moments before she was almost roasted, she gave Qui Lin something to hold her over.
She told her that it was complicated to tell her all that she wanted, but she would tell her somethings for now and reveal more to her as time went on.
What Judith did reveal were the ones against the throne, that being half the members of the King's Council. Of course Qui Lin had already known this, so this was not reason enough for her not to torch Judith, which is why Judith had also told Qui Lin of their general plan.
She informed Qui Lin that they were trying to replace the Council one after the other, and to follow this, she told Qui Lin of the first person that would be killed and or framed.
With this, Qui Lin had just enough to not do away with Judith, and also keep the Eclipse Sanctum a secret.
Thinking back on all of this, Judith had let out a big sigh, as the weight of the entire event seemed to weigh on her now more than it did even then.
Acting on instinct, Judith had reached a hand out to her lap, which was now fully healed by the Recovery Potion Qui Lin had given to her. A sign of their partnership.
Though Judith was now completely healed, she could swear that she felt the pain still lingering in her legs. Feeling salty toward Qui Lin for almost cooking her alive, she frowned, while staring at her.
"Are you alright?" Tsai had asked, drawing her mount a little closer to Judith's. Or rather, asking the Tethered guiding the mount to go a little closer to Judith, as she didn't really know how to ride a mount. Neither did Judith.
"I am?" Judith didn't realize it immediately, but when she did, she corrected her statement from a question to an answer.
Of course, Tsai wasn't exactly convinced, but had let it go on account of how ecstatic she was at the moment.
"I can't believe this is actually happening. Am I dreaming?" Tsai had asked Judith as she turned her gaze to the night's sky, staring at the rainbow stars with a child-like aspiration in her demeanor.
"I'm honestly the wrong person to be asked that." Judith had said in a vague manner, which she had caught onto too late. Tsai at this point — due to Judith's very odd behavior and by the fact that she was just otherworldly — had truly pegged Judith as a Western ghost, or rather…she was something else.
"Judith?" Tsai had called out, pulling Judith's attention. With a turn to her right, she saw Tsai, who was now staring at the sand below. "I'm sorry for what I had said before." Tsai said, confusing Judith.
Before Judith was allowed to ask, Tsai had continued.
"You aren't a ghost, rather, I believe you are something more akin to a goddess." Tsai had said, now turning to Judith with a smile on her face.
Judith, unsure of how to react to the comment, had just smiled, or at least she feigned one, because Tsai had just highlighted a major concern of Judith's with the word goddess.
Turning her gaze forward, Judith responded.
"Trust me, I'm no goddess." She said, whilst staring at the prince, who was riding his mount a few feet ahead.