A Brighter Future (Kuroinu)

“Really? Then I’ll keep praying for you. I hope the goddess will bless you. If there’s anything you need, I’ll do my best to help.”

“That’s great. With you saying that, I feel much more confident.”

Seeing that Celestine was no longer worried or blaming herself for the situation, Rhodes breathed a sigh of relief. Although the current outcome was unexpected, under General Grave’s expectations, he couldn’t just idly pass the time. So, saying it like this wasn’t a problem.

“Well, Rhodes, you should hurry back now. Train more with General Grave and focus on becoming stronger. Only by becoming stronger can you be safer in the upcoming war.”

Although she really wanted to spend more time with Rhodes, thinking about the future, Celestine could only suppress these emotions. She encouraged Rhodes to concentrate on training, as even with the power of the goddess Leliantia, proper training was necessary to avoid issues on the battlefield – something she didn’t want to happen.

“Hey? Are you in such a hurry? I wanted to spend more time with you. During the time when General Grave is training, I miss you a lot, especially your magical healing.”

Claudia’s massage technique was indeed effective, and Rhodes enjoyed it, but he preferred using magic for quick recovery. Without proper recovery, his body would remain stiff and uncomfortable.

“Are you missing me just for that?”

Even though Celestine heard Rhodes’s reason for missing her, which was the desire for magical healing, she couldn’t help but show a slightly resentful look. Did he only miss her because of that?

“Of course not! The crucial thing is that after each session, I get to rest with you in my arms.”

Although he also held Chloe or Claudia during those times, inevitably, he would think about comparing them to Celestine and feel that the latter was better. It was somewhat problematic to have such thoughts while enjoying someone else’s body and thinking about another woman. Rhodes even considered this aspect of himself not good. However, maybe it was because he didn’t sense anything different from Celestine. Unlike Claudia’s seemingly dark transformation and Chloe’s tendency to spank him when he made mistakes, Celestine didn’t have such situations.

With these thoughts, Rhodes embraced Celestine’s body, feeling its softness and a hint of a plant-like fragrance. His expression showed satisfaction.

Facing this situation, Celestine could only look at him with a helpless expression. Meanwhile, with Rhodes’s somewhat restless hands, her face blushed, and she chose not to say much.

After spending some time together, Celestine, now blushing, followed Rhodes out. Chloe, who was waiting outside, couldn’t help but be a bit concerned. She wanted to know what happened inside. However, her current status wasn’t suitable for entering the church, so she waited outside.

“Dark Elves?”

Therefore, when Celestine saw the Dark Elves come out, she was momentarily stunned. Seeing the collar around the Dark Elf’s neck, she instantly knew her identity.

“Yeah, she was given to me by General Grave.”

“He gave it to you?”

Hearing this, Celestine felt something was wrong. When she looked at Chloe, the latter was also looking at her.

‘She’s Celestine, right?’

Chloe looked at this woman that Rhodes had always been obsessed with. After seeing her from beginning to end, Chloe couldn’t help but snorted coldly, with an attitude of completely looking down on her, but in her heart she had to admit that she had no choice but to admit her appearance, figure or temperament, they is much better than hers, but even so, she is still not convinced, or when it comes to Rhodes, then this matter will never end so easily.

Celestine also saw that the other party seemed to have a problem with her, but she didn’t know why. At the same time, she felt that Grave sending a dark elf to Rhodes probably had something to do with her. Otherwise, how could Rhodes send a dark elf as soon as he passed by?

“It’s not dangerous to have a dark elf with you, right?”

“What do you mean! Do you think I will hurt him!” Celestine’s words made Chloe, who was already in a bad mood, look at her with evil eyes. These kinds of words were completely provocative to her.

“Because of the current situation, I think this kind of worry still needs to be there.”

The dark elves are currently in conflict with the Seven Shields Alliance. Even if Celestine has no prejudice against the dark elves, Rhodes will definitely have a conflict with the dark elves in the future, so now he has a dark elf slave by his side, how could she not be worrying about him?

“It’s okay, Chloe’s words will never do anything to me.”

Rhodes looked at the situation between the two of them and quickly spoke to reassure Chloe: “She will help and protect me just like you, Celestine.”

‘Isn’t this even worse? No, it’s a clear conflict of interests! So, this is Grave’s purpose.’

Celestine suddenly realized the situation. Presumably, Grave knew about Rhodes’s feelings for her, and this situation would evidently interfere with matters between Claudia and Rhodes. Therefore, Grave used other means to influence the situation. Since making an elf a slave was not an option, he chose a dark elf. After all, apart from skin color, dark elves were not much different from regular elves.

Celestine quickly grasped Graf’s various plans and arrangements. After understanding it, she couldn’t treat Chloe as an inconspicuous person anymore.

“Rhode, it is always a bad thing for you to have a dark elf slave by your side. It is better to replace it or not to use it. In any case, you are related to the goddess Leliantia. This kind of thing will also have an impact on the image of the goddess to some extent.”

The well-founded reasons made Rhodes somewhat agree, which also made Celestine raise the corners of her mouth slightly. At the same time, she glanced at Chloe calmly with a look that wanted to compete with her.