Holy Night: My Husband is Definitely a Paladin - Chapter 161

Craving for more? Read 100+ chapters ahead on ko-fi!

“Missing?”

Irene’s eyes widened at the words of the fortress staff who had come to find her.

“Yes. Miss Wilhelmina hasn’t been seen since the day before yesterday, so we believe something must have happened that day. Do you happen to recall anything about it?”

The fortress staff cautiously questioned Irene about her whereabouts that day, explaining that Wilhelmina’s pair had reported her missing two days ago.

“We understand this might be unpleasant, but we ask for your understanding. We’re asking the same questions to all the purifiers, not just you, Miss Irene…”

“Oh, it’s not that. Investigating someone’s disappearance is, of course, the right thing to do.”

The stiffness in Irene’s expression wasn’t due to displeasure—it was genuine shock.

This wasn’t something that had happened in her previous life.

Granted, too much had changed now for comparing the past and present to be meaningful, but even so, she had never imagined something like this.

“If it was two days ago, I was praying with other purifiers for those who sacrificed themselves in this dungeon. I was with everyone from morning until evening, and the temple priests also saw me. Michael was there as well.”

The staff didn’t seem to suspect Irene from the start, but when Michael’s name was mentioned, their expressions turned even more apologetic.

After asking a few more perfunctory questions, they quickly left.

As soon as they were gone, Reyna, who had been in the room with Irene, grumbled.

“A disappearance in the fortress? More like she probably just got fed up with the atmosphere and went back home without saying anything.”

“No, that’s impossible.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because Wilhelmina hates her home.”

She was someone who had worried about being sold off to some old man who wanted a purifier. Going back home? That was something she’d never do.

‘But I can’t think of anywhere else Wilhelmina might have gone.’

She hadn’t been on good terms with the knights she’d previously paired with, and from what Irene had heard, her relationship with her current knight was on the verge of collapse.

Although her pair had formally reported her missing, they seemed more relieved than concerned.

‘She stayed close to the princess, though. Did things completely fall apart between her and the princess?’

Even so, it wasn’t like Wilhelmina to leave the fortress over that.

“What are you thinking so seriously about, Sister? Let’s focus on what’s next for us instead.”

“Yeah.”

At Reyna’s words, spoken casually now that she had started calling Irene “Sister” outright, Irene nodded.

Recently, the entire fortress had been working hard to recover from the shock of the distortion dungeon.

The biggest reason no one could rest was the continuous appearance of dungeons.

If these dungeons were left unchecked, monsters would pour out of them.

Under normal circumstances, there would be chaos as people rushed to enter each newly formed dungeon for rewards.

But now, with so many capable pairs lost and countless others still trapped in the nightmare of that day, the number of people who could properly carry out subjugations had dwindled significantly.

This only made Michael busier.

He moved tirelessly, as if the tragedy of the distortion dungeon was entirely his responsibility.

As a result, his already impressive reputation now reached the heavens.

Perhaps because of that…

Even though Irene and Michael had spent nearly two weeks alone in the distortion dungeon and submitted reports about the purification they performed, no one seemed to suspect that they had done anything improper together.

‘I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.’

Irene absentmindedly rubbed the back of her neck, where Michael had been particularly inquisitive in the dungeon.

‘No one could ever imagine that side of Michael.’

The devout holy knight revealed a completely different face when it was just the two of them.

His voice, still calm and polite, belied the brutality of his hands and the mercilessness of his movements.

Especially when she called his name, pleading.

“Haa…”

Irene couldn’t help but feel her body heat up, her breath quickening with excitement.