Maggie's negotiations with the Duke ended badly, and she clearly saw the Duke's sinister look in his eyes as he left, but Maggie didn't care.

A paper crane folded from a letter flew out of the window. Maggie calmly watched it fly into the sky before turning her gaze away.

At that time, the Duchess was already under Nesser's protection. Even if the Duke wanted to take her away from Nesser, he would have to consider the consequences of offending the Holy Knights at the temple.

She had informed Harlan beforehand that his job was to help protect the Duchess, with Nesser taking her there and bringing her back after everything was over.

He was visiting the temple as Duke Zefnia. If things were to break down now, not only would the promotion of the Tumi potion be impossible, but even his ability to leave the temple unscathed would be questionable.

Even if the priests and the pope don't want to get involved in these matters, they will still intervene if someone acts recklessly in the temple.

Just as Maggie had imagined, after Nesser took the Duchess away, he only accompanied her for a short while before leading her toward the Holy Knights.

Harlan kept his promise and was already waiting not far away. He and Nesser exchanged a glance, their eyes swirling with emotion, but neither of them made any unnecessary movements.

In just a second, Harlan, as always, flashed a princely smile and gentlemanly extended his hand to the Duchess.

"Madam, we meet again. Your beauty is as stunning as ever."

Harlan could utter compliments without hesitation, and no noblewoman or young lady could resist his praise.

The Duchess was taken aback at first, and after a long while, she seemed to find memories of Harlan in her mind. Harlan was the one who took her daughter away and took her to the temple.

I never expected to run into you here.

"Is this... the Holy Knight Commander? Thank you for taking care of my daughter."

Perhaps because of Harlan's identity, the Duchess acted somewhat cautiously. She didn't know Maggie's current situation at the temple. As a mother, she would do her best to gain favor for her daughter, and she would try her best.

"How could it be a bother? Her Highness is the most outstanding princess I have ever met."

Harlan knew best what the ladies liked to hear: young women cared about appearance, while older women cared more about whether their children were outstanding.

The main strategy is to cater to their preferences.

Sure enough, the Duchess's expression softened visibly, and her voice became gentle and tender.

“Really? That’s wonderful. I was worried that Maggie might not adapt well to life in the temple, but seeing that she’s getting along well with you, I’m relieved.”

She breathed a sigh of relief and her expression relaxed considerably.

Meanwhile, she didn't realize that she had followed Harlan and Nesser a great distance away, getting further and further away from the reception room and the cathedral, until she entered the Holy Knights' training ground.

By the time the Duchess realized something was wrong, Harlan and Nesser had already silently blocked her way back.

"I need to trouble you to stay here for a while, Madam. This is Her Highness's order. There might be some minor incidents at the temple tomorrow, and I'm afraid they might involve you."

Despite having the advantage of natural beauty, Nesser still appeared very sincere when she uttered these words that sounded like a kidnapping, without showing any trace of a bad person.

This caused the Duchess's heart, which had been held high, to inexplicably return to its original place.

Furthermore, since she heard it was her daughter's order, she didn't question it and obediently stayed.

Harlan had already prepared a residence for the Duchess. There were also many female paladins in the Holy Knights Order. Although they could not provide the Duchess with a room of the same standard as in the Duchess's mansion, it was still quite good.

Over the next few days, until nightfall, the two handsome men, Harlan and Nesser, charmed the Duchess, and her gaze towards them gradually shifted from unfamiliarity and worry to kindness and affection.

If Maggie were here, she would definitely feel a chill run down her spine.

Because this kind of gaze is all too familiar in modern times—the gaze of a mother looking at her son-in-law, and with great satisfaction at that.

...

Meanwhile, Maggie had already received a reply from the angel.

In his letter, El wrote that there was no need to worry, as he had already discovered the demon's affair and could easily resolve it.

But at the end of the letter, Maggie was dealt a devastating blow.

'Unfortunately, I am currently too weak to help the Holy Maiden exorcise the demon from you.'

Maggie stared at the last sentence for a long time with a blank expression, her fingertips gradually tightening around the corner of the letter.

She had long anticipated that angels could see through demons, and even the Demon King probably couldn't escape their detection, but Maggie guessed that he was likely helpless against Safa as well.

However, since she had already decided to cooperate with her, she thought that El wouldn't care about these small details.

As she had imagined, El saw through her intentions that day but didn't say anything, and didn't discuss the demon inside her.

But when she suddenly brought it up today, it made her brow twitch.

El's words went a bit too far.

This shouldn't be the code of conduct for angels. To ignore something and then bring it up again later is something only sentient beings would do.

That's really strange.

However... this statement revealed a rather important piece of information: El said his strength has declined?

Angels, being roughly equivalent to administrators, should have no natural enemies. Now that the demons are all in Hell, they pose no threat to them at all. Maggie couldn't even imagine the possibility of Archangel El's strength being damaged.

Moreover, such important information is almost equivalent to a weakness; did he tell her this on purpose?

Or was he testing her?

Maggie fell into deep thought.

But after a long time, no result was found, so they had to give up thinking about it.

Her mind is filled with too many things every day; if she had to figure out every single one of them completely, she would be exhausted.

As the sun sets, the Duchess is now under protection, and even if the Duke plans to launch an attack tomorrow, he will not be able to directly contact her.

Perkin outside is probably clearing out the assassins who came with the Duke to protect him. Even if the Duke wants to forcibly take the Duchess away unharmed tomorrow, he won't have enough manpower.

Yes, that's another problem Maggie is worried about. Although the demonization can be overcome peacefully, they are still husband and wife in name only. If the matter is over and the Duke wants to take the Duchess away again under the pretext of returning home, she will have no way to stop him.

She would have to resort to some tactics if she wanted to force the Duchess to stay.

Since the Duke wanted to frame her, why couldn't she do something similar?

In any case, she had only one goal: to keep the Duchess safe and sound.

Everything is ready, except for the east wind.

Maggie burned the letter in her hand to ashes, a triumphant smile playing on her lips.