Holy Night: My Husband is Definitely a Paladin - Chapter 55
Translated by Elphie
“Reyna?”
“If it weren’t for you… sniff…”
Eventually, Reyna burst into tears, all while still holding onto Irene tightly.
“Wait, just a moment. Please calm down.”
Upon closer inspection, Reyna was a mess. Her dirt-covered battle attire was smeared with blood and her hair was in disarray.
For a moment, Irene felt the blood drain from her face as she feared the worst. But she quickly regained her composure. Hadn’t Reyna been thanking her after all?
Irene tried to assist Reyna, but not knowing what to do, she turned to Cynthia for help.
“Cynthia, sorry, could you please close the door?”
“You’ll probably need a towel, so I’ll get one.”
Cynthia was quick on her feet. She realized that Irene didn’t want anyone else to see this, so she quickly closed the door and ran to the bathroom.
In the meantime, Irene comforted a sobbing Reyna.
“Come, sit here. Let’s calm down. What happened? Did you enter that advanced dungeon?”
“No, it’s not that. Here’s what happened…”
Reyna began explaining the events that had transpired.
* * *
“…That’s why I came straight to you, Irene,” Reyna said, wiping away the remaining tears with the towel Cynthia had handed her.
Here’s what she told them.
Both of them, after much hesitation, ultimately decided to follow Irene’s advice and refrain from entering the advanced dungeon. Instead, they participated in a small-scale raid in another intermediate dungeon and successfully conquered it. Felix didn’t do much, and the rewards weren’t very generous, so he got very little.
After congratulating each other on a job well done, it was time to head back to the fortress. Several of the men who had entered the higher level dungeon they thought about entering emerged in disarray and shouted.
“We need reinforcements! It’s not an ordinary advanced dungeon! There are ice wasps…!”
As if to prove their point, an ice wasp crawled out of the dungeon from inside. Immediately, the nearby knights rushed to deal with the creature.
“Felix narrowly blocked the attacks. He took your advice seriously, Irene, and studied the Ice Wasp’s attack patterns on his own after you mentioned it.”
To his credit, Felix not only managed to protect Reyna, but he also managed to kill a few of them. Reinforcements from the fortress arrived, resolving the situation.
“Luckily, Sir Michael was among them, so the advanced dungeon was quickly cleared. We brought out those who died or were injured inside.”
Reyna continued, her eyes turning red at the memory. “If Irene hadn’t warned us, Felix and I might have died in there.”
“…”
“Really, I can’t thank you again, I don’t know how to repay you for this favor, so if there’s anything I can do for you, please tell me.”
“It was by the grace of god and through your own efforts, so there’s no need to thank me. I was just giving advice, but I’m honored that you two trusted me without even knowing who I am. More importantly, Sir Felix even went out of his way to find out about Ice Wasps.”
“But…”
“Really, it’s okay. Have another cup of tea. It seems like you’re still shaking a bit.”
Agreeing, Cynthia quickly poured tea into Reyna’s cup.
“Thank you,” said Reyna. “By the way, who is this person? May I have your name?”
“Oh, I’m Cynthia Myers. A Grade 7… purifier.”
“I’m Reyna Ortega. A Grade 2 purifier.”
Cynthia seemed concerned about whether Reyna would view her differently based on her rank. But she relaxed when Reyna smiled and took her hand, as if she didn’t care one bit.
“I apologize for barging in and making such a mess while you two were talking.”
“No, it’s alright. I was just taking a breather here, thanks to Miss Irene’s help.”
“Help? Were you having trouble with the dungeons too?”
“Oh, it’s not about that…”
Cynthia glanced at her, and Irene shrugged, signaling that she didn’t mind Reyna knowing.
Cynthia, probably still having an unfavorable view of Princess Cecilia, spoke of the Princess ignoring her and Irene’s help as something godsent and very appreciated.
“No, it’s not like I did anything that significant…”
“It’s not just significant. Irene, without you, I would still be sitting there, just staring at the floor.”
“That’s right, Miss Irene, you need to realize how much you helped us!”
Irene was embarrassed as the two of them chimed in. She just did what she did to put her own mind at ease—she never thought they would be so grateful.
