After Carlisle finished speaking, they both fell silent.

Sherry stood with her arms crossed, turned slightly away from him. The five fingers resting on her right arm tapped lightly, betraying her inner unease.

Carlisle kept his head down, doing his best not to look at the girl.

People passing by the academy entrance would cast them curious, searching glances. Most of those looks settled on Carlisle, making him feel deeply uncomfortable.

At last, after enduring the passersby’s stares for quite some time, he tugged at the brim of his hat and broke the silence first.

“Ahem. I mean, is it possible that the person you’re looking for is me?”

Sherry didn’t answer right away. She closed her eyes and hesitated for a moment, then turned to face the academy gates.

“Come on.”

Carlisle blinked in surprise.

“If I don’t help you, I won’t be able to explain myself to Morse.” Sherry glanced back at him, then left him behind and walked straight toward the entrance to Saint Perode Academy on her own.

The girl’s backward glance made his heart skip a beat. Without even realizing it, the corners of his mouth lifted slightly.

He didn’t want to see Liya again because every little thing she did tugged at his heart, making him sink deeper and deeper into the quagmire of love until it swallowed him whole and left him unable to escape.

If he could choose, he wouldn’t want Liya as his assistant.

But he knew that, as the Church’s Saintess, she couldn’t disobey Morse’s orders.

So...

“Just this once. As soon as this murder case is over, I’ll leave here at once and never see Liya again.” He clenched his fist, utterly confident that he could keep this promise to himself.

“What are you mumbling about? Keep up.”

“Coming, coming.”

...

Liya had plenty of friends at Saint Perode Academy. As soon as she stepped inside, people kept recognizing her.

Carlisle noticed that most of the men seemed to be smitten with Liya, even those who already had girlfriends.

It wasn’t surprising, but it still bothered him a little, as though people were coveting a beautiful flower that belonged to him alone.

At the same time, for one brief moment, he thought Liya’s Saintess robes were far too revealing. Her thighs and arms, sometimes left bare, should be covered up completely, and she ought to wear a robe that didn’t show off her figure.

Was it jealousy making him think that way?

He had no idea.

“See you next time!” Liya waved goodbye to her friend again, her face radiant with a gentle smile. Then she looked at Carlisle behind her, a faint flash of annoyance in her beautiful eyes. “Keep up. You’re too far behind. What if you get lost?”

“Oh, okay.”

Being scolded by Liya actually made him feel a little happy!

It was strange, but that was how Carlisle truly felt.

Liya treated him completely differently from everyone else. Her so-called friends got the same warmth and kindness as one another, but with him, she showed those things and more—the whole range of emotions any normal person had, from happiness to anger and sorrow.

If she showed him her true self, did that mean Liya liked him too?

The cold wind swept over Carlisle’s black robe. He gave a couple of foolish little chuckles, feeling as if the lovely season of spring had finally arrived.

Boys in love weren’t all that different from girls. When they were alone with their thoughts, their minds would fill with all kinds of romantic fantasies.

In no time at all, he’d even picked a name for the third child he and Liya would have.

But fantasies always gave way to reality. The moment he suddenly remembered who he was, Liya seemed impossibly far away.

The Saintess of the Church, admired by all. A Knight of the Round Table, shunned by everyone.

The title Knight of the Round Table sounded impressive, but ordinary people always kept their distance from him. After all, they feared that one day a knight who’d spent years dealing with filth and the bizarre might become an uncontrollable horror story himself and drag them all to hell.

What right did someone like him have to pursue the Saintess? Maybe the only ones who wouldn’t mind keeping him company were a few silly little dogs and cats...

Oh, and Witch Sherry, too.

She was even filthier than those bizarre creatures, after all.

“She and I live in completely different worlds. I’m not good enough for her.” Trailing far behind Liya, Carlisle muttered to himself.

The Ghostling was starting to lose patience with him. Ever since he’d fallen in love with Liya, the guy had grown stranger and stranger, as if a flood of love had taken over his brain and left him unable to think straight.

It was worried he might turn the murder investigation into a date with the Saintess.

“Wake up. Liya doesn’t like you.” It decided to tell him the cruelest truth outright.

“Yeah. She doesn’t like me. Why would she? She lives in the sunlight, with flowers all around her, while I’m just a knight who deals with the bizarre and could die in battle at any moment.”

Carlisle’s answer left it speechless. Maybe he’d only be able to talk sense once the love hormones had faded a little.

“It hurts.”

“What does?”

“Just thinking that some bastard’s going to end up with Liya someday makes my heart ache.” Whether he was serious or putting it on, Carlisle’s voice took on a hoarse, sorrowful note. “If I find out who he is, I’ll castrate him right now!”

“Castrate who?” Sherry had noticed his strange behavior a while ago. She stopped and overheard his last muttered words.

“It’s nothing.” Unable to meet the girl’s eyes, Carlisle looked off to the side. Then, spotting something, he quickly changed the subject. “Is the academy really this... open-minded?”

There was no way Liya could find out he’d just wanted to castrate her future husband.

“Open-minded?” Following his gaze, Sherry spotted a couple kissing in each other’s arms on a lakeside bench.

To reach the head of the academy more easily, she’d chosen a relatively secluded path. Back when she was a student here, she’d loved walking past this spot every night.

As for why... Plenty of students liked sneaking off here for secret trysts. The sounds of their panting at night and the occasional steamy scene she caught sight of satisfied her craving for excitement.

What could she do? She’d only changed sexes. She couldn’t change her lecherous nature.

She could even get turned on by herself.

“If they’re in love with each other, what’s wrong with it?” she countered.

That was what she said, anyway. But if she had a partner, she’d never sneak off to a place like this for a tryst.

Carlisle didn’t say anything. But when he saw the boy in the couple move his hand to the girl’s chest, he gave them a loud cough.

“Ahem! Ahem!”

His cough jolted them out of their passionate embrace. The couple realized someone had spotted them, their faces instantly turning red as they scrambled to their feet and fled.

Carlisle could barely hold back his laughter.

“Why do you always have to do something mean?” Sherry snapped, a little angry.

She wasn’t angry that he’d pranked the couple. She was angry that he’d ruined the lovely springtime scene she’d been watching.

He was utterly unforgivable!

“Uh, well, I...” Not understanding why Liya had gotten angry, Carlisle let his gaze wander, searching for another lifeline.

Then he spotted an old man walking toward them.

“Because the instructor’s coming. If I didn’t warn them, they might get punished.”

But his explanation didn’t calm Sherry down. If anything, it only made her angrier.

Wouldn’t the perfect ending have been to enjoy the springtime view, then see the couple get caught?

What the hell was Carlisle thinking?!