“Are you looking for someone?” Miriam asked and blinked at Cleo before turning her gaze back onto Linda. “I can certainly ask the guardians to help you search. I still feel a little guilty about the blankets.” She pursed her lips as her fingers caressed the alpaca wool in her arms.

“No, it’s okay,” Linda said. “You must be busy as a guardian. I wouldn’t dare drag you into a wild goose chase.”

“Oh, no,” Miriam said and shook her head. “I’m perfectly free, like, almost all the time. Your carriage is actually the first I’ve seen in a few weeks. I think everyone else is too afraid to travel. Who would travel to the first sector when the rumors say the rebels are going to attack it? It makes much more sense to wait in the second sector.”

“She’s calling us senseless,” Cleo whispered to Linda. Her tail swished as she frowned.

“Aren’t we?” Linda whispered back and glared at the lizardman before turning towards Miriam. “Erm, but don’t you have other duties to take care of? Like watching the walls in case of an attack?”

“Helping citizens is also part of a guardian’s job,” Miriam said and nodded. “You two are citizens. I’ll help you. Doesn’t that work out? I know the price of these blankets, and I don’t want to seem ungrateful. Who are you looking for?”

“No, really,” Linda said as a bead of sweat rolled down her back. “You don’t have to. It’s a bit of a sensitive matter.”

“I can keep secrets,” Miriam said and pursed her lips. She stared at Linda with puppy eyes “I promise.”

“She’s telling you to scra—“

Linda clamped her hands over Cleo’s jaw once again and laughed wryly. Miriam’s eyes began to water, causing her irises to glisten. A sigh escaped from Linda’s lips. “Is there any other reason you want to accompany us?” she asked. “Other than because you feel indebted towards me? It’s really okay if you pay me back at a later date.” Her expression remained unfazed as Cleo clawed at her arms and wrists.

“I … may have some … reasons,” Miriam said and bit her lower lip. “But it’s not to harm you, I swear. Even if the person you were looking for was an archdemon, I’d offer to help and stay silent.”

Cleo finally managed to pull Linda’s fingers off her face. She gasped for breath before asking, “Why?”

Miriam ignored Cleo and waited for Linda’s answer. “Like she said,” Linda said and released Cleo’s face while rubbing her arms, “why?”

Miriam fell silent. Her brow furrowed as she spread the blanket in her arms over the floor of the carriage before lying down on top of it. She stared at the ceiling while Linda and Cleo gawked at her. Miriam exhaled audibly through her nose. When she spoke, her voice lost all of its childishness from before, “Aren’t you upset?”

Linda’s face hardened. “Upset?” she asked in a monotonous voice. “Upset at what?”

“Why are you out here and not in the capital?” Miriam asked, continuing to stare at the ceiling as she stripped off her golden robe and tossed it aside. She wore a white shirt and green skirt underneath.

“Are you … a rebel?” Linda asked. She took a step backwards, letting Cleo stand in front.

“Rebel?” Miriam asked and raised her hand in front of her face. She stared at the veins running down her arm as if it were her first time seeing them. “No. Perhaps a dissenter? Is that the right word?” She sat up and stared at Linda. “What type of angel are you? Only a fallen angel would leave the Bael family.”

Linda pursed her lips but didn’t respond. Cleo looked back and forth between the two, debating on whether or not to pull out a weapon. Her arm was hidden behind her back, buried in her belt, her hand missing.

“Don’t tell me you don’t feel even a little bit of resentment,” Miriam said and folded her hands in her lap. “The capital has everything. Why were you forced out of it? They say they’re selfless, but they’re unwilling to share. They say they’re charitable, yet they don’t care about anyone who isn’t like them. Haven’t you ever thought things like that?”

“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t,” Linda said and furrowed her brow.

Miriam nodded. “You’re not the only one,” she said and tilted her head to the side. “You should know who I am, right?”

Linda nodded. “The eldest daughter of the Ingel family,” she said. “You didn’t exactly do a good job at hiding it.” [1]

Miriam snorted. “That’s because I wanted you to know,” she said. “I’ve been through what you have. My parents threatened to kill me. They tried in fact. If it weren’t for a wandering kindness angel, I wouldn’t be here today.”

“Why are you telling me this?” Linda asked and frowned.

“Because you’re like me,” Miriam said. She raised three fingers and counted them off. “An exile. Unwanted. Alone.”

“What am I, a stuffed animal?” Cleo asked and thumped her tail against the driver’s seat.

Miriam frowned at Cleo. She raised a finger and pointed at the diminutive lizardman. A black glow enveloped Cleo’s body, causing her to lurch towards Miriam. Cleo yelped and wrapped her tail around the seat, preventing herself from flying forwards. She pulled a black floor tile out from behind her back and threw it at Miriam’s face. The angel’s eyes widened as she dodged to the side, causing the black glow around Cleo’s body to disperse. “Gah,” Cleo said as she ran and hid behind Linda. “What the heck was that!?” She glanced at Linda. “She’s not Palan, right?”

Before Linda or Miriam could say anything, a voice called from outside the carriage, “Livina, is everything alright in there?”

Miriam’s expression returned back to normal as she donned her robe and gathered the blanket in her arms. “Mm. That’s my superior,” she said to Linda. She called out loudly enough for the angel outside to hear, speaking in her childish voice, “Everything’s fine. There were just a lot of items to look through.” She turned towards Linda and bowed her head, all traces of pride gone. “I hope you remember what I said today, Lady Bael. You can find me at any time. We aren’t the only scions who were exiled from the capital, and you won’t be the first to seek me out.”

Linda and Cleo watched as Miriam descended from the carriage. She turned around and smiled at them once she reached the ground. “Everything checks out, you’re free to enter the first sector,” she said. “Thank you for the blankets.”

Cleo and Linda exchanged a glance as the metal doors of the checkpoint swung open, allowing their carriage to pass through. Linda sighed when she saw Miriam smiling and waving at them as they got further and further away. Finally, a gust of wind lifted Miriam into the air and onto the top of the wall as the checkpoint doors closed. Cleo shook her head and reaffirmed her previous thought: angels were really weird.

_______

[1] The Ingel Family was mentioned once in Chapter 184.