"Whose child is this?"

The girl outside the window looked to be about fifteen or sixteen years old, draped in a black robe, with a head of messy gray hair.

The girl was very cute, with a somewhat vacant, dazed look about her.

"Do you want to keep her?"

Naclis, noticing Loren was looking out the window, teased him.

"She's a living person, not some kitten or puppy. How could I just 'keep' her?"

Naclis rested her chin on her hand, tilting her head as she looked at Loren. Her tone was playful:

"Haven't you always been like that? Besides, with your status, even if you really did imprison a young girl in a dungeon, the Church would probably give you a breeding subsidy."

"When did your teasing become so sharp..."

Loren was speechless. He didn't know how to refute Naclis because what she said seemed to be true.

"So, what do you plan to do? Want to take her home and keep her?"

Facing Naclis's inquiry, Loren didn't reply immediately. He was thinking.

This shop's desserts tasted great and looked appealing, their fragrance wafting from far away.

So, it was common for poor children to press their faces against the window to look inside. However, the shop assistants wouldn't shoo them away—not out of kindness, but simply because these children made some customers feel a sense of superiority, which was also part of the service.

Since this happened often, people inside the shop weren't particularly surprised by it, and even if someone came to gawk, they wouldn't pay much attention.

But, the girl before Loren's eyes was a bit too pretty. Even with her sloppy current attire, it couldn't hide her beauty.

Under these circumstances, no one else seemed to notice her, which made Loren think it was highly likely she was a witch.

"Wait here. I'll go outside and take a look."

Loren picked up the cake and walked out of the shop. The moment he stepped out, the girl's gaze shifted to the cake in his hands.

"Do you want to eat it?"

Since the girl was most likely a witch, Loren couldn't be bothered with beating around the bush and asked directly.

"Yes."

"Then do you want it?"

Loren directly held the cake out in front of the girl. However, the girl shook her head:

"No. My older sister told me not to eat food given by strangers."

As she spoke, the girl's eyes never left the cake in Loren's hands. It seemed she really wanted to eat it, but she also really listened to her sister.

"Then how about this: I'll put the cake on the ground. I'll leave, and then you can pick it up. That way, it won't count as me giving it to you, but as you finding it."

Hearing this, the girl clapped her hands and exclaimed:

"You're a genius!"

"..."

Alright, now Loren was sure she was a witch.

"How could your sister feel at ease letting you come here alone?"

"Older sister doesn't know. She's usually very busy. I came here secretly by myself."

"Why did you come here? It can't just be because you're craving the sweets here, right?"

During the conversation, the two had already completed the cake handover. Loren placed the cake on the ground. Before Loren could even leave, the girl eagerly picked up the cake.

"A lot of things have happened around here recently. Several villages have even disappeared. The method of the crimes feels somewhat familiar to me. I was curious about what was going on, so I came to investigate."

From these few sentences, the girl's logic was quite clear, proving at the very least that her intelligence wasn't lacking. She was just a bit spacey.

In the time it took to say those few sentences, the girl had already finished the cake Loren gave her. Seizing the opportunity, Loren extended an invitation:

"We've been chatting for a while now. We can be considered friends. Would you like to come inside with me to eat?"

"Okay! My name is Caroline. What's yours?"

Caroline very naturally followed behind Loren and began introducing herself.

"My name is Loren."

"Loren?"

Upon hearing Loren's name, Caroline suddenly let out a gasp of surprise, leaving Loren feeling puzzled.

"What's wrong with my name?"

Loren was indeed famous, but it was all good reputation. He was the kind of person whose character would be recognized by both heroes and villains. Previously, even when Loren's blade was literally cutting into Eldrin, Eldrin didn't suspect Loren was trying to kill him.

Even a crying child would feel reassured upon hearing Loren's name.

So, when the Caroline before him showed wariness, Loren found it strange.

Caroline didn't reply. She just pulled out a portrait, unfolded it, and compared it to Loren.

Loren also saw the portrait. The person drawn on it was unmistakably him.

"Sorry. My family told me to be careful of you, that you're dangerous. I have to go."

With that, Caroline turned and ran without looking back, leaving a completely bewildered Loren behind.

Only now did Loren realize something: his good reputation was only with the Church. In the eyes of the witches, Loren was actually dangerous.

Loren was loyal to the Church, hated evil passionately, was righteous and awe-inspiring, and seemed to know everything. While this reassured the followers, it also frightened the witches.

Loren's public stance aligned with the Church, so naturally, he would be opposed to the witches. And since Loren hated evil passionately, they believed he would surely despise the "sinful" witches. With Loren's knowledge, he would be the one most likely to discover the witches.

Therefore, even without having met him, the people of the Witches' Church considered Loren an imaginary enemy.

"What a mess..."

Loren had grown accustomed to being trusted. This was the first time someone was wary of him, and it was a witch.

However, Loren didn't mind too much. It was just a misunderstanding. Given a witch's nature, it wouldn't lead to some melodramatic incident. If there was a chance, he could just explain directly. Loren could even have other witches explain to Caroline.

Loren waved his hand, and a crow immediately landed on his shoulder.

"Movila, go keep an eye on the girl who just ran away. She's also a witch."

"Understood."

Movila acknowledged and flew off in the direction Caroline had fled. Loren himself returned to the dessert shop, planning to find a suitable opportunity to explain the situation to Caroline later.

"You actually didn't bring her back? That's rare." 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

"She is indeed a witch. She just doesn't trust me very much right now. This is the first time my identity has had a negative effect."

After returning to the restaurant, Loren didn't order new food. He just watched Naclis eat, and she happened to finish her last bite.

Every time they spoke, Loren would subconsciously cast a Shielding Spell, so the people around couldn't hear what they were saying.

"Then let's go home. Today is the happiest day of my life!"

On the way home, Naclis also seemed extremely excited, even more so than when they had come.

The moment she entered the house, she rushed back to her room with her things before Loren could even react.

...

As soon as "Naclis" pushed open the door, she saw another Naclis at the desk. However, she didn't pay attention to that Naclis, simply stuffing the wedding dress and photos she had brought back under the bed.

"These are all my secrets! You're not allowed to look!"

Naclis just glanced at her and then went back to reading her book, not paying much mind.