Chapter 1338: 96. Preparations on All Sides

"Muen and Ariel left the city together?"

Upon hearing Veil's report, Celicia's frost-like brows immediately rose.

"Is that true?"

"It was that guy...... Young Master Muen Campbell himself who had someone deliver the message. He said he had a mission and would be leaving for a while."

At this point, Veil's cheeks puffed up, and she was already visibly angry.

That damned playboy. He clearly...... clearly already had Her Majesty, yet instead of obediently staying in Her Majesty's harem and waiting to be favored, he'd secretly run off again!

And with another woman!

Absolutely shameless!

No wonder so many ministers said he had all the makings of someone who would turn the imperial harem into a den of debauchery and bring disaster upon the nation!

"Oh. I see."

Yet to Veil's surprise, after hearing the news, Celicia showed no particularly intense reaction. She merely responded indifferently and casually tossed the intelligence report aside.

"Huh? Your Majesty...... aren't you angry?" Veil asked cautiously.

"Angry about what?"

"That guy ran off with another woman again...... In the past, Your Majesty would always be very......"

"Hm?"

"N-No, that's not what I meant! I'm not saying Your Majesty is petty...... No, that's not what I meant either! It's just that he's acting so shamelessly, and you're being...... aren't you being a little too nice to him?"

Not getting angry was one thing......

But she wasn't even going to curse him once?

"What difference does it make whether I'm angry or not? Is anger useful?"

Celicia rose and walked onto one of the palace's high terraces, looking down over the magnificent city as it was gradually swallowed by night.

During the previous evil-dragon incident, because the city had been sealed off and preparations had been made in advance, it had caused no real disturbance within the capital. As time passed, and with a certain wretched bear spending this period "turning over a new leaf," the story of the legendary yellow-haired Muen Campbell and the evil dragon gradually faded as well. It no longer dominated newspaper headlines and was now, at most, occasionally brought up as a joke over meals or tea.

That was simply how the world worked.

Even things that had once mattered tremendously to you would, given enough time, eventually become ordinary.

Just like the agreement they'd clearly made not to resort to underhanded tricks......

And yet there were still shameless seductive vixens who ignored that promise and chose to make a secret move anyway.

Even if she dragged them back now, so what?

One of them would undoubtedly have his own reasons, while the other shameless woman could put on a perfectly serious face and claim they were leaving to handle official business or some such nonsense.

In short, it would be meaningless.

"Rather than waste time on that, I might as well put my energy elsewhere."

Celicia lowered her eyes.

Within those deep blue pupils, endless golden light began to emerge, as though the phantom of an entire nation were continuously rising and solidifying within her gaze.

After the incident with that dragon, she had come to understand one thing.

Only strength was an eternal truth.

Engagements, legal legitimacy, favorable proximity......

None of them compared to possessing absolute strength and using it to pin that man down on a bed and do whatever she wanted with him.

"Just wait."

The night wind tugged at her cloak, making it snap sharply behind her.

The light in Celicia's eyes gradually faded, but the aura surrounding her remained cold and distant.

"Running ahead doesn't mean you'll be the one who reaches the end."

"The game...... isn't over yet."

Celicia turned around.

"Let's go."

"Our guest has been waiting long enough."

......

......

"Master."

Inside the ducal estate, An bowed slightly and respectfully greeted Grand Duke Campbell, whom she'd happened to encounter.

"Mm. You've worked hard, An."

Lorne smiled and personally helped An straighten up.

Although she was technically still a maid, it was obvious that Lorne no longer regarded her as merely a servant. In fact, during this period, he'd already entrusted many of the ducal estate's confidential matters to her without hesitation.

It was already late at night.

Seeing that she was still busy arranging various matters, he couldn't help feeling concerned even as he admired her diligence.

"You still need to take care of yourself. If you work yourself sick, that increasingly rebellious brat of mine might come looking for revenge again."

"Master is joking. Young Master merely likes to joke around. How could he truly take revenge on you?"

An remained neither servile nor arrogant, her bearing elegant and composed.

"As for the work...... the cleaning and arrangements on the western side of the ducal estate have already been completed today. All that remains is the placement of the corresponding magical formations and the security arrangements. Once those are finished, I will rest. Thank you for your concern, Master."

"No need to be so polite. Don't say things like that. We've long since become family. There's no need to keep your distance."

Lorne nodded, looking more satisfied the longer he watched her.

Especially when certain painful memories resurfaced in his mind, his satisfaction with An multiplied several times over on the spot.

This little maid might have become far from simple, but compared to all the other women that brat had gotten involved with, she was incomparably better!

As expected, their own little maid was still the best!

So dignified.

So sensible!

"Then I'll leave the affairs of the ducal estate entirely in your hands for now. I have some matters to attend to and will be heading out soon. Whatever arrangements or ideas you have, don't hesitate. Just treat yourself as the master of this place and handle things as you see fit."

"Master, how could that be appropriate? I'm only......"

"That's an order!"

Lorne deliberately put on a stern expression and forced An to accept.

But soon he smiled again and patted her shoulder.

"Don't worry. Your master supports you more than anyone. Don't be afraid of anything, understand? I've already told you—we're family now."

"Thank you, Master."

An lowered her head, appearing deeply honored by his trust.

But from an angle Lorne couldn't see, an unusual gleam flashed through her eyes.

Good.

Things on Master's side were almost settled too.

Next, she only needed......

"Heh. They only said I'm not allowed to play little tricks involving Young Master......?They never said I couldn't play them elsewhere."

......

......

"My junior went to the Origin Tower?"

Anna's reaction upon receiving the news was almost identical to Celicia's, except she was considerably more surprised.

"When he spoke with me before, he never showed any intention of going there. Charging straight in like this doesn't fit his personality either......"

"Looks like something else happened in between." ℓ.

Anna immediately inferred that something must have occurred within the past day or two—something significant enough to change Muen's mind.

"So the situation at the Origin Tower is even more serious than I thought?"

Still......

Ariel went too?

Tch.

That little temptress really was the second-best at making secret moves.

Second only to a certain silver-haired Saintess.

In that respect, the two of them really were close friends.

"Jinze."

"Here."

"Has there been any new information from the Origin Tower lately?"

"Yes."

After working continuous overtime recently, Jinze's already square face somehow seemed even more square.

But as an excellent ox......

An excellent subordinate, he'd naturally prepared the relevant information long ago.

"Something serious has indeed happened over there. The news hasn't spread publicly yet, but within certain limited circles, it's already caused shock among various high-ranking figures."

"Oh?"

After hearing Jinze's report, even Anna unconsciously showed a trace of astonishment.

A veteran Truth-Rank Grand Mage had been accused of colluding with an Evil God, and clear signs of Evil God Pollution had even been detected......

On the scale of the continent, that unquestionably counted as an extremely major incident.

In direct combat, a Truth-Rank Grand Mage might not compare to a Crowned One, but in terms of overall contributions to the entire human world, a Truth-Rank Grand Mage would certainly surpass one.

Especially a veteran Truth-Rank mage with such deep seniority.

His connections and interests would be intertwined with countless factions, and the repercussions would be enormous.

"Also......"

"What else?"

"The Church...... suddenly sent someone to contact us directly."

A trace of disgust appeared on Jinze's square face.

The Church and the Silent Bureau had never gotten along particularly well, and although Jinze himself was a fairly upright person, he had inevitably been influenced by that atmosphere.

"They said they want you to go personally. There's an important matter they wish to discuss."

"Hm? An important matter?"

Anna narrowed her beautiful eyes.

It seemed she wasn't the only one who had noticed that something was wrong.

"For the mighty Church to call something an 'important matter'......

"Is it about the Origin Tower this time, or something else?"

"That...... I don't know."

"Understood."

Anna rose.

The moment her high heels struck the floor, countless shadows surged in response to her will, opening a path that led somewhere unknown.

"You'll take command of tomorrow's suppression operation. I'll go personally."

"Yes!"

......

......

"Y-You're really going to confine me for that long?"

Inside the cathedral, Liya reached out with a small hand and grabbed the hem of Great Sister Lin's robes.

Her watery eyes fluttered pitifully as she gently tugged at them.

"Lin~ Can't you make an exception?"

"An exception? Your Highness, aren't you embarrassed to even say those words?"

Lin's expression was icy.

Normally exceptionally well-mannered, even she was finding it difficult to control her anger at the moment.

"You took the Church's Holy Light and used it to do something as dangerous as challenging a natural calamity. Weren't you afraid you'd truly anger the other side and get swatted to death with a single blow?"

"I...... I knew there was a high probability she wouldn't actually go that far, so that's why I did it......"

"A high probability? Even if there were only a one-in-ten-thousand chance, you still shouldn't have done something like that! You are the Saintess. You are the Saintess who guides countless believers forward. Placing yourself in danger is grossly irresponsible not only to yourself, but also to the hundreds of millions of believers who look to you!"

"I...... I know I was wrong. I won't dare do it again."

Liya pursed her little lips, her eyes filling with tears.

"But being confined for this long is really......"

"This is His Holiness the Pope's order. Forgive me, but there is nothing I can do."

"Wuu......"

Liya let out a despairing whimper.

Being forced to stay in this boring cathedral for that long......

Being unable to see her beloved Muen for that long......

To her, this was a form of torture second only to watching Ariel take Muen for herself while she could do absolutely nothing!

How miserable!

But......

There was nothing she could do.

She herself knew she'd gone somewhat too far this time.

Something like challenging a natural calamity never should have appeared in a Saintess's vocabulary in the first place.

"Damn it...... I clearly won, too."

Liya curled herself into a ball.

Only sorrowful tears could flow from her lifeless-looking eyes.

"Sigh......"

Seeing her like this, Lin ultimately couldn't bear it.

Her tone softened slightly.

"This isn't specifically meant as confinement. His Holiness means for you to take advantage of this opportunity to cultivate properly and improve yourself. For that reason, he has even temporarily suspended your daily confessions with the believers, using your service to the Goddess as the excuse."

"Cultivate? But I work really hard already!"

Liya waved her little fists with energetic little grunts.

"I successfully punished that evil dragon with the Holy Sword! Among all the Saintesses throughout history, how many could accomplish what I did?"

"......"

Lin didn't know the exact details.

But for some reason, she had the distinct feeling that this "punishing the evil dragon with the Holy Sword" was not the kind of thing she was imagining.

"It's still not enough."

"Huh?"

"His Holiness said it isn't enough yet."

Lin turned and looked out the window.

The weather was clear and the sunlight bright.

Yet far along the distant horizon, an enormous mass of dark clouds seemed to be gathering.

"This time, you must put aside every distraction and focus entirely on raising your level.?His Holiness said......In the near future, something truly extraordinary may happen. You must be prepared for it."