Meanwhile, inside the Holy See after Karl and Furni teleported away.
“I am sorry, Prince Keith.”
The sister lowered her head, blocking the door to Karl's office.
“Bishop Karl and Bishop Furni are currently in discussion. You cannot go in right now.”
Her voice was very soft, yet she still did her best to maintain proper etiquette.
Several soldiers followed behind Keith.
Today, he wore a practical military uniform, a sword hung at his waist, and his face bore an obvious look of impatience.
“Hey, hey, hey.”
Keith looked down at the sister blocking his way, a tyrannical smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.
“You sister, if you keep blocking me, do you believe I will execute you on the spot for the crime of obstructing royalty?”
The sister's face turned pale in an instant.
She knew very well that the man before her was not just making empty threats; he truly dared to do it.
And as long as he wished, he wouldn't even need to provide a reasonable excuse.
The sister gripped her cuffs tightly and finally stepped aside slowly.
“...Yes.”
Keith let out a cold snort.
He walked up to the door and shoved it open without the slightest hint of politeness.
Bang!
The door slammed against the wall, making a heavy thud.
However, the office was completely empty.
The documents on the desk were still laid out.
Steam was even still rising from the tea.
But the two who should have been in this room were nowhere to be found.
Keith's expression darkened instantly.
He slowly turned his head and looked at the sister by the door.
“Where are they?”
The sister's body trembled.
“I... I do not know...”
Before she could finish, Keith had already reached out and grabbed her neck.
His fingers tightened forcefully, lifting the sister right off her feet.
“Speak! Where did they go?”
Keith's eyes were as fierce as an enraged beast.
The sister's eyes welled with tears from the pain, but she did not dare to struggle.
From the corner of her eye, she saw the nearby soldiers already resting their hands on their sword hilt.
One of them even seemed so accustomed to this that he had already positioned himself to draw his sword on Keith's behalf.
The sister's mental defenses finally crumbled.
“The... the border...”
She spoke with a tremble.
“The Bishops went to the border.”
Hearing this, Keith's eyes flickered slightly.
Then, he violently threw the sister in his grasp to the ground.
The sister collapsed onto the floor, her elbow slamming against the cold stone tiles, letting out a pained groan.
Yet Keith did not even spare her another glance.
“Prepare the teleportation magic.”
He turned and ordered the soldiers behind him.
“I want to see what exactly Bishop Karl is trying to pull.”
The soldiers bowed their heads in response.
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Keith led the group of soldiers out of the Holy See.
The sister lying on the ground clutched her arm, her head lowered, unable to stand up for a long time.
She looked at the light cast upon the floor by the stained glass window.
For some reason, she only felt that the light was incredibly cold.
Back to Lin Ling's side.
On the streets of the residential district, the morning bustle was slowly unfolding.
Some carried water basins out of their houses.
Others organized their tools by their doorsteps.
A few demon children were chasing each other and playing in the alley, their laughter echoing along the stone walls.
Leticia stood by the street, watching the children run past her.
Their clothes were far from magnificent.
Some children even had patches on the hems of their clothes.
Yet they ran very fast, their faces brimming with happy smiles.
It was a kind of freedom she had never possessed in the past.
Leticia watched these children, her eyes slightly dazed.
She recalled her own childhood.
The long corridors of the White Tower.
The maids who lowered their heads and stepped aside.
And her mother's cold voice.
“Leticia, you must learn the elegance expected of a Saintess.”
She remembered wanting to run like this without any worries when she was a child.
To be like those children outside the window, chasing birds through the courtyard.
But before she could take more than a few steps, she was hurriedly stopped by the maids.
And then her mother arrived.
Lady Nadia stood at the end of the corridor, her gaze like an enraged venomous snake.
“Leticia, who permitted you to run like that?”
“You are the Saintess! You must understand!”
“A Saintess cannot be as crude as commoner children.”
The scene shifted.
It was another memory.
The young Leticia stood by the door of the White Tower, watching several children who had been brought there to receive treatment outside.
One of the children was injured, his eyes red, yet he was still trying his best to smile at her.
At the time, she only felt curious.
She wanted to step closer.
She wanted to ask if it hurt.
But before she could approach, Nadia's hand pressed down on her shoulder.
“Leticia, who permitted you to contact those people?”
“You may only interact with the people I arrange for you.”
“Remember, your Holy Light cannot be bestowed upon those who should not be touched.”
...
“Leticia, Leticia?”
A familiar, clear voice pulled her back from her memories.
Leticia snapped out of it.
Lin Ling stood in front of her, the rabbit ears Phelan had conjured for her disguise still sitting atop her head.
The pair of rabbit ears twitched slightly as she tilted her head.
“Are you okay?”
Lin Ling looked at her with concern.
Leticia subconsciously stood up straight, placing her hand over her chest in a dignified, standard posture of etiquette.
“My apologies, I was a bit distracted.”
This movement was practically engraved into her body.
Even though she was no longer in the White Tower, she still instinctively maintained the posture that had been demanded of her in the past.
Lin Ling watched her actions and blinked.
“Leticia, you look so dignified.”
She spoke very seriously.
“Do you have to be like that with friends, too?”
Leticia's movements paused slightly.
Phelan stood nearby, looking down to record.
“Miss Leticia.”
He said:
“There is no need for you to use such tedious etiquette right now.”
Leticia fell silent for a moment.
She slowly lowered her hand.
“I understand.”
But her gaze was a bit more complex than before.
Just then, a sudden exclamation came from the distance.
“It's Miss Saintess!”
Just as Lin Ling turned her head, she saw Dashi running over from the other end of the alley.
Several demon children followed behind him.
The moment the children saw Lin Ling, their eyes lit up.
“Miss Saintess!”
“It really is Miss Saintess!”
Lin Ling's body stiffened.
She looked down at her current beastkin disguise.
Rabbit ears, light beige hair, and a short tail.
She believed her disguise was supposed to be absolutely perfect.
Thus, Lin Ling immediately squatted down, placing both hands on Dashi's shoulders with an incredibly serious expression.
“Dashi.”
Being stared at so seriously all of a sudden, Dashi became a bit flustered.
“W-what's wrong, Miss Saintess?”
Lin Ling lowered her voice.
“How did you see through Miss Saintess's exquisite disguise?”
Dashi blinked.
“But...”
He scratched his cheek in slight embarrassment.
“The scent of sunshine on Miss Saintess cannot be hidden.”
Lin Ling was stunned.
“The scent of sunshine?”
Dashi nodded earnestly.
“Yes, it is very warm.”
“It is very easy to smell.”
Lin Ling was silent for two seconds.
Then, she slowly let go of Dashi's shoulders.
“So that's how it is.”
“And here I thought Miss Saintess's exquisite disguise had been cracked.”
Phelan spoke calmly from the side:
“My disguise magic is not as excellent as Aliviel's.”
“It can only disguise your appearance.”
“If the other party has sensitive senses, there is still a risk of exposure.”
As he spoke, he looked down and wrote a few lines on his recording board.
“Please be careful, you two.”
Lin Ling glanced at him.
“Phelan.”
“Yes?”
“Did you happen to record the reason why Dashi saw through my disguise as well?”
“This is necessary data.”
“Then could you please not write 'scent of sunshine' in too much detail?”
Phelan was silent for a moment.
“I will try to remain objective.”
Lin Ling felt that this statement was somehow even more terrifying.
Dashi looked at Lin Ling, then at Leticia.
“Miss Saintess.”
“Uncle Baroque didn't bring you here today.”
As he spoke, he secretly let out a sigh of relief.
Lin Ling immediately caught this expression.
“Dashi, were you just feeling relieved?”
Dashi's gaze darted around.
“No.”
Lin Ling narrowed her eyes.
“You absolutely were.”
Dashi immediately changed the subject.
“Oh, right, Miss Saintess!”
“Today, everyone is going to thank the people who helped us in the past.”
“Do you want to come and see?”
Sure enough, Lin Ling's attention was drawn away.
“Thank the people who helped everyone in the past?”
“Mhm.”
Dashi nodded.
He naturally took Lin Ling's hand, as if afraid she might get lost.
“Mama and the others said that since we finally have a little bit of spare resources now, we should go and thank the people who helped us before.”
Lin Ling was somewhat curious.
“The people who helped you?”
“Who is it?”
Dashi thought for a moment.
“Some humans at the border.”
When those words were spoken, not only Lin Ling but even Leticia froze slightly.
“Humans?”
Lin Ling asked instinctively:
“There are humans at the border willing to help you?”
She recalled what Niya had said before.
To the humans, the demon race was treated as an enemy that had to be completely eradicated.
If a human saw a demon, not reporting them was already considered a rarity.
Let alone helping them.
Dashi nodded.
“Mhm.”
“Even though they didn't have much food themselves.”
“But back when everyone was starving, they were still willing to share some food with the demons.”
At this point, he added:
“So Mama and the others said that now that we can give back to them, we must go and thank them.”
Leticia's expression changed.
She looked at Dashi.
“Humans helping demons?”
This was completely different from what she had heard in the past.
The Holy See had told her that the demon race was greedy, brutal, and filthy—enemies beyond the light of God.
But now, a demon child was telling her that some humans at the border had shared food with the demons.
Dashi did not understand Leticia's current shock.
He merely scratched his head and continued:
“They said that those calls for slaughter all came from the higher-ups on the human side.”
“It seems to be for the sake of having a legitimate reason to seize our minerals.”
“The ore on our side is very, very valuable.”
“I don't really understand it either.”
“But when Mama and the others used to trade for food, they would always bring a little bit of ore.”
Hearing this, Lin Ling's brow slowly furrowed.
When these things were strung together, she couldn't help but feel a distinct scent of oil.
Leticia fell silent as well.
So, sometimes the so-called reasons for war were never just about faith.
Nor were they just about so-called justice; there were also minerals.
And profits.
Lin Ling looked down at Dashi.
“In that case, let's go take a look.”
Dashi's eyes lit up.
“Mhm!”
Having said that, he pulled Lin Ling's hand and ran toward the center of the residential district.
Lin Ling was pulled forward a couple of steps before she turned back and waved at Leticia.
“Sia, let's go.”
Leticia snapped back to reality.
She watched Lin Ling's back as she was led forward by the hand by the demon child.
She also glanced at the surrounding demon residents who were preparing to depart.
She suddenly felt that what she would see today might be even more real than yesterday's dream.
She nodded gently and followed.
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