“Since Lady Luo Li thinks so highly of me, then so be it.”
Momoka spoke with an elegant smile on her lips, then paused for a moment as if remembering something.
“No, Luo Li.”
Luo Li thought to herself that Momoka was quite quick on the uptake.
She decided to leave it at that for now. After all, relationships had to be built step by step. Acting too familiar right from the start would only make her seem suspicious.
Glancing at Kevin, who had already taken a seat below, Luo Li’s brow furrowed slightly.
His arrival at this hour was undoubtedly related to the incident at the barracks.
He was likely back because the matter had been handled.
She could ask about the details later; for now, with three Saintesses present, questioning him directly would be quite disrespectful.
“Sir Kevin, what brings you to the Temple today?”
Luo Li asked with a smile, turning to look at Lina and Momoka.
“Lina, you should already know him. Momoka, let me introduce you. This is the Heavenly Punishment Knight of our Kingdom of the Moon, Kevin Cromwell.”
She then turned back to Kevin to introduce Momoka.
“Sir Kevin, this is Momoka Saint Raphael, the Saintess of the Sun.”
Kevin and Momoka were certainly aware of each other, but this was their first formal meeting.
Momoka had been facing sideways toward the hall, but at Luo Li’s introduction, she turned around.
Though her eyes were closed, she faced Kevin directly.
“So this is the famous Heavenly Punishment Knight. It is a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Kevin.”
“No, no, Lady Momoka, you flatter me. I am but a humble knight.”
The two of them exchanged formal pleasantries for a moment.
Luo Li watched them, thinking she needed to gloss over the current situation and give Kevin a way to save face.
She couldn't exactly have him kneel and confess his family's crimes in front of three Saintesses.
Thinking quickly, she recalled the plan she had discussed with Lola that morning.
“Kevin, I intend to have Kariel return with the ten thousand knights stationed at the Great Wall. He will take Sir Tristan with him to garrison Seaview City. As for the northeast region, Sir Klo and Sir Robert will remain there for now. We will use Final City as the primary base to rebuild the northeast. What do you think?”
By using this as an excuse, Kevin would surely understand her intent.
As soon as she spoke, Kevin froze in place.
He subconsciously looked up at the young girl sitting above him.
A wave of warmth flowed through his heart.
Even though he knew the Saintess might be trying to win him over, her gesture at this moment truly touched him.
As a Heavenly Punishment Knight, a presence nearly as rare as a Saintess, having to apologize for a mistake in this setting would have been a devastating blow to his pride.
If the matter were spoken aloud before the other two Saintesses, it wouldn't just be his own face he was losing; he would be shaming the Cromwell family and the Kingdom of the Moon as well.
Setting Lady Lina aside, Lady Momoka had only just arrived in the Kingdom of the Moon.
Encountering such a scandal immediately would surely leave her with a poor impression of the kingdom.
Thinking of this, Kevin felt a mysterious sense of relief.
It seemed that, at least for now, the Saintess did not intend to move against him or the Cromwell family.
Otherwise, she wouldn't have bothered saving his face.
“Replying to Your Highness, I have considered the matter and believe it is feasible. I will issue the orders immediately.”
“I appreciate your hard work, Sir Kevin. By the way, dinner is almost ready. Since you are here, why not join us?”
“No, no, Your Highness is too kind, but I still have some official business to attend to.”
Kevin knew when it was time to exit. He could tell whether the invitation was a mere courtesy or a genuine request.
Furthermore, it wasn't appropriate for a Heavenly Punishment Knight to participate in a dinner hosted for other Saintesses.
Men were generally strictly forbidden from entering the inner palace anyway.
A banquet like this wouldn't be held in the main hall.
The Temple was divided into the front, middle, and rear halls. The front hall was where officials could enter.
The main hall was where they currently were.
As for the rear hall, that served as the Saintess's bedchamber.
Even if the Saintess were married, outsiders were not permitted to enter, let alone while she was single.
“I see. In that case... Sir Kevin, please tend to your duties. I won't keep you.”
Luo Li smiled as she watched Kevin leave, surprised by his high emotional intelligence.
If this man truly intended to serve her wholeheartedly, she might consider bringing him back into her inner circle.
But now was not the time.
Setting aside the fact that the Cromwell family had been involved in the previous coup, they had now dared to place their own people in the infantry barracks, leading to this current mess.
She needed to observe him longer.
Kevin might be willing to be loyal, but the Cromwell family was more than just Kevin.
Sometimes, a family could change a person.
The Cromwell family had repeatedly touched her bottom line.
Even if she wanted to trust Kevin, it was difficult to trust his family.
As for Hilda, she had almost completely severed ties with the family.
After the last coup, Hilda nearly had a falling out with her relatives and hadn't returned home for two months.
She had been living in the guest rooms of the front hall.
Furthermore, Luo Li's feelings toward Hilda were different from how she felt about others.
In a way, Hilda was the first person to be kind to her and truly protect her since she arrived in this world.
Moreover, Luo Li had found traces of Hilda's fate in her previous memories and knew what she had done.
Hilda's loyalty was trustworthy.
While hearts could change, she had only been in this world for five or six months.
Even if a heart were to change, it wouldn't happen that quickly, especially for someone as stubborn as Hilda.
“In that case, I shall take my leave.”
With that, Kevin rose, bowed, and turned to depart.
Watching his retreating figure, a smile played on Luo Li’s lips.
Beside her, Momoka seemed to realize something as she watched the exchange.
It appeared that Luo Li still didn't quite trust her.
But it didn't matter. Other than the Kingdom of the Moon, she truly had nowhere else to turn.
The two Saintesses of the Kingdom of Flame had many frictions with the Kingdom of the Sun in the past. Though no war had broken out, neither side had any goodwill for the other.
As for the Holy See, if she returned there, she feared she would never be able to leave again.
The Snow Country and the Kingdom of the Highlands were too far away, the Kingdom of the Sea was watching from the sidelines, and that woman from the Kingdom of Sand... she was a complicated story.
The current Eight Nations of the Holy Church were truly complex enough to cause a headache.
Aside from the young Saintess of the Moon before her and the simple-minded Saintess of War, which of the other Saintesses didn't have their own little schemes?
Trust wasn't something that could be gained overnight, and Momoka was prepared for that.
At the very least, she had regained her freedom of movement.
That alone was enough to put her in a great mood.
As for the rest, she would take it slowly.
Time flew, and it was soon time for the evening banquet.
There wasn't much to say about the banquet itself.
It followed an individual table system where everyone was served separately.
It seemed the Saintess of the Moon was more accustomed to this style of dining.
Momoka ate the specialty dishes of the Kingdom of the Sun that had been specially prepared for her.
It was all fresh seafood.
This was not a coastal city, so the price for such seafood must have been quite high.
This showed that the Saintess of the Moon's subordinates were very attentive.
Every detail had been arranged perfectly.
Even six months ago, Momoka would never have believed Luo Li could achieve all this.
Back then, Momoka had even been prepared to take over the mess.
After all, if internal problems arose within the Kingdom of the Moon, she, as the Saintess of a neighboring country, would have to speak up for her counterpart. In an emergency, she might even have been forced to intervene.
Among the Eight Nations of the Holy Church, there were seven Saintesses, and not one could be missing.
Losing one meant losing a portion of the power that restricted the Holy See.
If the balance of power between the two sides were broken, things would become very troublesome.
“Momoka, is the food not to your taste?”
Luo Li noticed Momoka dazing off while eating.
Could it be that the food wasn't good?
Luo Li lowered her gaze to inspect the table in front of Momoka.
The food consisted of fresh seafood, primarily sashimi, along with some sushi.
It was essentially no different from Japanese cuisine.
If she didn't know the background of this world, Luo Li would have found it hilarious to see such representative food in a Western-style setting.
“Oh, no, it's not that. The food is very much to my taste.”
Momoka snapped out of it and looked down at her meal.
Though she didn't open her eyes, the appearance of the food was clear to her.
Part of her Saintess function resided in her eyes.
Therefore, even with her eyes closed, she could clearly see everything before her.
“I'm glad you like it. I was worried you wouldn't be used to it.”
“There isn't anything I'm not used to eating. To be honest, I am also quite interested in the specialty foods of the Kingdom of the Moon, but... right now, I truly don't have the heart to enjoy gourmet food.”
As she spoke, Momoka’s expression turned visibly sorrowful.
She lowered her head as if staring at the food on her table.
“While I am here leisurely enjoying a meal, my people... they are on the road of migration. I do not know how they are faring now, if they have food in the morning, clothes in the evening, or blankets at night.”
Hearing this, Luo Li’s brow furrowed. She set down her utensils and fell into thought for a moment.
“Momoka, we discussed this a bit before. I originally intended to talk about it tomorrow, but since we’ve brought it up today, I’ll say more.”
Hearing this, Momoka quickly set down her chopsticks and looked up at Luo Li.
“Please, go on.”
“Currently, there are as many as seventy million Kingdom of the Sun refugees. Such a massive number cannot be accommodated by a single city or fortress.”
Luo Li organized her thoughts.
“Therefore, I can only break down this group into smaller parts. One portion will be moved to the northeast region to bolster its population. Another portion will go to Seaview City. The remaining people will be dispersed among the other major cities.”
“However, please rest assured. I will issue an order that no city is to make things difficult for the Kingdom of the Sun refugees. At the same time, I will establish a new department specifically to handle matters for them.”
“Momoka, if you don't mind, I would like you to temporarily head this department. What do you think?”
Rate on N.U.
