Flames of War

Rather than calling it ugly, it was more accurate to say it was simply begging for a punch.

That kind of smile made anyone who saw it unable to resist throwing a punch right at her face, and Lu Li finally understood why she always kept a straight face.

Indeed, smiles never truly disappeared; they merely transferred to someone else.

“I was just joking with you!”

“Surely a grand Cardinal of the Holy Court wouldn't be unable to take a little joke?”

Although the youth was gasping from the pain, the smile on his face remained bright and radiant.

“No,” Julia replied, her expression returning to its previous placid, unreadable state. Yet, her gaze couldn't help but drift toward his face.

Lu Li nodded and continued, “Alright, then we're even.”

Julia had once thought she understood the youth well, but looking at him now, she felt he was so unfamiliar.

He knew everything. He knew that it had all been her design.

“...”

In the silence, Julia did not respond. A sense of guilt kept rising in her heart, only to be repeatedly suppressed.

“Hey, you aren't really that petty, are you?” Lu Li frowned slightly when he saw her lack of response.

To be honest, he really couldn't fully read Julia. The “assassin” had undoubtedly been arranged by her, and the goal was not to murder or injure him, but to drag the Kingdom of Northland into the quagmire of war.

Yet war was a double-edged sword, and Julia was certainly no warmonger. Even so, she still chose to start a war, even going so far as to manufacture a legitimate pretext for it. What other reasons were hidden behind all of this?

“I am not,” Julia spoke again. They were the same words as before, but this time, her tone was far more complex.

“That's good.”

Lu Li nodded, then changed the subject with a serious look on his face. “I won't stop you from doing what you want, but if there's a next time, please let me know in advance so I can prepare myself. After all, it really hurts.”

Hearing this, Julia resisted the urge to apologize. She simply watched him quietly before speaking flatly, “You couldn't stop me anyway.”

Tsk! Why do you have to be so brutally honest?

Indeed, given Julia's influence in the College of Cardinals, there was almost nothing she wanted to do that she couldn't accomplish. Even if Lu Li wanted to stop her, it likely wouldn't have made any difference.

Thus, the meeting could practically be considered an unhappy parting. On the surface, Lu Li feigned anger as he left, but in reality, his heart barely wavered.

I did my best to play along with your performance...

What he didn't know, however, was that after he turned and left, Julia stood in place and stared in the direction of his departure for a long, long time.

“Anthelia! Quick, give me a hand!”

The moment Lu Li stepped out of the temple and saw Anthelia waiting to receive him, he could no longer hold himself up. His entire body went soft, and he collapsed toward her.

Fortunately, Anthelia had quick reflexes and caught him in her arms.

Is this what a boy's body feels like? So fragrant, so soft...

Anthelia held Lu Li tightly, completely unwilling to let go. As she guided Lu Li toward where the carriage was parked, she relished the softness in her arms, feeling that this was the absolute peak of her life.

No, no, no! What in the world am I thinking? This is the Holy See, a great existence. How could I compare the Holy See to an ordinary boy?

Her Holy See should be the greatest boy of all!

“Are you alright? Did... did the Cardinal do something to you?” Anthelia asked cautiously.

“I'm fine. Just a bit too tired. It has nothing to do with Julia. I'll be fine after some rest.” Lu Li's voice was weak; his calm and collected composure inside the temple earlier had been nothing but a front.

He was surprised that he could use such a miraculous ability. Although the pain was almost unbearable, he hadn't actually sustained any physical damage. That was a power stemming from the Father's authority, capable of channeling others' suffering onto himself and granting them a new life.

Just as it was recorded in the Holy Scripture: “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

After this incident, Lu Li remained bedridden for a full two and a half days before the pain completely vanished. However, he didn't regret the decision he had made back then. After all, he had gained a fiercely loyal subordinate from it—the High Knight, Alissa.

Indeed, she was the “assassin” prisoner from that day. Though she had looked incredibly disheveled and wretched back then with her hair wild and messy, she was actually quite delicate and pretty. Her jet-black hair reminded Lu Li of his younger sister back home.

“Alissa, who is stronger, you or Anthelia?” Lu Li asked when he had nothing to do.

Wearing casual clothes, the woman lowered her eyes slightly and replied with a serious face upon hearing his question, “Commander Anthelia is naturally stronger.”

Despite her young age, Anthelia was a famous genius knight within the Holy Court. She had already been promoted to High Knight before graduating from the Knight Academy, and upon graduation, she became the Commander of the Holy Knights in one fell swoop.

“Anthelia should be a High Knight as well, right?” Lu Li recalled her mentioning it once, sounding rather proud of it.

“Holy See, there is a gap even among High Knights. Ordinary knights like myself are at the absolute bottom of the High Knights.” Alissa's tone was relatively calm, but her expression carried a hint of sadness.

She had never been a genius. Climbing all the way from a Low Knight to a High Knight, she had experienced brutal battles every single step of the way.

“Who said that?”

“In my eyes, you are the best knight.”

As Lu Li spoke, he shifted his head to a softer, more comfortable spot on the woman's thighs. Resting his head on her lap while soaking in the sun—could any other knight do this?

Alissa said nothing, but her gaze softened. The sunlight fell upon her long eyelashes, casting a faint shadow.

...

“Do I look ugly when I smile?” Julia asked the knight following her, squeezing out a forced smile.

Looking at the smile, which resembled the expression her great-grandmother wore right before returning to Heaven, the knight shook her head, thoroughly against her own conscience, “No, it's not ugly.”

“Not ugly...”

Julia quietly chewed on those words for a moment, then withdrew her smile, issuing an order as if nothing had happened:

“Have the Templar Knights teach those fellows in the north a lesson. If necessary, they may deploy the Holy Relics. Furthermore, inform the lords of the various nations that the Kingdom of Northland attempted to assassinate the Holy See, and the Holy See has decreed that they mobilize their forces to subjugate the Kingdom of Northland.”

The knight acknowledged the order and departed.

As for Julia, she walked over to a quicksilver mirror, pulling at the corners of her mouth over and over again.

“It looks alright! Actually, I should seem pretty approachable, right?” she muttered quietly.

Very soon, chaos erupted in the north of the continent. The news of the Pope's assassination spread rapidly like a wildfire.

Bang!!!

Inside the palace of Northland, facing the report from the vassals, the monarch, Ragna Rowe, slammed a hand on the table and stood up in rage. “Slander! This is pure slander!”