The Secret of Paradise

Fiona withdrew her gaze upon hearing those words.

She felt that what Olivia said was correct; such a large sum of money wasn't something the Rose Legion could simply take away whenever they pleased.

The Rose Legion had arranged for undercovers to enter the church for much deeper purposes; they couldn't risk everything for a mere few million Belu.

Thinking of this, she said, "Olivia, you've done well. It seems I'll need to prepare a few strongholds on Annus Street."

Olivia recalled the conversation they had the last time they met.

Back then, she had suggested that Fiona establish new strongholds near Daylight Cathedral to make it easier for her to negotiate. In reality, she wanted to bring the Rose Legion's bases within the magic mirror's range of control to learn more about the organization.

At the time, Fiona had clearly been somewhat resistant, unwilling to get too close to Daylight Cathedral.

Now, Fiona was more inclined to establish strongholds on Annus Street.

Olivia no longer cared.

'Now Annus Street is within the magic mirror's range of control—and it's not just Annus Street. Having the Rose Legion's strongholds on Annus Street is a quite favorable outcome for me.'

Olivia's eyes flickered.

"By the way, are you a Sensate now?" Fiona asked.

When Olivia mentioned the clash between the Twilight Council and the church earlier, it was inevitable that this point would come up.

Olivia nodded.

"How unexpected. Your advancement on the transcendent path is far too fast. I feel like it wasn't that long ago that I arranged for you to enter the monastery. Yet in the blink of an eye, your class rank has already reached the level of a Sensate."

Speaking of this, Fiona couldn't help but sigh with emotion, and the look she gave Olivia held a hint of something different.

She hadn't expected this girl to be such a genius. Normally, a genius of this caliber shouldn't have been sent out to perform high-risk undercover work.

But at this stage, nothing could be changed.

"It's just good luck. Besides... the faster I advance within the church, the better it is for the organization, isn't it?" Olivia smiled slightly.

"It's good that you think that way," Fiona replied with a satisfied smile.

She then asked about some of the internal arrangements within the church. Olivia could only pick and choose which details to answer; she didn't want the Rose Legion to know too much they shouldn't, yet she had to reveal some necessary information to protect herself.

To be honest, this feeling of being pulled between two sides was unpleasant, making Olivia want to break away from the Rose Legion even more.

Once their exchange was nearly finished, her eyes flickered as she asked, "Lady Fiona, how many people in the Rose Legion currently know my identity? My status in the church is rising daily; there must be sufficient confidentiality regarding my identity."

Fiona affirmed, "That is only natural. Not many people knew your identity to begin with. For every bit your status in the church rises, the security clearance of your file will be upgraded."

"My file's security clearance rises as I do—does that mean that before the clearance was high, people already knew? And could those people leak the information?" Olivia said seriously. "I've worked hard to get to this point; I don't want the organization's plans to fail because of some minor accident. This matter must be handled strictly."

"Rest assured, there won't be any issues with how this is handled. If someone who shouldn't know your identity actually finds out, then such a person... will only be dealt with." A cold light flashed through Fiona's eyes.

"That's good, then. That's good." Olivia didn't say anything more.

She said those things only to prompt Fiona to look into the matter. When the time came, the relevant information might be revealed and picked up by the magic mirror, which meant she would know it too.

After all, most of the South District was now under the magic mirror's control. When Fiona dealt with these matters, she wouldn't necessarily leave the South District.

After the two talked for a while longer, Fiona stood up and departed unhurriedly.

Olivia sat there for a moment before getting up to leave as well.

...

Olivia didn't go home; instead, she headed to the hotel where Rose was staying. Since it was on the same street, it wasn't very far.

Inside the hotel room, Olivia saw Rose and Annie, whose arm was being held by Rose so firmly she couldn't break free.

Seeing Olivia, Annie's expression soured.

"Don't come hanging around in front of me if there's nothing to do. It annoys me just looking at you," Annie said grumpily.

Olivia was certain Annie meant what she said, because her anger seed sensed the angry emotions permeating the air.

She wasn't sure if it was because Annie's class rank was higher and thus more effective, but she always felt that Annie's anger promoted the growth of the anger seed much more than the anger of others.

Thoughtfully, Olivia stepped forward and ruffled Annie's hair, making Annie so angry she raised her hand to strike.

"You mustn't be a bad child," Rose said, stopping Annie's movement in time.

Under Rose's gaze, Annie felt a chill run through her body. She was forced to swallow her heart full of rage, her face turning red from the strain of holding it back.

Feeling more angry emotions entering the anger seed, Olivia nodded with satisfaction.

Olivia then turned her attention to Rose, remembering something that had bothered her before but she had forgotten to ask after meeting Rose.

She had seen Rose in Paradise once; at that time, Rose was playing on a swing inside.

"Sister Nun, is something the matter?" Rose tilted her small face up, looking at Olivia curiously.

Olivia thought for a moment and decided there was no need to beat around the bush with Rose, so she asked directly.

"Rose, have you ever entered Paradise?"

"Yes."

Rose nodded and admitted it.

"Why did you enter Paradise?"

"Is something wrong? I just heard someone inviting me in while I was sleeping once, so I went in. It's a very fun place."

There was a hint of confusion in Rose's eyes; she didn't seem to think entering Paradise was anything strange, as if it were just a park like Mangrove Park.

Olivia thought about it and said, "Did you find anything strange about Paradise?"

The way Rose described entering Paradise was the same as the other visitors, but because Rose herself was different, Olivia felt the matter might not be that simple.

Rose thought for a moment. "I... I don't think I felt anything strange. I just think it's very interesting there, like home, so I still go there every time I sleep."