In this world, if you wanted to live well, you had to be ruthless!
If you couldn't have it, no one else could either!
Lovene strongly agreed with this view, but on the surface, she could only furrow her brows slightly to express a hint of displeasure, drawing a soft sigh from the bishop.
He sighed at how she was too kind, too naive, and did not understand the cruelty of the world.
But he couldn't say too much. After all, such pure fruit was perhaps what the Lord of the Morning Light loved most. Otherwise, why would every generation of the church's Saintesses be so pure and kind?
Having finished explaining everything, Lovene prepared to head to the parish to get some proper rest. However, a Church Knight appeared in front of her at that moment, stopping her in her tracks.
“Wait a moment, Lady Saintess.”
He wore the standard light armor of a Church Knight, polished and bright, but a special longsword insignia was etched onto his shoulder guard. If Lovene guessed correctly, this signified a Knight Captain.
The man before her was a Knight Captain.
“And you are?”
“I am Seth's brother, Morris, one of the Knight Captains of the Church of the Morning Light stationed in Sido territory.”
Morris did not waste words. After introducing himself, he took half a step forward, looking down at Lovene, and demanded:
“Why I am looking for you is very simple. How did my brother, Seth, die?”
Lovene looked taken aback.
“Seth... is dead?”
Her voice rose slightly at the end of the sentence—not too much, just enough to make her tone sound highly surprised. Coupled with her slightly shocked expression, she perfectly played the role of someone who was completely in the dark.
Morris paused, asking with a hint of suspicion:
“...You didn't know?”
Lovene slowly shook her head, biting her thin lip slightly as if in deep thought:
“I'm not sure. When I left the territory, he went to investigate the contamination. I don't know what happened to him after that.”
There was a trace of hesitation in her voice, as if she also wasn't sure if the news she had just heard was true. Behind her, Mia quietly released her clenched fists and relaxed.
When Morris had first spoken, her heart had tightened, thinking they were at risk of being exposed. But the words Her Highness spoke immediately excluded them from being the culprits!
She truly believed Seth had gone to investigate the contamination, which was why she showed such genuine bewilderment upon hearing of his death. This kind of emotion couldn't be faked at all.
As expected, not telling Her Highness the truth was the right choice!
It was just a bit unfair to Her Highness to keep her in the dark...
But to protect Her Highness, it was all worth it!
“Investigating the contamination?”
Morris couldn't help but let out a cold sneer.
Others might not know what kind of character his brother had, but how could he, as his older brother, not know?
At the mere sight of contamination, Seth would run faster than anyone. How could he possibly investigate it himself?
The Saintess before him was either lying, or... she had also been deceived.
Morris leaned toward the former.
His intuition had always been very sharp. No one who could survive and resolve a territory's contamination was simple, let alone this Saintess who didn't even possess mana.
She was definitely not simple.
Perhaps Seth was killed by her!
“Lady Saintess, I will send people to Oswell territory later for a detailed investigation. If you lied, and Seth died by your hand, you know the consequences.”
As he said this, his eyes stared intently at Lovene, attempting to catch a trace of a tell on her face, but he failed.
In Lovene's eyes, there was only worry and confusion, even mixed with a hint of comfort.
Comfort for his loss of a loved one?
Morris snorted coldly, feeling an inexplicable wave of annoyance in his heart.
The bishop nearby walked over and stood in front of him, raising his eyebrow slightly.
“Morris, are you threatening the Lady Saintess?”
Morris released his grip on the hilt of his sword and bowed to the bishop:
“I wouldn't dare. It is just that my brother worked tirelessly for the church, and he shouldn't have met such an end.”
“Worked tirelessly?”
The bishop scoffed:
“Stop putting on an act in front of me. Do you think I don't know what kind of character you two have? The Lady Saintess is not someone you can threaten. If there is anything to discuss, wait until the investigation is clear. For now, get lost!”
The bishop did not mince words with the Church Knight Captain at all. Morris didn't get angry either; he merely cast a dark look at Lovene, turned, and walked out of the cathedral.
Once he had vanished, the bishop put his hands behind his back and said flatly:
“The Lady Saintess need not mind him. The Church Knights here are used to being arrogant and look down on everyone. It is better for you to focus on competing for the holy relic right now. Do not concern yourself with other matters.”
With that, he also turned and left the cathedral.
Lovene nodded slightly, then narrowed her eyes.
She was the Saintess of the church. According to her status within the church, her authority was far above that of a local bishop. Since when could a bishop of this level order her around?
By saying those words, he likely wanted her to recognize her true position, ensuring she wouldn't harbor any thoughts of resisting the church and would obediently play her part as the sacrificed fruit.
Indeed, before it could be definitively proven that she hadn't killed Seth, the bishop had still grown suspicious, doubting her persona as a Saintess.
However, Lovene didn't care about this.
Soldiers would be blocked by generals, and water would be covered by earth. Besides, the bishop was only suspicious. As long as he lacked evidence, she, Lovene, would remain that gentle, kind, and flawless Saintess.
On the other side, Morris returned to the knight training grounds.
His face was extremely grim. No matter what, he refused to believe that Seth had gone to investigate the contamination. Even if Seth really had done so, he must have been forced into it.
A culprit—there must be a real culprit who killed Seth.
A knight came up to his side and saluted. Morris waved his hand and commanded coldly:
“Go to Oswell territory. I want the most detailed information possible.”
“Yes, sir.”
The knight nodded and instantly vanished from the spot.
This time, he didn't just want to know Seth's itinerary; he wanted to know exactly what Seth had done in the territory and whom he had met!
...
After resting for a day, Lovene began her investigation into the territory's contamination the following morning.
Since the contamination had appeared, six people in the territory had been killed. She spent the entire morning visiting the residences of those victims and discovered they were all wealthy individuals.
Not only that, but the families of all six victims refused her investigation. The first three families would at least speak to her through a crack in the door, while the last three merely gave a brief response from inside and refused to say anything more.
Their reasons were all the same: they said someone had already investigated, and there was no need to look into it further.
Standing on the steps in front of the sixth household, she looked down at the paper in her palm, which was filled with information about the victims, and couldn't help but feel a sense of helplessness.
Without cooperation, it was very difficult to investigate.
As she tucked the paper away and turned to walk down the steps, the shadow of a young girl appeared at her feet.
“Are you the Saintess of the Church of the Morning Light, Lovene? Just arrived in Sido territory?”
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