That night, a carriage quietly left the camp and traveled along the edge of the golden curtain until it disappeared beyond the horizon without drawing anyone’s notice.

Time kept flowing. The sun rose and set. And when dawn arrived, the people in the camp woke one after another from their sleep.

It had not been a comfortable night’s rest. Most of the people here had shared a nightmare—terrifying and vivid. Countless demonic beasts bared their fangs in that dream, every detail lifelike enough that one could almost still recall the rank stench pouring from those blood-filled jaws.

After all, for the people here, that nightmare was not merely a dream. It was also undeniably an extension of reality, an afterimage of fear... because in their memories, just yesterday, for some unknown reason, a massive beast riot had broken out across this plain. The beast tide had come crashing in like a tsunami, and if the Church had not arrived in time, they would surely already have become bloody feed in the mouths of those savage creatures.

"Ah... thank you, Goddess..."

In the dim morning light, some of the Goddess’s believers had already begun their morning prayers, and even some who did not follow the Goddess offered sincere thanks to the nuns around them.

There were even quite a few who knelt devoutly before that golden curtain, as though it were a miracle sent down by the Goddess herself, as though kneeling before the golden curtain was the same as kneeling before the Goddess.

"It seems the Church’s work here is finished."

Liya lifted the carriage curtain and shifted her gaze away from those believers, spotting several Imperial Royal Knights moving through the camp.

They were reorganizing the formation.

According to the orders Muen had left behind, those who were mentally exhausted and had already lost the will to fight would be sent back directly, given the pay they were owed, and returned to Belrand.

As for those who still had the will to fight and wished to go further, they would be gathered again and remain stationed here to await further orders.

And as for what the next step would be... that would depend on the report sent back by the carriage that had left ahead of everyone else for Notasia Fortress. That matter had nothing to do with the Church anymore.

"We should be leaving soon as well."

Liya cast a sidelong glance. "Are you ready?"

"...I don’t need you ordering me around."

Another cold voice rang out inside the carriage.

"So arrogant."

Liya lifted her chin and harrumphed.

"But I still advise you to wipe that sour look off your face. If someone accuses you of disrespecting the Saintess, I won’t save you then."

"I don’t need you # Nоvеlight # to save me either."

"Hmph. If Muen hadn’t asked me, I wouldn’t have helped you in the first place. Just try not to cause any trouble."

Liya stood first and lifted the carriage curtain as she stepped outside.

"Your Holiness!"

Outside the carriage, the two little nuns were still standing guard there. They had not slept at all last night, yet nourished by Holy Light, their spirits were still full, without the slightest sign of fatigue.

That was the greatness of Holy Light. It was said that some of the astrologers in the Astrologer Hall could work overtime for three straight months, as long as they drank one bottle of nutritional potion a day and slept for three hours.

If Holy Light magic were capable of fully restoring mental power, they probably would not have needed even those three hours of sleep.

"Has your important business been finished, Your Holiness?" The two little nuns hurried forward and bowed, their expressions full of excitement.

"Important business... ah, of course."

Liya’s little face froze for a moment before she remembered that the excuse she had made up yesterday was that she had something important to do inside the carriage... though it was not really made up either, because for her, making out with her dear Muen was indeed an important matter that had to be seized whenever possible.

After all, with her status, opportunities to be intimate with Muen were genuinely rare.

"My business is finished. Thank you, both of you. You are excellent followers of the Goddess."

Liya returned the salute with flawless elegance.

The soft, warm morning sunlight was not as sweet as the smile resting at the corner of her lips at that moment. With her hands folded over her lower abdomen, she seemed wrapped head to toe in an aura of holy nobility.

"Your Holiness..."

The two little nuns were already moved to tears. They had never imagined that low-ranking nobodies like themselves would one day receive praise from so sacred and elegant a Saintess.

They could die without regrets now.

【What a hypocrite. Last night you were the one throwing yourself into a man’s arms and begging for it...】

【Shut up. You have no right to talk, you slutty little maid!】

"Huh... who is this?"

Only then did the two little nuns finally notice the girl stepping down from the carriage behind Liya.

Both of them froze for a second.

Because... how stunning was this?

The girl was dressed in a Church nun’s habit, but although it was the same style of clothing, on her it somehow gave off an entirely different effect. Every crease had been smoothed flat. Every sway of the hem landed at exactly the right angle. She looked like a perfectly arranged display piece set in the most conspicuous place of a tailor’s shop.

Even more striking than the clothing was the girl’s bearing. Her face was flawless and beautiful, her expression dignified and serene, and her hair had been gathered neatly behind her head without the slightest disorder. Every detail seemed like the work of a master artist. Her waist and back were held perfectly straight, and even her steps looked as if they had been measured with a ruler, each one exactly the same length.

Though she was walking behind the Saintess, the force of presence radiating from her was not inferior in the least to that of the Holy Light-wreathed Liya.

"Y-you..." One of the little nuns even started stammering, clearly shaken by the sudden appearance of such a flawlessly beautiful girl.

"Let me introduce her. This is An, who will be temporarily serving as my attendant nun from here on."

Liya was not only introducing her to the two little nuns, but also to the clergy nearby.

As an unfamiliar face, An should originally have gone through a strict screening process before appearing at the Saintess’s side. But since it was the Saintess herself appointing her as an attendant nun... the surrounding clergy exchanged looks, then in the end still nodded politely to An.

【See? Everyone here listens to me. If I gave the order to have them seize you and punish you harshly, it would be easy.】

【Before that, I’d deal with you first, you little pest.】

【Such a stubborn mouth, Miss Maid.】

【If not for Young Master’s order, I would have crushed you to death ten times over already.】

【Hmph. It seems Miss An still hasn’t understood her position.】

"Well then, since everyone’s acquainted now, let’s get to work."

Liya clapped her hands and casually gave the order,

"But... An, before we set off, go brew me a pot of tea first."

"Tea...?"

"That’s right. I drink tea every morning."

Liya tilted her head, smiling with innocent sweetness. "Tea-drinking is also a required discipline for a Saintess. And naturally, what I drink is not ordinary tea."

"The tea leaves must be spring tea from the Holy City. There’s some in the luggage, so you won’t need to prepare that. The most important part is the water for brewing."

"The water must be morning dew, and it has to be dew gathered within one hour after sunrise. You are not allowed to use magic to collect it either. You must gather it by hand, drop by drop. Only then does it have the proper elegance."

"And it all has to be collected within five minutes, because our group will be departing in half an hour. We can’t afford any delay. Understood?"

"..."

After enduring the whole speech, a vein throbbed in An’s forehead. "You—" 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

"Don't forget your current role," Liya said, still smiling.

"..."

Deep breaths. Deep breaths.

She absolutely could not forget the breeding expected of Young Master’s personal maid!

An’s chest rose and fell sharply. She nearly exhausted her entire mind just to forcibly suppress the surging fury in her heart.

Though in her mind she had already killed the pest in front of her hundreds, thousands of times, with a slight flick of her gaze An could clearly sense that many powerful eyes were currently fixed on this place.

She could not move. As the woman herself had said, she was still, after all, the Saintess.

【Don’t get smug. Sooner or later, I’ll repay this.】

【Hehe, say that again once your mental power recovers, Miss An—who was abandoned by Muen because her combat strength still hasn’t fully recovered.】

【You...】

An’s breathing quickened again. Even though she knew the reason Young Master had forcibly left her behind was not abandonment at all, but because in her current state—with her mental power drained dry—she truly was not suited to taking risks...

For An, as Young Master’s personal maid, being unable to help him and instead being forced to act together with some little pest was a humiliation almost beyond endurance!

It was even more humiliating than what had happened on the bed before!

"Very well, Your Holiness."

But An still endured it.

Because if she could not endure even this small humiliation, then how could she ever become Young Master’s perfect personal maid?

"I’ll go prepare the tea right away. Please wait."

"Huh?"

Liya had not expected An to actually obey so docilely, and a trace of surprise appeared on her face.

"Just in case, let me ask in advance—you’re not going to poison my tea, are you?"

"Why would I?"

An smiled with quiet dignity. "I am your... attendant nun, after all."

"..."

Five minutes later.

To Liya’s surprise, An really had brewed a pot of tea with the morning dew in that short span of time.

"Here, please..."

An presented the teacup with both hands. Whether it was her tea-making or her etiquette, there was not the slightest flaw. She was so practiced that she seemed genuinely like Liya’s attendant nun, as though she had served her for quite some time already.

Liya remained suspicious, but she could find no reason to refuse anymore and could only take it.

"There’s really no poison in this?"

"Your Holiness must be joking again. How could I possibly poison it?"

"Just so we’re clear in advance, poison won’t work on me."

"I already told you, there’s no poison."

"..."

Liya stayed on guard again and again, inspected it again and again, hesitated for quite a while, and finally chose to tilt her head back and take a sip.

Then—

"It’s good..."

Her beautiful eyes widened slightly in surprise.

The tea was still spring tea from the Holy City, and although the water was dew, anyone with a bit of common sense knew dew was no different from ordinary water. That had merely been Liya making things difficult for An on purpose.

And yet somehow, the familiar tea brewed by An’s hand really was two parts more fragrant than what Liya normally drank—better even than Lin’s.

Why? The heat? The temperature? The steeping time?

And most importantly... there really was no poison?

"Tastes good, doesn’t it?"

An smiled kindly. "I have a fair bit of confidence in my tea-making, especially black tea. Even Young Master used to praise it highly. Though he hasn’t had black tea in a long time."

"..."

Liya blinked, still a little unwilling to believe that this slutty little maid had really chosen to submit so easily.

Hadn’t she been shouting the whole time about cleaning out pests?

Was she just not resisting anymore?

Hoho. Looks like she was intimidated by the majesty of me, the Saintess, and had finally realized resistance was useless.

Then what should Liya make her do next to trouble her? Drive the carriage? Walk all the way to the Kingdom? Or maybe massage her feet?

The more Liya thought about it, the more excited she became. Even without actually doing anything yet, she could already picture An’s dignified mask breaking apart while massaging her feet!

But before that, there was nothing wrong with savoring this fragrant cup of tea in her hand as a symbol of her stage-by-stage victory—

"Your Holiness, your movement is not quite elegant enough..."

Suddenly, however, Liya felt a pair of cold, strong hands clamp tightly around her arm.

"When drinking tea, your upper body should remain still, and the upper arm should remain still as well. Only the wrist should exert force to bring the cup upward. That way the posture is elegant enough, isn’t it?"

【Y-you... what are you trying to do?】

Liya stared in shock at An, who had suddenly stepped close and seized her arm, inwardly thinking that this slutty little maid had finally been unable to endure the humiliation after all and was about to charge at her for a three-hundred-round battle.

【Nothing.】

An answered with her eyes as well.

【I simply remembered something... as your attendant nun, I should be allowed to instruct you in etiquette, shouldn’t I?】

【...】

Liya’s pupils contracted slightly. She abruptly turned to look around. Because of her status, people normally would not casually disturb her, but those powerful clergymen responsible for her safety did not seem especially shocked or angry at An’s "disrespectful" action. On the contrary, they were nodding as though it made perfect sense.

"Hm, it seems this time Your Holiness’s attendant nun is very strict about etiquette."

"Yes, yes. Although Her Holiness’s etiquette is already very good, as the Saintess, there’s nothing wrong with making it even more perfect."

"Lin was too soft-hearted..."

"Haha, being a little strict with Her Holiness now and then is good too."

From a distance, Liya heard those conversations.

"Your Holiness, is something wrong?"

Liya turned back stiffly, only to discover that the smile on An’s lovely face had become brighter than ever before.

"Since there are still twenty minutes before departure, let’s make good use of the time and do more etiquette training. After all, we’ll be dealing with the upper ranks of the Kingdom soon. We can’t afford to fall short in this area, can we...?"

"W-wait..."

"Wait for what? Pull in your stomach, lift your chest, raise your head!"

"You—"

"Straighten your back. I want it straight as if you were tied to a post and paraded through the streets! And pull your lower abdomen in tighter!"

"It already is as tight as—"

"Tighter! A Saintess with a waist that thick—aren’t you ashamed of yourself, you pig of a Saintess?!"

"Ugh..."

The voices of the Saintess and her "attendant nun" were sealed within a very small area, and only a few Church powerhouses could hear them.

But no matter who it was, none of them felt offended by certain specific words in those sentences. Instead, they merely smiled and shook their heads as though watching a child.

It seemed this journey would not be dull or boring in the slightest...

...

...

"I suddenly feel like I really am a genius sometimes."

Sitting inside the carriage, Muen thought over the arrangements he had made earlier. The corner of his lips curved slightly upward, and he could not help feeling a trace of admiration for himself.

An and Liya did not get along. Ordinarily, the obvious thing to do would have been to separate them. But he had gone in the opposite direction and made the two of them work together for the time being.

The foremost reason, of course, was that An had overdrawn her Divine Favor in the earlier battle, leaving her mental power nearly squeezed dry. Even with Holy Light magic, it was impossible for her to recover fully in so short a time. In that condition, staying with the Church’s group was undoubtedly the safest option.

And as for the secondary reason, Muen wanted the two of them to get used to each other and put their conflict aside. Otherwise, if every meeting turned into another battlefield of jealous chaos, who could endure that?

Of course, Muen had not thrown them together without thinking. By making An Liya’s attendant nun, and because Liya would be under the protection of powerful Church figures wherever she went, even if An desperately wanted to clean out the pest, she would not dare make a reckless move.

As for Liya... given her temperament, at most she would make things a little difficult for An and play a few small pranks.

So in Muen’s view, the two of them absolutely had the potential to resolve their conflict. He simply hoped that during this journey, they would manage to obtain the treasure known as "tacit understanding," no longer glaring at each other as enemies, but becoming good sisters who could get along in peace.

"I hope it won’t just be An and Liya—hopefully everyone else can get along peacefully too. If that happens... then even if I have to suffer a little by only being on the bottom, I guess I could accept it."

Muen silently offered a prayer to the Goddess.

"Young Master Muen, we’re almost there."

"Mhm. I know."

After praying, Muen’s mind quickly returned to reality, and he thoroughly tossed aside the thoughts from just now.

It was time to deal with serious business.

Muen pulled back the carriage curtain. A massive shadow loomed over him at once, completely blotting out the gentle morning sunlight.

Squinting his eyes, he finally made out the writing on the broken wall in the distance.

"Notasia... so you’re still standing after all."