“Miss Haukekai??” Fennia was also extremely shocked to see that honey-haired girl here.

As one of the Church of the Dawn’s most famous great families, both Fennia and Amisha naturally recognized this Haukekai Family’s eldest daughter—gifted, virtuous, and widely praised.

“Mm... mm?” Vanessa only felt that she’d abruptly lost support and dropped, and then a wave of fragrance swept in—wrapping around her as she was pulled into a land of milk and honey.

Sweet, cloying honey mixed with the faint, elegant scent of dandelion rushed into her nose. Soft honey-colored hair, smooth as satin, brushed across her cheek. When the weakened Vanessa opened her eyes again, she found those two “white marshmallows,” sweeter than honey, right up close—so close they were practically touching her face. She didn’t know if it was her imagination, but they seemed to carry a faint milky scent. Mixed with the nectar fragrance clinging to Luna’s hair, it blended into something intoxicating—like being lost in a sea of flowers.

“Long time no see, Miss Vanessa. Or should I call you... Lady Saintess~?” That familiar voice snapped Vanessa’s awareness fully awake. She lifted her gaze—and crashed straight into those sacred platinum cross-shaped pupils.

Peach-heart eyes, as alluring as reflected cherry blossoms, met the radiant, luxurious platinum cross eyes in that instant.

“Huh? Vanessa?” Hearing Luna call her that, Amisha and Fennia both looked blank.

They looked at Vanessa, then looked at Luna.

Lady Saintess and Lady ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ Luna... they knew each other??

No way. Wasn’t Lady Saintess supposed to have been hiding her identity the whole time? How could she let anyone else know? Could it be that all this time, Lady Luna had been protecting and helping Lady Saintess in secret??

Fennia and Amisha exchanged a look. Luna didn’t seem to be on Foreno’s side, but they still couldn’t figure out Luna’s true purpose. After all, Luna was the Haukekai Family’s eldest daughter—and the Haukekai Family was one of the Church of the Dawn’s great families. In other words, they were extremely close to the Pope.

Fennia had already realized the Church of the Dawn wasn’t as bright and glorious as she’d imagined—but she hadn’t expected the inside to be this dark, corrupt, and rotten.

If she thought in the worst direction... were there even more shadows inside the Church that she still didn’t know about??

There was an old saying: once you see pests and rats being born in one corner of a house, it means the whole house has already been almost completely occupied by them.

This former naive knight who only knew how to recite doctrine was starting to grow. At least now she understood—she couldn’t trust just anyone anymore. Especially not the forces within the Church of the Dawn. Nobody knew what anyone else was plotting.

As for Amisha, she clearly knew far more truth than Fennia did. After all, before her [Immaculate Eyes], very few people could avoid being seen through. In fact, it was Amisha who had told Fennia many things—things Fennia only learned because Amisha said them.

Of course, there were still people who could hide well enough not to be seen through by [Immaculate Eyes]. Just as Foreno had said—sometimes [Immaculate Eyes] could actually mislead Amisha’s judgment, because she relied on it too much.

Compared to Fennia, Amisha trusted Luna far more. Luna’s “base colors” were also complicated, and one of them was very deep and heavy. Amisha didn’t know what that color meant—but the colors were clearly separated. There wasn’t that muddled, chaotic mix where everything blended together until you couldn’t tell one from another. And there wasn’t any filthy, polluted color either—though one of the colors did look strange.

Even so... that alone was better than many people in the church. At least there was no “dirty” component in Luna’s base color.

“Wait—Vanessa?” Amisha and Fennia stared at each other.

Compared to the male name Vinny, Vanessa was obviously a girl’s name.

“So Vanessa is Lady Saintess’s real name?” Both Amisha and Fennia instinctively thought that.

Vanessa was just as stunned to see who it was—especially because she was being held in a princess carry, which made her feel embarrassingly shy.

And more importantly... 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

Why was she here?? Did she know her secret??

And how did she recognize her??

Every time Vanessa had interacted with Luna, she’d been wearing disguise contact lenses.

“You... are?”

“At a time like this, pretending you don’t know me is unnecessary, isn’t it? Besides—Lady Saintess seemed a little out of it earlier.” Watching Vanessa’s expression changes from start to finish, Luna smiled brightly, though it was unclear what exactly she was pointing at.

Vanessa immediately remembered her earlier loss of composure—how the moment she opened her eyes while being held, her gaze had gotten sucked in by those irresistibly eye-catching “white marshmallows.”

Of course—this was force majeure, wasn’t it? She opened her eyes and the first thing she saw was two lumps of white slime. How could she not look??

Even so, thin-skinned Vanessa still couldn’t help the faint peach-pink blush spreading over her cheeks, and she silently looked away.

“Shop owner—Miss. Why are you here?”

“Huh? You’re still calling me ‘shop owner—Miss’? Didn’t you call me ‘classmate’ before?” Luna smiled.

“?!” Vanessa’s expression shifted. She’d expected this outcome, but she still couldn’t accept it cleanly.

Fine.

As for how Luna recognized her... it was probably because Luna’s family was one of the Haukekai Family—the Church of the Dawn’s pillar families. Maybe they had some special method.

And Luna shouldn’t be hostile toward her.

If Luna had sensed her identity a long time ago and meant her harm... then why had she repeatedly helped her?

Vanessa looked toward Foreno.

His face was dark. Clearly, he hadn’t expected a situation like this. He was the one representing the Pope’s interests and power—or rather, his own selfish desire aligned with what benefited the Pope. Luna rescuing Vanessa right in front of him was of no benefit to the Pope at all—only dangerous.

“Oh my. Truly unexpected.” Foreno narrowed his small eyes again, leaning on his staff. A meaningful gleam leaked out. “The Haukekai Family’s eldest daughter—one of the Church of the Dawn’s pillar families—publicly defying the Church.”

“If the Pope learns of this, I’m afraid the entire Haukekai Family will fall under suspicion... and suffer collateral damage.”

“Lady Luna, the Pope has always respected the Haukekai Family. I didn’t expect you to have no intention of standing with the Church as one. I wonder what your respected father—the Haukekai Family’s head—will think when he learns what you’ve done, and whether he’ll support your choice.” Foreno shook his head, wearing an expression of regret.

“Personally, I don’t want to see such a powerful family vanish from the stage of history for no clear reason.”

“Lord Foreno, are you that certain?” Luna chuckled. “What if I’m here to compete with you for the merit?”

“Merit... Lady Luna, you’re too kind. You and I are both clergy of the Church of the Dawn. We both serve the Church, the Pope, and the Goddess. Why should we fight over merit for everything? As if whoever does more loses out.” Foreno remained smiley-eyed, speaking as though he truly had only the Church’s interests at heart.

“As long as you stand on the Church’s side, that’s enough. After all, in all matters, one should consider the Church and the family more, shouldn’t one?” Foreno smiled and nodded at Luna.

“In the past, I’m afraid I wouldn’t even have had the chance or qualification to speak face-to-face with Lady Luna. To be able to cooperate today is my honor.”

“Lady Luna, you absolutely can’t hand the Saintess to him!” Fennia blurted out.

“Oh my, little attendant Fennia. I thought what I said earlier would hit your heart. And yet you still didn’t understand? You really are too young.”

“You won’t even think for yourself—at least think for your family, won’t you? After all, little attendant Fennia, you’re not like grassroots people like me. Your family is a knightly family subordinate to the Church.”

“Cleric Foreno,” Luna spoke at that moment, “you’ve thought for everyone—except the Goddess, except the living beings.”

At those words, Foreno’s smile gradually tightened.

Those squinting eyes opened completely.

His mouth still curled upward, but there was not the slightest warmth in it. In those small eyes was something that made your scalp go numb.

“I originally hoped Lady Luna could persuade these ignorant juniors. You know more than they do. And yet—unexpectedly—you’re also one of the stubbornly deluded.”

Hearing that, Vanessa watched Luna’s profile in silence.

She was thinking—when exactly did Luna...

“Who would’ve guessed it.” Foreno’s tone grew colder. “The Haukekai Family has been loyal to the Church of the Dawn for generations... and yet this generation produced a rebel.”

“Then I can only take all of you back—and deliver you to the Pope for judgment.” With that, Foreno raised his staff. “Lady Luna, forgive me.”

Luna turned and handed Vanessa into Fennia’s arms.

“Miss Fennia. Lady Saintess—I’ll leave her to you.”

“Yes! I understand. Don’t worry. No matter what, I won’t let Lady Saintess be hurt. Thank you, Lady Luna.” Seeing that Luna stood on their side, Fennia finally let out a breath of relief. Grateful, she braced her sword to the side and took Vanessa.

Vanessa was light. For Fennia—someone trained in combat—picking her up was easy. With the soft Saintess in her arms, a scent of white tea blossoms and lavender curled around her nose, making Fennia’s cheeks heat.

She knew now wasn’t the time to think about this, but—

It was the Saintess.

A living Saintess.

One day, she had actually held the real Lady Saintess in her arms! And she had become the Saintess’s loyal, devoted knight—her guardian!

In that moment, Fennia felt her sense of mission overflow.

“No need to thank me. You only need to know our goals align.” As Luna spoke, she glanced at Vanessa.

She also drew her staff.

It was a delicate platinum staff with a floating light-energy gemstone set at its center.

Vanessa could tell at a glance the tier of that platinum staff was at least a [Magic Tool].

Vanessa tried once again to cast healing magic on herself—and found she still couldn’t.

The mana inside her body churned like boiling water, turbulent and chaotic. She simply couldn’t marshal it to cast.

Was it the lingering effect of the toxins smeared on that natural-element plant magic from earlier?

Or was it because she’d consumed too much blood to release [All-Gods Consecration Flame]?

Toxins that could make the whole body go limp and throw mana into disorder... natural-element magic had all sorts of tricks. Every type existed.

Foreno had clearly come prepared.

And his natural-element affinity was probably not low.

“Miss Luna, can you use healing to help me detox?” Unable to heal herself, Vanessa could only ask Luna.

“If I could do that, I would’ve chosen to do it at the start, Lady Saintess.” Luna let out a light sigh and shook her head. “But right now, I can’t cast any healing at all.”

She couldn’t use healing?

Why??

It was absurd. Everyone here had a Spirit Soul that was clearly [Saint’s Envoy]—and aside from the enemy, not a single one of them could use healing.

Luna’s Spirit Soul was [Saint’s Envoy] too. Fennia and Amisha couldn’t cast because they had no mana left, but what was Luna’s situation??

Vanessa suddenly thought of something.

Luna had also been fighting her way through this world. She probably wasn’t at full strength either. During that time, she might have used spells Vanessa didn’t know about—leading to this state.

“Get as far away as you can.” Before Vanessa could think further, Luna gave the order. Those platinum cross pupils stared silently at Foreno. Anyone could tell she was serious now.

“Lady Luna, you’re making it hard for them.” Foreno suddenly chuckled. “You should know very well—none of you are leaving today.”

With that, Foreno planted his staff heavily into the ground.

Centered on the staff, golden patterns spread. A gigantic magic array was rapidly drawn, covering everyone.

“This... is?” Fennia’s eyes widened. The moment the array descended, she felt the surrounding environment shift.

“Go on,” Foreno said, leaning on his staff. “Try to run out if you can.”

“Miss Fennia, Miss Amisha—protect Lady Saintess. Don’t touch the edge of the array.” Luna explained. “Or you’ll be burned by light magic.”

“This is... [Judgment Prison].” Amisha recognized the name of the light magic. “It’s a high-grade [Saint’s Envoy] that only Master-realm can learn. And among the Spirit Soul [Saint’s Envoy], it’s an array-type spell with the lowest learning threshold.”

“People inside the array can’t get out. People outside can’t get in. If you touch the edge of the array, you’ll be burned to ash by the light magic—unless you’re the caster.”

“How can this—?!” Fennia grit her teeth.

“Lady Saintess, are you feeling better?” Amisha came closer. Her mana had recovered a little—enough to cast healing.

But the golden glow couldn’t stay on Vanessa for long before it scattered.

“Looks like... it still won’t work.” Amisha sighed softly. Even in a high-level situation like this, her realm was simply too low.

Vanessa stared solemnly at Luna’s back.

Could Luna win against Foreno?

By Vanessa’s judgment... it was too uncertain. Almost impossible.

No matter how mediocre Foreno’s talent was, he was still in the Master realm. The gap between Master realm and Magus realm was enormous. No matter how strong Luna’s talent was, if she hadn’t reached Master realm, she had no fight.

And Luna was only a second-year.

Even Mirexia—one of the Destiny Heroines, and also a second-year—was still a step away from Master realm. How could Luna possibly be in the Master realm?

Not everyone was a Destiny Heroine like Aesphyra—someone who, back when she was a Junior Magus, could chase down fanatics even stronger than Master realm and beat them into the dirt.

That woman was a freak—every affinity at Excellent, fire-element affinity breaking through the limit, a perfectly-rounded monster, two Spirit Souls, double-core, double-drive—an outright cheater. How could ordinary prodigies compare??

At that moment, Vanessa couldn’t help thinking—

If Aesphyra were here, Foreno would be beaten until he started doubting his entire life.

Only after a moment did she realize what she’d just thought.

Why, at the most critical moment—was the first person she thought of that white-haired nutball??