The group arrived in front of the gates to this luxurious courtyard. Luna stepped up and knocked on the lock on the main door.

“A guest has arrived~?” Luna extended her jade-like hand and lightly tapped the door bar with the padlock, her tone carrying a hint of mischief and playful teasing.

How should I put it—this feeling that you could find their family’s properties and residences anywhere in the world gave Vanessa the same vibe as the Galathus Family. But the Haukekai Family was already a prominent great family to begin with. Even if it was inferior to the Galathus Family, it wouldn’t be pulled so far behind that the gap looked ridiculous.

After Luna said that, the four of them waited outside the gate for a long time. Yet they didn’t get any response.

“Eh??” Amisha widened her eyes and leaned in, scanning the scene inside the courtyard. “Did the servants inside happen to go out, and they haven’t come back yet?”

“I think so.” Luna looked at the furnishings in the courtyard, thoughtful. “It looks like someone was here before, but I don’t know why—everyone seems to have left. From the dust that’s settled on the furniture and tools... I’d say they’ve been gone for about a week.”

“Eh? They’re not coming back?”

“I don’t know. For now, I don’t know how much time we spent inside that cube translates into outside days, or how different the time flow is between the two sides.” Luna speculated. “That disaster should have swept in the entire Carillian Academy study trip—every teacher and student—including those tribal guides, and the tribal people running the tourism business at Kamov Mountain. I don’t know what’s happened to the people of Kamov City, or whether it spread to unrelated people.”

“So I also don’t know whether something happened in the family during that time and recalled them.” Luna said.

“Then aren’t we still going to have to sleep outside?”

“No need.” Luna chuckled, then walked over to a pile of flowerpots and crouched down. Kneeling on one knee, she lifted the third flowerpot from the back and found a ring of keys beneath the mat underneath.

“For a residence that isn’t considered important, to avoid the hassle of carrying too many keys when you’re out—or losing them—there’s always a spare set. And the spare keys are kept in pretty simple places.”

“Eh?!” Seeing that, all three of them wore expressions of mild shock.

“Isn’t it easy for other people to find them?” Fennia widened her eyes.

“It won’t be.” Luna explained with a light laugh. “Who would ever think the key to a Haukekai Family residence would be under a flowerpot by the front door? The moment it involves these prominent great families, everyone’s way of thinking becomes complicated. Besides, this isn’t some big deal of a place. There’s nothing valuable inside, and there aren’t any important items. Even if a petty thief breaks in, there’s nothing they can steal.”

As she spoke, Luna inserted the key into the lockhole. With a crisp CLICK, the lock popped open, and Luna pushed the door open.

“Come in.” Luna walked in front. After everyone entered the courtyard, she locked the gate again and kept the spare key on her.

“This courtyard hasn’t been cleaned for a few days, so the rooms might be a bit dirty. But it’s still better than sleeping out in the open.” Luna said.

After entering, everyone looked around curiously. And it really was just as Luna said—this residence’s layout carried a strong church flavor. The fountain, the flowerbeds, the statue of the Dawn Goddess (Facilis) built in the center, and even the large clock installed at the highest floor of the residence all made that obvious.

There were also cleaning tools placed in the courtyard, along with bags of fertilizer and tools like small shovels.

Luna used the key to open the doors to the hall, and everyone went inside.

As the owner here, Luna smoothly took indoor slippers out of the shoe cabinet and handed them to the others.

Amisha set her staff aside, took off her filthy, battle-worn student loafers with soles that were nearly destroyed, said, “Sorry to intrude,” and then carefully slid her creamy, knee-high white-socked feet into a pair of adorable sheep slippers.

Fennia couldn’t free her hands because she was holding Vanessa, so Amisha helped instead. She crouched down and gently took off Fennia’s loafers, then slipped the slippers onto her.

“Lady Saintess, should I help you take off your boots?” Fennia’s gaze shifted to Vanessa’s pair of white knee-high high-heeled boots, smeared with all kinds of mud and dust.

“This outfit I’m wearing is clothing formed by my Spirit Soul.” Vanessa explained. “I can dismiss it myself, but I only have this set.”

“Eh? This is clothing made with [Saint’s Envoy]?” A huge question mark practically appeared over Fennia’s head.

So there was magic in [Saint’s Envoy] for making clothes, too? How did she not know that?

But then she thought about it again—Vanessa was a Dawn Saintess. As a Saintess, she definitely had some other magic that ordinary [Saint’s Envoy] users couldn’t use. So she didn’t dwell on it.

“Uh, then... you...?”

“Miss Fennia, just get a pair of slippers ready for Lady Saintess. Put Lady Saintess on the sofa first.” Luna went over and took a look at the sofa. When the servants left, they’d shut all the doors and windows tight, so there was no dust on it.

“Ah, okay.” Hearing that, Fennia set Vanessa down on the sofa, handling her as if she were an invaluable work of art—careful, gentle, not daring to jostle her.

“Lady Saintess, why don’t you dismiss that clothing?” Luna suggested. “Wearing shredded fabric like that will be uncomfortable.”

“No need. Once I can move, I’ll do it myself.” Vanessa averted her gaze, a faint, not-quite-obvious flush coloring her cheeks.

“Pfft.”

“Miss Luna, what are you laughing at now?” Vanessa raised her dark brows slightly.

“Nothing, I just think Lady Saintess Vanessa is still as pure as ever.” Luna said, the teasing in her voice obvious. “You’re both girls, but you get so shy.”

“Miss Luna, please stop saying things like that. It’s troubling.” Vanessa pressed her lips together.

“Alright. Since Lady Saintess says so—by the way, my Miao Ke really likes Lady Saintess a lot.” Luna crossed her arms, smiling.

“How has Miss Miao Ke been lately?” Vanessa also thought of that ridiculously adorable demi-catfolk girl.

“Well, since I’ve been out, these days Miao Ke has been watching the shop for me.”

“Speaking of which, Lady Saintess’s affinity is really high. Not just Miao Ke—there are plenty of impressive figures on campus who’ve been drawn in by Lady Saintess.” Luna’s tone shifted, and she glanced at Fennia and Amisha at the side with a half-smile. “But... why does it seem like they’re all girls?”

How are they all girls?

The ones who play cards with me on normal days are all boys.

But Vanessa didn’t say that out loud.

They’d finally reached a safe place. At least they didn’t need to sleep out in that jungle packed with far too many species, using the sky as their blanket.

The tight knot in their chests gradually loosened into a stable, comfortable zone—and once it did, the exhaustion they’d been suppressing stacked up all at once.

After relaxing, everyone felt tired. But no one was willing to just go to sleep like this.

Everyone present was a girl. Everyone loved being clean. Especially Vanessa—she didn’t say it aloud, but her mental cleanliness obsession was the worst among them. The reason she didn’t bring it up was because she planned to wait until she recovered a little and could move again, then go wash herself.

Otherwise, it would...

“Everyone’s tired, right? Go take a bath and change into clean clothes. There are plenty of clean dresses in the master bedroom. Wear those.” Luna said.

“Okay, then...?” Fennia looked at Vanessa lying on the sofa.

“Lady Saintess, you can’t move—should I help you?”

“Miss Fennia, how are you going to help me?” Vanessa tilted her head, staring at Fennia with an odd look.

“Of course I’d help you.” Fennia didn’t continue. Her gaze slowly drifted downward, landing on those heavy “fruits” that her own lifetime-flat chest could never hope to reach.

All her life, she’d thought her childhood friend Amisha’s size was already unmatched among their peers. She hadn’t expected there was a mountain beyond a mountain, a person beyond a person—someone even bigger than Amisha.

Fennia couldn’t help swallowing. All at once, she thought of what it would mean if two girls bathed together, with one supporting the other who couldn’t move. That would definitely mean helping scrub—and that is...

She couldn’t imagine the next picture. Just thinking of a corner of it made her cheeks burn nonstop, like a heated boiler.

Th-this is too—??

No, no, no! How can she imagine something like that?! Th-this is... defiling the holy body!

Stop it already!!

Fennia screamed inside her head.

“Little Fennia, you carried Lady Saintess for so long. Hurry and go rest.” Amisha said with a face full of concern. “I’ll help Lady Saintess.”

“Um, I’m fine...”

“Alright, both of you stop. You go wash. Let me rest by myself for a while first. When I can move in a bit, I’ll go on my own.” Vanessa said.

“Eh??”

They expressed their worry about Vanessa—worrying she might lose her ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) footing and fall, and so on. But Vanessa insisted again and again, so they couldn’t push it further. They could only listen and go wash in their respective rooms.

This residence was big enough. There was a master bedroom and several side bedrooms, and each one came with its own private bathroom. It was extremely convenient.

After taking out fresh clothes, Luna yielded the master bedroom to Vanessa, while she went to other side bedrooms with Fennia and Amisha.

In the afternoon, Vanessa had recovered enough. She could finally get down and walk. She let out a breath of relief and rubbed her hair. Even after fighting for so long and getting stained with so much grime, the texture was still excellent—when she touched it, it felt like fine silk.

Aside from Vanessa, the others were all bathing.

Girls, after all—bathing was definitely slow. Especially with conditions this good.

Her high-heeled boots clicked across the floor up to the second floor. Vanessa returned to her master bedroom and, after closing the door, breathed out again.

Finally, she could relax.

Vanessa dismissed the shattered [Armor Fortress] and walked into the large bathroom of the master bedroom.

She rose slightly onto her pale feet on the marble floor. With her movement, those heavy fruits swayed as if stirred by a passing breeze.

Fine. She’d long since gotten used to this feeling, but... how should she put it? When she actually paid attention to it in detail, it still felt subtle—especially with that huge full-length mirror in the bathroom.

In the mirror was a fair-skinned, stunningly beautiful, peerless pink-haired girl—like a flawless work of art. From head to toe, down to every strand of hair, there wasn’t the slightest blemish to be found.

That breathtaking spectacle of a figure so full she couldn’t even see her own feet when she looked down—paired with that perfectly measured shyness—laid bare every most alluring beauty of a girl in her prime. A bud about to bloom, and yet already this devastatingly gorgeous and seductive.

If your girlfriend looked like this, then honestly, whoever you are, even gods couldn’t save you.

Unfortunately, that person wasn’t someone else.

It was her.

Vanessa sighed softly. While sorting through the chaotic mess of thoughts in her head, she turned on the enchanted water stone in the bathroom. After heating it, clean hot water poured over the girl’s skin, raising a faint, enticing blush across her snowy, lustrous surface.

Vanessa was used to washing her hair and body separately. So she found a hair tie and held it between her teeth, then faced the mirror and used both hands to gather her hair. After tying it up high, she finally began bathing.

As she washed, her thoughts drifted far away, considering how she should proceed next.

Since she’d already decided to crush the Church of the Dawn with Luna and the others’ support, she needed a plan from here on out. She had to be even more careful and cautious.

This time, too, it had ended with danger but no catastrophe. But no one could guarantee that next time she’d still come out safe and sound.

Wait... wasn’t she drifting farther and farther away from what she’d originally planned??

Sigh.

But there was nothing she could do.

Vanessa let out a helpless, heavy sigh.

At first, she’d thought that as long as she didn’t get involved with the main storyline or the protagonist group, she could rely on her own effort to get some grip on her fate. But who would’ve thought—she still ended up walking this road, a road where she’d one day have to confront the Church of the Dawn head-on.

So... back then, wasn’t I not supposed to be greedy that one time??

Vanessa felt like all of this started because, after her bloodline awakened, she’d realized the benefits of virtue. She got a cherry and wanted an apple; got an apple and wanted a watermelon. And so she kept harvesting the Destiny Heroines’ virtue, getting tangled into the Destiny Heroines’ karmic fate.

Did Foreno really get this part right by accident?

If she hadn’t been so greedy back then—if she hadn’t chosen to enter Carillian Academy, if she hadn’t harvested the heroines’ virtue—would she be living far more comfortably now?

But very quickly, Vanessa denied it.

No. That’s not it.

If she’d chosen to do nothing back then, she wouldn’t even have the right to resist now. Whether she lived one more day would depend entirely on the Pope’s mood. If his mood was good, he’d let her live a little longer. If his mood was bad, he’d be furious even without killing anyone—and he’d immediately cut her down to eliminate future trouble.

Compared to that... wasn’t the way things were now exactly what it meant to seize fate in her own hands??

Vanessa understood completely.

If that was the case, then she’d fight for it with everything she had. In any case, she didn’t have anything left to lose, did she?