“I ran into Caron in the cube space. And running into him wasn’t an accident—this whole upheaval wasn’t an accident either. Do you remember [Blood-Debt], and the priest who treated my illness back then?” Vanessa asked.

“Of course I remember.”

“Little Mirexia, here’s what happened.” Vanessa told Mirexia everything from beginning to end, including the part involving Priest Foreno, without hiding a single detail.

Because the person she trusted most was Mirexia. Any secret she had—Vanessa felt she could tell Mirexia without reservation.

Mirexia listened to Vanessa’s account in silence. Even after Vanessa finished explaining the full sequence of events and the causes before and after, Mirexia still didn’t speak, as if she were digesting the massive amount of information.

Vanessa didn’t rush to continue. She simply waited quietly for Mirexia to catch her breath and sort out her thoughts.

“So... Caron was secretly colluding with [Blood-Debt] this whole time?” After a long while, Mirexia finally spoke.

“I think the timing was probably after [Blood-Debt] failed to tempt me,” Vanessa analyzed. “Because from [Blood-Debt]’s later conversation with Caron, you can roughly tell that after it couldn’t tempt me, it went to find someone else. That person should’ve been Caron.”

“And after [Blood-Debt] found him, Caron didn’t report it to anyone else, or to the academy’s upper ranks. What he was thinking at the time—I think I can guess.” Vanessa continued with her speculation. “Maybe Priest Foreno had him in a grip~ with some leverage, and Caron felt he had to hold a bargaining chip in his own hands—something he could use to fight back against them.”

If it were anyone else, Vanessa wouldn’t speak so freely about her guesses. After all, she was the protagonist of this whole farce, and everyone else was an uninvolved outsider who only knew what happened through her word alone.

Vanessa trusted Mirexia unconditionally, the same way Mirexia would unconditionally trust her. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

“What secret did Priest Foreno have over Caron?” Mirexia asked.

“I think Priest Foreno must’ve used some method to obtain evidence of Caron’s crimes. Do you remember when we went back to the royal capital during the long break, and I went fishing in the suburbs with Dale, and we got attacked by a group of assassins?”

Hearing that, Mirexia fell silent again.

“Camella Kingdom... actually produced a noble like that?” In the end, she took a deep breath. “Trying to harm a fellow noble’s life, and even going so far as to collude with the Most-Evil Divine Armament.”

“When did Caron... become like this?” Mirexia let out a soft sigh. There was regret for a once-brilliant prodigy of Camella Kingdom, anger at his shameless fall and lack of honor, and also irritation at herself for misjudging him.

“Maybe... people just change,” Vanessa said after a brief pause. “Even though I don’t like him, I was still shocked when I found out he was tangled up with the Most-Evil Divine Armament, and with the Church’s scum.”

At that, Vanessa paused, and her tone carried a trace of sighing as well.

Seeing Vanessa like this, Mirexia’s eyes shifted slightly.

Even though Caron and the Church of the Dawn had used such vicious methods against Vanessa—even though Caron had been at odds with Vanessa since childhood and often bullied her—Vanessa still felt regret over the fall of a genius like Caron.

Her childhood friend had always been this kind—like a Saintess who held all living beings in her heart.

No.

She was a Saintess.

If the Church of the Dawn were still ruled by a Saintess today, the Church would never be this absurd.

[Virtue +100]

[Current Virtue: 9674]

“Has the Cathedral of the Dawn already fallen to this extent?” Mirexia’s brows knitted tightly. Her father had written to her long ago, warning her to be careful of the current Church of the Dawn. She just hadn’t expected the Church to be corrupt to this degree—so corrupt that, to erase all future trouble, they would kill the legitimate descendant of the Saintess family. And it was a Saintess descendant who, on the surface, seemed to pose no threat at all. For that, they didn’t hesitate to put so many innocent lives on the line.

And it hadn’t even been a hundred years since they lost the Dawn Saintess.

“Not only that, Little Mirexia... do you remember the entire chain of disasters caused by Bronze Blood last semester?” Vanessa pondered for a moment, as if deciding whether to throw out an even heavier bomb.

“You mean... Bronze Blood trying to kidnap me in the polluted lands last semester, and then the alchemy Demon Pillar Erunes invading Carillian Academy afterward—there was the Church of the Dawn’s shadow behind that too?” Connecting it to the letter from her father, Mirexia immediately understood what Vanessa meant.

“If nothing unexpected happened—yes.” Vanessa nodded. “If anything, it might’ve even been them actively colluding with Bronze Blood to cause it.”

The moment Vanessa said that, Mirexia’s fingers tightened slightly around the handle of her cup.

The two of them fell into silence.

Because no matter who it was—if they learned that humanity’s greatest boss was actually humanity’s greatest protector—they would feel utterly lost, their ability to think collapsing, not knowing what to do next.

“Then, Vanessa... what are you planning to do next?” Mirexia didn’t take long to organize her emotions. When Vanessa lifted her gaze to look at her, those eyes—like deep-blue jewels—watched Vanessa calmly, filled with a certain meaning and expectation.

She didn’t seem especially shocked by the Church’s fall. Or rather—compared to what the Church was, she cared more about what Vanessa was thinking right now.

“Little Mirexia, I’ve never been someone who enjoys disputes—let alone fighting people over something,” Vanessa said as she looked at Mirexia, her voice slow and steady.

“Especially not that scepter and that holy seat, rotted by power.” Vanessa went quiet for a moment, then spoke again, her elegant voice filled with thick, undisguised disgust. “Just seeing it—seeing those people blinded by greed—makes me nauseous. All I want is to stay far away.”

This was the first time Mirexia had ever heard Vanessa show such resistance and disgust toward something.

“As long as they held to the most basic of duties—the duties of humanity—I would never have had any thoughts of overthrowing them,” Vanessa said.

That line wasn’t extremely blunt, but the moment she used the word “overthrow,” what she meant was obvious.

The Church of the Dawn—and the Pope—had gone far, far too far. She had retreated again and again, and all she got was them pressing closer with every step. For the sake of survival, with no other choice, she could only strike back.

“I keep thinking... what did I do wrong? Was I born as a mistake??” Vanessa held back the grievance and hatred she’d accumulated for so long. Her emotion-laden voice infected the listener before they even realized it. “Not just me—what did those students who suffered in the cube space, who were wounded, who even paid with their lives, do wrong? What did the local civilians do wrong?”

“Does someone really have the arrogance to seize and grant the right for others to keep living, whenever they please? If this has already become the norm... then Tyrelis Continent, and the Church of the Dawn, are probably already terminally ill.”

“When my parents died, the Church sent the Radiant Cross Knights into my home. Using ‘not letting the sacred relics gather dust and fall into silence’ as their excuse, they ransacked my house and took every inherited treasure my ancestors left us. They even searched and stripped the bodies of my parents who had just passed...” Vanessa’s voice turned heavy and difficult.

“Everyone in the Church said I was a fraud. Their talk stirred the entire royal capital to spit on me. I swallowed it all. But they still wouldn’t let me go. They even felt they deserved all of it—as if I owed it to them.”

“Sometimes I really want to confront them to their faces—confront the Pope—and ask what it would take for them to finally let me go. To finally leave me a way to live.” Vanessa placed both hands flat on her knees and lowered her gaze slightly. She had tried her best to keep her voice calm, but there was still a tremor in it. The way she spoke was full of humiliation and concession—perfectly embodying the story of a pitiful person who had been forced into desperation.

Right now, she looked fragile and easy to shatter—like a fledgling that needed protection.

Mirexia watched, feeling awful, and blamed herself for how she’d once given all her attention to duties and country, never noticing what kind of pain her childhood friend was enduring.

[Virtue +120]

[Current Virtue: 9794]

“Little Mirexia... I really don’t have a better way.” Vanessa gave Mirexia a bitter smile. “If there were a better way, I would never choose to do this.”

“You... won’t blame me, will you?” As she spoke, Vanessa’s peach-heart eyes—so breathtaking they could steal a soul—looked at Mirexia with traces of hesitation and melancholy.

“Then do what you want to do.” Mirexia answered without thinking. “Vanessa, do what you want. I—and Camella Kingdom—will support you as we always have.”

Those words warmed Vanessa’s heart, and she was genuinely moved.

She understood what Mirexia meant: it was the same as saying she would stand on Vanessa’s side and, for her sake, oppose the Church of the Dawn.

To be honest, Mirexia had no obligation to do this. And this wasn’t something as simple as “a country.” This was the Church of the Dawn—an institution that had existed for thousands of years and had laid down the common value system of humanity.

Even if the Church had become a filthy mess now, a centipede doesn’t die just because it’s been cut. The wealth accumulated by the Saintesses of every generation made the Church’s foundation unbelievably deep. It had completely penetrated every human nation and power. Even among demi-humans and elves—those nonhuman peoples—there were many believers of the Dawn Goddess.

It wasn’t something that could be shaken easily. Because in the eyes of almost all humans, if the day ever came when the Church of the Dawn fell, then humanity wouldn’t be far behind.

Normally, if someone heard that a person wanted to overthrow the Church, their first reaction would be that it was fantasy—absurd. Then they’d think that person was a spy of the demon race.

Right or wrong aside, people would say it was impossible. The Church’s power was even more terrifying than anyone imagined.

Especially someone as upright as Mirexia. Vanessa had honestly always feared that if she told Mirexia this, Mirexia would think she was a greedy, power-hungry woman—someone who wanted to rely on bloodline to become Saintess and seize the Church for herself.

But fortunately, Mirexia didn’t think that at all. Instead, after hearing Vanessa’s thoughts, she chose to support her without hesitation.

“Thank you, Little Mirexia. But if possible... I really don’t want to drag anyone into this, especially you.” Vanessa spoke from the heart.

“This isn’t just your matter, Vanessa. Since the Church of the Dawn has already become a breeding ground for sin, I have no reason to stand by and do nothing,” Mirexia said, calm and firm.

“Besides, you are the legitimate blood descendant of the Dawn Goddess. The facts prove the House of Facilis never died out. It is righteous and proper for you to restore the Church of the Dawn. If the Pope keeps occupying that seat, then they’re the ones without reason—without justice—without the greater moral standing.” Mirexia laid it out with clear logic.

“Thank you, Little Mirexia. Actually, during this incident, I [N O V E L I G H T] also encountered people and forces inside the Church who support me. After discussing it with them, we decided that before I grow to the point where I can command and seize [Saint’s Envoy], I won’t expose any identity. I’ll continue to lie low, and keep my bloodline awakening hidden.” Vanessa said, deeply moved.

“That’s the best choice,” Mirexia agreed. Right now, that really was the best option.

“If there’s anything you need help with in the future, you can always come to me, Vanessa.” As she said it, Mirexia’s voice softened. “I will always be your sturdiest backing.”

“But—”

“I’m your childhood friend. I’m your closest friend,” Mirexia said softly. In this moment, the “iceberg princess” in everyone else’s eyes showed the gentle colors beneath. “If I don’t protect you, who will?”

That sentence made Vanessa’s tear glands turn sensitive. She pressed her cherry-blossom lips together, silently stood, and hugged Mirexia.

“Mm, mm, I know, I know, Little Mirexia~” Vanessa nestled into Mirexia’s arms.

After hesitating for a moment, Mirexia hugged her back, wrapping an arm around her slender back, feeling the white-tea-flower scent and lavender scent within arm’s reach.

The two girls held each other for a long time. Only after both of them could feel their body temperatures rising did they finally let go.

Vanessa looked away—not only to hide the lingering blush on her cheeks at this moment, but also...

Seriously.

She was not a crybaby.

What was going on today? Why was she getting so emotional??