They are all characters I control.

No one expected that Lydia von Rost, who had been timid and bullied by her stepmother and stepsister for over a decade, would say such things at a banquet in the royal palace.

Even Earl Orlando was quite surprised, as the evil 'Lia's' words undoubtedly indicated her desire to take over.

After the Marquis Rost and Marquise Mara of the Rost family were imprisoned by Bishop Simon, it was somewhat outrageous for the eldest daughter, 'Lia,' to say such things.

However, this is indeed a great opportunity to take control of the Rost family.

Everyone knows that the Rost family has a bad relationship with their eldest daughter, Leah, but no one expected that Leah, who has always been like a sheep, would be so ambitious at this moment.

His Majesty Darian stared at Claire for a few seconds. "You are the eldest daughter of the Rost family, that's true. But the matter of marriage is not something you can decide alone."

The refusal was clearly a rejection of recognizing Lydia as the head of the Rost family.

In essence, His Majesty Darian was not particularly wary of or averse to the Marquis of Rost; his suppression of him was merely a matter of mood and distrust.

His Majesty Darion was still unwilling to let the current Lydia become the head of the Rost family.

"Then what does Your Majesty wish to do?"

Claire leaned back in her chair, relaxed, but her gaze remained sharp.

"Either set a wedding date, or return the engagement tokens," His Majesty Daryan's voice turned cold. "Choose one."

Here it comes; it's turned against itself.

The emperor of a mighty empire turned his back on the eldest daughter of a marquis who was not favored.

It seems that the emperors of the empire after him were not very capable, and even His Majesty Darian, who is good at hiding his true nature and pretending to be a good person, is no exception.

Chapter 45 The young lady is no longer what she used to be.

At this moment, what should have been a joyous banquet turned into a tense atmosphere.

However, the two sides with conflicting attitudes were not so equal at this time; one was the emperor of the empire, who sat in the main seat.

His Majesty Daryan is the supreme ruler of this new empire, at least on the surface.

Even with the coercion of Bishop Simon, the emperor is still the emperor.

Moreover, as the longest-reigning emperor of this new empire, His Majesty Daryan's authority and accumulated experience cannot be ignored.

The person speaking face-to-face with the emperor was Lia, who could be described as coming from a noble family, but one with a bad reputation.

As the eldest daughter, Lia was not favored in the Marquis's family.

Her mother was said to be a commoner, so she had ordinary commoner blood, which made Lia's magical talent extremely awkward.

However, this eldest daughter, who was not favored and had little ability, has now gained the favor of Saint Isabelle, the acting saint of the Goddess Church, simply because she proposed a series of tax schemes that were very beneficial to the archbishops.

Even though the reason seems a bit ridiculous, no one can guess what the acting saintess is thinking.

No one dared to speak ill of the Acting Saintess, whose prestige was second only to the 'Saintess,' when the Church of Goddess was at its zenith.

However, there is no doubt that Isabelle, the acting saintess, has a good impression of Lia.

That's why His Majesty Darion summoned Lia at this time and even held the banquet for her.

As a result, Lia, who was originally out of favor and only recently gained the right to sit here thanks to the acting saintess Isabelle, made a request to the emperor of the empire.

She wanted to take this opportunity to gain the emperor's approval to take control of the Rost family in the future.

Such conditions might seem ridiculous to others, but they are unforgivable to His Majesty Daryan.

"You just need to give me an answer, Leah: the engagement or a rejection?"

His Majesty Darian's voice had turned completely cold, and he repeated what he had just said.

This is tantamount to putting pressure on the unloved noblewoman in front of her.

It's important to understand that the reason for having this unfavored eldest daughter fulfill her marriage contract with the royal family was to leverage her relationship with the acting saintess Isabelle, making her a bridge between the royal family and Isabelle.

If Lia were to take control of the Rost family herself, the acting saintess would not respect the royal family and would instead support the Rost family, which she had been suppressing and guarding against.

It took the imperial royal family a considerable amount of time to bring the Rost family down to their current pathetic state.

The Rost family has made various struggles, but they have all been suppressed by the royal family. How could they possibly allow Leah to rise up again?

If Leah takes control of the Rost family, then Leah will be of no use to the royal family, and the engagement may as well not take place.

Compared to His Majesty Darion, who was already somewhat annoyed, Claire remained calm and composed, as if her (Lia's) status was even higher than that of the Emperor.

[Lia: W-Is His Majesty angry? What should we do?!]

At this moment, Leah, who had given her body to Claire, became frightened.

She was very grateful that she was no longer in control of her body, but had handed it over to the 'Guiding God'.

Claire: Be quiet.

[Lia: Oh!]

Ignoring His Majesty Darion's threatening gaze, Claire (Lia) did not rush to answer.

He picked up his glass and took another sip.

The wine was a fine Imperial Red, but to him it tasted no different than vinegar.

Lia's body has a very low alcohol tolerance; if she drinks any more, her face will turn red.

After tasting the wine, he put down his glass, placed his hands on his knees, and Claire looked up at the Emperor across from him, whose face was already flushed.

“Your Majesty, the engagement gift is a family heirloom of the Rost family, not an ordinary ring,” Claire said, her voice soft but each word clear.

"When the marriage agreement was made, it was agreed that it was a union between two families, not a transaction. Now that Your Majesty wants to take back the token, are you trying to break the agreement?"

This guy, after holding it in for so long, just blurted out this?

Not to mention His Majesty Daryan, even the surrounding nobles were somewhat annoyed.

Only Count Orlando was completely watching the show. She knew better than anyone how terrifying the evil 'Lia' was, and she had suffered quite a bit at the hands of this evil 'Lia' herself.

His Majesty Daryan's pupils contracted slightly. "I did not say I would break the agreement."

Now, Lia is unwilling to accept the royal marriage proposal, but the 'Lia' in front of us claims to be breaking the agreement?

If he weren't the emperor, he would have ordered the knights to drag this ungrateful noblewoman out by now.

“Then let’s not talk about the token,” Claire said. “The wedding date can be discussed, but the token cannot be handed over. That’s the Rost family’s bottom line.”

Are they speaking to me in the name of the Rost family again?

Is this notoriously useless young lady really trying to take control of the Rost family?

His Majesty Daryan stared at her, remaining silent for a long time.

The face that the world called a "good old man" was expressionless at this moment, with only a pair of unfathomable eyes, like two dry wells.

Continuing this conversation was pointless. At this moment, His Majesty Darion looked at Claire (Lia) with a stern gaze, and Claire (Lia) looked back at him.

Neither of them backed down, and the surrounding noise completely disappeared.

No one dared to disturb the two people in front of them at this moment.

But what surprised the nobles the most was Lia, even with the acting saintess Isabelle backing her up and Earl Orlando pursuing her.

However, it is still surprising that an ordinary, unloved young lady could change her mindset and transform from a timid and cowardly girl into someone who could look the emperor in the eye without fear or hesitation.

“Miss Lia, you’ve changed.” His Majesty Darian’s voice was soft, but every word was like a nail driven into the air.

Claire didn't answer, nor did she bother to.

The atmosphere in the hall grew increasingly tense.

The nobles lowered their heads, not daring to utter a sound.

Earl Orlando sat down next to Claire and gently squeezed Claire's knee under the table, a reminder not to go too far.

Claire ignored him; he knew perfectly well what he was doing.

Making any concessions at this point will only embolden these vicious emperors and nobles to take further advantage.

He bet His Majesty Daryan wouldn't dare to completely break ties with him.

He probably wanted a daughter-in-law connected to the acting saintess, rather than a ring of unknown use.

Even if the 'Guardian's Sight' can indeed break all seals, there are requirements for its use, and the cost of sacrificing one's life is unacceptable to many outstanding mages.

Besides, the empire is currently in a period of complete peace, so there is no need for this thing for the time being.

Rather than the 'secret keeper's spying,' His Majesty Darion would prefer that Lydia is backed by Isabelle, the acting saint of the Goddess Church.

But His Majesty Darian was clearly also putting pressure on her; he wasn't without ways to 'persuade' Claire.

However, doing so would completely sever any future opportunities to establish a relationship with the acting saintess, Isabelle.

Neither of them was willing to back down.

Just then, a commotion arose at the door.

"Bishop Simon has arrived!"

Claire's eyebrows twitched slightly.

Bishop Simon? What a convenient timing.

Chapter 46 The bishop turned into a vicious dog, but here...

At a very opportune moment, the new guests arrived.

His Majesty Darian frowned as he watched Bishop Simon walk in from outside the banquet hall.

The bishop, as always, wore a deep purple bishop's robe, a tall crown, and carried a scepter, followed by two church knights.

Unlike before, this execution was not carried out with a grand procession and many more church knights.

Perhaps it's because Bishop Simon has been having a tough time lately.

Abandoned by the archbishops and publicly humiliated by the acting saintess, he almost lost his position as bishop of the imperial diocese, let alone his promotion to archbishop.

This bishop knows he should keep a low profile, so what is he doing here at this time?

Clearly, His Majesty Darian did not invite him. His purpose in asking Leah to marry into the royal family was to bypass Bishop Simon and establish a relationship with the Acting Saintess Isabelle of the higher-ranking Church of Goddess.

To put it bluntly, His Majesty Daryan is trying to hinder Bishop Simon.

When the person who was being restrained arrives at this point, it undoubtedly indicates that the other party already knows what you are doing and is not prepared to pretend not to see it.

“Your Majesty, I apologize for disturbing you.” Bishop Simon approached His Majesty Darian and bowed slightly. “I heard that Miss Lia was here, so I came to see her.”

The bishop wore a gentle smile, but a barely perceptible schadenfreude flickered in his eyes when he saw His Majesty Darian and Claire confronting each other.

For him, the acting saintess Isabelle was a troublesome character he couldn't afford to offend and who also disliked him.

Conversely, His Majesty Darian held the same attitude toward the Acting Saintess, as the Acting Saintess was recognized by the Church of Goddess as being second only to the 'Saintess'.

If it weren't for the intervention of the acting saintess, the archbishops would have had every opportunity to launch a second great ecclesiastical campaign.

Even at the height of the empire's power, during the reign of the evil god emperor Claire, the empire could not withstand the Church of the Goddess.

If His Majesty Darian were to break off relations now, or if he were to incur the displeasure of Acting Saintess Isabelle, the destruction of the Empire once again could be a possibility.

So when this kind-hearted emperor got entangled with a noble lady and was rejected by her, Bishop Simon suddenly felt enlightened.

After all, he wasn't the only one disliked by the acting saintess, Isabelle.

"Miss Lia, how are you? Are you alright?" In front of His Majesty Darion, Bishop Simon stood behind Isabelle.

Bishop Simon had just helped Lia deliver a gift to Acting Saint Isabelle a few days ago, which meant he was one step closer to gaining Isabelle's favor.

His Majesty Darian wasn't the only one who wanted to build a good relationship with the Acting Saintess Isabelle through Lia.

Moreover, compared to forcing Leah to marry Prince Alvin, Bishop Simon felt he had done a much better job.

"I'm fine, thank you for your concern, Your Excellency." Claire made a move to stand up and bow to Bishop Simon.

Before she could stand up straight, Bishop Simon reached out and pressed her back down.

Although Claire only intended to make a show of it, she did not expect the bishop to be so polite.

She actually reached out and pressed him down, as if being greeted by 'Lia' was something that would shorten one's lifespan.

“Of course, you are a good friend of Saint Isabelle, the prayer agent of our Goddess Church. As the bishop of the Goddess Church, I should naturally take care of you. After all, this Imperial Diocese is a place entrusted to me by the Goddess Church.”

"Perfect timing, the Acting Saintess also asked me to send her regards to you."