They are all characters I control.

He quickly devoured the two pieces of bread, the eggs, and the cheese.

Isabelle picked up the last half of the potato and handed it to Claire, who opened her mouth to take it.

Chewing on the potato in her mouth, Claire looked up and saw the acting saintess Isabelle staring at her with a blushing face and a smile.

"What? Haven't you ever seen someone else eat? What are you laughing at?"

"I...I wasn't laughing!" Isabelle quickly shook her head, her face immediately hardening into a serious expression.

She had certainly seen other people eat, but Claire was no ordinary person.

The evil emperor, who once caused headaches and fear even for the church and killed an archbishop, was opening his mouth to receive the food from his hand.

For some reason, a feeling of joy she had never experienced before lingered in Isabelle's heart.

"Tsk, the food you're serving is so mediocre! Is your church so poor that this is all you eat?" Claire treated the acting saintess in front of her like a maid.

"You bastard, don't forget who you are!" Isabelle glared fiercely at Claire.

Why weren't you complaining while you were eating? Now that you're almost finished, you're complaining about the food?

"This is what the servants eat. This is what they eat. What more do you want?!"

"No meat? How about some beef, lamb, or fish? Forget about pork, it smells pungent here." Claire didn't seem to care and continued ordering.

"You! You really are..." Isabelle glared at this guy who ate and then denied everything, angrily clenching her scepter.

"Everyone in the church eats the same food, and the knights who go out also eat the same food, but in larger quantities."

"You should know that our church has a very large number of believers."

"Besides the offerings from believers, our food mainly comes from farms in various monasteries, and sometimes there are food shortages when the harvest is bad."

Claire scoffed at Isabelle's words.

"Hahaha, I thought the Goddess Church was so great? Looks like it's not that popular after all, they can't even guarantee food?"

"Whether I'm popular or not is unimportant; the principles of our Goddess Church will not change." Isabelle tapped the ground with her scepter in dissatisfaction.

“Yes, yes, yes!” Claire nodded in agreement.

Seeing Isabelle's face gradually turn red, he chuckled and uttered a remark.

"Then what have you done? What have you done for the common people? Besides waging war against other countries and imprisoning their emperors? Is this peace?"

When Claire said these words, Isabelle calmed down.

Indeed, it was just as Claire said.

The Church waged war against Claire's empire and imprisoned him, the emperor. How can the Church, which did such a thing, claim to be maintaining peace?

Looking at Claire in front of her, Isabelle frowned slightly, looking somewhat troubled: "The acting saints of that time opposed the war, but the archbishops insisted on attacking you."

"We also know that the archbishops just want to expand their sphere of influence and bring the empire under their control."

“Our ‘Holy Council,’ composed of three acting saintesses and five archbishops, voted to launch a war, and you killed the archbishop who was the most radical in advocating for the war back then.”

It's clear that Isabelle is not a woman who is all looks and no brains.

She has a clear mind. If you casually say something bad about the church, she, as the acting saint, will refute you. But if you point out specific problems, she will calmly sit down and have a proper talk for the sake of the church.

Isabelle's words reveal that the Church of the Goddess is not a monolithic entity.

"No matter how large your sphere of influence is, it's useless."

Claire's words made Isabelle straighten her back and stare intently at the evil god emperor before her.

"The archbishops control the churches in various regions and countries, and support puppet rulers to govern the nobles in those regions and countries. The archbishops and bishops are acting as if they have become emperors."

"No matter how many countries are controlled by the archbishops, the benefits will be swallowed up by them and will not be transferred to you, the acting saintesses whose power is only in the 'Holy City'."

"You acting saintesses are bound to the chariots by the archbishops, and so are the saintesses; they all use you as weapons."

Currently, the Holy Maidens are served by Acting Holy Maidens, which is why the Acting Holy Maidens have value.

If it weren't for this terrifyingly powerful saintess, Claire had no doubt that the archbishops would have overthrown the existing system of the Goddess Church.

This can be seen from the meager meals brought by Isabelle; the acting saintesses have been sidelined by the archbishops and turned into mere mascots.

"In the end, you still rely on the old system of exploitation to some extent, only it has been given a sacred veneer. The taste of capitalism has not changed."

Isabelle was speechless again.

Claire's words were like a sharp awl, constantly chiseling at her long-held education and beliefs.

She raised her icy blue eyes and looked earnestly at Claire: "Then what should we do? Our forces acting as the Holy Maiden are all for protecting the Holy Maiden of the 'Holy City,' so what should we do? How did you gain so many followers among the common people back then?"

Claire succeeded, even though he is now known as a cult god.

In reality, Claire was the only one who could threaten the Church of Goddess back then. His failure was simply because the empire, which had only been revived for a few years, was no match for the Church of Goddess, which had been established for hundreds of years.

If it were the person in front of me, he should have a way to change the current predicament of the acting saintesses.

"After talking so much, you must be thirsty. Here's something to drink." Claire licked her still-chapped lips, her Adam's apple bobbing.

Isabelle was taken aback, then became somewhat annoyed that Claire had changed the subject again.

"No! Bringing water and alcohol in would be too conspicuous!"

“No? Isn’t there one?” Claire raised an eyebrow, her gaze falling on Isabelle’s chest.

Isabelle's cheeks instantly flushed bright red, the color spreading to her ears and neck. "You! Where are you looking! Don't look!"

"I'm thirsty, so I don't want to talk anymore."

Claire licked her lips and continued to look at Isabelle's large cup.

“You…” Isabelle glared at Claire fiercely.

Claire remained silent, simply staring at the large glass of Mixue Ice Cream.

Under such a bold gaze, Isabelle knew that Claire wouldn't be talking to her about anything serious today, and staying here would only be pointless for her to stare at.

So the saintly woman who was acting as a prayer leader walked with almost stomping steps to the dungeon exit.

"You damned evil god! Die of thirst!"

After cursing, she opened the dungeon stone door.

Even the most good-tempered acting saintess couldn't bear the torment of only speaking halfway through her sentences.

As the stone door slowly closed, the dungeon fell into darkness and silence once more.

"Hehehehe..." Claire chuckled softly.

Fortunately, this world is just a two-dimensional, otaku-friendly game.

If it were the muscular Holy Son, he wouldn't be interested in teasing him.

His relationship with Isabelle must also be carefully managed. This somewhat saintly but very intelligent woman with a large bust is the one who can decide how to deal with him, and Claire can also obtain valuable information from her.

“Isabels just said that their forces are all in the ‘Holy City,’ so I’m probably in the ‘Holy City’ too…”

Claire gazed at the dungeon before her, lost in thought.

Chapter 37 Tieba Family

The carriage bearing the faded emblem of the Roth family was heading towards the palace.

Inside the car, even the expensive incense couldn't mask the tense and subtle atmosphere.

Marquis Rost frowned, repeatedly stroking the aged leather notebook on his lap, his fingertips tracing the notes written by "Lia" as he pondered.

He finally broke the silence, his voice filled with barely concealed confusion and unease: "Is Liya sick? Why did she suddenly become so fierce and brutal?"

"And the magic she uses doesn't seem to be ordinary magic."

"She knows about these new taxes and stuff now? I've never heard of these things before. She wasn't like this before."

Recalling the earlier encounter with Lia, Marquis Rost felt inexplicably afraid.

A father is afraid of his own daughter? That's incredible.

The Marquis of Rost couldn't understand it at all.

“Father! You’ve finally noticed!” Elena, who had been holding back her words for a long time, immediately chimed in, “She’s changed a long time ago! Just a few days ago, she not only dared to talk back to me and Mother, but even insulted Prince Alvin… she insulted Prince Alvin!”

After thinking it over, Elena didn't dare tell Marquis Rost about Lia's insults to Prince Alvin, who called him a bastard.

After all, the whole thing started because she wanted Prince Alvin to distance himself from Lia.

But then Lia suddenly said those frightening things, and Elena realized something was wrong with Lia at that moment.

"That's right, Lia's personality would suddenly change drastically before. She would lie, be rude to me, her mother, and be completely lawless!"

Marquise Mara touched her face; she could still feel a slight pain.

The Holy Light Scroll only healed the injuries on his face; the few back molars that had been knocked out flew out and could not be found.

She never expected that Lia, who usually wouldn't dare to speak to her, would actually dare to lay a hand on her and almost send her flying with a slap.

"What? This was already happening before?" Marquis Rost looked at Lady Mara with displeasure. "Why didn't you tell me about something so important sooner? What kind of Marquis's wife are you?"

She humbly fought for opportunities for the family outside, leaving all the domestic affairs to the Marquise Marla.

Now that Lia is in trouble, the Marquis naturally wants to shift the blame onto Marquise Mara.

How did this perfectly good family end up like the ones we met on the forum? The father doesn't understand his daughter, the mother only cares about herself, and the daughter is hostile to her mother and indifferent to her father.

Marquise Mara wanted to object, but she felt a little guilty: "That's because Leah promised to hand over the engagement ring and give Prince Alvin's fiancée status to Elena..."

"Is stealing the engagement the only thing on your mind?!" Marquis Rost scolded Marquis Marla with even greater displeasure.

He had long known Marquise Mara's intentions; she was determined to have her own daughter, Elena, replace Lia in a marriage to Prince Alvin.

Even though he knew that something was wrong with Lia, he let her be because he could benefit from it.

Marquise Mara frowned in displeasure and retorted, "So what? Didn't Leah, whose temperament has changed drastically, still give you benefits? If not, how would you know about this new tax?"

"..." Marquis Rost looked at the notes in his hand, speechless.

Indeed, although Lia has become so arrogant and rude, she is indeed useful now.

“That being said, we can’t just let this go.” The Marquis of Rost’s tone softened somewhat, but his doubts remained. “Where is the last trace of reverence she once held for my father in her eyes?”

Although the new tax was Lia's idea, he did indeed need Lia's help.

But this time, Lia almost sent her stepmother away with a slap. If she needs something from her next time, will she slap her own father in return?

Regardless, Lia's behavior this time is worrying.

“That’s right, we can’t just let this go unchecked no matter what. We need to decide how to deal with Leah after we get back from this banquet.” Marquise Mara’s face was also grim.

"Hmph, maybe she's possessed by an evil god? She should be handed over to the Inquisition of the Goddess Church!"

Elena blurted it out.

She learned from Prince Alvin how terrible the Inquisition was.

Not only His Majesty Darian, but even Bishop Simon was terrified of the group of nuns who were judging the women.

"Nonsense! How can you send Lia there?" Marquis Rost scolded Elena loudly.

Marquise Mara did not speak up for Elena.

The mother, like the Marquis of Rost, gave her own daughter a disapproving look.

Elena, however, didn't understand her parents' reaction and asked why: "Why not?! Lia really did seem possessed by an evil god today, am I wrong?"

Seeing Elena asking why, the Marquis of Rost was getting annoyed with his second daughter.

The Marquise Margrave noticed the Marquise Rost's displeasure.

She took her own daughter's hand and explained, "It's not that I'm reluctant to part with her, but I have to consider whether it will implicate us."

"What kind of place is the Inquisition? It's a place that even bishops fear, and when they arrest someone, they arrest the whole family at once."

"Our Rost family's history isn't exactly glamorous, so why would we deliberately provoke the Church's suspicion?"

"It's best not to let others know about how we deal with Lia; this is an internal matter for our family."

Elena's personality is still not mature enough; she can only fool Prince Alvin by pretending to be a lady.

But she can't think straight when it comes to serious matters.

However, Elena is the Marquise Marla's own daughter, and even if the Rost family is foolish, they have to put all the benefits on their own daughter, not on Leah.