They are all characters I control.

After putting down her magic book on her seat in the library, Leah turned around and glanced a few more times at Ronan, the disheveled man standing blankly in front of the bookshelf.

He remained standing there like a wooden stake, his cloudy eyes staring blankly into the void, as if his soul had been ripped away.

This is somewhat frightening and intriguing.

“Your Excellency…” Lia tugged at Count Orlando’s sleeve anxiously, “Is he alright? Should we send him to the church for treatment?”

Count Orlando followed her gaze, a meaningful smile playing on his lips.

"Something wrong with his brain? That's right," she said slowly. "Ronan has always had something wrong with his brain, for decades before this."

Lia was taken aback: "Oh, oh? You mean he's very stubborn and obsessed with these magic books? So you're saying he has something wrong with his head?"

“No, that’s not it.” Earl Orlando turned to look at Ronan, his tone tinged with sympathy. “It’s because the seal on that bookshelf took him ten years to figure out.”

"The biggest blow to him would be if the other 'Lia,' the one you call the God of Guidance, could break the seal after you read these forbidden books."

"Ten years. Do you know what that means? It means that he went from being a young man in his twenties, in the prime of his youth, to an old man in his thirties. Those were the best years of his life, and they were gone just like that."

Liya didn't quite understand, because she was only eighteen years old, which is the so-called best time of life.

But it wasn't all that wonderful, at least not before the appearance of the 'Guiding God'.

So Lia only said something that seemed to understand but not quite.

"Doesn't that mean he doesn't have much magical talent? Because the God of Guidance solved it in an instant."

"All at once? Very easily? That's quite surprising."

Countess Orlando smiled meaningfully, her gaze fixed intently on Leah as she continued speaking about Ronan.

“This Ronan is not a bad guy; on the contrary, he is quite capable.”

“Ronan Barreid was the principal of the Royal Academy thirty years ago.”

"His name is a household name in aristocratic circles, and he once had close ties with the royal family and church of the new empire, and was regarded as an important figure in the future." Earl Orlando gracefully changed his sitting posture, looking at Ronan.

"Those books were left behind by the evil god emperor, and at first no one paid much attention to them."

"As a result, Ronan started spouting things like 'Are kings and nobles born with a special destiny?' and 'Water can carry a boat, but it can also capsize it,' imperative that the oppressor be overthrown."

"After a period of seclusion lasting only a few months, he reappeared before the public to announce that he was breaking off his engagement and giving up his inheritance of the noble title. He wanted to distribute all his family property to the common people and even tried to rally other nobles to do the same, saying that only in this way could the empire continue."

Lia gasped. She might be silly, but she wasn't stupid.

Even she could imagine the consequences of a nobleman saying such things.

"So he ended up in this disheveled state now?"

"The Church and the new royal family used the excuse that Ronan had access to many forbidden books to raid his family's property, and of course, he was imprisoned as well," Earl Orlando shrugged.

Seizing an excuse to strip someone of all their wealth is a traditional skill of the church and the new royal family.

"When he was finally released, it was more than ten years later. Nobody cared about him or knew him. The Nolan family picked him up and dumped him in the Royal Academy's library in an attempt to open the forbidden books shelf."

"He spent ten years here to break the seal on the forbidden bookshelf, and has been the book keeper here ever since."

"That being said, Ronan did not consider the Nolan family to be one of his own; he only communicated with them to protect these books."

He developed mental problems because he read too many books about evil god emperors.

And that's why he became obsessed?

This seemed unbelievable and incomprehensible to Leah, so she quickly gave up thinking about it.

Just as Lia was about to bury herself in studying the magic books in her hands

"Lia, is that 'Lia' here now?" Count Orlando asked tentatively.

According to the previous rules, the other 'Lia' should only appear during dinner.

But just now, Lia's tone was completely like that of someone who could talk to another 'Lia'?

"The guiding god? He is here."

Lia nodded.

Although the guiding god has not spoken since then.

"Could you please pass on this message to him? Tell him that Bishop Simon has already submitted the new taxes you came up with to the 'Holy Council'."

Earl Orlando looked at Leah with a half-smile and added, "That rude 'Leah' isn't saying anything at this time? I'm finding it a little strange."

As soon as he finished speaking, Count Orlando saw that in the blink of an eye, Leah's eyes switched to a look that was both imposing and powerful.

"What's this about habits? Do I enjoy being criticized?" Claire didn't even glance at the count in front of her. "Besides, so what if we hand in the new taxes? What does it have to do with me?"

[Lia: New taxes? Were those new taxes something the God of Guidance came up with? Um...]

Looking at the comments Lia posted, Claire felt a bit troubled.

He looked down at the magic books in front of him, and the system was already indicating the loading progress.

Lia immediately felt the sensation of knowledge entering her mind and calmed down instantly.

[Lia: Guiding God! I feel like I've suddenly become smarter! I remember things in the magic book so quickly!]

[Claire: Then shut up and try to understand the content more. Memorizing it doesn't mean you know how to use it.]

[Lia: Okay! I understand!]

After dealing with Leah, Claire now had to deal with Leah's aunt.

“Those new taxes were all proposed by you, weren’t they?” Count Orlando leaned closer, carefully observing the expression on 'Lia's' face.

"Aren't you worried? You deliberately released such good things to the church, what exactly are you trying to do?"

“Bishop Simon has always wanted to become the next archbishop.”

"That would be very inconvenient for you, wouldn't it? Your goal is to overthrow the new monarchy and the church, isn't it?"

That's why Claire didn't send a message to Leah earlier.

Just now, Earl Orlando seemed to be talking about the bookkeeper Ron, but he was actually testing Claire.

Although they are partners, they are not actually sleeping in the same bed, and their mutual suspicions have never stopped.

Chapter 74 I Have Someone Above Me

Having a smart partner is both an easy and a headache.

The good thing is, she can understand most of your ideas and plans.

The problem is that she's just as curious about you and keeps trying to find out your background and identity.

"The position of archbishop in the Imperial region is vacant. The previous one was killed by the evil god emperor a hundred years ago." Count Orlando pressed his fist against his cheek, smiling as he looked at 'Lia' opposite him, as if he had figured something out.

“Simon is currently the most promising candidate for archbishop; otherwise, he wouldn’t have come to the new empire to serve.”

"For many years he has been trying to win the support of other archbishops, but unfortunately he has other competitors and has always been just one step away."

"Now that he has obtained those new tax policies that are extremely favorable to the archbishops, he will certainly use them to curry favor with the archbishops and secure the position of archbishop for himself."

Claire had already heard about these things.

The Holy Council of the Church of Goddess is composed of three acting saints and five archbishops.

However, the position vacated by the archbishop who was killed by Claire back then has not yet been filled, which shows that the struggle within the 'Holy Council' is also very fierce.

"So what? You're blaming me for paying those new taxes?" Claire raised an eyebrow and tapped her fingers on the table a few times.

The new tax was indeed proposed by Claire.

Knowing that the Marquis of Rost would certainly present this item to His Majesty and the bishop.

Hearing that Claire hadn't revealed any of her thoughts, Earl Orlando wrinkled his nose in displeasure.

"I don't mean to blame you, but I think you must have had some plans before doing this, right?"

Earl Orlando poked at the spellbook in front of Claire with his finger, and said skeptically, "Your proposed new taxes were taken by Bishop Simon, so aren't you worried about him becoming the archbishop?"

“No worries,” Claire stated directly.

"Simon will never become an archbishop; he will never become an archbishop in his lifetime."

These words were spoken with such confidence that Earl Orlando's interest was piqued.

This is what she really wants to know.

The count, now sitting upright, looked expectantly at 'Lia' opposite him and asked, "How do you know Simon won't become the archbishop? Did you have a strategy in place all along?"

“I have connections in the Holy Council.”

Claire continued reading the magic skill book in front of her, casually tossing out this sentence again.

Earl Orlando paused for a few seconds, then burst out laughing.

"You have connections in the 'Holy Council'? Hahaha, that's quite a joke." Count Orlando didn't see the 'Lia' laughing opposite him.

The countess suddenly became uncertain. She blinked and reached out to block the spellbook in front of Claire, pausing the spellcasting bar for Claire learning the skill.

"Well, since you were able to easily break the magical seal on this forbidden book shelf, that means you are also a fanatic who has studied the evil god emperor Claire."

"I don't believe you know anyone from the 'Holy Council'."

"Who do you know? Do you know the Acting Saintess or the Archbishop? If you say you're imprisoned in the Holy City, then I'll believe you. But if you're a prisoner held captive by the Church of the Goddess, then that makes sense."

Earl Orlando glanced sideways at Claire with a half-smile.

You possess the ability to use potions that alter one's appearance, are so familiar with the magic of the evil emperor Claire, and are an enemy of the royal family and church of the new empire.

Based on all this, Earl Orlando concluded that Claire was probably being imprisoned by the church, or had been released after being imprisoned, and had suffered the same fate as Ron, the bookkeeper who had lost his soul.

Since this 'Lia' was able to break the seal on the forbidden book of the Evil God Emperor in the Royal Academy Library.

He must have read many of the forbidden books of the evil god emperor, so it's not surprising that he learned some magic from them that could control Lia's body.

No matter how outrageous something is, as long as it's related to the evil god emperor, everything becomes reasonable.

"Hehehe, use your imagination." Claire chuckled a few times.

This count was indeed intelligent, but unfortunately too conservative.

Even after making most of these guesses, they still couldn't be sure he was the Evil God Emperor himself? They even concluded that he was a madman who had read too many of the Evil God Emperor's quotes and forbidden books.

However, it was already quite remarkable that Count Orlando could guess to this extent; she had no idea that she had gained immortality after killing the Archbishop.

"This is pointless. You have no intention of revealing any secrets, but you've found out everything about me, even the potion." Count Orlando said, a little annoyed.

The other party knows your identity, but you don't know theirs.

This made her feel very uncomfortable, as if she had no secrets at all when facing this 'Lia'.

But Earl Orlando didn't press the matter further, and instead got down to business: "So what are you going to do next? What are you planning to do?"

"I don't plan to." Claire shook her head.

"She's completely unyielding," Earl Orlando glared at 'Lia' across from him with displeasure.

"Then come up with some better and more outstanding new taxes for me."

With that, Earl Orlando snatched the magic book from Claire's side.

"What? Are you going to add to Bishop Simon's glory too?" Claire had no choice but to look up at the count, who was dressed as a man, opposite her.

"Who would support Bishop Simon? I'm going to support Bishop Simon's rival."

Earl Orlando raised his beautiful eyebrows, watching Claire with amusement, and twirled his spellbook between his fingertips with a slender, skillful hand.

“It’s not just Bishop Simon who’s eyeing the archbishop’s position.”

“Since Bishop Simon wants to use the new tax to please the other archbishops, we can do the same to please the other archbishop candidates.”

"Although the archbishop candidate we support is unlikely to become a bishop immediately, we can certainly delay the time when Bishop Simon becomes an archbishop."

Claire remained silent for a few seconds, took her spellbook back from Earl Orlando, and shook her head.

"No, I can't think of any new taxes."

No matter which archbishop candidate it is, none of them are as authoritative as the Acting Saintess, right?

Count Orlando actually shared the same idea as him.

But she just didn't do as well as I did; Claire quite liked the count in front of her.

"Fine, don't tell me then."