They are all characters I control.

The fact that she became depressed because of this shows that she is indeed of noble character.

It was the archbishops of the imperial territories, not the acting saintess, who rejected Claire's policies.

"This is a mess from a hundred years ago. Are you bringing it up now to clear my name, or to make trouble for the church itself?" Claire's voice sounded completely unconcerned.

There was no condemnation, nor any questioning.

Seeing Claire's composure only made Isabelle feel worse.

"Besides, why would I scold you? You weren't even born yet, were you? Maybe your great-grandfather was still studying the Bible in seminary."

“If anyone’s going to criticize someone, it should be the previous ‘acting saintesses’. Oh, no…” Claire chuckled, her sarcasm thick with irony: “Shouldn’t we say that you acting saintesses guarding the ‘Holy City Spera’ are just like that saintess, aren’t you all high-class mascots placed in that white temple, from ancient times to the present?”

"It looks glamorous and sounds prestigious, but what's it really like? Praying, singing hymns, hosting a few festival celebrations, and then smiling and waving to the believers."

"Isn't the true power of the Goddess Church—the army, taxation, fiefdoms, and personnel appointments—firmly held in the hands of those archbishops scattered throughout the empire, each running their own independent kingdom?"

"What can you decide? Should we use white or yellow roses in front of the statue today?"

“I…” Isabelle’s calm expression, which she had maintained, was finally broken.

A bright blush spread rapidly from her fair neck to her cheeks, and even her usually calm emerald eyes became brighter with anger.

She instinctively straightened her back, a movement that accentuated her impressive curves beneath her holy robes, but she was completely unaware of it at the moment, staring intently in the direction Claire was.

"We are not mascots!" She managed to control her emotions, but her voice rose slightly: "The Acting Saintess possesses independent authority and power!"

“Oh?” Claire drawled, her tone mocking. “Like what?”

Isabelle took a deep breath, seemingly trying to calm herself, but her speech was still faster than usual: "Prayer intercession, my duty is to govern the entire Holy City, and all affairs, large and small, of the Holy City are under my management."

“The Discipline Agents are in charge of the Inquisition, and even the Archbishops are wary of them.”

"The last acting saintess also shoulders a great responsibility. Although the three of us acting saintesses do not have the same territory as the archbishops, we are still capable of doing a lot!"

Catching her breath, Isabelle emphasized again, "We're not mascots!"

"Oh?" Claire smirked.

They finally took the bait.

Chapter 84 The Long-Awaited Moment

Isabelle is a person who wants to get things done, even though the archbishops have more power in the Church of Goddess.

However, the acting saintesses are stationed in the Holy City, the headquarters of the Goddess Church.

No matter how extravagant and imposing the archbishops may be within their spheres of influence, their churches cannot replace the status of the 'Holy City' Spera.

Moreover, the saintess can directly decide the outcome of the competition.

Behind the acting saintesses is the saintess herself, whose strength is beyond doubt. Claire was able to kill the archbishop but was sealed away by the saintess until now.

Claire's deliberate taunt just now was also to confirm the determination of the acting saintess in front of her.

Now that it's clear Isabelle truly intends to disrupt the current peace of the Goddess Church, Claire, as a prisoner of the Goddess Church, is naturally happy to help.

“Alright, what would you like to ask me?” Claire agreed to Isabelle’s request.

Seeing that Claire was finally serious, Isabelle couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

She quickly shared the thoughts she had been pondering all night without rest.

“I’m trying to do what you did back then in the Holy City: reduce the cost of healing magic for the common people and implement a so-called ‘healing magic donation’ system to provide healing magic to the common people for free.”

"In this way, healing magic can better serve more people, since healing magic is much more efficient than potions."

“Claire, what do you think of this? The Church of the Goddess is definitely not a place like the archbishops who only collect money. At least it won’t become like that in the ‘Holy City’ that I manage.”

As expected of the Holy Mother, Claire looked at the great philanthropist before her.

Regardless of those bishops or archbishops, the prayer agent in front of us is definitely the true Virgin Mary.

What's remarkable is that this saintly woman actually has some brains; based on the negative examples Claire mentioned earlier, she came up with the answer of free medical insurance on her own.

However, universal free healthcare is not feasible.

“No, you can’t not take a penny; you have to take money,” Claire corrected.

“First of all, if you don’t charge money, then all the churches in the ‘Holy City’ will be overwhelmed by all kinds of commoners. No matter what kind of injury or illness they have, they will all come to the Goddess Church for treatment.”

"In that case, those who truly need help will lack the resources."

"Furthermore, even if you offer healing magic to the common people for free, don't you suffer any losses yourselves? Don't your priests pay for the mana restoration potions they drink?"

Isabelle immediately realized that she had used too much force.

"Then, how can we do this reasonably? I don't want to collect taxes, but I also hope that everyone can have access to information on healing magic."

“Your Holy City isn’t as wealthy as the Archbishop,” Claire cautioned.

"After a certain amount is given out regularly each year, subsequent treatments that require healing magic will only require paying a portion of the money."

Isabelle's answer was excellent, even though it was Claire's prompting.

“That’s right.” Claire nodded. “If you have surplus income, couldn’t you hold some kind of free treatment event? You don’t just want to rectify the fact that ordinary people can’t enjoy healing magic, do you? Don’t you have anything else in mind?”

"That way you can reap another wave of faith. You should also consider treating your priests better. If they're eating dry bread with you, who will have time to do charity?"

“Since you acting saints also disapprove of the archbishops’ actions, you should also find a way to be self-reliant and get rid of the situation where you can only rely on the archbishops’ jurisdiction for support.”

Despite being criticized, Isabelle nodded happily.

She carefully noted down what Claire had just said.

Although the person in front of him is an evil god emperor, the policies he issued when he was still the emperor of the empire were undoubtedly useful and beneficial to the common people.

"Regarding the funeral tax and such, I think the method you proposed before was very good..."

Next, Isabelle began to ask about various other questions.

Claire ate lamb chops and drank red wine while answering the questions posed by the acting saintess.

Claire found the scene quite comical.

More than a hundred years ago, when he tried to implement these policies in his empire, he was stopped by the archbishop.

At that time, the archbishops must have felt that these policies could not be implemented with their opposition.

Now, more than a hundred years later, he has become a prisoner of the Church of the Goddess.

Those archbishops back then could never have imagined that they would be in this dungeon advising the acting saint of their goddess church to implement their policies in the 'Holy City'.

The conversation lasted an hour, and Claire had long since finished her wine and food.

Isabelle clearly gained a lot from this conversation.

All the questions she had been pondering were now answered by Claire, just as she had seen in the records from before; Claire was indeed an emperor wholeheartedly devoted to justice and fairness.

"But are you really planning to implement these policies?" Looking at Isabelle, who was deep in thought, Claire felt a certain respect for the woman.

“You know, if you promote these things in the ‘Holy City,’ it’s like taking away the archbishops’ cake. They have no choice but to follow suit.”

Having spent so much time with Claire, Isabelle naturally understood Claire's true intentions.

"Don't worry about me running into any trouble. You know, the acting saintesses have noticed the problem of the archbishops' expanding power over the years."

Isabelle spoke softly, her eyes showing no sign of wavering.

In particular, Claire gained immortality after killing an archbishop, which meant that the archbishops had essentially created an evil god-emperor.

If Isabelle had been born a hundred years earlier, she would definitely have become friends with Claire.

While the archbishops continue to maintain their glamorous lives, Claire has become a prisoner of the Church of the Goddess, and even Isabelle is now angry about Claire's plight.

This further strengthened Isabelle's resolve to reform the Church of the Goddess and to absolutely not allow the archbishops to continue their reckless behavior.

Moreover, after the defeat of Claire, the acting saints of that generation had already decided to no longer tolerate the archbishops.

The first step was for the acting saintesses to take over Claire, and then the acting saintesses gradually began to cultivate their own power.

Without breaking ties, causing internal strife within the Church of Goddess, or using the Holy Maidens, the current acting Holy Maidens have a certain amount of leverage to contend with the Archbishops.

"That's good, but talking without doing isn't enough. I'd like to see when you can put these ideas into practice." Claire raised an eyebrow, still saying mischievous things to Isabelle.

Isabelle was also a little unconvinced. Why did this guy keep questioning her abilities and authority?

"Soon! No more than a week. Once I've compiled all this information, I'll announce these new policies for the 'Holy City' when all the archbishops are present."

No more than a week? That makes sense.

The Marquis of Rost mentioned that there would be a banquet for the Church of Goddess's festival, 'Advent,' in a few days. I guess the Church of Goddess will also be holding a meeting or something.

Claire looked at Isabelle, who was bending down and clearing away the dishes, with a smile in her eyes.

He eagerly awaited that day.

Chapter 85 The Banquet on the Day of the Holy Advent

On the day of Advent.

It was dusk, and the sky above the capital was dyed a magnificent purplish-red by the sunset.

The main road, usually bustling with traffic, was now completely congested with carriages decorated with family crests and church flags.

The air in the capital was filled with the unique hustle and bustle of the celebrations and the aroma of spices.

Whether commoners or nobles, everyone would put aside their work and hold a banquet to celebrate on this day.

The carriages from the Marquis of Rost's mansion were also present on the way to the banquet.

The Marquis of Rost sat in the main seat, wearing a well-pressed, but clearly outdated, dark blue marquis's uniform, with a medal representing the family's history pinned to his chest.

He stood upright, his gaze fixed on the receding street scene outside the window, his fingers unconsciously tapping on his knees.

Lia was sitting opposite her father, wearing a brand-new light blue court dress, which the Marquis of Rost had specially made for her a few days ago.

But Liya felt that the gorgeous dress was like a restrictive shell, making it hard for her to breathe.

She didn't know how long ago it had been since she had been so close to her father. Lia also remembered the astonished looks on Elena's and Marquis Mara's faces when they left the house.

Clearly, the Marquis of Rost had not informed the two beforehand that he was only bringing Lydia to the dinner party.

That's why the Marquise Mara and Elena, who were completely unaware of the situation, were caught off guard and were left at the Marquis's mansion.

Claire herself was not really used to receiving such special treatment, even though the Marquis of Rost had previously ignored her daughter and even disliked her.

This change in attitude has made Liya somewhat suspicious.

[Lia: My God of Guidance, do you think there's something going on with Father bringing me to this banquet?]

Claire: It's not that he needs to talk to you, it's just that the other two women in his family are really unacceptable. One of them cheated on him, and the other is just like his mother.

[Lia: Oh, so Father was actually worried that the Marchioness and Elena might do something inappropriate when they encountered Earl Orlando? That's why he called me?]

[Claire: You've finally gotten your act together. Old Deng isn't being nice to you now.]

Claire: He doesn't think there's a problem with giving you to the Earl, but he certainly doesn't want to give his wife and second daughter to him.

[Claire: Don't expect any fatherly love from your biological father.]

[Liya:...]

Hearing the words "God of Guidance," Lia felt relieved.

She knew it! How could the Marquis of Rost be so kind to her? So that's how it is.

However, what her father didn't know was that Count Orlando was a woman, and also her mother's sister.

Leah didn't mind being pushed into marrying Earl Orlando by her father, but she was somewhat disappointed by his idea.

Thinking it over carefully, Lia realized that she had never had any status in the Rost family.

"Liya..."

Suddenly, Marquis Rost's voice called out from the other side, startling Leah.

When she looked up, she found that the carriage had stopped and the Marquis of Rost was looking at her strangely.

"What's wrong? It's already dinner time, are you feeling unwell?"

"It's alright, Father." Lia quickly shook her head.

"That's good, let's go down."