They are all characters I control.

Claire stared at the stones in the dungeon, waiting for Isabelle to come and feed her.

This time, we can give this holy maiden of the carriage a little reward.

Chapter 9 The Rules of the Acting Saintess

After finishing her communication with Lia, Isabelle sat at her desk for a long time.

The light curtain had long since dissipated, and the holy light in the room had returned to calm.

She stared at the cup of tea on the table, now completely cold, her mind replaying the conversation from earlier.

"The evil emperor likes the empire's beer... brewed with malt, honey, and hops... and made with water from the capital..."

When Lia said this, her expression was innocent and naive, not like she was lying.

Moreover, those details, such as the beer recipe and the water in the capital, could not have been fabricated out of thin air by an ordinary noble lady.

The notebook that records Claire's secrets does exist.

The notebook also contained information and content that even the church had not recorded.

Isabelle stood up and walked to the window.

The night in the holy city of Spera was as tranquil as ever, with the white dome gleaming softly in the moonlight.

At the top of the Holy Spring Tower in the distance, where the saintess sleeps, the eternal sphere of light floats silently, like an undying star.

However, the problems facing the church are no less than those it possesses in terms of honor. The awakening of the evil god emperor Claire must be concealed, and it is also necessary to obtain more knowledge or strategies from the evil god emperor that are beneficial to the current situation.

Everything in the church now revolves around Claire, and perhaps Claire herself is unaware of this, but Isabelle is well aware of it.

The mere fact that the outside world knows Claire is still alive could cause a huge uproar.

It was also necessary to appease Claire by offering him 'supplies'.

Fortunately, this evil god emperor has been relatively well-behaved so far, and has not made any special demands other than asking for food.

He had only concealed the few sealed Holy Cross swords on the man's body so that the man wouldn't look down and see himself riddled with holes, thus deepening his resentment towards the church.

In Isabelle's ideal scenario, the perfect state would be if Claire could stay obediently in the dungeon and still offer her various suggestions.

However, Claire probably won't accept it so willingly.

That guy wasn't some kind of honest, easy-going person who was easy to bully. After all, although he wasn't immortal, he was still sitting in the seat that symbolized the highest power in the empire.

He was able to govern his own country, but was obstructed and hindered by the regional archbishops, and was subsequently attacked and even sealed away until now.

Fortunately, Claire was rational.

Although it's irritable and can bite, it still manages to stay conscious. If it were someone else, they would have gone mad long ago and become a resentful machine that curses everyone in the church.

If we let him out, who knows what kind of chaos he'll cause in the church?

To appease Claire, Isabelle needs to understand him better and try her best to meet his needs.

To at least prevent Claire from having such a bad impression of the Church and the Acting Saints, and to show that the Church has someone she can communicate with, so that Claire won't become a mortal enemy of the Church again.

As for the archbishops, Isabelle had no way of persuading Claire to let go of her grudges and hatred.

The 'new tax' that the archbishops formulated using the contents of Claire's notes obtained by Lyana further confirms that those archbishops are no different from those who waged war against Claire for their own selfish interests a hundred years ago.

"Phew~" Isabelle exhaled.

She turned her gaze away and looked at the stone door by the wall, which was hidden by the goddess statue.

Claire is still inside; he's been hungry all day, it's time to prepare some food for him.

Although Claire is immortal and doesn't need food, as Claire herself said, since she's locked up in the dungeon, eating and drinking are the only pleasures she has left.

Isabelle straightened the collar of her holy robe and pushed open the door.

The corridor was quiet.

The nuns in white robes had finished their evening prayers and returned to their rooms to rest.

Only a few lamps burned in the niche, casting a warm glow on the marble floor.

Isabelle's previous incident of Ophelia following her to the tower led her to gradually dismiss her followers, as a large number of people would make them a bigger target and easier to be watched.

Of course, Isabelle didn't want Ophelia and the Sisters of Judgment to use this as an excuse to arrest her attendants, interrogate them, and force them to suffer any unpleasant memories.

Looking down the quiet corridor, Isabelle walked alone toward the kitchen.

The kitchen in the holy city is very large, with two sections, an inner and an outer one.

The outer kitchen was responsible for the meals of attendants and ordinary clergy, while the inner kitchen prepared meals for the acting saints and archbishops.

Isabelle usually sneaks into the outer kitchen to take food, where the food is simple but not likely to attract attention.

Tonight is no exception.

She pushed open the door to the outer kitchen, which was empty.

The fire in the stove had been extinguished, leaving only a few oil lamps still burning.

Having been there several times, Isabelle, already familiar with the place, tiptoed to the locker and opened the door.

Bread, cheese, pickled olives, a small piece of smoked meat, and a palm-sized earthenware jar.

The bottle contains wine.

Isabelle took out the food items one by one, wrapped them in a clean linen cloth, and tucked them into her sleeve. The bottle of wine was hidden inside her robe.

She turned around, ready to leave.

"It's so late, why does Lady Isabelle still have the leisure to come to the kitchen?"

Isabelle's body stiffened abruptly.

She slowly turned around.

Ophelia was leaning against the door frame, arms crossed, watching Isabelle with amusement.

Isabelle breathed a sigh of relief that she hadn't brought the Sister of Judgment with her.

If it's just one person, then it means that Ophelia isn't there on official business with the 'Inquisition' at this moment.

“Ophelia,” Isabelle’s voice was steady, “what are you doing here?”

“I came to check because I was hungry.” Ophelia tilted her head. “And you? The Holy Maiden of Prayer, coming to the kitchen in the middle of the night… looking for something to eat?”

Her gaze fell on Isabelle's slightly bulging cuffs, and a brighter smile appeared on her face.

Isabelle subtly tucked her sleeves behind her back.

“These are for the attendants,” Isabelle replied calmly.

"Oh?" Ophelia laughed. "Lady Isabelle is so considerate of her subordinates, unlike me, I'm just here to have a drink."

In front of Isabelle, Ophelia swaggered to the nearby cabinet, picked up the wine, and drank it.

Isabelle frowned as she watched Ophelia's exaggerated behavior.

As a fellow acting saintess, she couldn't help but speak up, saying, "It's wrong for acting saintesses to drink alcohol. We should only consume holy dew. Drinking or eating is simply for pleasure."

This made Ophelia laugh, and she raised an eyebrow and sniffed Isabelle.

"The acting saintess should be careful about contact with the opposite sex, but Isabelle, you didn't follow that rule either."

Chapter 10 The Acting Saintess, Stop Hitting!

Isabelle was in a bad mood and was caught by Ophelia while she was looking for food for Claire.

However, this is not so surprising.

He already knew that Ophelia had been watching him, so it wasn't surprising to see her jump out now. The problem was what this girl was saying at this moment.

"The acting saintess should be careful about contact with the opposite sex, but Isabelle, you didn't follow that rule either."

Ophelia's words were like a thorn, piercing precisely into Isabelle's chest.

Isabelle's breath hitched for a moment, then she frowned and replied in an offensive tone, "What are you talking about? I have never had any inappropriate contact with any man."

"Is that so?" Ophelia tilted her head, her gaze sweeping over Isabelle.

Isabelle's voice turned cold. "Ophelia, watch your words. I am a prayer agent, not someone you are judging."

Ophelia smiled, a very happy smile.

She put down the bottle, leaned closer to Isabelle, and sniffed: "You have a... how should I put it, it's that feminine scent of someone who has seen a male."

Isabelle's face flushed red instantly.

She resisted the urge to instinctively and guiltily lower her head and smell her clothes, knowing that she would always take a shower after returning from Claire's place.

I haven't even been to that dungeon yet, so how could I possibly have seen the scent of a female that has been exposed to males?

"You! I told you, Ophelia, don't deliberately provoke me."

With a stern face, Isabelle made no attempt to hide her anger as she stared at Ophelia in front of her.

“I’m not insulting you,” Ophelia interrupted, her tone becoming serious. “I’m just stating a fact. You do smell like that. Not perfume, not shower gel, do you understand what I mean?”

Isabelle understood, of course.

But she certainly couldn't admit it; admitting that she had indeed met men wasn't a big deal.

Admitting it would expose the fact that Claire had awakened, so Isabelle could only deny it at this point.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Isabelle turned her face away. “I’m surrounded by nuns and servants every day; it’s impossible for me to have that kind of smell.”

"Is that so?" Ophelia didn't press further, but simply added casually, "What about the Evil God Emperor?"

Isabelle's pupils contracted slightly.

It seems that Ophelia still cares about Claire quite a bit; this isn't the first time Ophelia has mentioned Claire in front of her.

Previously in the tower, in the Holy Council, now in the kitchen.

Every time, it's a test.

Test her reaction, test her bottom line, test where Claire is being hidden.

“Ophelia,” Isabelle reiterated her stance. “The Evil Emperor is my responsibility, not your toy. I will not hand him over to the Inquisition, nor will I allow anyone to use him for their own purposes.”

“I didn’t say I was going to hand him over to the Inquisition.” Ophelia shrugged. “I was just curious and wanted to see him. But Isabelle, why are you so concerned about him?”

She put down the bottle, crossed her arms, and stared intently at Isabelle with her deep purple eyes.

“That’s just a mute living dead, locked in a dungeon, sealed by the holy sword, unable to move at all. You’ve been taking care of him since you were a teenager, praying for him every day, ‘purifying’ him every day, for over a decade.”

She paused.

"Don't you think something's a little off about you?"

Isabelle remained silent in the face of Ophelia's gaze.

"Or is it that, Isabelle, you've gotten used to it? Used to having him around? Used to visiting him every day? Used to talking to that unresponsive corpse?"

Ophelia's voice grew softer and softer, but every word pierced Isabelle's heart like a needle.

Of course, there was one final, decisive blow.

"Isabeth, you don't mean you've fallen for him, do you?"

"Enough!" Isabelle's voice wasn't loud, but it was powerful enough.

A magical force spread outwards from Isabelle, almost instantly destroying all the glass and ceramics around her.

Even the wine bottle in Ophelia's hand shattered, spilling wine everywhere and soaking her clothes.

Ophelia did not dodge.

She simply looked down at her wet clothes, then looked up at Isabelle with even greater interest.

Are you angry? Or because I guessed right?

“I am the acting saintess.” Isabelle stared expressionlessly at Ophelia. “He is the evil god emperor. Between me and him, we are only prisoners and guards.”

"Is that so?" Ophelia laughed. "Then why don't you dare hand him over?"

Isabelle frowned; she didn't want to repeat herself, something she'd already said many times before.

"If you really only see him as a prisoner, then it doesn't matter who guards him. Why you? Why not me? Why not the Inquisition?"