After thinking it through, Lilian still chose 【Coronation】.
Although it didn't inherit her core talents, 【Favored of Heaven】 and 【Outsider】, meaning it couldn't fleece the Goddess on her behalf to stack infinite loops, it was a freaking physical entity capable of independent action!
Plus, its cooldown upon death was only forty-eight hours!
A scapegoat! A fall guy! Plus a workhorse tool of a slave to work twenty-four/seven for her!
What annoyed her the most right now?
Wasn't it having to face those greasy believers in the confessional every single day and deal with Aris, that perverted priest?!
With this clone, she could just park it at the church front desk during the day and let it pretend to be the pure, flawless Saintess.
Meanwhile, she could find a spot to hide away and slack off—pure bliss.
Even if it died, it would be back in full force two days later, while her real self would have skipped town long ago! What a joke—with only 20 HP, why would she ever fight someone head-on? She'd have to be out of her mind.
“Only an idiot would pull from a mystery box!”
Lilian laughed wildly in her heart:
“I want a workhorse! I pick the second one—【Coronation】!”
The first and third cards in her mind dissolved at her command, transforming into a rain of light that trickled into her body.
The system's chime rang out crisp and clear in her mind:
【Ding! You have selected the Prismatic Augment: Coronation!】
【Crown Clone activated. Please enter a name.】
Emmm, since you're going to act like a pure white lotus, I'll call you Little White.
【Name confirmed. Would you like to summon now?】
【No】
As the light faded, Lilian opened her eyes.
The surrounding believers were kneeling on the ground without exception, prostrating toward the pillar of light.
Lilian looked at Fina up on the steps and raised an eyebrow at her.
Seeing that look, Fina gritted her teeth in fury, but the teeth of her little lackeys were chattering.
“Fina... maybe we should kneel too. This is a divine gift from the Goddess.”
They might disrespect the Saintess, but their awe of the Goddess was no less than that of the believers.
Without waiting for Fina's reply, the two nuns knelt on their own accord, prostrating in Lilian's direction.
Although Fina was deeply unwilling to submit, she didn't want to leave a bad impression in front of the Goddess, so she reluctantly dropped to her knees.
Lilian maintained a serene expression, turning her body slightly as if she hadn't seen Fina's glare.
Her gaze swept around the abbey entrance and landed on a skinny novice nun peeking out from behind a pillar.
“Clara,” Lilian called softly.
The novice nun named Clara jumped in surprise at being called out of nowhere. She hurriedly jogged down the steps, nervously clutching her coarse linen apron as she curtsied. “L-Lady Saintess! At your command!”
“Beast milk is cold by nature. Drinking it on an empty stomach can easily upset the believers' stomachs.”
Lilian smiled and patted the novice nun's head:
“Could you please take this bakery lad and carry these two barrels of milk to the kitchen? Set up a big pot to boil it, and throw in two handfuls of dried chamomile to soothe their nerves.”
“Yes! I'll go right away!”
Clara nodded forcefully, her eyes shining as she looked at the Saintess. She quickly signaled the shop assistant to help carry the heavy wooden barrels toward the abbey kitchen.
Seeing Clara lead the man into the inner courtyard, Fina breathed a sigh of relief in her heart and turned around, wanting to slip away.
“Sister Fina, please wait.”
Lilian's voice, sickly sweet enough to send chills down one's spine, drifted over once more.
Fina shuddered. Forcing herself to turn around, she squeezed out a smile uglier than crying:
“L-Lady Saintess, is there something else? There are still internal chores in the abbey that need...”
“How could internal chores be more important than the devout believers?”
Lilian interrupted her with a smile, her gaze landing on the two hundred rye bricks neatly stacked on the handcart.
She walked over to Fina with slow steps, clasping her hands together against her chest, her holy smile completely faultless:
“It will take some time for the milk to boil, and everyone must be starving. Weren't you very concerned about the progress of the relief effort just now, Sister Fina? The Goddess in heaven sees all of your loving-kindness toward the believers.”
Cold sweat ran down Fina's back.
“It just so happens that these two hundred rye bricks on the cart need to be handed out.”
Lilian tilted her head slightly, looking at Fina and the two lackey nuns behind her:
“Why don't the three of you take the trouble to hand-deliver the rye bricks to every believer? Let them feel your compassion as well—how about it?”
“I...”
Fina almost vomited a mouthful of old blood!
Two hundred rye bricks!
Those damn things were as heavy as rocks. If the three of them handed out all two hundred, wouldn't their wrists dislocate on the spot?
Not to mention that she had just been sneering and mocking in front of the believers. Now she was being forced to bow, scrape, and hand out rye bricks one by one like a laborer, offering apologetic smiles to this crowd of poor commoners?
“Why, is Sister Fina unwilling?”
Lilian blinked her large, watery eyes with a look of pure confusion:
“Could your concern for the believers just now... have been fake all along?”
The moment those words left her mouth, the expressions of the surrounding believers holding broken bowls shifted.
Dozens of pairs of eyes snapped toward Fina, looking ready to explode once again.
“Sister Fina, the Lady Saintess is giving you a chance to serve the Goddess, and you're not even grateful?”
“Exactly! The Lady Saintess isn't even holding a grudge against you, so what are you putting on airs for!”
Fina looked at those faces that seemed eager to devour her, then met Lilian's smiling eyes. Her back molars ground in fury.
In front of so many people and under the supposed “gaze of the divine,” if she dared to refuse today, the charge of “disrespecting holy duty and despising believers” would stick to her like a death sentence tomorrow!
“I am... willing to serve the Goddess.”
Fina squeezed the words through her gritted teeth. Her facial muscles twitched as she lowered her head and walked briskly over to the handcart.
“H-Hand them out... Let's distribute the rye bricks to everyone first!”
The two lackey nuns were nearly in tears, but they had no choice but to follow along, gritting their teeth to lug those heavy rye bricks.
Below the steps, Lilian lowered her eyes, watching the three of them move bricks through the crowd like wretched old oxen, forcing pathetic smiles. A cold laugh echoed in her heart: This is only the interest. Fina, don't go making my future days boring.
Lilian curtsied slightly. “Everyone, I must go pray regarding the Goddess's oracle just now. I will take my leave. Should anything arise, please inform the other nuns.”
The moment she turned the corner down the hallway, she rushed back to her room, locked the door, and munched on a piece of fruit—all in one smooth motion.
“Time to try out Crown Clone!”
Lilian rubbed her hands together like a scheming fly. If her guess was correct, her days ahead were going to be smooth sailing.
“Come out, Little White!”
The moment she spoke, a figure condensed out of her shadow.
The Little White version of “Lilian” appeared right before her eyes.
As soon as Little White appeared, a second perspective slammed straight into her brain—even with her Spirit stat of 9, it was almost too much to handle.
She massaged her temples and took quite a while to adapt before finally sizing up this new ability. But before anything else, she had to get Little White to do one thing first.
“Little White, do you know how to undress yourself?”
Rate on N.U.
