After Lin Ye left, Luna gathered up the newspapers scattered across the coffee table, folding them neatly. As the pads of her fingers lightly stroked the creases in the paper, she suddenly paused, staring blankly at the hand her young mistress had just taken in hers.
Compared to the transformation in her young mistress just now, even being possessed by an evil god would have seemed normal.
She had originally thought that after her young mistress woke up, she would definitely panic, weep hysterically, or immediately write a letter to her father pleading for help.
But none of that had happened.
From the moment she opened her eyes this morning, aside from frantically flipping through family histories and world histories at the very beginning for some unknown reason, her young mistress had entered an astonishing state of calm for the rest of the time, keeping her brows deeply furrowed and staying silent the entire time except when asking about the current situation.
Luna had even suspected at one point whether she had been overstimulated and driven completely mad.
Yet judging by her performance just now, that did not seem to be the case at all.
"Oh dear, I think the Rosenwal family really is doomed this time. Shouldn't we start looking for a new employer while we still can?"
"Right? What terrible misfortune for the house. Grand Duke Rosenwal spent his whole life being cautious, but who would have thought he'd end up with a daughter like her?"
In the maid quarters, the whispers of the other servants drifted in through the thin wall.
"Miss Luna is the truly pitiful one, isn't she? She suffered no shortage of bullying from that 'Blue-Blooded Heiress' on ordinary days. Now that her mistress is in trouble, as her personal maid, she'll probably be hard-pressed to escape unscathed."
At those words, Luna's fingers trembled slightly.
She would not betray her master. This was the lesson her father had taught her since childhood: loyalty was a knight's foremost principle.
Yet that did not mean she felt no fear.
She had heard more or less about the Holy See's methods. The mere thought that those tortures might fall upon her sent a chill creeping all the way up her spine.
She lowered her head and once again stroked the hand Roseliel had held.
"...Milady."
The murmur was as soft as a sigh, fading away into the empty room.
...
The reception room of the Holy See was furnished extremely simply. The most eye-catching object was a huge mirror reflecting everyone in the room, symbolizing "self-reflection."
Visitors were required to sit quietly here for a moment, staring at themselves in the mirror and reflecting on their deeds. Combined with certain secret holy spells of the Holy See, quite a few people would break down crying and kneel to confess right at this stage.
At this moment, Lin Ye was sitting in front of this mirror, quietly looking at the person inside it.
Only a single thought ran through her head—
This Roseliel might be rotten to the core, but she really is drop-dead gorgeous.
No wonder she still had a small handful of fans in her past life, with some even shipping her and the heroine in a "lesbian hate" pairing.
Fluffy, pale-blonde curly hair draped over her shoulders, accentuating skin so porcelain-white it was almost translucent. Her grayish-blue eyes were clear yet hazy, and when her long black eyelashes drooped, they cast two faint shadows beneath her eyelids. Her nose was small and petite, her cheeks still retained a touch of lingering baby fat, and her pale-pink lips parted slightly, making her whole person look like an exquisite, fragile porcelain doll.
Lin Ye subconsciously raised a hand to touch her face.
The doll in the mirror raised her hand as well.
The female corporate wage slave from her past life—who wore thick glasses, suffered a receding hairline, had freckles dotting her face, and vanished into a crowd—was completely gone.
Ahem.
She cleared her throat and composed her mind. Now was not the time to be thinking about this.
A small door to the side suddenly opened, and a nun stepped out, bowing slightly. "Please follow me."
Lin Ye stood up and followed her.
Passing through the solemn prayer hall, she went up the stairs to the second-floor office area. At the end of the hallway, the nun knocked softly on an ornately decorated wooden door.
"I have brought her to you, Lord Bishop."
Lin Ye's heart tightened. Her matter had actually alerted a bishop.
On second thought, though, it wasn't too surprising. The incident had occurred at Saint Uriel Academy, jointly established by the royal family and the Holy See, and most of those involved were nobles. On top of that, she herself was the daughter of Grand Duke Rosenwal. All these factors combined were indeed enough for a figure of this rank to inquire into the matter personally.
"Mhm, come in."
A deep, majestic voice sounded from inside the room, carrying a sense of unquestionable pressure.
The nun stepped aside. "After you."
Lin Ye took a deep breath and pushed the door open to walk inside.
The instant she stepped into the room, faint sounds of holy hymns wrapped around her ears. She knew this was because "Echo Stones" were embedded in the walls. This special material could conduct chants from the chapel to every corner, creating an effect where the lingering melody hovered in the air for days on end.
The furnishings inside the room were far simpler than expected. Only a solitary chair was placed in the center, and at the other end stood a wooden desk, behind which sat an old man in a white robe trimmed with fine gold thread along the hem. He had a gaunt face and looked to be in his sixties or seventies.
"To be frank, your visit surprises me greatly, little one."
Lin Ye had just settled into her seat when the other party spoke.
"I am the chief director of the capital diocese. You may call me Seraphin. Let us skip the unimportant pleasantries and tell me the purpose of your visit."
This straightforward manner of speaking actually made Lin Ye secretly sigh with relief. After all, she had only just transmigrated. Although the original body's noble social etiquette remained in her memory, if she were forced to apply it on the fly, there was no telling what kind of fool she might make of herself.
"Then I won't waste time on pleasantries with you either, Lord Bishop." Lin Ye raised her head to meet his gaze. "I trust the Holy See will not conclude that I am a participant in this incident based solely on outside rumors and gossip?"
"Naturally not," Seraphin shook his head.
Before Lin Ye even had time to breathe a sigh of relief, he added, "We have more than enough reason to suspect you."
Her heart instantly leaped into her throat.
"...Is that so? I am all ears." She tried her best to make her voice sound as steady as usual.
"It matters little if I tell you at this point." Seraphin stood up and paced over to the front of his desk. "Miss Sella Cheresi and Miss Mallen Mona—you shouldn't be unfamiliar with those names, correct?"
Hearing those two names, Lin Ye's hanging heart actually settled down instead.
These two were precisely the witnesses captured by the Holy See in the game, and she remembered their testimonies crystal clear. What she feared most was the Holy See holding other evidence left behind by the original body that hadn't been mentioned in the game; that would have been truly troublesome.
"Ah!" She struck her own leg in feigned frustration. "I truly failed to see their true nature, associating with those two Snake Cultists and bringing suspicion upon myself for nothing."
Seraphin's brow knitted slightly. "You may have misunderstood something. We do not suspect you merely because you are acquainted with them."
"They were arrested immediately after the incident last night and confessed without much interrogation. Your name came directly from their mouths."
After saying this, he quietly observed Lin Ye with a hint of scrutiny in his eyes, displaying a calm demeanor that practically said, "Let's see how you try to spin this."
Lin Ye spread her hands, her tone helpless. "Two mouths alone hardly constitute evidence, do they? I admittedly didn't treat them very well on ordinary days. Isn't it entirely possible that, facing death, they wanted to drag someone down with them and used my name out of revenge?"
She paused, then added, "Furthermore, you've probably heard that those two are famous in school for telling endless lies. Even Lucia, the Holy See's precious future saintess, was framed by them on more than one occasion."
Didn't you do the exact same thing?!
The corner of Seraphin's mouth twitched slightly. Even someone like him felt a surge of anger at this moment.
He knew a thing or two about Lucia being bullied. He hadn't intervened only out of fear of bringing a heavier burden upon her.
Once her classmates realized that socializing with her attracted the attention of the Holy See, a social vacuum would immediately form around her.
As long as it didn't cross that unforgivable line, he chose to let her handle it herself.
A saintess candidate chosen from tens of millions was not that fragile.
And if one were talking about the main culprit behind Lucia's bullying, wasn't it you?!
The one who instructed those two to frame her was also you!
To talk about all of this as if it had nothing to do with her—this girl was utterly shameless.
Gazing at the exquisite, innocent face opposite him, Seraphin already had his verdict in mind.
She was guilty.
Rate on N.U.
