Veronica hastily released Greg's hand, took half a step back, and lowered her head with a flustered expression, her voice bearing a rare panic:
"S-Sorry, Lord Greg! Because your soul is Lord Zeyn, I accidentally treated you as a fellow female devout believer... I-I didn't mean any offense..."
At this moment, Veronica's face was flushed red and her eyes dodged his, completely lacking her usual scheming demeanor of having everything under control. Instead, she resembled a young girl who had accidentally done something wrong.
As Greg watched her reaction, he formed a general idea of the situation in his mind.
It seemed Veronica hadn't had much contact with men either. That gesture just now was purely a habitual action based on her perception of him as the female Heroic Spirit Zeyn Hardy.
To prevent any future awkwardness between them that might affect his original plans, Greg immediately stepped in to clear the air:
"It's all right. Truth be told, after regaining the memories of my past life, I haven't quite gotten used to this male body myself, so there's no problem if you treat me as a woman."
Hearing this, Veronica raised her head, a trace of surprise and gratitude shimmering in her star-like eyes: "Really...?"
"Of course."
Greg nodded with a smile, his tone relaxed and natural:
"After all, gender isn't important to me. What matters is our shared faith and goal, isn't it?"
Veronica stared at him blankly, an indescribable emotion suddenly welling up in her heart.
She had always believed her faith in the Goddess of Light was devout enough, but the person before her...
This Heroic Spirit who had once fought for Lady Serafina in ancient times showed her devotion on a whole other level.
In the current environment where the religious order was gradually decaying, such pure faith touched her in a way she hadn't felt in a long time.
She took a deep breath, then nodded solemnly:
"I understand. In that case, I will also strive to learn from Lord Greg—to learn not to be bound by worldly conventions and focus on faith itself!"
Greg gave a smiling nod, quietly breathing a sigh of relief inside.
It seemed he had finally gotten past this hurdle completely.
Afterward, Greg bade farewell to Veronica, then turned and left the room together with Olivia.
Leaving the room and rounding a corner, only the two of them remained in the hallway.
Olivia was silent for a moment before she couldn't help speaking up:
"You cunning fellow, you really ought to be a merchant. I feel like even that Roman family can't talk business like you. You're so silver-tongued that you've got the current Saintess of the Church of Light wrapped around your finger."
She sighed and rubbed her temples:
"Forget it. Things have already come to this, so I can only stick with you down this dark path to the end. Worst-case scenario, if the truth comes out, I'll just go be a bandit... ah, no, a mountain cowboy. That way, they definitely won't be able to touch me."
Greg chuckled and comforted her:
"Rest assured, Headmistress. Things haven't reached the absolute worst stage yet. Who knows, maybe this will turn out to be a great investment for you?"
Olivia rolled her eyes at him, making it clear she didn't believe for a second that Greg could come out of this unscathed.
Seeing her reaction, Greg could only shake his head helplessly.
It seemed that although the Headmistress was a cowboy, she wasn't a gambler and didn't understand the principle of 'all or nothing.'
He turned his head and looked through the window at the end of the hallway toward the setting sun outside the tower.
Orange-red light spilled across the land, painting the entire imperial capital in a warm hue.
Estimating the time, he thought to himself:
Allie and the others should be arriving about now. If so, they ought to make it just in time.
...
At dusk, the gates of the imperial capital cast long shadows under the evening sun.
People entering and exiting the city formed two loose lines while gate guards checked the credentials of passersby one by one.
In the queue, two figures clad in dark hooded cloaks caught the guards' attention—their hoods were pulled low, concealing most of their faces, and their slender frames stood out in the crowd.
"Hey, you two, pull back your hoods."
A guard stepped forward, his tone bearing routine sternness.
The two exchanged a look before raising their hands at the same time to pull back their hoods.
The moment the hoods fell, the surrounding soldiers froze.
Those were two extraordinarily beautiful faces.
Identical dark-gold hair shimmered with a soft sheen in the afterglow of the sunset, featuring exquisite, well-defined facial features and an undeniable charm between their eyes.
These two were Allie and Wendy in simple disguise.
Wendy had dyed her original honey-colored hair dark-gold, put on round-framed glasses, and styled her hair into twin-tails—a look she had never tried before—which surprisingly suited her very well, making her look like a completely different person.
The guards stared blankly for a few seconds before showing understanding expressions; now they knew why these two had intentionally worn hoods.
Walking down the street with two faces like that was indeed bound to invite trouble.
After confirming they were not wanted criminals, the guard waved them through.
The two entered the imperial capital without a hitch.
Walking ahead, Allie spoke with a touch of smugness in her voice:
"See? I told you we wouldn't be exposed. It's totally normal for martial artists to get food poisoning; nobody's going to suspect anything."
Wendy was silent for a moment before saying softly: "...Lady Allie, how about we stop bringing up food poisoning for now?"
Truth be told, even Wendy was surprised that they had entered the imperial capital so smoothly.
She was starting to wonder if the knights stationed at the mountain path camp had no contact with the outside world at all.
Otherwise, how could they have caused such a big commotion without a single sign of a bounty out for them?
Could those knights have been bandits in disguise as well?
Wendy quickly dismissed the thought.
Bandits couldn't possibly get their hands on such complete standard-issue equipment and supply stockpiles.
That left very few possibilities.
Considering the internal state of the Empire she knew before leaving, a conjecture suddenly crossed her mind:
Those couldn't be private soldiers arranged by Imperial Brother, could they?
"So it seems things haven't improved at all after I left..."
Wendy's mood suddenly plummeted as she muttered under her breath: "Is Imperial Brother really going to take that step in the end?"
However, she quickly perked up again.
Because she remembered that Lord Bishop was the one who sent her and Lady Allie here together, which meant Lady Allie's actions should also fall within Lord Bishop's calculations.
So Lord Bishop actually knew long ago that Imperial Brother planned to launch a rebellion... Could everything right now be within his grasp?
Although Wendy really wanted to think so, she also understood that no matter how brilliant Lord Bishop was, it shouldn't be that exaggerated.
"Besides, Lord Bishop said that the Demon King Cult would frequently cause disruptions in the imperial capital during this period, but everything looks so orderly right now. How could it suddenly—"
"BOOM—!!!"
A massive explosion resounded from not far away, cutting Wendy off mid-sentence.
Thick smoke billowed from a building at the end of the street, sending debris and dust soaring into the sky as the crowd scattered in panic.
Yet, Wendy's eyes grew brighter and brighter.
Looking at the rising smoke, an unconscious smile curled up the corners of her mouth:
"Everything truly is within Lord Bishop's expectations... The Empire is saved!"
Rate on N.U.
