CA – Chapter 73
Chapter 73
June left so suddenly that by the time Linda found out, the people from the Inquisition had already completely withdrawn from the Holy See.
Her heart pounded with anxiety. With no time to worry about being exposed, she went directly to the knight who had guarded the cell to ask about the situation.
When she heard the knight say that Lola had been purified by light magic, she relaxed slightly. But when she heard that the blonde priest had been taken away by Reese, her heart leaped into her throat again.
Although Lola, the threat to her life, was dead, the blonde priest was still alive and seemed to have gained Cardinal Reese's favor.
Linda's face was pale. She stood there in a daze. Would the blonde priest let her go?
Her thoughts were a mess, shrouded in unease and fear, until her attendant cleric came to find her, telling her to go to the chapel for the Light Baptism.
Linda steadied her nerves, lowered her head, and followed him away.
The Holy See held a Light Baptism every Sunday. It was originally scheduled for the morning, but since that was when June and Reese were in a standoff over the blonde priest, Monica, concerned for Tang Qiu, had rescheduled it for the afternoon.
The Light Baptism proceeded as normally as ever, but the clerics of the Holy See all noticed that Monica, who had been exuding a cold aura for the past few days, finally seemed a bit warmer.
As for the reason… some of them subconsciously looked up at the beautiful blonde priest standing in the middle of the priests' ranks.
Linda was also stealing glances at Tang Qiu, who stood to her right and rear. Her heart was in turmoil, and the expression on her face was stiff.
After the Light Baptism, Linda turned and hurried away through the crowd, in the opposite direction of Tang Qiu.
Jennifer walked to Tang Qiu's side, stared at Linda's retreating back, and said coldly, "She has a guilty conscience."
Tang Qiu glanced over as well, then withdrew her gaze, uninterested. She decided to let Linda stew in fear for a while; she would find a time to deal with her later. It wasn't as if she could cause any more trouble.
Besides, Tang Qiu felt that someone else wanted to get rid of Linda even more than she did.
Seeing Tang Qiu's nonchalant attitude, Jennifer couldn't guess her thoughts. She frowned in contemplation for a moment before saying resentfully, "I'm going to tell Priest Monica."
She walked as she spoke, "The one who colluded with the vampire was clearly Linda."
Tang Qiu watched Jennifer's back with a hint of helplessness and shook her head slightly. Handing Linda over to the Holy See for judgment would be the lightest punishment she could receive.
After Jennifer left to find Monica, Tang Qiu didn't return to her room. Instead, she crossed the chapel to the back door of the Holy See. She pushed it open and, just as she expected, saw Reese sitting on a bench in the center of the garden, enjoying afternoon tea.
It was as if forcefully pulling the blonde priest out of the Inquisition's grasp had never happened. Reese, basking in the sunlight, remained as leisurely and carefree as ever, as though earning the enmity of an Inquisitor meant nothing to her.
Tang Qiu walked over and sat down opposite Reese, pouring herself a cup of rose tea. The rich aroma of roses became cloyingly sweet after a while.
Reese opened her eyes and glanced at the blonde priest opposite her. Her lips curved slightly as she said in a toneless voice, "You really are bold." There wasn't a single person in the entire Bill Empire's Holy See who would dare to sit down opposite a Cardinal like her without saying a word.
Only the blonde priest had always been this audacious.
Tang Qiu smiled, raised her cup, and took a sip. "I just got out of the cell. I'm borrowing Cardinal Reese's rose tea to calm my nerves."
Reese picked up a petal from the table and dropped it into Tang Qiu's cup. "I didn't save you just to watch you drink tea," she said meaningfully.
Tang Qiu nodded and said with a smile, "My tea-brewing skills are also excellent."
"Oh? How excellent?"
"That depends on what kind of tea Cardinal Reese would like to drink."
The smile on Reese's lips deepened. She raised a hand and idly traced the patterns on her cup, looking directly into the blonde priest's sky-blue eyes. She enunciated each word clearly, "How about the Inquisitor's tea?"
Tang Qiu was a little surprised. She set her cup down and lowered her gaze slightly, not responding immediately.
Reese waited patiently for a moment before saying with a half-smile, "Are you reluctant to show me just how capable your knight is?"
A faint smile still lingered on her face, but her eyes were somewhat cold.
She had the power to get the blonde priest out, and she could just as easily send her back. If everything Tang Qiu had told her in the cell was a lie, she wouldn't mind going to the trouble again.
"No… you've misunderstood." Tang Qiu pondered for a moment, a beautiful curve forming on her lips. She said softly, "I just want to choose a good time to brew this pot of tea."
Reese nodded, her tone languid. "Well, have you chosen one?"
Tang Qiu slowly tucked a strand of hair that had been blown into her face behind her ear. Her voice held a faint smile. "How about three days from now?" It would be the night of the full moon.
Edry.
Inside the magnificent hall, young noblewomen in gorgeous gowns gathered in small groups. In the center of the hall, couples embraced and danced to a melodious tune, the atmosphere warm and pleasant.
Anna declined an invitation from a handsome knight. Holding the hem of her skirt with both hands, she searched the hall for Lucille. When she saw knights guarding a nearby terrace, she slowly made her way over.
The knights saw it was Anna and didn't stop her. Anna lifted her skirt, climbed a short flight of stairs, and stepped onto the terrace, immediately spotting Lucille standing by the railing.
A gentle breeze lifted Anna's shawl. She pressed it down with one hand and walked to Lucille's side. Following her gaze, she looked up at the star-filled night sky and suddenly said, "Are you thinking about Grace?"
Lucille ignored her.
Anna thought for a moment, then asked earnestly, "Is she very gentle in bed, too?"
Lucille shot her a glare and called out her name in warning, "Anna."
Anna shrank back and carefully took two steps to the side. "I was just kidding."
Anna stood with Lucille in the breeze for a while. Seeing that she was being ignored again, she couldn't help but ask tentatively, "How are things with you and Grace?"
"Aren't you bringing her back to Edry?"
Anna had already sensed something was up. She had noticed that Lucille's aura wasn't as cold since she returned this time.
Who else could have caused this change but that blonde priest?
Lucille shook her head and said flatly, "She has to stay at the Holy See."
Anna frowned. "Won't you be in great danger then?"
"No." Lucille looked up at the moon, which was about to become full, and said in a low voice, "I'm leaving tomorrow."
Anna was taken aback. "Leaving so soon?" She said with some concern, "Then you must be careful to protect yourself."
A vampire always hanging around the Holy See sounded very dangerous.
Traveling from Edry back to the Bill Empire would take about two days at Lucille's speed. With a slight delay on the road, it was already dark by the time she returned to her manor in the Bill Empire.
Lucille leaped over the high wall of the manor and immediately saw a figure in the center of the grounds. She frowned, walked over, and asked, "What are you doing here?"
Lola was also surprised to see her. "That blonde priest told me to come." She was still very weak, and the burn marks on her face hadn't completely faded.
For a vampire, injuries from light magic healed very slowly.
Lola had to hunt several prey before she felt her strength gradually returning.
Lucille looked her up and down. "What happened to you?"
Lola subconsciously averted her gaze. She looked at the sky and said succinctly, "I was captured by people from the Holy See."
Seeing her evasive attitude, Lucille's eyes narrowed slightly. "Were you alone?"
Lola spread her hands and said honestly, "With your feeder." After being saved by the blonde priest, her name for Tang Qiu had changed from "prey" to "feeder."
She truly hadn't expected the blonde priest to be able to get a Cardinal to pull her out. Lola had thought she was a dead woman for sure.
Noticing the change in Lucille's eyes, Lola added, "She's fine now."
"I was careless this time. I was tricked by a prey."
Lucille turned expressionlessly, about to go find the blonde priest, but Lola called out to her. "Three days ago, she found me and told me to wait for her here."
Lucille stopped and turned her head to look at Lola. Lola shrugged. "Don't look at me, I don't know what it's about either. But she's probably not at the Holy See right now."
Indeed, Tang Qiu was not at the Holy See. She wasn't even in the Bill Empire.
Bishop Anthony had suddenly appeared in Sevia, luring all the people from the Inquisition there. Reese had given Tang Qiu their itinerary, so Tang Qiu had simply come ahead of time to wait.
There was no other way. Her knight wasn't here, so she had to do it herself.
Tang Qiu stood in the shadows of the trees, her head tilted slightly up as she gazed at the moon, half-hidden by clouds in the night sky. Her long golden hair cascaded over her black cloak. Enveloped in darkness, her clear, bright eyes seemed to darken a little.
She held an ice-blue fruit in her hand, quietly waiting for the silvery moonlight to pour down upon the earth.
The sound of hooves suddenly broke the silence. A troop of Holy Knights guarding a carriage in their midst passed majestically in front of the woods where Tang Qiu was hiding.
Tang Qiu tilted her head slightly for a glance and muttered to herself, "Ten Holy Knights, five priests, and one bishop."
There were quite a few people to kill tonight.
A gust of wind blew away the clouds obscuring the moon. Silvery moonlight poured down, and the tree shadows slowly receded. The moonlight enveloped Tang Qiu, causing her golden hair to slowly turn white as snow, starting from the tips.
A familiar heat rose within her. Tang Qiu ate the ice-blue fruit in her hand, lowered her head to pull up her cloak's hood, and took a veil from her Space Gem to cover her face.
After completing her preparations, she turned and walked in the direction the carriage had gone.
After searching Sevia several times without finding any trace of Anthony, June and Liz decided that the former would return to the Inquisition first to report the matter to Head Inquisitor Audrey.
Moreover, although June had endured Reese's blatant provocation, it didn't mean the matter was over.
Her status was no match for a Cardinal, but she had a Head Inquisitor above her.
She had already figured out how she would report this to Head Inquisitor Audrey. In any case, she would certainly not let Reese and Tang Qiu off so easily.
Reese knew this as well, which was why she had Tang Qiu's "knight" come to clean up the mess—partly to see Tang Qiu's trump card, and partly to eliminate some trouble in advance.
June was sitting in the carriage with her eyes closed, resting, when the carriage suddenly lurched violently. She put a hand against the wall to steady herself, opened her eyes, and asked with displeasure, "What's wrong?"
The priest outside answered with a trembling voice, "Inquisitor June, there's a werewolf."
A werewolf?
June gripped her silver-white staff and opened the carriage window to look. The bright moon in the sky made her expression turn ugly.
To encounter a werewolf on the night of a full moon.
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