CHAPTER 68: FLAME OF DESIRE (1)

In the Papal Palace courtyard, Sylvia and Myris were walking side by side. "Have all those delegations left already?" Myris asked politely.

"Mm."

Sylvia nodded, then asked with a meaningful look, "You came back this time... could it also be because of that little girl?"

The "little girl" in her mouth was naturally Losiya. Myris frowned at first, then said nothing, showing no reaction.

Across the entire continent, perhaps only Myris dared to treat Sylvia this way. Sylvia shook her head, thinking Myris still had a childish temperament.

"Catherine is still her family after all. Her previous decisions made perfect sense. Why are you so fixated on that girl?"

"I simply dislike her, that’s all."

Sylvia couldn’t help but laugh at that and didn’t pursue the topic further. Instead, she brought up the mission Myris received when she left.

"You volunteered to help share my burden—well then, any leads now?"

"Still none." Myris answered without hesitation.

"There are so many places across the continent. Unless he reveals some clue first, how could we possibly find him without any leads?"

"So back then, you just wanted an excuse to go out and blow off some steam?" Sylvia pressed a finger to her forehead, sighing.

"That’s not true\~" Myris affectionately pulled Sylvia’s arm, her lips forming a sweet smile as if playfully coaxing her.

Sylvia clearly saw the glint of cunning in Myris’s eyes but didn’t expose her, instead lightly tapped her head with a finger.

Off to the side, the accompanying priestess was drenched in cold sweat. Every time Myris opened her mouth, her heart skipped a beat. The other woman always spoke casually, joked, teased—no Cardinal of the Church would ever dare speak like this to the Holy See!

"Come to think of it, the Light only told us to search for someone, but didn’t give us any clues. That Holy Son that was born—how exactly did you even know?"

"That was revealed to me through a hint from Lord Farad."

Sylvia’s years of iron-blooded methods made Myris forget she was actually a divine cleric, not a general or marshal. So when she heard such words full of divine mystique, she was briefly stunned.

"And did Lord Farad not tell you where to find this Holy Son?" Myris asked.

"A hint is merely a guide Lord Farad gives to believers. It helps us while also restraining Himself. If the divine could interfere in the world freely, then why would the Lord have needed to parcel out land and titles and place authority in mortal hands?"

Sylvia spoke calmly.

Myris seriously nodded in agreement after hearing this.

"If the Supreme Holy Mark awakens, it won’t be able to stay hidden. The Apostles of the Inquisition will take care of it."

Thinking of Julian, Myris curled her lips. If she hadn’t stumbled upon a clue by sheer chance, those useless people might really have let Catherine cover everything up.

"Right now the whole city is filled with diplomatic banquets, art salons, theater performances... Isn’t this a festive time? If you’re suffocating, you should go and relax too."

Sylvia twirled a strand of Myris’s curled hair gently as she spoke.

Myris rolled her right eye a bit, then closed it and leaned her head on Sylvia’s shoulder, showing her closeness and gratitude.

Meanwhile, over at the diplomatic venue of the Roland Empire, Losiya, as usual, didn’t like mingling with others. She took a wine glass and headed alone to the empty balcony on the second floor, enjoying the rare peace.

Just thinking about it gave Losiya a headache. While she was downstairs in the main hall, people kept coming to chat with her non-stop.

Either clueless young ladies blushing with springtime feelings, or too "worldly-wise" married women with suggestive glances.

Her scalp tingling, Losiya had to create an excuse—spilling wine on her clothes—to make an escape.

"Ugh..."

She sipped the wine in boredom, starting to regret not bringing Julian along.

Time always passed quickly when she was with Julian, and the next day would come without any emotional burden. If it weren’t for the safety concerns, she would’ve brought him along, and wouldn’t be suffering this much now.

But in the end, it was just a thought. Thinking of those social butterflies buzzing around below, Losiya curled her lip, downed the rest of her drink, and set the glass aside.

"..."

Sensing the silent footsteps behind her, Losiya frowned and turned her head slightly.

Clad in her holy robes, Myris stood behind her, silently watching, her ice-blue eyes calm and emotionless.

"Even though I still really dislike you, I have to admit—at least you keep your promises."

"Of course. My greatest strength is doing what I say I’ll do." Losiya didn’t show even a flicker of surprise, only smiled as she replied.

"Like this time, I said I’d make you taste defeat in front of the whole continent—and I absolutely will."

Myris snorted softly, her scornful expression shifting slightly into one of amusement.

"Julian didn’t come either?" With a hopeful look, Myris glanced around, her eyes darting mischievously.

The smile on Losiya’s lips slightly faded, her face turning cold as she stared at Myris. "Are you that familiar with him?"

Seeing Losiya take the bait, Myris moved closer, whispering, "Later on, I’ll be very familiar with him. That’s why I wanted to take a look."

Losiya didn’t even flinch at the jab, her expression staying cold, eyes sharpening as she locked stares with Myris. But what Myris said next completely shattered her composure.

"You didn’t bring him—are you trying to protect him?"

Seeing Losiya go quiet, Myris seized the moment and pushed further: "You know the saying, right? The more afraid you are of something being discovered, the more likely it is to happen—even if the odds are small."

"The thing you fear most... is already happening."

Losiya’s fingers began to tense, her body subconsciously shifting into a combat-ready stance, fully focused on Myris.

"You don’t want Julian’s existence to be known by Her Holiness, do you?"

Myris’s final, soft-spoken sentence completely broke Losiya’s fighting stance.

"You haven’t told the Pope yet?"

She didn’t even ask how Myris found out—just looked at her in shock, disbelief etched across her face.

"Not bad. I figured turning you into a loser outright would be too boring." Myris said calmly.

"So let’s play a little game."

"During that upcoming duel—if you can beat me, then I’ll act as if nothing ever happened regarding Julian."

"And if I lose?" Losiya asked.

Myris curved her lips into a dangerous smile. "Then I’ll add another weight to your burden of failure—make you a complete, absolute loser, the biggest laughingstock of the entire continent.