CHAPTER 70: BIANCA, THE NUN

"Holy See, the time has come." The attending nun said in a low voice. Sylvia weakly roused herself, propping up her forehead, the moment of dazedness in her eyes vanishing instantly.

"I know, you may go now." She waved her hand.

"Yes."

After the nun left, Sylvia pressed her hand to her forehead, letting out an involuntary sigh.

It’s starting again...

As the Pope, she was seen by outsiders as a figure of iron will and immense power. They called her a divine servant, but such an impression was non-existent in the eyes of those around her.

And now, in this solitude, she revealed a hint of vulnerability in her eyes that was hard to detect. If the nun had seen it just now, she would have probably thought she was mistaken.

Sylvia got up, walked to a nearby table, and picked up a photo album that was lying face down.

She always handled her own belongings; no nun dared to clean her room without permission. So, of course, no one knew what kind of photos were in the album.

Some nuns were curious, but they naturally didn’t have the courage to touch the Holy See’s things.

Now, with the album in her hands, the photo inside was immediately visible.

It was a simple picture, with only one woman, or perhaps, a young girl.

In a patch of flowers, a woman in a white dress stood with her hands clasped behind her back, her beautiful face slightly turned toward the camera. A brilliant smile was on her lips, with a hint of playfulness.

Sylvia reached out to touch the photo, caressing the girl’s shimmering silver hair and her smiling face. Her eyes shifted from a look of solemnity to one of reverie. No one knew what she was thinking now.

"Leni, I just dreamed of you again."

Speaking softly, Sylvia slowly put the album down, returning it to its dark corner, face down once more.

When she raised her head again, she had once more become the cold and powerful Pope in the eyes of the world, the Holy See who represented the will of Farad.

In the afternoon, there was a military parade for the various nations’ divisions, which she had to personally preside over.

The so-called Holy City festival was essentially a major diplomatic event. In addition to exchanging cooperation, another significant purpose was to showcase national strength.

Every time the Holy See displayed its military power, it left the foreign delegations feeling powerless, thereby strengthening the Holy Light Church’s rule over the continent without a single battle.

Although the national divisions were not as strong as the Holy Light Church’s, this opportunity was still very important, as it could at least ensure their voice on the continent.

Just as Sylvia was about to leave, the insignia on her desk suddenly lit up.

She frowned, pausing for a moment.

The insignia on the desk was for her to communicate with the Heresy Court.

Only members of the Apostle rank were qualified to contact her directly.

And in recent missions, the only one with the qualifications to directly contact her was about that matter.

She went over and pressed the insignia. The glowing magic radiated from it, and a figure slowly appeared.

"Greetings, Holy See."

The nun in a white dress and black veil offered a formal greeting to Sylvia.

Sylvia looked her over, finding her somewhat familiar. After thinking for a moment, she asked, "I have some impression of you. Are you Nun Bianca?"

The nun was clearly not expecting to be remembered by the Holy See. Overwhelmed, she was at a loss for words for a moment.

In fact, Sylvia’s memory was excellent. As long as a name had appeared before, she could recall it instantly if she put her mind to it.

And this Nun Bianca had a somewhat interesting story in her memory, which made her remember it even more clearly.

If she recalled correctly, she was once a very ordinary nun, performing the monotonous work of daily prayers and spreading the faith.

Later, she killed the parish priest there. She was supposed to be hanged, but Sylvia, who had been aware of the incident for a while, learned the reason for it. Finding her interesting, Sylvia spared her life.

On the surface, she was a local church nun, but in reality, she was working secretly in the shadows of light and dark, assigned tasks by the Heresy Court.

Now, this nun had come to her. Could it be that she had discovered the Saint’s whereabouts?

"Alright, you may report now." Habitually closing her eyes, Sylvia waited for Bianca to speak.

"First..."

The nun’s voice was trembling at first. It seemed that only after gathering her courage did she calm down and say, "I believe... I have found Ms. Leni’s child."

The air instantly fell silent. A palpable sense of pressure lingered in the room. Sylvia stared at Bianca in silence, waiting for her to finish.

"It’s a boy, with Ms. Leni’s similar silver long hair, and he’s also very handsome, saying he’s one in a thousand would be an understatement..."

"How do you know Leni?" Sylvia asked coldly.

This was the reason for her earlier silence.

Nun Bianca also fell silent for a moment, then slowly said, "It was from a file that was not purged from the Heresy Court’s records. You were originally searching for Ms. Leni, but later suddenly canceled the order..."

Sylvia finally remembered. She had done this in a panic at the time, and after canceling the order, she had forgotten about it.

"You’re still very careful," she said with a calm tone of praise.

But her inner self was far from calm.

Leni’s child?

Although knowing this made her emotions complex and soft, she had actually canceled the search warrant after learning this truth before. She had come to terms with it afterward, so she wasn’t particularly flustered now.

Instead, she suddenly thought of another possibility, which made her current mood extremely unstable. She stared at Bianca, lost in thought, looking at the floor.

"And, he might be the Saint you’re looking for." Bianca added a moment later.

Even the movement of the air seemed to slow down. Being stared at by Sylvia, Bianca didn’t even dare to breathe, standing stiffly, head bowed respectfully, not saying a word.

Myris had a very good point: when you are very afraid of something happening, even if the probability is very small, it will still happen.

But the reality was that even situations she hadn’t considered would suddenly occur, leaving her unprepared in the future.

She had specifically instructed the Heresy Court apostles to report any news to her first, but Bianca was such an anomaly, it was impossible for her to have been subject to Myris’s words.

"What’s the proof?" This was Sylvia’s final question.

In the glow, Bianca held up a wooden board with a clear portrait of Julian on it.

Looking at the boy in the painting, with his handsome, delicate features, he was smiling at her.

This made her think of the photo album just now. That smile was simply identical to hers.

Sylvia’s eyes gradually became complex and soft.