The group arrived at the front of this luxurious courtyard, and Luna stepped forward to knock on the lock of the main gate.

“Visitors are here~?” Luna stretched out her delicate hand, gently tapping the door frame with the lock, her voice tinged with mischief and amusement.

How should she put it, this sensation of being able to find their family’s businesses and estates everywhere gave Vanessa a Galactus family vibe. However, the Horaleth family itself was a prominent noble house; Even if they were slightly inferior to the Galactus family, the difference wasn’t large enough to create too great a gap.

After Luna finished speaking, the four waited outside for a long while, yet they received no response.

“Eh??” Amisa widened her eyes, leaning closer to peer into the courtyard. “Are the servants just out and haven’t returned yet?”

“I suppose so,” Luna said, observing the courtyard’s arrangement with a thoughtful expression. “It seems people were here recently, but for some unknown reason, they’ve all left. Judging by the dust accumulated on the furniture and tools, they probably withdrew about a week ago.”

“Eh? They’re not coming back?”

“I don’t know. We still don’t know how much time has passed outside in comparison to our time inside that cube, nor do we understand the difference in time flow between the two worlds,” Luna speculated. “That disaster likely sucked in all the faculty and students of Carillian Academy’s field trip, including the tribal guides and the locals who run tourism on Mount Kamov. Right now, we don’t know what happened to the people in Kamov City or whether unrelated civilians were affected.”

“So, I have no idea if something urgent within the family called them back,” Luna added.

“Then… are we going to have to keep sleeping outdoors again?”

“No need for that.” Luna smiled slightly, walking over to a row of flowerpots nearby. She knelt down on one knee, lifted the third-to-last pot, and retrieved a set of keys hidden beneath the saucer underneath.

“For secondary residences like this, spare keys are often hidden to avoid the hassle of carrying too many keys when going out, or losing them. The hiding spots are usually quite simple.”

“Eh?!” Seeing this, the other three wore expressions of mild shock.

“Really… won’t anyone else find it?” Fanya was surprised.

“No, who would think the key to a Horaleth family estate would be under a flowerpot at the entrance? Anyone dealing with such prestigious families tends to overcomplicate things. Besides, this isn’t an important place, there’s nothing valuable inside, no crucial items. Even if a petty thief broke in, they wouldn’t be able to steal anything.” Luna explained with a light laugh.

With that, Luna inserted the key into the lock. A ‘click’ echoed as the lock disengaged, and Luna pushed the door open.

“Come in,” she said, stepping ahead. After everyone entered the courtyard, she closed and re-locked the gate, keeping the spare key on her person.

“This courtyard hasn’t been cleaned in several days, and the rooms might be a bit dirty. Still, it’s better than sleeping on the streets,” Luna said.

As they entered, the others curiously looked around. Indeed, just as Luna had said, the estate’s layout carried a distinct church-like atmosphere, the fountain, the flowerbeds, the statue of Goddess of Radiance at the center, and the large clock installed atop the tallest building in the residence all confirmed this.

Various cleaning tools were scattered around the yard, along with bags of fertilizer, gardening shovels, and similar implementations.

Luna used the key to unlock the main hall, and they entered.

As the mistress of the house, Luna skillfully retrieved indoor slippers from the shoe cabinet and handed them to the others.

Amisa set her staff aside, removed her worn and filthy battle-damaged student loafers, said “Excuse me,” then carefully slipped her knee-high white socks, resembling ice cream, into cute sheep-shaped slippers.

Since Fanya was holding Vanessa and couldn’t use her hands, Amisa helped her. She knelt down, gently removed Fanya’s loafers, and slipped on her slippers.

“Milady, shall I help you take off your boots?” Fanya’s gaze shifted to Vanessa’s white high-heeled thigh-high boots, now covered in layers of mud and dust.

“The clothes I’m wearing are formed by soul armament,” Vanessa explained. “I can remove them myself, but this is the only set I have.”

“Eh? These clothes were made using [Holy Envoy]?” A huge question mark seemed to float above Fanya’s head.

Since when did [Holy Envoy] include clothing creation magic? How come she didn’t know?

But then again, Vanessa was the Radiance Saintess. As a Saintess, she surely possessed certain magics unavailable to ordinary [Holy Envoys]. With that thought, Fanya didn’t dwell on it.

“Uh… then, you?”

“Fanya, just bring a pair of slippers for Her Holiness. First, place Saintess on the sofa,” Luna said, glancing at the couch. The servants had closed all the windows and doors tightly when they left, so the sofa remained dust-free.

“Ah, right.” Upon hearing this, Fanya carefully placed Vanessa onto the sofa as if handling a priceless work of art.

“Milady, wouldn’t you like to remove these clothes? Wearing torn fabric must be uncomfortable,” Luna suggested.

“No need. I’ll do it myself once I can move,” Vanessa averted her gaze, a faint blush coloring her cheeks.

“Pftt.”

“Miss Luna, why are you laughing again?” Vanessa slightly raised her delicate eyebrows.

“Nothing. I just find it adorable that Her Holiness remains as innocent as ever,” Luna said with a teasing smile. “You’re so shy, even among girls.”

“Miss Luna, please stop saying things that make others uncomfortable,” Vanessa murmured, pressing her lips together.

“Alright, alright. Since Milady says so, you know, Mioka really likes you a lot.”

“How is Mioka doing lately?” Vanessa recalls the adorably mischievous half-cat girl.

“Well, since I’ve been away, Mioka’s been managing the shop these days.”

“Speaking of which, Milady has incredible charisma. Not just Mioka, so many remarkable people at the academy are drawn to you. But…” Luna’s tone shifted slightly as she changed at Fanya and Amisa beside her, smirking. “Hmm, seems like they’re all girls?”

Where are all these girls she’s talking about?

Most of the people she regularly played cards with were boys.

But Vanessa didn’t voice that thought.

Finally, they’d reached a safe place, at least they wouldn’t have to sleep under the stars in a species-rich jungle anymore.

The tension they’d carried began to ease into a sense of security, and once that happened, their accumulated exhaustion started piling up.

Now that they were at ease, everyone felt tired, none of them wanted to rest just yet.

They were all girls, and they all valued cleanliness, especially Vanessa. Although she didn’t say it aloud, she had the strongest aversion to uncleanliness among them. The only reason she hadn’t brought it up was because she planned to bathe herself once she recovered enough to move.

“Everyone must be tired. Why don’t you all take a bath and change into clean clothes? The master bedroom has plenty of clean corset dresses. Wear one of those,” Luna suggested.

“Okay, then…?” Fanya looked toward Vanessa lying on the sofa.

“Milady, since you can’t move, should I help you?”

“Fanya, how exactly would you help me?” Vanessa tilted her head, watching Fanya curiously.

“Well, obviously, I’d help you.” Fanya didn’t elaborate. Her gaze slowly lowered, settling on that pair of heavy, bountiful mountains, something she, as a flat-chested girl, could only dream of.

All her life, she’d thought her childhood friend Amisa’s size was already unmatched among peers. Little did she know mountains beyond mountains, people beyond people, there exists someone even larger than Amisa.

Fanya involuntarily swallowed, suddenly imagining the scenario: two girls bathing together, one helping the other who couldn’t move. That would naturally involve… scrubbing her back.

And then,

Fanya couldn’t continue imagining. Just glimpsing a corner of that image made her cheeks burn fiercely, like a furnace overheating.

T-this is too…?!

No, no, no! How could she think of such things?!

Stop it, stop it!!

Fanya screamed inwardly.

“Fanya, you’ve carried Saintess for so long, why don’t you rest first?” Amisa said with genuine concern. “I’ll help Her Holiness.”

“I’m fine, really.”

“Enough, you two. Just go bathe. I’ll rest a bit first. Once I can move, I’ll do it myself,” Vanessa said.

“Eh?!”

The others expressed concern for Vanessa, worrying she might fall if she tried to stand. But since Vanessa insisted, they didn’t push further and reluctantly followed her wishes, heading off to their respective rooms to bathe.

The estate was large enough, with a master bedroom and several guest rooms, each equipped with its own private bathroom, extremely convenient.

After retrieving spare clothes, Luna gave the master bedroom to Vanessa, taking the guest rooms with Fanya and Amisa.

By the afternoon, Vanessa had recovered sufficiently and could finally walk. She exhaled in relief, massaging her hair. Even after prolonged combat and exposure to so much grime, the texture remains exquisite, like silk against the skin.

Meanwhile, the others were still in the bath.

Girls always took their time bathing, especially under such comfortable conditions.

High heels clicking against the floor, Vanessa ascended to the second floor and returned to her master bedroom, closing the door behind her with a sigh of relief.

Finally, she could relax.

Vanessa dispelled the broken [Armour Fortress], then stepped into the master bedroom’s large bathroom.

She stepped slightly across the marble floor on her pure white feet. With each motion, her heavy breasts swayed gently, as if stirred by a breeze.

Well, she was long accustomed to this sensation, but still, feeling it distinctly felt oddly delicate, especially with a large full-length mirror standing in the bathroom.

In the reflection stood a fair-skinned, breathtakingly beautiful girl with cherry-blossom hair, like a flawless work of art. From head to toe, down to every strand of hair, there wasn’t a single flaw.

The unparalleled view of a figure so voluptuous that her own feet were completely obscured, combined with just the right touch of shyness, fully revealed the most alluring charm of a blossoming maiden, innocent yet irresistibly seductive.

If a girlfriend looked like this, anyone would be beyond salvation.

Unfortunately, this person wasn’t anyone else.

It was herself.

Vanessa let out a soft sigh, sorting through her scattered thoughts as she turned on the enchanted water stone in the bathroom. After heating, the clean hot water flowed over her skin, leaving a faint, alluring blush on her snow-white, lustrous surface.

Vanessa preferred washing her hair separately from her body, so she fetched a hair tie, held it in her mouth, used both hands to gather her hair before tying it high in a ponytail, then began washing.

As she bathed, her thoughts drifted far away, pondering how she should proceed from here.

Since she’d already decided to fight and overthrow the Radiance Church with Luna’s support, she needed to plan carefully. She had to be more cautious.

Although this incident had ended without serious harm, there was no guarantee she’d escape unscathed next time.

Come to think of it, wasn’t she gradually straying further from her original intentions?

Ah…

But there was no help for it.

Vanessa sighed deeply, a heavy, weary sound.

At first, she’d believed that as long as she avoided the main plot and the protagonist’s group, she could control her own fate through effort. But in the end, she’d still walked down this path, the path of direct confrontation with the Radiance Church.

Perhaps she really shouldn’t have indulged that initial temptation?

Vanessa felt that everything seemed to stem since when she first awakened her bloodline, recognized the benefits of virtue, obtained cherries and then desired apples, obtained apples and then wanted watermelons, thus constantly exploiting the virtues of destined female protagonists, entangling herself in their karmic fates.

Could it be that Foreno had accidentally stumbled upon the truth?

If she hadn’t been so greedy at the start, if she hadn’t chosen to enter Carillian Academy, and hadn’t interfered with the female protagonists for virtue points, would she be living a more peaceful life now?

But soon, Vanessa dismissed the idea.

No, that wasn’t right.

If she’d chosen to do nothing back then, she wouldn’t even have the right to resist now. Her survival would depend entirely on the pope’s mood, living an extra day when he was in a good mood, or being executed immediately when he was angry, even without committing a crime.

Compared to that, wasn’t the current situation truly her holding fate in her own hands?

Vanessa finally understood.

Then, she will fight with all her might. After all, what did she have left to lose, anyway?

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep