Princess's Struggle for Survival

On the third day after the victory banquet ended, the main force of the Church’s Knight Order arrived outside Coldwind City, back to the tundra, facing off at a distance against the Valeria Empire’s expeditionary army.

Because the overall terrain of the Kingdom of Velys sloped from high in the east to low in the west, the tundra stretching southwest beyond Coldwind City lay relatively lower.

As long as the expeditionary army held Coldwind City firmly, they could strike down from above into the kingdom.

It was precisely for this reason that the Church’s Knight Order had constructed the City of Holy Light to the west of Coldwind City, attempting to stop the expeditionary army’s spearhead here.

Inside the illusory city of light, Church knights in silver-white armor stood along both sides of the road, saluting with reverent expressions.

At the very center, the red-haired Knight-Commander Kales knelt on one knee, welcoming the Saintess of Light Monica Angelis on her inspection.

"Lady Monica, Kales hereby welcomes the Saintess’ inspection. Almighty and Omniscient Lord above, today, the Saintess is as dazzling as the sun."

Opposite Kales, the brown-haired Saintess, curved in all the right places, wore a pristine white Saintess robe.

A semi-transparent pure-white gauze draped over her rounded, fragrant shoulders. Her full, smooth, fair legs were sheathed in cream-colored thigh-high stockings; the silver ring-like tops lightly cinched the flesh of her thighs.

On her feet were high heels with thin silver fastening straps, echoing the delicate, pure-white instep.

Hearing Kales, Monica gave a soft hum. Her gloved hand gently adjusted the gauze-like headpiece. Her beautiful eyes flickered slightly as she spoke in an unhurried, gentle tone.

"Rise, Knight-Commander Kales."

A trace of cold wind brushed Monica’s hair, swaying the tassel-like ornaments, and carried the Saintess of Light’ warm, pleasing voice into the ears of the surrounding knights.

"By the Pope’s orders, I bring the holy relic to the Eastern Expeditionary front to provide Knight-Commander Kales with necessary military support."

"Coldwind City has already fallen. Duke Grant is missing, and beyond this point the kingdom will have no natural barriers left to rely on. Vast swaths of towns and villages will become ready-made logistical points for the Valeria expeditionary army to replenish arms and supplies."

"We must stop these heretics outside Coldwind City, to prevent them from swiftly approaching the Holy City and committing acts of subversion and rebellion."

Only after Monica finished did Kales end his salute and slowly rise. His right hand brushed the left side of his breastplate as he declared his resolve with utmost respect.

"I shall obey the Pope’s orders."

Several hours later, after completing her inspection, Monica entered a private room built of light-bricks.

After instructing her attendants that she would be praying to the Almighty and Omniscient Lord and that no one was to enter to disturb her for any reason, she laid down multiple spell arrays to prevent peeping and eavesdropping, then sent her spirit power into a spatial storage device.

Her gauze-like headpiece flickered softly. A few seconds later, a mass of light, brighter than the sun, gradually manifested before her.

Seeing the radiant holy relic appear, the Saintess in white slowly bent at the waist. With a few crisp clicks of heels, Monica’s delicate, lotus-like feet in pure-white silk slipped slightly free of the heel cups, arches curving outward to expose the soles.

Hands crossed against her chest, her long, rounded legs in white stockings bent of their own accord; knees together, she lightly touched the ground, assuming a devout posture of prayer.

Unseen, the connecting signal released by the holy relic pierced through the City of Holy Light, drifting eastward toward the fully alert Coldwind City.

At the watchtower command post, Lyra, reading a letter from Duke Charles and considering the next stage of the advance, faintly sensed something. Her clear blue eyes lifted from the page and shifted to her waist.

The exquisite silver-white, carved scabbard still hung at the side of her armor, seemingly no different from usual.

Yet Lyra, whose mind was linked to it, sensed something attempting to establish a connection.

She had felt this before. During the defense of Liya Tower Fortress, the Saintess of Light Monica had, across the frontline flames of war, used the Church of Light’s precious relic and the shared-source resonance effect of the Sword of Light to contact her.

Had Monica come to the front? Or was someone else contacting her?

Fingers brushing the hilt, Lyra did not act rashly. She first set the letter down and stood, walked to the adjacent room, and gently knocked.

"Your Highness Astrid, Countess Lyra Beckett seeks an audience."

"...Come in."

Closing the door, she erected a barrier to block information. Lyra saw the silver-haired, red-eyed Regent likewise buried in paperwork, busy handling the redemption purchase of military rations.

Seeing Lyra, Astrid casually swept her hair back; the silver strands that had fallen beside her arms shifted to behind her shoulder with the motion, and her elegantly crossed black-stockinged tender legs drew a little closer together.

"What is it, Lyra?" The silver-haired beauty took the opportunity to sip some tea, moistening her lips. "Do you need my help with something?"

The implication was obvious: was Lyra here to talk business, or simply to get intimate with her?

"Astrid... is what you’re working on really that urgent right now?"

"I’m reviewing grain reserves and the civilian supplies gathered over the past few days, considering what price is best to buy in food. But for a short while, I can still make time for Lyra."

She had already memorized the figures. At worst, her train of thought would be interrupted, nothing serious.

After hearing this, Lyra did not slip into sweet, clingy flirtation. She got straight to the point and stated what she had found.

"Astrid, the Sword of Light just reacted. The Church of Light’s relic seems to have entered resonance range."

The link range between the relic and the Sword of Light was not large. If Lyra could sense it now, that meant the relic had appeared outside Coldwind City, most likely within that illusory City of Light.

Astrid raised a brow, voice soft.

"Lyra means... Monica has come?"

"Yes. It’s not impossible."

Aside from Monica, many clergy of the Church of Light knew the relic and the Sword of Light were of the same source.

But the fact that the two could establish a remote channel for image and sound transmission through a special resonance, at present, likely only the former knew that.

Receiving Lyra’s reply, Astrid propped her cheek with one hand. Her red eyes narrowed slightly in thought. After a long while, her pink lips parted.

"Wait first. If it really is Monica, she should remember the contact signal we agreed on before."

Sending a resonance request via the relic alone did not prove the person on the other side was Monica Angelis. It still required a specific frequency before Lyra would choose to connect.

Lyra nodded slightly, understanding that caution never hurt. She dragged over a chair, sat across from Astrid, and waited quietly for the Sword of Light’s response.

One long resonance request ended. After a half-minute interval, two short resonances came.

Confirming the requester was the Saintess of Light, Lyra, at Astrid’s look, drew the Sword of Light and fed spirit power into it.

Fine motes of light drifted from the holy-white blade, assembling in midair into rippling, illusory light and shadow. A circular viewport appeared before Astrid and Lyra, as though even the boundaries of space were briefly broken.

Within it sat a brown-haired Saintess of noble bearing.

She knelt before the circular vista, her enticing, pert hips pressing against full thighs covered in translucent white stockings.

Hands overlapped against the heavy, snow-white softness of her chest, nearly overlapping with the decorative pure-white silk scarf.

As if sensing the channel’s completion, Monica lifted her head and opened her eyes. The piety on her snow-white pretty face did not fade; seeing Astrid, it grew even more evident.

"Wise one of beauty and talent, most noble Imperial Regent, incarnation of the Almighty and Omniscient Lord walking the mortal world, reformer who shall lead humanity into a new era, great Lady Astrid..."

At the end of that rather long title, Monica spoke softly.

"...and the one favored by the Lord’s incarnation, Lyra Beckett. Good afternoon."

"..."

The length difference before and after was a bit much.

Fortunately, Lyra was not someone who cared much for empty titles. She quickly accepted the premise of being "the one favored by Astrid."

"Good afternoon, Miss Monica." Astrid replied in a gentle tone. "For what reason has Miss Monica taken the initiative to contact us this time?"

Hearing Astrid’s question, Monica maintained her praying posture.

The white stocking tops cinched her thighs, and the kneeling posture itself pressed down on her legs. At the boundary of cloth and skirt, snowlike tender whiteness seemed to spill out in hints of light and shadow.

"I have heard that since the outbreak of war, Lady Astrid has won much along the way, not only taking border cities at astonishing speed, but also pressing forward in one breath to seize the economic and transportation hub Duke Grant valued most: Coldwind City, one of the kingdom’s most important cities in the east."

Monica raised her eyes, looking up toward the two in the image. Her cherry-pink lips moved as she spoke.

"And whether in Kaelrent City, Coldwind City, the border fortress, or the civilian settlements in the kingdom’s south, Lady Astrid has strictly enforced military discipline, soldiers are forbidden to smash homes, burn and loot, slaughter and plunder, or violate women. Those who lay down arms and surrender are treated kindly, given food and work."

"With so benevolent an army crossing into these lands, if the kingdom’s nobles were not enforcing harsh laws and making examples of those who dared resist, I fear the common folk in many regions would already be praying for Lady Astrid to free them from crushing taxes, waiting along the roads with steaming kettles and food to welcome your arrival."

The cool voice echoed in the room. Astrid listened in silence, then spoke lightly.

"Miss Monica, you didn’t come merely to flatter me, did you?"

Pretty words were pleasant to hear, but they were of little help to the next military operation.

Besides, Monica’s remarks carried her own subjective judgment. Astrid did not think her conduct along the way could erase the Velys citizens’ instinctive resistance to outsiders.

To assume the people’s hearts were already hers would be far too airy.

"Of course not." Monica nodded and continued. "I also bring Lady Astrid some information regarding the Church of Light’s internal military deployments."

She relayed what she had discussed with Knight-Commander Kales, adding intelligence she had not told him.

Astrid listened carefully, one pale arm angled to support her chin as she digested the information in silence.

"So you mean plague is rampant in the kingdom’s west, yet the Pope of Light Hebrew, ignoring opposition, insists on transferring large numbers of Church of Light believers, who are not easily infected and can participate in relief, to the front to resist the expeditionary army?"

"Just as Lady Astrid says. The Pope of Light obeys the instructions of a person in his dreams, claiming the plague is only temporary and will soon subside. There is no need to expend effort controlling it. The priority is dealing with the heretics invading the kingdom from the east, to prevent the pure and flawless faith from being usurped by villains."

At this, Monica’s eyes narrowed slightly, long lashes lowering.

"I once advised the Pope of Light: if the plague is left unchecked and not contained, if it is left for those nobles to handle themselves, then with the power it has already shown, it will surely brew into a calamity that sweeps the entire kingdom."

The Velys royal family had lost its authority, no longer able to coordinate on a macro level.

Western nobles, gravely harmed by the plague, would naturally become dissatisfied, forming an even worse vicious cycle.

At such a moment, if no organization with sufficient prestige stepped forward to do something, the western situation would only grow more chaotic.

And once chaos spread, without human intervention, the plague, freed from its shackles and prison, would spread faster than before.

In today’s Kingdom of Velys, what organization could shoulder such responsibility besides the universally believed Church of Light? The Mage Alliance of a handful of scholars? Or the loosely structured Adventurers’ Association?

If the Church of Light chose to stand aside, the citizens living in the southwest would have no chance of survival.

"..."

The outbreak of plague in Velys was something Astrid naturally knew through the enemy intelligence network Amalia had established.

She did not even need the symptoms, she could guess it was Brennild doing.

According to the description by Gemini, plague was Brennild’s authority.

In the past, when the Valeria Empire was weak and the Kingdom of Velys strong, she had vigorously incited war, weakening the strength of modern human states while using the deaths brought by war to nourish herself.

Now that the offensive had reversed, she abandoned the Kingdom of Velys decisively like useless trash, on one side, beguiling the Pope of Light into fighting the Imperial expeditionary army to the bitter end to create more casualties; on the other, spreading plague, turning vast tracts of Velys land into a breeding bed for her descent.

No matter the outcome, she would obtain what she wanted: death, like a haze drifting above everyone’s heads.

"With the situation so grim, I wonder how the matter I asked Miss Monica to handle before is progressing?"

"You mean... correcting and setting right the Church of Light’s faith?"

At Astrid’s words, Monica’s gaze turned, and she answered softly.

"By the Lord’s blessing, all proceeds smoothly."