Chapter 168 : The Young Empress’s Little Thoughts

“Could it be Hall and the others?”

Himan looked at the Cateline reports Maria had bought for her outside by the lamplight.

She had indeed seen the news about the trio team, just as Hall had predicted.

And she immediately thought of the missing Christine and Hall.

But she hesitated for a moment, because it had only been a few days, and getting from Wolfsburg to Saint Elizabethburg was quite exaggerated.

Moreover, why would Hall and Christine appear in Saint Elizabethburg?

It made no sense.

What was this all about?

Himan sifted through the various pieces of information that priests and nuns of standing in Saint Elizabethburg had journalists publish in the newspapers.

Finally, she found a picture taken by someone in one of the papers.

With just one glance, Himan froze.

The photo showed the back view of a dark-haired young man holding a blonde girl in one arm while wielding a sword in the other.

And ahead of them was a figure Himan was also familiar with.

“Parousia?”

That vampire seemed to be assisting the Cateline soldiers in slaying the frenzied undead puppets.

Himan wouldn’t forget Parousia, because the vampire’s figure was simply too conspicuous.

Why was this vampire together with the missing Hall and Christine?

Himan subconsciously linked the attack on the Holy Train to the vampires.

After all, no one in her clan would be daring enough to attack the Holy No. 7 of the Church State.

The suspicion on the Salvation Church could also be almost ruled out.

The prime suspect was the Cult of the Living and Dead.

Could the Cult of the Living and Dead also have connections with the vampires? They were both heretical factions.

Himan suddenly formed a conjecture.

It was the most plausible explanation so far.

The Cult of the Living and Dead attacked the Holy No. 7, and theoretically, that night…

Her and Maria being sent over twenty li away was abnormal.

No matter how much they were blown away by the explosion, they couldn’t have flown over twenty li, and still along the railway line.

Therefore, someone must have transported her and the unconscious Maria to that place where they awoke.

But there was an abnormal holy aura present there, and if Christine had sent them there, it was clearly impossible.

Because Christine’s strength was nowhere near enough.

Yet, for such a holy aura to exist, neither the Cult of the Living and Dead nor the vampires could manage it.

So, one could speculate.

The reason Hall and Christine were able to escape unscathed and remain hidden was actually due to the vampires.

Himan felt the vampires must have stepped in to mediate the conflict that night.

The Cult of the Living and Dead could only kill the clergy members who weren’t the most important ones.

They couldn’t lay a hand on her, Maria, Christine, Hall, Lov, or the others.

As for Marquis Boren and the others, perhaps they met misfortune, or more likely, were protected by the Vice-Captains.

Hall and Christine likely reached an agreement with the vampires, exchanging protection for something.

Thinking this way, perhaps the vampires and the Cult of the Living and Dead had already turned against each other.

Otherwise, Parousia, a vampire, wouldn’t have attacked the undead puppets in the newspaper.

But there was also a possibility.

Could this all be a scheme?

The Cult of the Living and Dead and the vampires were actually working together, deliberately letting the vampires seem to owe Hall and Christine a favor to gain their trust…

Anything was possible.

Himan’s mind was racing with scenarios, far more dramatic than any palace drama.

Finally, she decided to put down the newspaper and go see Sophia late at night.

She would ask Sophia, who had returned from Saint Elizabethburg, exactly where Hall and Christine were right now.

But Himan couldn’t find Sophia, because Thale told her:

“Your Majesty has urgent matters tonight and should not be disturbed…”

“Sister, they have arrived. They are in Saint Catherinesburg. The Holy Son and the Angel. But they have amnesia; they don’t remember you, nor do they have their former power. But I think, Sister, you must still remember what happened back then…”

In the Ice Imperial Tomb.

Sophia was still half-squatting before the sarcophagus where Elizabeth slept.

Holding her hand, she slowly recounted to the sleeping Empress the slight shifts in her mentality over the past two days.

She was now absolutely certain that Christine was the culprit who put her sister into this slumber.

She had also seen it when the Starfall Feather was removed.

Wasn’t that the weapon of Saint Eibel of Eternal Winter?

If Christine possessed such a weapon in the past, it was indeed possible she could have harmed her sister.

So now that Christine and Hall had arrived in Saint Catherinesburg, her sister’s awakening was just a matter of time.

Finally…

Sister was coming back.

Sophia felt a rush of emotion; she had actually never met Empress Elizabeth face-to-face before.

Now that she was truly about to wake up, she wasn’t even sure how she would face her elder sister.

“How strange, this feeling…”

Her heart pounded in her chest.

But Sophia had one more thing to tell Elizabeth today.

“Sister, did you know that Empress Yerona is still alive? Although she didn’t die, she is currently controlled by Samigina. She has no choice but to be our enemy. Hall asked Christine to save her… but I don’t trust Christine. If Christine cannot wake you up, then this Cateline Kingdom might only be able to fall into the hands of Empress Yerona.”

Sophia narrated quietly.

Although Hall had encouraged her, she understood that her political skills were indeed lacking.

If Yerona could break free from Samigina’s control, she could hand the throne over to that Empress who once led Cateline toward prosperity.

“And then… I think Hall should still remember you, Sister. He really does remember you. Whenever he sees me, he always says I look familiar, which means he hasn’t forgotten you… If Christine wakes you up, Sister… you must expose her true colors and live happily with Hall.”

Sophia’s tone was slow, as if she had made some necessary resolution.

Yet, memories of Hall flashed through her mind.

In reality, they had met only a few times, but each encounter left a deep impression on her, both during their brief time together and recently.

That dark-haired youth had done too many incredible things for her.

This was the true power of the Holy Son of the Salvation Church.

Hall, possessing such strength, deserved her sister.

…

Could he be called a good man?

Sophia held Elizabeth’s cold hand and inexplicably thought of this question.

Could he be considered her good brother-in-law?

From an emotional standpoint, Sophia felt Hall definitely did not count.

But…

Her heart beat faster, and her mind became a confusing mess, like paste.

No, no, that wasn’t something she should be thinking about.

How to evaluate Hall was her sister’s business.

She just needed to watch from the sidelines and offer support when necessary.

Just offer support.

If her sister and Hall’s relationship faced a crisis due to other women, couldn’t she pretend to be her sister to…

“…Ah, what am I thinking? Seducing Hall on my sister’s behalf to bind his heart, only someone like…”

Sophia had heard of such tactics when she was young.

She was in the sixth grade that year, and there was a pair of twin sisters in the middle of the school.

The older sister had a crush on a very popular boy.

Then one afternoon after school, the younger sister lured the boy to a small grove and used some rather vulgar means to get leverage over him.

The boy thought the older twin had done it, and since he already had good feelings for the older sister, they ended up together.

At first, the boy thought the older sister was just shy about admitting what happened in the grove, so he didn’t ask further questions.

But one day, somehow, the truth was exposed, and many people learned that the younger sister was responsible.

After a period of very dramatic upheaval and gossip, the older sister felt she owed the younger one and didn’t pursue her, resulting in a threesome.

This kind of school gossip was too advanced even for the current Sophia, which is why she still remembered the story after all these years.

Although she didn’t approve of what the younger sister did in that story, it gave Sophia some inspiration.

When necessary, she could impersonate her sister.

As the Empress of Cateline, her sister definitely couldn’t be too forward in that regard.

As for her, Sophia, she was already a dead person.

As soon as her sister awakened, she could retreat behind the scenes again; she never intended to live on as Empress Sophia.

Her hiding in the shadows served as a trump card for the Cateline Kingdom, and she could also act on her sister’s behalf to do things that the Empress’s status would prevent—Sophia.

Even without being the Empress, she would dedicate her life to this nation.

“Hall’s potential is limitless; he absolutely cannot be allowed to be manipulated by Christine…”

If Sister couldn’t manage it, she, who would soon retreat to the background, would handle it.

However, after thinking about it again.

Sophia’s face turned as red as a small apple.

She finally left the Ice Imperial Tomb.

This sort of thing was still a bit too advanced for her.

…

“What’s wrong, Christine?”

“Nothing, Young Master Hall stayed up thinking all night and didn’t sleep well.”

Christine, stretching on the balcony, looked back at Hall, who was delivering breakfast.

Her mental state was indeed not good.

The dreamlike vision last night had kept her awake; saying she thought about Hall all night wasn’t entirely false.

“Whatever I think about all night, the man who can keep Miss Christine thinking for a whole night must be extremely honored.”

Hall didn’t back down too much.

He knew that if he cowered, he would be caught off guard.

After placing the hot milk and bread on the small balcony table, he stood there as if nothing had happened.

It was snowing today, even heavier than yesterday, and the whole of Saint Catherinesburg was a vast expanse of white, the temperature frighteningly low.

“Aren’t you cold?”

Seeing that the blonde girl standing on the balcony hadn’t reached for the food for a long time, and her knees were already turning red from the cold, Hall couldn’t help but show concern.

“I am cold, but what can I do about it? Christine doesn’t want to wear more clothes.”

“Then just keep being cold. Being beautifully frozen is best; I enjoy such exquisite curves.”

This kind of sight enveloped in red.

He said it indifferently, his eyes fixed on Christine’s beautiful lower legs.

Christine knew he was looking, but she also acted unconcerned, leaning against the balcony railing and deliberately straightening her legs.

She reached out her right hand to catch the snowflakes drifting down from the sky.

The two stood locked in this stalemate, until Hall couldn’t stand it anymore.

They were beautiful, but if Christine’s legs kept trembling, he felt a little too much pity, so he walked over and draped his coat over her, telling her to eat breakfast first before it got cold.

“You care about Christine, huh?”

“I do care. There’s a difference between looking once and looking every day; I can distinguish that.”

“Hmph… Pervert.”

“I am a gentleman. If I were a pervert, I would have already touched you.”

“Then touch me…”

She stared at him.

“You’d just call me a pervert again, so I won’t touch.”

Hall declared righteously.

Christine suddenly said coquettishly, “I’m cold… My legs are frozen stiff, and it was all so Young Master could look. Isn’t the Young Master going to take responsibility?”

She picked up a piece of bread and took an elegant, small bite, then unceremoniously placed her deer-like lower legs onto Hall’s thigh.

The meaning of “Knead them for me” was very clear.

He didn’t indulge her unnecessarily, but he did knead.

To help circulate her meridians.

As for the feel, it wasn’t particularly good.

Christine’s legs were rather slender; they looked good, but there wasn’t much flesh to massage.

Moreover, because they were cold, they were almost taut, only becoming springy near the lower knee area.

“Young Master, use a little more strength~ That way, Christine can better use these legs to serve the Young Master in the future.”

“What do you mean, use these legs to serve me?”

“I heard in the Forbidden Texts about some interesting techniques; does the Young Master want to try one~?”

She said it as if it were nothing.

It was hard to imagine a Saintess Candidate knowing so much.

“We’ll settle this later.”

“Why?”

“I have a bad feeling today.”

“Hey, Young Master, you’re making up excuses just to stop Christine?”

“It’s real.”

The reason Hall was sitting out on the balcony was actually because that bad premonition was making him restless.

Sure enough, just as he was about to finish massaging Christine’s legs, the figure of Himan, which made things difficult for Hall, appeared in his line of sight.

“Damn it, Himan?”

Himan arrived at Christine and Hall’s residence.

In reality, she had just stumbled upon the right place purely by chance.

Because Hall and Christine were currently staying in a relatively secluded area within Saint Catherinesburg,

And to prevent Parousia’s figure from attracting undue attention, they had specifically rented a courtyard residence.

Hall planned to stay here with Christine and Parousia to observe the situation.

The security in a crowded, small inn wasn’t as good as here.

But Himan happened to come here.

The reason Himan came was that although she failed to meet Sophia yesterday, she reasoned that Parousia, being a pure-blood vampire, would absolutely disdain staying in a small inn.

Coincidentally, Saint Catherinesburg had many courtyards leased out to foreigners.

Perhaps Parousia had rented a courtyard here.

So she started searching, specifically looking for courtyards that had been rented out recently in the last few days.

Wasn’t that just perfect timing?

Early in the morning, Hall and Christine saw the imposing Himan approaching through the heavy snow in the street from the balcony.

Hall’s first reaction was to hide.

But just as he moved Christine away from the balcony to a new spot, someone leisurely walked out below, preparing for a stroll.

…

“Himan?”

Parousia was stunned.

Why was it Himan?

Himan, across the courtyard gate, locked onto Parousia inside with one glance.

Good heavens, she was actually here.

Himan wouldn’t be polite.

Parousia’s first reaction was to run back and find Hall to deal with it.

But a magic document quickly lit up, and the voice inside instructed Parousia to run towards the northwestern direction where she was, precisely revealing the location of a nearby sewer entrance.

Parousia wondered why Hall knew the sewer entrance location so well.

But she quickly realized Hall wanted her to go into the sewers again.

Parousia immediately protested, but before she could object, Hall’s threatening voice saying he wouldn’t give her blood anymore came through.

This left her no choice but to flee into the sewers.

…

“Hall, will Countess Parousia be in danger?”

“No problem. With Himan alone, she can’t catch Parousia right now. Moreover, if I don’t let her run, she might turn around and counterattack Himan, and that would be troublesome…”

It could lead to Himan being judged as the loser, causing the storyline to drift toward demonic paths.

“Then what do we do next?”

“At eleven o’clock this morning, Cardinal Rosso and His Majesty Cateline will hold their first meeting at the Cateline Palace. The topic will be the bombing of the Holy Cross No. 7, but I think my grandmother won’t make things difficult for Sophia, so that’s fine.”

“Speaking of which, Hall, do you know the full outline of this incident now? And what the goals of the Church State are moving forward?”

“It’s in Elizabeth, Sophia’s sister. Since Yerona Cateline is willing to betray Saint Samigina, she surely also wants the Saintess Cateline to be resurrected. Samigina must also want Elizabeth, otherwise his cooperation with the Papal State wouldn’t be profitable. And the only ones who can open the doors to the Ice Imperial Palace are the descendants of the Saintess of Eternal Winter.”

Hall said, “Tonight, Cateline will come to Saint Catherinesburg, along with the missing Marquis Yabolun and Sir Eaton. I think they have gathered some forces as well.”

“Hall, I can feel that Saint Catherinesburg is currently gathered with a group of near-monstrous beings… but their presence is still elusive.”

Elusive?

“Yes.”

“Shall we go investigate?”

Hall became interested.

What happens tonight cannot have any mishaps; in fact,

It will be the prelude to the performance of the [Stage].

He seemed to foresee it already.

Besides, staying in the courtyard wasn’t ideal.

Their trio information was in the newspapers, and if Himan couldn’t find them this time, she would definitely return to check this courtyard again.

“Alright, let’s go take a look.”

Christine pondered for a moment, then nodded.

Marquis Yabolun, the vanguard of the Cult of the Living and Dead, had already arrived, led by Morris, the senior disciple of the current Cult leader.

Although his talent wasn’t as high as Rhys, who was captured by the Inquisition years ago, Morris was known for his dedication and was a Necromancer nearing level ninety.

‘Only nearing ninety. The main event is the person who can open the Ice Imperial Palace. Hasn’t he arrived yet?’

“He hasn’t arrived, but we can use Morris’s actions tonight to attract the defensive forces within Saint Catherinesburg. For instance, by deliberately exposing their location… letting our people know that a dangerous Necromancer is active in the West District.”

The Vice-Chief of the Cateline branch of the Black Knights was full of cunning tricks.

If they could cut off the reinforcements for the person opening the door beforehand, that person would have no choice but to rely on them during the operation.

It would be easier for them to control the situation.

“That’s a good plan, worth considering. But how can we be sure that Morris won’t come with us?”

“He can’t follow us unless he abandons the undead puppets lurking within Saint Catherinesburg. He is the one meant to cause chaos tonight; we are just giving him a hand.”

While the two were plotting their actions for the evening, the Branch Chief of the Black Knights brought news that made their brows furrow.

“Marquis Yabolun, according to reports from the Cult of the Living and Dead side, not only has the Door Opener arrived, but the Cult Leader himself seems to have come as well. Only the Priestess is responsible for pinning down the West side.”

“It seems they still want to control the situation. Marquis Yabolun, it looks like we might have to let them have Empress Elizabeth’s corpse when the time comes.”

There was no other way; the opposing side was simply stronger.

Their own Judgment Division hadn’t established contact yet.

Did they have to go directly ask that woman Rosso for instructions?

Yabolun showed dissatisfaction again.

He had been tolerating the Judgment Division for a long time.

Once this matter was concluded, he would definitely find an opportunity to file a complaint upon returning.

The Chief Captain of the Cateline branch of the Black Knights remained silent.

He knew the quality of the Judgment Division.

Only the people there could suppress Hela, who once led them against the Frost Elves.

But Hela was twenty years old now; perhaps she could lead them against the Judgment Division.

It was uncertain.

But regardless, compared to the elite cadres of a division in the Judgment Division, these people weren’t comparable.

He was already prepared to slack off and enjoy a victory that required minimal effort.

No need to fight desperately.

But just then, another person burst into the small, temporary meeting room.

“Bad news, Marquis Yabolun! We just received a distress call from Morris of the Cult of the Living and Dead, saying someone has broken into his base!”

“What? Impossible! Wasn’t he hidden very well?”

Yabolun knew Morris had been in Saint Catherinesburg for over half a month preparing for today’s operation, keeping an extremely low profile.

Furthermore, the undead puppets he controlled were all corpses collected locally in Saint Catherinesburg—dead bodies and vagrants—not corpses brought in from outside.

As long as Morris didn’t act, it was hard to locate him.

But he quickly calmed down.

“Go see what’s happening first. It shouldn’t be Cateline soldiers; those people should all be concentrated at the Cateline Palace right now.”

Yabolun finished speaking and organized his gear.

Having been stifled for half a month, he needed to vent some anger first.

The Vice-Chief hurriedly instructed the messenger Chief Captain and the Lieutenant Captain to mobilize the elite forces currently in Saint Catherinesburg to go see the situation.

They had to stabilize the situation before it escalated.

Especially since Morris couldn’t die; if he died, who would draw the hatred tonight?

As a result, Marquis Yabolun and his entourage arrived at the abandoned old building in the western civilian district of Saint Catherinesburg.

They didn’t see much blood, only numerous undead puppets lying on the ground, seemingly scorched by something.

When they cautiously reached the deep corner where Morris was hiding,

They finally saw the culprit behind this incident.

It was very familiar.

“Yo, long time no see, Marquis Yabolun. The people accompanying you seem to belong to the Cateline branch of the Black Knights.”

The dark-haired youth standing in the snow, holding a Holy Light Sword that Yabolun also recognized well, spoke slowly.

“Finishing the mission today works out nicely too.”