She seemed to be acting as if she were ‘A devoted believer 1.’ It wasn’t just a day or two of acting; her behavior was extraordinarily natural. I looked at her with my head slightly tilted and drew a clear line.
“Sorry, but we are not a religion. And you have to reveal your name.”
She said with an embarrassed tone.
“I’m, um, Lilith.”
“Lilith.”
“Yes, Lilith. It’s practically a religious syndrome. Why would you stop someone who wants to become a believer?”
“Hmm.”
I squinted at her.
“Lilith, if you want to be a believer, listen to me.”
Now it was time to extract information from her little by little. I opened my eyes slightly and looked into Lilith’s eyes. As an imperial citizen, she had rare violet eyes that sparkled like jewels as she looked at me.
I inspected her naturally flushed complexion and raised the corners of my mouth.
Lilith doesn’t dislike me.
Although she didn’t fully trust me, she was curious about me. So, now that her curiosity is maintained, I have to use Lilith properly.
“There is a temple… We have diplomatic relations with them. What if I create a religion?”
I pretended to draw a line on my throat with my hand.
“Oh, is it because of the temple?”
With a curious look from Lilith, I smiled gently.
“The temple tried to stop my good deeds. Have you heard of the scholarship system? I tried to sponsor children with divine power who are young, without backing, but the temple interfered… Heard of it?”
As soon as I finished speaking, laughter blossomed around Lilith’s lips.
It was the expression she showed when handing over information she knew.
“Ah… What the temple does is obviously a human sacrifice, isn’t it?”
Certainly, Lilith seemed to have guessed that much. I frowned and rested my chin on my hand.
“If it’s a real human sacrifice, where do you think they took them?”
“It must be in the underground of the Central Temple.”
The underground of the Central Temple, where the Pope used to reside.
I looked at her with a furrowed brow.
“That place is off-limits to ordinary people. Even priests can’t enter. Only those authorized by the Pope and the Pope herself can enter.”
“It means it’s impossible.”
“…Lilith, don’t you know either?”
Lilith smiled slyly.
“I’m just an ordinary believer.”
As the information guild leader, I inwardly sighed at her act of covering her eyes and pretending not to know.
Then, Lilith, with her purple eyes sparkling, asked.
“Ah… Siyan, are you doing good deeds while opposing the temple’s misdeeds? Right?”
“Well…”
Half right and half wrong.
To me, good deeds were just a tool. It felt like the temple tried to raise faith through the ‘volunteer activities’ called good deeds.
“We need to find the treasure hidden in the temple’s underground… Oh, but that also requires the Pope’s permission, doesn’t it?”
“…A treasure hidden in the temple’s underground?”
“Yes. It’s probably with the children who were victims of the human sacrifice. The treasure grows by consuming divine power.”
“What kind of treasure is that?”
She shrugged as if it were nothing.
“I don’t know. I just know that there is a ‘treasure.'”
“Even if the divine power is weakening.”
“Oh, that treasure doesn’t care if the divine power weakens. When the Saintess and the Pope left for the ‘Path of Light,’ it was to enhance the hidden treasure in the temple’s underground. When they come back, the power of the treasure will be even stronger.”
Joy sparkled in Lilith’s eyes.
She thought I would despair. Since Lilith was someone who moved based on interest, she might find it more amusing if I despaired.
But…
“…Well, then.”
“Yes.”
“If we just get rid of that treasure, the temple will collapse, right?”
I looked at Lilith, who seemed momentarily stunned, and smiled.
“Understood.”
I didn’t plan to do anything right away.
I was just curious about the treasure hidden in the temple’s underground. Of course, they said there was no way to enter the temple’s underground by any means…
“Well, there’s nothing that can’t be entered.”
I clenched my fist in front of my chest and managed my expression.
Then, Lilith, who quickly regained her composure, asked in surprise.
“Aren’t you scared?”
“Why should I be scared?”
“Wow, really…”
Lilith burst into laughter and clapped a few times.
Her eyes even had tears in them. I reached out and wiped the corners of her eyes, saying,
“The most important weapon can sometimes become a double-edged sword. Since you hold information, you know it well, Lilith.”
A month passed quickly, and Siyan’s ‘capitalism’ struck the empire.
Of course, there were side effects. However, as the foundation was based on the content of ‘doing good deeds,’ people joyfully continued their good deeds.
In the midst of all this chaos, the Pope and the Saintess quietly returned.
It was a return that no one knew about.
After Being Cheated On, She Picked Up a Treasure (Female-dominant)
One-line summary: The husband I married on a whim had been secretly in love with me for a long time.
On the day when Jun Shao finally obtained the imperial decree for her marriage, Lan Qu, the person she had admired for six years, defied the decree and ran away.
Her gentleness and devotion, her promise of a lifetime together, were all disregarded by him. Instead, he dreamed of entering the palace to serve the Emperor’s sister as a sixth-rank attendant.
News of this incident spread throughout the capital, and the alleys in front of and behind the Lan mansion were crowded with people who came to watch the commotion.
Jun Shao should have been embarrassed and angry.
But someone stepped in to protect her dignity.
The figure was in a miserable state, yet still possessed an undeniable elegance and handsomeness.
The young lord struggled to climb the wall of the Lan mansion and shouted to her, “If he won’t marry you, I will!”
So, Jun Shao took advantage of the situation and married the person.
She thought the young lord did it to save the Lan family from the crime of defying the imperial decree, but never imagined that from beginning to end, what he coveted was her.
*
After the wedding, Jun Shao felt like she was living in a dream.
Her Wife-master was as beautiful as a fairy in a painting, skilled in the six arts, well-versed in poetry and literature, capable of being gentle and attentive, and also grand and dignified. Most importantly, she was the only one in his heart and eyes.
Jun Shao didn’t know how Lan Shiwu, as a illegitimate son without a father and blessed with beauty, had managed to preserve his purity, recklessly escape, and use his last ounce of strength to ruin his own reputation, all because of his love for her, just to stand before her.
She could only see him gazing at her with eyes full of love, and when she bestowed a name upon him, his eyes shone like stars.
“You have come to me like a weary bird perching on a branch. I shall call you A Qi.”
