After the rehearsal ended, everyone moved to the academy’s front gates to welcome the delegation from the Radiant Church.

As the spiritual leader of numerous human nations and a guiding beacon for humanity, the Radiant Church held a status above worldly affairs. No ruler of any human kingdom dared to openly oppose the Church.

After all, to oppose the Radiant Church—to oppose the Radiant Pope—was to oppose the Goddess of Radiance herself. And since belief in the Goddess was widespread throughout human nations, wearing that label of “blasphemer” would likely incite a civil uprising from within before any foreign retaliation even began.

What’s more, throughout history, the Radiant Church had only ever declared war on the demon race. Almost never on human kingdoms. The few instances where they did so were, without exception, later revealed to involve heinous crimes—such as collusion with Demon God Pillar cultists. In the end, every time, the conclusion was the same: the Saintess’s judgment was not wrong, and the Church’s decision had been just. This left all of humanity with the deeply entrenched belief that “the will of the Radiant Church is the will of the Goddess.”

Whenever the Saintess made a decision, it was nearly never in error. Especially when it came to such grave internal matters as waging war. In those cases, it was always after countless suffering civilians, whose homes and families had been ruined, fled to the Church for sanctuary that the Saintess could no longer endure in silence. Only then would she mobilize the Church’s armed forces—and every time, history proved the Church never struck the wrong target.

In fact, it was widely believed across the human kingdoms that kings—and even emperors—only ruled with the Goddess’s divine sanction. Should they betray the Goddess, or abandon their faith, they would be scorned by their own people.

This was also precisely why Vinny didn’t want to drag Mirexia into all of this. After all, kings and emperors who stood against the Radiant Church never met good ends.

For all of these reasons, even the monarchs of powerful nations had to show proper courtesy to bishops of the Church, treating them with the highest diplomatic protocol. For the rulers of smaller nations, receiving a bishop’s visit was an honor of monumental proportions, and they would perform greetings with ceremonial grandeur well beyond their station.

And this time, it wasn’t just a bishop—it was several high bishops. Naturally, Carillian Academy took this extremely seriously. The students understood what this meant as well. No one dared to be lax; even during the rehearsal, the atmosphere was noticeably tense.

Well, not everyone.

There were exceptions.

Take Vinny, for instance, yawning in the line without the slightest pretense of respect. Not even pretending. While everyone’s attention was fixed in the direction from which the delegation would arrive, he stood there like a bored security guard waiting for his shift to end.

Soon after, a procession of carriages drawn by unicorns descended from the sky. The platinum carriages, adorned with white six-wing emblems and golden crosses, landed gracefully on the ground. Once they settled, the unicorns folded their wings and stood quietly before the solemn and imposing gates of Carillian Academy, elegantly tossing their glossy manes with almost humanlike grace.

Creatures like unicorns, whose intelligence was extremely high and numbers exceedingly rare, often displayed strikingly human behavior. From this unicorn’s actions, it seemed to be female.

According to legend, unicorns were sacred beasts of the Goddess of Radiance, Fasylis—brought down from the divine realm. Their feathered wings bore great resemblance to angelic wings, and so within the Radiant Church, carriages pulled by unicorns were symbols of status.

Once the carriage came to a full stop, all students and faculty couldn't help but fix their gaze on its door.

Moments later, the door was lowered and the curtain pulled aside. But the first to step out was not a bishop. It was two fully armed squads of Radiant Cross Knights. Well-trained, they immediately formed two lines flanking the carriage door, each knight placing one hand on their sword hilt.

Following them emerged a red-haired woman in the same knight armor, though she wore no helmet. She stepped forward to lift the curtain for those behind her.

Judging by the color of her sword hilt and her demeanor, she appeared to hold a rank similar to a squad captain within the Radiant Cross Knights.

Behind her, three middle-aged men stepped out in succession, each wearing white robes and tall miters, and holding scepters.

On their fingers gleamed mithril rings set with cross-shaped gemstones. Their robes were embroidered with intricate golden patterns of unique elegance, and on their chest and ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ shoulders were cross emblems flanked by two wings.

This was the symbol of bishops. Other clergy with lesser status bore only a golden burning cross on their robes. Bishops had the two-winged burning cross. The Pope alone bore four wings.

As the three stepped off the carriage, the Radiant Cross Knights on either side bowed slightly, showing formal deference.

It was clear now—these three elaborately dressed men were the Radiant Church’s official delegation.

In the formation line, Vinny raised an eyebrow. Whatever else could be said, these three did look rather dignified. One had a kind and amiable expression. Another looked stern and righteous. The last—strikingly handsome. Though visibly older, one could still tell he had been a stunning man in his youth.

More importantly, Vinny felt that the handsome one looked... familiar. Especially those eyes—cross-shaped pupils, extremely rare.

Wait. That’s not right.

Hadn’t he seen that kind of pupil somewhere before?

Vinny’s brow furrowed. Something wasn’t adding up.

Just then, the handsome middle-aged man glanced toward a certain honey-haired girl in the lineup. Vinny followed his gaze—and caught sight of Luna also looking at the man. Their eyes met for only a moment before they looked away.

Vinny suddenly realized—

That’s it! That familiar eye shape—it was the same as Luna’s!

No wonder she’d seemed vaguely familiar the first time he saw her. Turns out she was someone from the original plot—someone who even had a name and screen time?!

Hauchkai. That surname had always sounded oddly familiar. Now he understood—it must belong to one of the prominent families within the Radiant Church.

In an instant, Vinny felt a chill down his spine.

Shit!

Doesn’t this mean his time working as a maid had been exposed?!

Damn it all—he’d been doing his best to avoid the Radiant Church, only to end up presenting his female form to a legacy family of the Church. And not just that—he’d done it in the most humiliating way possible.

No, no, she couldn’t have recognized him, right?

Vinny’s thoughts lurched like a rollercoaster. His heart dropped straight to rock bottom.

Seriously? Just one poorly timed appearance and he ends up seen by a key figure? Who the hell’s trying to screw him over?

Fasylis—is this your doing?! If you don’t bless me now, you lot are all going extinct! I swear I’ll castrate myself!

Back when Luna had complimented his looks, Vinny had felt a bit pleased with himself. But now? All that was gone. Even though it seemed unlikely, he couldn’t help but start wondering—had Luna sought him out on purpose?

Come to think of it, why would she just spontaneously come over to chat with him?

That couldn’t be it. She must’ve had an ulterior motive.

So—did Luna figure out his secret?

Calm down. Calm down. She definitely didn’t. There’s nothing to worry about. She just worked with Vanessa at her café, nothing more. There was no obvious connection between Vanessa and Vinny. Even with the wildest imagination, no one could make that leap.

Still... did she recognize Vanessa as a descendant of Fasylis?

That, Vinny had no way of knowing.

Whether he could hide the truth from those high-ranking, goddess-serving families in the Radiant Church—he had zero confidence.

The more he thought about it, the deeper this all seemed. If Luna had recognized Vanessa back then and still handed her that custom-made maid uniform with a smile—what the hell was that woman up to?

So calculating?! If she knew his identity and still did that, she was damn twisted!

Goddamn it. Is the Radiant Church a den of black-hearted women?!

Vinny felt a shudder of fear run through him. To think, he’d worked in her maid café completely clueless, acting like some dumb, innocent girl.

I-it should be fine, right?

Yeah, she probably didn’t recognize him. I mean, if she had, why wouldn’t she arrest him on the spot?

Unless... she didn’t want to alert him. If she suspected something, she could’ve just reported it quietly, and the Church would send professionals to investigate and nab him once confirmed.

But it had been quite a while since he’d worked that job out of poverty, and not a single thing had happened since. That was proof enough—she hadn’t figured it out.

Thinking that, Vinny let out a sigh of relief.

He was probably still safe.

“Honored greetings to the three bishops. On behalf of the Vice Principal, I, along with the Deans and student representatives, welcome the distinguished guests of the Radiant Church,” said Morinquette, stepping forward with several Deans and offering a respectful bow to the delegation.

Student Council President Mirexia followed closely behind them. Regardless of her usual standing, for now, she was simply the president of Carillian Academy’s Student Council.

“Lord Morinquette, long time no see. I hope you’ve been well,” said the amiable bishop. He seemed rather sociable and acted as if he’d known Morinquette for years—utterly free of airs.

The one who looked stern and rigid remained silent. So did the Hauchkai bishop on the left, who maintained a professional smile and said nothing at all.

“Time flies,” the friendly bishop said with a chuckle. “It feels like ages since we last met. I’ve grown old and haggard, yet you still seem full of life.”

“You’re too kind, Your Excellency. You still look quite youthful, just as I remember.” Morinquette remained perfectly courteous. Despite the bishop’s warmth, he didn’t presume closeness—he understood that this was simply the man’s manner.

“A pleasure to meet you. You must be Carillian Academy’s head combat instructor, the Boneless One, Morinquette,” said the severe bishop at last.

“Yes, that is I. And if I’m not mistaken, you must be Bishop Salphen?” Morinquette replied.

He’d heard of this bishop before—as had just about everyone else. The man’s reputation was infamous.

A reputation for being arrogant and ruthlessly demanding toward others.

“Mr. Morinquette, if I may ask—when was the last time we visited your Academy for an official meeting?” Salphen raised a brow.

“Lord Salphen, I believe it was many years ago.”

“Indeed. Many years. And this visit, I assume, is of considerable importance, no?” Salphen’s tone turned sharp. “Our Pope, in a demonstration of utmost sincerity, dispatched three bishops for this occasion. And yet—your Principal is absent, and I don’t even see the Vice Principal. Is this how you treat honored guests?”

The atmosphere turned heavy.

In the lineup, Vinny pursed his lips, and his gaze toward that old fossil shifted slightly.

He’s a bishop, right? What’s with the complete lack of decorum? Can’t he at least pretend to be civil in a formal setting?

Even if there was an issue, couldn’t this be brought up privately or hinted at subtly? Calling it out here just makes it awkward for everyone.

If this had been a delegation from any other country, this sort of scene wouldn’t even happen. But this was the Radiant Church.

Even if you were from the esteemed Carillian Academy, a relic of the ancient empire, a visit from them was still considered a monumental honor. And yet—only a few Deans had come to greet them? How dare you?

“Lord Salphen, I believe your questions are entirely valid and well observed. In truth, we were just about to explain the situation. As you likely know, our Principal is currently indisposed. As for our Vice Principal, though he had activated the Amplification Formation some time ago, it ultimately wasn’t used. Nonetheless, the backlash from that activation rendered him unfit to properly receive our guests. Thus, we are here in his stead,” Morinquette responded calmly, unshaken despite the bishop’s pointed words.

“And if that Amplification Formation had succeeded—the resulting aftermath would’ve been far worse. Your visit today is, in part, because of that risk. Think about it—had our Vice Principal not made that sacrifice, would this meeting between us even be taking place now?” Morinquette added, his tone measured and composed.

The implication was clear: if Carillian Academy hadn’t held the line, the entire continent might’ve suffered. The Radiant Church wouldn’t even be visiting—because there’d be nothing left to visit.