Feeling her spirit was mostly fine, Ciel finally noticed the pangs of hunger in her stomach.

Coincidentally, the other two hadn’t eaten either. Ciel, having been hungry for nearly a day and a half, went down to the kitchen and made a simple pot of potato stew with meat—the fresh vegetables had already spoiled, leaving only potatoes, meat, and toasted bread.

After eating her fill, Ciel felt her condition had recovered to near perfection. She was about to bid farewell and head to Deton Manor, but Avena preemptively interrupted her.

“Are you planning to go to Deton Manor?” Avena looked at Ciel and asked.

“Yes.” Ciel nodded. “There are some things I need to confirm, to avoid mistakes.”

“I’ll go with you.” Avena looked at Ciel and stated.

Nia, standing by the door, nearly stumbled upon hearing Avena’s words. She turned her head towards Avena.

Nia: “?”

Ciel already said it’s a cultist headquarters, and a major Divine Advent Church Bishop is coming for inspection on the 23rd. What kind of mindset led you, milady, to say “I’ll go with you”?

“Why?” Ciel instinctively wanted to refuse, but she still wanted to hear Avena’s reasoning.

“Previously, I attended almost every event at Deton Manor to browse and buy novelties,” Avena explained. “If I don’t go this time, it might seem strange.”

Avena’s reason was slightly far-fetched but somewhat plausible.

With Nia accompanying them, Ciel’s own safety would be better guaranteed.

Besides, she could always redeem another 【Sadhana Emblem】 at any time. In the territory of the Divine Advent Church, safety was ironically the least of her worries.

Moreover, with Georgine managing things, Kitty’s investigation into Sherlon’s death should have ceased. They should now be fully focused on preparing the summoning ritual for the “Divine Servant.”

“Adele, you...” Ciel looked towards Adele, about to tell her not to come, but Adele quickly interrupted her.

“I’m going.” Adele couldn’t think of any reason; her intuition simply told her that staying with Ciel and Avena was definitely much safer than staying here alone.

Ciel: “You shouldn’t go.”

Adele: “Wuwuwu... Don’t leave me here alone...”

Ciel looked at Adele, who was fake crying, sighed, and said, “You’re still being investigated. Aren’t you afraid of being captured immediately if you go? If you’re really scared, you can go to your sister’s place.”

“But my sister will know I’m lying.” Adele said with a long face. “If I go to her, she’ll definitely know something happened to me. You told me not to tell anyone about these things, but I definitely can’t hide it from my sister.”

Indeed...

If Adele went to Uris, Uris, with her lie-detecting ability, would likely get the whole story out of her with just a little questioning.

However, regarding disguise...

Ten minutes later.

Adele’s originally long silver-white hair had been completely dyed black with potion. She wore a full-face mask forged for her by Nia and a lavish dress bearing the Roswell family crest.

Even if she claimed to be Avena’s distant cousin now, no one would doubt her.

As for her original membership card, it was certainly unusable.

But Ciel, Avena, and Nia could vouch for her fake identity, allowing her to obtain a new membership card.

After making thorough preparations and briefing everyone on precautions, Ciel and the others boarded the carriage driven by Nia and headed towards the outskirts of the city.

...

The stables at Deton Manor were already full of horses and carriages. Even in the afternoon, people were still arriving at Deton Manor, many even coming from neighboring cities.

They probably set off immediately after receiving the event invitation. Many also wanted to take this opportunity to exchange or purchase needed transcendent materials, or perhaps meet some people.

At this moment, Georgine paced back and forth in the empty card room, which exuded a faint scent of lemon.

Beneath the carpet-covered stone tiles, a significant amount of slightly warmed blood had already been poured according to a specific pattern, seeping into the crevices between the stones.

Everything was arranged exactly as the Lord Bishop had instructed.

Click—

Just then, the card room door opened, and a person wearing a black chip mask walked in gracefully, then closed the door.

“Almost everyone has arrived. I’ll issue the command later to have them proceed to the sanctuary in groups.” Kitty looked at Georgine before her, hesitated for a moment, then asked, “That Lord Bishop... will he really come tomorrow to perform the...?”

“Of course, absolutely certain.” Georgine tilted her head slightly upwards, her tone lacking the previous meekness she showed towards Kitty. She looked at Kitty and questioned her.

“Are you doubting me? Doubting the Lord Bishop?”

“I...” Kitty took a deep breath, then slowly suppressed her emotions, gritting her teeth, “No.”

Summoning a divine servant?

Something the higher-ups failed to achieve, could be accomplished by a single Bishop?

Probably just another half-mad fanatic, using the resources of the priests below to fulfill their own rituals or delusions.

Yet she could only grit her teeth and carry out these wild fantasies, while also having to consider the consequences of failure.

She definitely couldn’t stay at Deton Manor any longer.

Claiming to hold a ritual and inviting so many people to Deton Manor... Kitty knew exactly who the sacrifices were, even without thinking hard.

Kitty had already begun secretly disposing of all traces related to herself and the Divine Advent Church within Deton Manor.

When accountability came, she could avoid taking any responsibility and could even blame all failures on that mad Bishop...

And she would change her identity and move to a new city to continue her development.

Kitty certainly hoped all this was real. But if there truly was a way to summon a divine servant, why didn’t that Bishop wait for an Archbishop’s inspection and report it directly?

Wouldn’t that gain more attention?

Or did he want exclusive contact with the divine servant? Desire greater power? Or was he simply a fanatic half-corrupted by the potion?

Regardless, after all this ended, she had to make this impudent Georgine suffer...

Using borrowed authority like it was her own, and yet she truly couldn’t harbor any hostility or offensive thoughts towards her in any way.

This made Kitty feel frustrated and amplified her desire for greater power.

If only she could have the authority of a Bishop...

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by lotustale.com