Bishop Fabian suddenly stood up, looked at the deacon, and asked anxiously, "Where are we?"

"We've arrived at the main entrance of the cathedral, and the procession is laying out a red carpet!"

"I'm coming right now! Wait...wait a minute!" The bishop hurriedly opened the top drawer of the table and pulled out a wooden comb. He first moistened his hand with saliva and wiped the sparse hair near the 'Mediterranean' on his head, then carefully combed it a few times before following the deacon to the door.

Queen Mary was a central figure in the Silver Ring Kingdom from the age of sixteen when she married into the royal family. There were many reasons for this: she loved jewelry and ornaments, was passionate about opera and dance, and enjoyed parties and festivities. But what people talked about most was her stunning beauty.

On the very first day she arrived from a foreign land to marry into the enemy, the entire city of Silver Ring was deserted; the moment she stepped off the wedding carriage, the moon and stars paled in comparison.

As she and her husband, Guy VI, stood on the castle terrace, waving to the people who had gathered from all directions, the king, ten years her senior, uttered a phrase that is still celebrated throughout the continent today.

"Behold, my queen. Half of my people love you deeply!"

"Oh, and what about the other half?"

"The other half lies buried underground, in a deep sleep."

Three years have passed since then.

Queen Mary's beauty did not fade with time; instead, it gradually matured from her youthful innocence. Like a delicate, bright red, plump, and alluring fruit hanging from a branch, she was the focus of everyone's attention wherever she went.

Bishop Fabian looked at the red carpet spread out beneath his feet, turned his body to the side and lowered his head, but his eyes remained fixed on the extremely luxurious carriage in the center of the square.

At the beckoning of court ladies, the carriage door was gently opened, revealing first a skirt adorned with silver tassels and crystal pendants, followed by slender, fair hands tinged with a pale pink. As the Queen stepped down from the carriage and onto the red carpet, the men around her widened their eyes, while the women concealed their faces with folding fans.

The bishop pressed his hair down with one hand and smoothed his robes with the other, jogging to the carriage. He bowed to the queen, not daring to look at her face, but wanting to kiss her hand.

The female official standing to the side coughed loudly upon seeing this, causing the priest to awkwardly take a few steps back.

"Let's go."

Hearing this beautiful and melodious voice, the bishop's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly bent down to lead the way.

The group arrived at the audience hall of the cathedral, where maids laid out a velvet carpet on the main seat and took out fruit and snacks from a copper box filled with ice. Several small pure silver forks were placed neatly on the plate.

The ladies-in-waiting measured the distance with their footsteps, adjusting the distance between the others and the Queen's seat.

This behavior stemmed from an unwritten rule in the Silver Ring Kingdom: "No man may move within three meters of the Queen." The person who formulated this ridiculous rule was, of course, King Guy VI.

After Queen Mary took her seat, she seemed to have no intention of engaging in much small talk or pleasantries, and instead went straight to the point: "Your Excellency, I have come for the crystal relic."

The bishop frowned and remained silent.

“I hope to acquire a few crystal artifacts as decorations for my nineteenth birthday party.”

Fabian hesitated for a moment: "Your Majesty, those crystal relics are important items of the Church, each with immense research value. They should be sent to the College of Cardinals and the Pope first..."

Mary interrupted the other person impatiently: "They can wait, but my birthday is next month, and I can't wait that long."

The bishop looked up, somewhat surprised and annoyed. What did he mean by "they can wait"? Those were the Pope and the cardinals. But the queen's stunning beauty and captivating charm instantly dispelled the old man's pent-up frustration.

The queen seemed to have no intention of considering others' feelings, and continued, "I forgot to mention, the crystal relic must be of the highest quality, and its style must lean towards..."

Bishop Fabian, who spent most of his time in the church handling affairs and was not very familiar with the outside world, heard a term he had never heard before and asked the person next to him, "What is 'extraordinary'?"

His subordinates quickly offered an explanation.

Secular noble connoisseurs categorized the flowing crystal treasures into different grades based on their transparency, impurities, shape, craftsmanship, and so on. The most exquisite pieces were the best, and it was said that only Grand Justice Dinova and the King possessed such works.

The bishop listened while shaking his head: "This is utter nonsense."

Just as the old man was about to refuse the other party outright, he suddenly remembered the many unpleasant incidents that had occurred between the previous bishop and the Silver Ring Kingdom. In his own time, it was fortunate that the Queen mediated between them, preventing the royal power and the church from becoming irreconcilable as they had in the past.

While he was still pondering how to reply, the other party's next words stunned him into silence.

"Don't you have an exorcist named Todd? I heard he's a holy son blessed by the Father, why don't you go and find him again?"

Upon hearing this, Fabian was startled and quickly asked the others how this news had reached the secular world.

What alarmed him was that Todd's story had long been circulated among royalty, nobility, and common people as a semi-myth.

It is said that he followed the will of the Father, drove out demons, defeated alien races, and brought back sacred objects; he was the grace of the true light and the guide of believers.

"Such rhetoric, if allowed to continue, will pose a threat to both themselves and the church, and must be stopped immediately!"

With this thought in mind, Bishop Fabian finally made up his mind about one thing. He said to Queen Mary, "Your Majesty, there will be a trial of here next week. Would you be interested in coming to observe?"

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