The first miracle occurred too early, and the news spread too quickly.

When the nobles heard these rumors, they once again tried to grasp at something—but they only seized upon those who had spoken. The phantom of God had indeed appeared; no one could deny this fact. Even if they wanted to say it was false, which pope would deny their own belief?

Then came the second time, and the third time.

More and more people are witnessing miracles firsthand.

They said that God had come.

The people below the steps whispered amongst themselves, while those on the steps wore stiff smiles. They were trying to make a new, seemingly better choice—whether it was about the papacy or the so-called miracle.

They recounted the past, the glory of the Lord—

They angrily questioned the corpses.

Why doesn't the Lord protect them?

Why were they treated that way, given their compassion and empathy for ordinary people?

The bishop, now dressed in a red robe, slowly stepped into the murky waters. Previously, she had always worn a white robe in the church—a personal preference and one of the few things that distinguished her from other bishops. Now, she needed to project an image of authority, to prevent others from looking down on her because of her age and appearance, and thus she would use her attire as armor.

Warm light enveloped her golden hair.

Those who met her said she was like a god incarnate on earth.

When only bishops remained in the church qualified to become pope, several pope candidates selected from the lower levels of the church became corpses or disappeared without a trace—although there were still people who coveted that position, none of them had the courage to show their ambition.

The bishop was then made pope.

She didn't wear that red dress for long before changing into a more expensive white robe with gold thread.

Two days later, the old king in the palace died during a miracle, supposedly "inspired by the gods".

The palace was in chaos, and since the king had not left any male heirs, the nobles wanted to select a man from a collateral branch of the royal family.

If I don't have a son, a nephew will do. If I don't have a nephew, a son-in-law will do too. In short, I need a man.

The first man chosen by the emperor died in his sleep that very night.

The second man, who had just donned the crown, died suddenly in front of everyone.

The third one...

The fourth one.

The mortals, who valued life even more than the Papacy, halted their advance. Although they had already offered too many sacrifices, they still showed reluctance, reluctantly accepting the new pope's help and, in yet another miracle, electing the current queen as queen.

As friends of the Pope, Artemisia and Lillian were also invited to the Queen's coronation.

Helen did not travel with them. On the one hand, if she did not conceal her appearance, others would be afraid of her bloodshot eyes; on the other hand, she did have her own matters to attend to.

In that castle that belonged to her, there were still many people who could be of use to her.

They agreed to meet again after the coronation ceremony.

Walking on the long carpet, the equally young queen had sharp eyes. She and her young daughter, accompanied by a young daughter, slowly approached the Pope.

The young, orphaned daughter of the former queen looked at the young pope with curiosity.

Judging from their appearance, they are more similar in age.

But the Pope had already donned the white robe.

The Pope calmly met the orphan's gaze for a moment, then looked up at the woman who had come before him. The woman, now queen, already exuded an undisguised sharpness; she did not crave power, but she would not relinquish any power that came her way.

She is ambitious.

...That's exactly what the Pope needs.

The Pope smiled and raised his crown. As the choir children around them chanted, the Queen slowly knelt down and bowed her noble head before the Pope.

The Pope said softly, "This will be the last time."

The queen's expression remained unchanged.

She had heard similar words many times in her dreams.

She had not only seen Lillian in her dreams, but had also been in contact with the Pope. From the things they revealed to her, she knew some of what they were planning. Although she wanted to communicate with them more now, she carefully suppressed those emotions.

Now is not the time for communication.

The choir's chanting grew louder. Amidst this chanting, the Pope gently placed the crown on the Queen's head.

The onlookers had various thoughts, but she—the current queen—simply stood up calmly, appreciating and praising the Lord's might.

The Pope smiled. Her peaceful gaze passed through the chorus of voices praising the Pope and the Queen, meeting Ai Cao's eyes. Ai Cao looked at the Queen, puzzled, and whispered to Lillian, "How did the Queen see me? Am I too tall?"

Lillian covered her mouth and laughed, "Maybe it's because she hasn't seen you before." She deliberately lowered her voice even further, "The Pope and I are both familiar faces."

Mugwort touches the nose.

She was unsure whether she should continue to keep her mental strength level at D, or find an opportunity to ask the system for help to improve her mental strength level.

The system quietly peeked out: "Even the central platform can't improve mental strength."

“…Okay.” Ai Cao didn’t struggle much and gave up easily.

She doesn't necessarily need a high level of mental strength.

The Queen's coronation ceremony is drawing to a close, but the new Queen still needs a lot of time to manage interpersonal and bureaucratic relationships.

She still has a long way to go—the Pope and his ilk can only roughly clear away the obstacles in her path to the throne; they cannot guarantee that her future will be smooth sailing.

Lillian said softly, "It's snowing."

Snowflakes drifted in through the palace windows. Grayish-white snowflakes, familiar to them, composed of bat debris, fell.

Ai Cao said, "It must be Helen."

Of all them, only Helen could carry out such a large-scale purge of the lower-ranking vampires. Ai Cao even secretly considered asking Helen to eliminate all the higher-ranking vampires as well. However, her relationship with Helen had always been delicate, so she never brought it up.

Lillian smiled briefly. Her smile vanished instantly, and she looked at Ai Cao with a tense expression: "Sister Ai Cao..."

Ai Cao asked with a smile, "What's wrong?"

The system in her mind screamed in alarm: "Danger!"

Artemisia tilted her head, waiting for Lillian to continue. Unseen by her, in the air right behind her, a section of the air abruptly distorted.

No one noticed the distortion.

From that twisted form emerged a hand encased in a black glove and an arm tightly wrapped in a black cloak.

Just as Lillian realized something was wrong and opened her mouth to speak again, a clear voice, seemingly that of a young man, rang in their ears:

"This tastes bad, kill this one first."

The hand pierced straight through the chest of the mugwort.