(City of Lunarian- Inner Region)
(Green Jade Tavern And Hotel)
"Long live the new emperor," Elisa chuckled lightly as she stared off into the distance while rubbing Claire's arm.
The pair stood on a balcony several hundred meters away from the grand central plaza.
It was the perfect spot to watch the first speech by the former crown prince.
Claire's golden eyes narrowed, and she could see Saintess Marie standing behind Emperor Raul Francis with a polite smile on her face.
The saintess turned around and for a second Claire could have sworn that their eyes met but that moment quickly passed.
Claire hummed softly as she threw that strange thought to the back of her mind and focused her attention on the beautiful girl in her arms.
"My people have been freed from the hands of their noble captors, but we still need to deal with the church," Elisa spoke solemnly as she glanced in the direction of the temple.
"Will you still stand by my side?"
"Always," Claire solemnly pledged as she leaned down and pressed her lips against Elisa's soft lips.
She kissed Elisa hungrily and the dark elf princess began to blush furiously as the tips of her ears turned red.
Claire eventually broke the kiss, and a thin thread of saliva connected the pair.
"My loyalty is to Lord Varion. My actions against the corrupt members of the church have not caused any backlash so I can only assume that he approves of my actions," Claire explained softly.
Elisa nodded and resumed staring at the soon-to-be emperor and his queen as they boarded their carriage and set off for the Imperial Palace Complex.
Prince Raul would be crowned the new emperor in a succession ceremony this afternoon that would be attended by all the nobles in the capitol city.
His coronation was several months earlier than in the original Claire's memories but that did not come as a surprise.
Claire knew that his future queen Marie had been more proactive in this timeline and there was a reason why the prince's half siblings had disappeared one after the other.
Some were killed by Claire herself under the suggestion of Marie while others were smuggled away to distant parts of the continent to live out their lives in relative peace and safety.
The royal family hid many dirty secrets and the princes and princesses that Claire had hunted down were stained with the blood of the innocent.
Surprisingly enough Prince Raul himself was relatively pure and his only flaw was a bit of arrogance.
But… somehow Claire got the feeling that Marie did not like him too much despite how well he treated her.
Still, that was her business and Claire did not plan to get closer to the saintess apart from their deal to reduce the power of the church.
Just as Claire's thoughts wandered towards the saintess, a familiar voice entered her mind from the person she was thinking about.
[The plan will be implemented in two days from now. Pope Emmanuel wants to hold a private worship ceremony and I will convince him to invite the members of the church on the list.]
Claire rubbed her temples lazily and briefly sent back an acknowledgement before yawning sleepily.
"Elisa… it seems that Marie wants to take the opportunity to solve the church in one fell swoop a few days from now," Claire spoke hoarsely.
"Did you get another message from her?" Elisa asked in a strange tone.
"Yeah… yeah…" Claire replied hesitantly with a confused expression. Elisa stared at her girlfriend and then leaned forward to softly bite her cheeks.
Elisa's sharp teeth left an imprint on Claire's pale skin and the dark elf princess stepped back and stared at it with satisfaction.
"Just remember… you're mine," Elisa declared proudly as she strutted away while swaying her hips from side to side.
She entered the hotel room and left Claire standing on the balcony with a bemused expression on her face,
Her girlfriend was not thrilled that another woman basically had partial access to her mind and Claire could understand her feelings.
To be fair it had been a bit difficult at first to deal with the mental connection between herself and Marie when it suddenly appeared.
In the early days of the connection, information flowed freely both ways and Claire received several unwanted images of Marie's flirtatious actions towards the prince.
That was not a pleasant experience.
Claire let out a heavy sigh and stared at the sun that was slowly moving towards the horizon.
Warm orange rays of light showered the city in a soft glow as the first stars could be vaguely seen in the sky.
The holy knight stared at the city with its thousands of tiny ant-like people moving from place to place and felt at peace.
Being a member of the so-called Space Time Administration had been a blessing that she was still grateful for.
Meeting Elisa and being able to experience a new life… it was hard not to feel as though she had been incredibly fortunate.
Even if the mission failed and she was forced to return to the void, Claire had a feeling that she would be content.
She unsheathed her blade and pulled out a well-worn rag out of her pocket. Claire sat down on a chair in the corner of the balcony and began to clean her weapon.
It was an old habit that she had picked up after many years of fighting.
However, no matter how clean her blade looked, she could never rid it of the faint bloody scent that lingered around the steel.
A life of killing…
Claire sometimes wondered about the Lord of Light's true purpose.
He appeared out of nowhere to bless the humans and tilt the balance towards them against the other races on the continent.
Now centuries later, the Varion Church that was once a symbol for humanity's greatness was now nothing more than a rotting shell of its former glory.
High priests, paladin commanders and even the pope himself lost their way and began to drown themselves in earthly pleasures.
What Claire could not understand is why the God of Light still allowed those sinners to keep his powers.
Was there some other purpose? Claire knew that she was the 'blade' of Lord Varion, but she had never properly communicated with the god who had blessed her.
Claire closed her eyes and muttered a quiet prayer, "Lord Varion… if you can hear me… am I doing the right thing?"
"What is the path that you want me to follow?"
The holy knight waited for a reply but as the minutes passed, she received nothing but silence as if she was talking to no one.
Claire reluctantly opened her eyes and placed her blade back in its sheath.
If the Lord of Light wished for her to make her own decisions, then she hoped that he would never interfere.