Charles sighed inwardly, holding her body tighter to give her warmth. "So, your father... what exactly happened to him?"

"No one knows what truly happened to him," Malena said, closing her eyes, her voice full of anguish. "After that ritual, he fell into madness, constantly muttering ’this can’t be right,’ and then when the other families attacked us, he chose to take his own life."

"His death threw the entire family into chaos, and we had no way to defend ourselves against the outside accusations. So in the end, we were stripped of everything and sentenced to permanent banishment..."

She took two deep breaths, calming herself. "I was forced to separate from my mother and other relatives. But at the time, carrying young Lisa, I had no ability to leave Waterdeep Port on my own, so I could only hide my identity and settle down here in South Harbor District."

Charles nodded slightly, his mood equally heavy.

Committing blasphemy against a relic blessed by a deity was almost equivalent to blaspheming the deity itself. In this world where gods truly existed, such a sin could never be washed away, no matter what.

However, in Charles’s view, there were still many mysteries in this affair.

Who was the voice that Malena’s father heard?

Was it a devil?

But if it was a devil, why would he be so short-sighted? To expend so much effort entering the material world, disguising himself as a divine child or angel, just to blaspheme one relic?

Shouldn’t he, like Regolas, operate long-term in Waterdeep Port, harvesting more souls?

Or was it just a particularly foolish devil?

Moreover, throughout this entire incident, where were Malena’s family’s true ancestors, and where were the deities those ancestors served?

When a devil used magical power to impersonate them, deceiving their own bloodline and believers, surely the deities—even if they couldn’t directly intervene in the material world nowadays—could at least send a dream warning or dispatch an envoy?

But they’d done nothing, allowing the entire Sulpharlo family to be blamed for countless crimes that weren’t theirs, ultimately receiving the second-harshest punishment. The problem was that wholesale execution had never been applied to hereditary nobles, so stripping their honor and exiling the entire family was essentially the harshest punishment possible for hereditary nobles.

There were too many confusing points here, making Charles unable to help but speculate wildly, imagining some particularly terrifying possibilities.

For instance... was there a chance that Malena’s father had no problems, but that her ancestor had actually fallen?

After all, this world was essentially the background setting of a lewd game. Saintly angels, proud goddesses, even powerful female deities—awakening through desire and falling to become indulgent evil fiends or evil gods, then waiting for players to conquer them—was perfectly normal...

He was lost in wild speculation when Malena let out a soft hum, turned over, and embraced his body. "Let’s not talk about these unhappy things anymore, darling. Let’s continue."

Charles came back to himself and gently kissed her cheek. "Mm, let’s continue."

With that, he flipped Malena over, laying her on the bed, then lifted her two stocking-clad thighs onto his shoulders, and once again thrust his waist forward, forcefully pushing that fearsome thick cock into Malena’s body.

Seductive moans and crisp collision sounds rang out once more, and Malena’s high chest began to sway back and forth uncontrollably. Charles lowered his head, took one of the grapes atop her breasts in his mouth, and his waist began slowly accelerating, soon sending her back to the peak of pleasure.

...

Noon.

When Lisa reached the doorway of her home, her expression became extremely cautious, as if both anticipating and fearing something.

However, when she pushed open the door, she saw her mother sitting beside the dining table, giving her a reproachful look. "Why did you come back so late? The food’s almost cold. Lisa, hurry and wash your hands for lunch!"

Lisa didn’t answer. Her big eyes darted around, carefully observing her mother’s clothes and shoes and socks, and she noticed that beneath her mother’s clothes, that extremely sexy full-body black silk she’d worn before was gone. In its place were normal socks wrapping around her delicate ankles.

She glanced at her mother’s face again and noticed it still carried some lingering flush, and her eyes held a certain water-like quality of complete satisfaction, proving that the scene she’d witnessed in the morning wasn’t just a dream.

Opposite her, noticing that Lisa kept staring at her, Malena’s heart jumped with fright, afraid she hadn’t cleaned all the traces from her body and that her daughter would notice something. So she quickly put on a stern face and said, "What are you looking at? Do I have flowers on my face? Hurry up and wash your hands for lunch!"

Lisa let out an "Oh—" then lowered her head, turned toward the kitchen, ladled herself a basin of water, washed her hands clean, then sat at the dining table and picked up bread to bite into.

The meal passed in silence. Both harboring their own thoughts, neither spoke much, and the atmosphere at the table was somewhat heavy.

After finishing the meal, Malena went to wash dishes. After Lisa helped wipe down the table, her eyes rolled, and she secretly ran into her mother’s room.

Sure enough, in the trash can in Malena’s room, a piece of black full-body stocking torn to shreds lay there alone.

Lisa reached out and picked it up, immediately smelling a strong mixture of scents—from Priest Charles, from her mother, and another strange, inexplicable odor—all blended together on it, indistinguishable from one another.

At that moment, Malena, having finished cleaning up, pushed open the door and saw her actions, immediately startled. "Lisa, what are you doing?"

Lisa was also startled, still clutching the broken black silk in her hand. She quickly pretended not to know anything, her face calm and unflappable as she said to Malena, "Mom, why throw away new clothes?"

Malena was a bit nervous, stammering, "Ah, that piece was already damaged when it was made. I originally wanted to alter it, but accidentally got it dirty, so I just threw it away."

"Hurry and throw it away, Lisa. That thing is very dirty."

Lisa made an "oh" sound and tossed the full-body black silk back into the trash can, then went to wash her hands.

But on the way, a thought gradually emerged in her heart.

Mom and Priest Charles have a very special and mysterious relationship, and she doesn’t want others to know about it.

Then, I’ll just help Mom keep this secret too.

After all, Priest Charles is special...

Strange notions were slowly forming in her heart.

...

In the mirror of House Cassalanter, Mephistopheles’s avatar sat in a chair, legs crossed, patiently reading through the information materials Ammalia Cassalanter had submitted.

Frankly speaking, he hadn’t known before looking, but once he did, he was shocked—Waterdeep Port had quite a few high-class adventurers who were suspected Chosen Ones with powerful deities backing them!

For instance, a certain ranger who commanded a large adult gold dragon was suspected to be a hero personally blessed by the platinum dragon god.

For instance, a certain moon elf little girl who appeared in Rubble District wielding a curved serpentine greatsword was suspected to be the Moon Goddess’s Chosen One.

And then there was the thug recruited by the Cassalanter family itself—that exile who actually came from House Sulpharlo—who also seemed very much like some evil god’s chosen...

This information overlapping together made even Mephistopheles feel somewhat troubled.

But there was one important point that couldn’t be ignored: on the night he descended to the material world, none of these people were in the Cassalanter grand theater—they weren’t even in Muse District, but somewhere else outside, and all had solid alibis.

Among all the suspected Chosen Ones, only one person was definitively present at the scene that day.

Setting aside all the other materials on his left hand, Mephistopheles picked up the single file on his right—also the thickest one.

Information on the recent rising star of Waterdeep Port, the young man named Nigel Charles.

Looking at this name and the information within, Mephistopheles’s expression couldn’t help but show hesitation.

Even though his various exploits indicated he was very likely a Chosen One, there was no doubt this man’s object of belief was the Goddess of Life.

Setting aside the fact that this goddess was already dead, even in her heyday, she’d only possessed medium divine power at best—not to mention that most of the time, she was only a lesser deity.

Did she truly have the ability to completely erase Regolas’s soul right under his nose, without him noticing?

The Goddess of Life’s doctrine was extremely noble, unanimously recognized by good people of all races, yet those who could truly understand and practice her doctrine were few and far between.

Because she advocated respecting and loving every sentient being equally—but how many people could do that? Respecting and loving one’s own kin was already difficult enough, let alone respecting and loving people of other races.

The barriers between races, discrimination, historical grudges, and more were like unmelting glaciers. Therefore, even those who recognized the Goddess of Life could only practice a very small part of her philosophy, sighing helplessly at her complete ideal.

So this goddess was actually quite weak. She might indeed have the heart to save those girls, but whether she had the ability to do so was uncertain.

Therefore, when seeing that this Nigel Charles was her believer, Mephistopheles reflexively wanted to rule him out. It was just that after looking around, among all these people who might be Chosen Ones, only he was definitively confirmed to have been at the scene that day. So after eliminating everyone else, he was the only choice left.

Moreover, this guy’s battle record was indeed glorious. At just sixteen years old, he’d taken down an Abyssal Lord and been granted the title of count—he could definitely be called a rising star.

Even if that "Montport" was an obscure Abyssal Lord, that was still a powerful demon far stronger than a balor!

Perhaps... although he was clearly a believer of the Goddess of Life, because his ancestry had extremely noble bloodlines, there might be other powerful deities secretly watching over him?

Thinking this, Mephistopheles gradually formed a plan.

He needed to find a way to capture this guy and thoroughly study him!

...

South Harbor District.

Police Chief Derek Chauvin stood with several guards at the monastery’s main gate, his expression anxious. He’d already heard some insider news—when March came, he had a very good chance of being directly transferred to the wealthy Central District, leaving behind this backwater of South Harbor District to eat and drink well, living the good life.

He knew this must all be thanks to Charles working connections behind the scenes. Otherwise, someone without background like him shouldn’t have gotten such a good opportunity.

And he was very clear that before the official list was announced, this matter still had variables, so he absolutely couldn’t offend Charles.

But today, he might really have no choice but to offend him slightly.

Because today, he’d received orders from his superiors to hand over some people he was sheltering...

So after knocking on the monastery gates, Chauvin couldn’t help but feel extremely conflicted, his palms instantly covered in sweat.

Creak—

Soon, the monastery gates opened, and Charles, dressed in black priest’s robes, emerged. Seeing it was him, Charles showed a delighted expression. "Oh, Chief Chauvin, my friend! Did you come today to bring me some good news?"

Chauvin swallowed, then showed an awkward smile. "Sorry, Lord Charles. The news I’m about to share might make you somewhat unhappy."

Without waiting for Charles to speak, he quickly explained his purpose. "It’s like this—we all know you participated in the rescue operation at the Cassalanter grand theater a few days ago. This is undoubtedly another prominent achievement."

"But at the same time, some people noticed that afterward, you secretly took away some members of civilian art troupes. And according to the Muse District guard force’s investigation, some of them might be connected to the deaths of certain nobles..."

As he spoke, his forehead was already covered in sweat. He carefully observed Charles’s expression, then continued, "So... could you let them come out to cooperate with the Muse District guard force’s investigation?"

Charles nodded slightly. "I see. I understand."

He glanced at the unfamiliar faces behind Chauvin, then said, "To be honest, I brought them back to the monastery to investigate them more deeply. Because demons appeared that day, I suspect there’s a deeper cult connection behind this."

"This is a mission from Blackstaff Tower, related to the city’s survival. So I’m afraid I can’t hand them over to you temporarily." He said this, then changed his tone. "However, I promise you that as soon as the investigation is complete, I’ll immediately hand them over to you, Chief Chauvin!"

He was still saying this, but when the investigation would be considered complete was still up to him.

Everyone present understood this logic. Saying this, Charles looked at Chauvin and showed a meaningful expression. "The Abyssal Lord disaster happened less than half a year ago. Chief Chauvin, eliminating possibly lurking demon worshippers and their cults is our top priority!"

He was hinting to this greedy man—after all, their first cooperation and first interest exchange had been conducted under the banner of "fighting cults."

Chauvin naturally understood. Seeing Charles provide such a perfect reason, his heart immediately settled back into his belly. "Oh, I see! Lord Charles truly has deep foresight. Impressive, impressive!"

He laughed a few times and stepped back. "Then you carry on with your work. We won’t disturb you."

Charles smiled, nodded, and closed the door. Chauvin took a deep breath, turned, and spread his hands to the guards. "See? They’re cooperating with Blackstaff Tower higher-ups, executing more important missions."

"If you have demands, go directly to Blackstaff Tower. Anyway, on my end, there’s no way I can pressure him further."

Behind him, the two guards exchanged glances, finally sighing. "Alright then, we’ll also go back and report to our superiors!"

On this side, after closing the door, Charles’s expression immediately became extremely grave.

No matter what, these girls had committed murder. The families of the slain nobles definitely wouldn’t let this go. The pressure from those deceased families would soon fall on him.

Fortunately, he wasn’t completely unprepared. Rather, from that night onward, he’d already been paving the way for this moment’s arrival.

He then walked to the small shop next to the monastery. Sephera was keeping watch behind the counter. It was relatively quiet now—no one had come to buy daily necessities, so she wasn’t particularly busy.

Without delay, Charles immediately asked, "Sephera, have the latest newspapers arrived? What’s the general opinion outside?"

Hearing this, Sephera quickly retrieved a thick stack of newspapers from the drawer beside the table.

"Master, look—these are today’s latest reports. I’ve purchased basically all the major newspapers with wide readership." She said, passing over the papers. "Everyone’s arguing furiously. The public seems to wishfully believe this was a debauched orgy, but there’s currently no evidence, and no parties involved are speaking out."

"The nobles, meanwhile, are desperately denying these speculations, even seemingly planning to arrest some reporters under the name of ’fighting rumors.’" She summarized the contents while handing the newspapers to Charles. "As for the major conglomerates, they haven’t spoken yet, but it’s easy to imagine they certainly hope this matter gets confirmed, so they can use it as a reason to further weaken the local nobles’ power and influence."

Charles took them and briefly scanned through. The situation matched what Sephera described, and he couldn’t help but sigh.

The power struggle between local nobles and multinational conglomerates wasn’t a day or two old. But because of the Empire of Sein’s decline, even without the previous city lord’s deliberate favoritism, the local nobles were generally at a disadvantage, being kicked to the upper house one by one, no longer holding real power.

It was easy to imagine that if this infamy was confirmed, then the people in power among the related wealthy and powerful families would definitely be kicked to the upper house to retire.

And the positions they vacated would be occupied by proxies supported by the multinational conglomerates.

So the nobles definitely wouldn’t willingly bear this infamy. Some wise nobles had surely already figured out the stakes, but unfortunately, not everyone had this wisdom.

And what Charles needed to do was force everyone to quickly recognize this reality!

Dare to pressure me? Then everyone’s power will be finished!

~~~

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