"I never expected even Cyra to come along too. Now the house I just bought has two angels visiting at once—what a great omen!"
Seeing that the whole place was neatly and tastefully furnished, and that Vivianne kept bustling back and forth pouring water and serving tea without stopping, Adrian—who had only just sat down and taken a sip—couldn't help showing a surprised expression.
"Did you really buy this place all by yourself?"
"Uh… not entirely. Actually, I… bought it together with… someone else…"
The moment the topic of buying the house came up, Vivianne suddenly started stammering, as if there was something she couldn't easily say. When she noticed we didn't seem to be paying much attention for the moment, she hurriedly changed the subject and asked instead:
"Let's not talk about that right now. It's been almost half a year since you left Norvale. Why did you suddenly decide to come back? Is it because of those high-ranking angels visiting from Edenmere?"
The "high-ranking angels" she referred to were naturally Elara and the others. According to local talk, during this period, you could often see angels coming and going around Norvale's royal castle—an unprecedented spectacle since the kingdom was founded. Although angels rarely set foot in the lower city where ordinary people lived, Vivianne, as a local resident, had still seen them plenty of times. So the moment she saw Adrian arrive with two angels—Cyrae and me—she naturally guessed our purpose.
"There are some matters on the angels' side," Adrian said, "but this time I mainly came back for you."
It had been a long time since old friends had seen each other, and Adrian was unusually talkative. But when it came to the critical part, he clearly felt awkward about revealing too much to an outsider—details like how he planned to formally propose to Elara. He brushed it off with a couple vague lines, then straightened his expression, steering the conversation back to the point and speaking with earnest seriousness:
"Yesterday I went back to my hometown and found that Brennan and Yolanda had returned too. I can understand the conflict between you three to some extent, but you've been out here alone with no news at all—no messages, nothing. Even the village chief and my mom asked me about you. I really don't know how to answer them."
As Vivianne's childhood friend and fellow villager—and the oldest "big brother" of the three—Adrian often took responsibility for looking after the others when they were away from home. Now that Vivianne had suffered heartbreak, there was no way he could just watch her sink deeper into gloom. This trip was not only to check on her, but also to help talk her through it.
"I understand your kindness," Vivianne replied calmly, "but I've already let it go. I'm not angry at Brennan anymore."
"As for my hometown… my parents have been gone for a long time. I don't have any family left, so there's no reason I have to go back anytime soon. Still—please thank the village chief and your mother for their concern. I'm doing well here. When I get the chance, I'll definitely visit them."
To our surprise, Vivianne showed no strange expression at all in response to Adrian's blunt concern. Instead, she spoke with complete openness.
That made Adrian and me instantly unsure. Had she truly stopped caring? Or was she just pretending to be fine?
"Idiot…"
Only Cyrae, who had been watching quietly with seasoned eyes, seemed to see right through it. When she noticed my confused face, she lightly kicked me under the table and whispered:
"From my many years of experience, I'd bet she already has someone she likes."
Someone she likes? But wasn't the person Vivianne liked… that redhead Brennan? And Brennan was already about to marry Yolanda—how could she be this calm?
"Looks like we've got visitors?"
Right as my head was full of questions and I still couldn't make sense of it, the sound of a door opening came from behind us. A man walked in from outside, calling out loudly.
When I turned to look, I froze—
It was Ron, an old familiar face.
Ron was one of the Starlight Knights under the True Church. Why would he show up here now?
Then I suddenly remembered: back when Vivianne left in heartbreak, Ron had indeed stepped forward alone and asked Pope Cysper for permission to escort her back. I just hadn't expected the two of them to still be together.
Before I could stop myself, I blurted out:
"Are you two living together?"
The scene really did look suspicious. Ron was carrying a large basket of vegetables in his hand—clearly he'd just returned from buying groceries at a nearby market. And since he had the key to this house, the answer was practically obvious.
"Well… Ron is a good person," Vivianne said quickly. "He's always treated me very well, and he even helped me buy this house…"
Caught off guard by us walking in on them like this, Vivianne instantly looked flustered. She hurriedly stood up to explain, but in her panic she couldn't seem to find the right words.
"Ron," Adrian said sharply, "you're Church personnel. You protect the Pope in daily life. How can you be doing this here?"
Adrian was smart—he'd obviously reached the same conclusion as I had. Vivianne's heartbreak wasn't long ago, so he immediately pinned the blame for this situation on the man.
After all, Adrian grew up on the Eldoria Continent; in certain ways, his thinking was still fairly traditional. A man and a woman living alone under the same roof—if it were during an outdoor expedition and forced by circumstance, that might be understandable. But living together like this in everyday life? In his eyes, that was improper.
"It's not what you think!" Vivianne hurried to defend him, stepping in front of Ron. "Ron has truly been good to me. When I came back from the Cresthaven Papal Dominion, he took care of me the whole way—I escaped danger to my life several times because of him."
"And later, when we went out adventuring together, it was thanks to his help that we kept getting through crises and completing our missions successfully. And… honestly…"
Her cheeks turned slightly red as she spoke.
"…I… kind of like him too."
"But… he's clergy!" Adrian insisted. "A Starlight Knight is supposed to be loyal only to the Pope. And as a high-ranking member of the Church, he would normally swear an oath to God—promising to serve their Lord for life. With his status, the two of you can't be together!"
In Adrian's mind, Vivianne was basically like a younger sister. Faced with something this thorny, he couldn't just back down; he had to make the stakes clear.
"You can rest assured about that," Ron said, unexpectedly stepping forward before any of us could speak. He clarified the key point himself, firm and unflinching.
"A few months ago, I resigned from my position as a Starlight Knight. And because I'm still young, I never went through the Church's lifelong dedication oath ceremony. So I can marry Vivianne—there's no obstacle at all."
"I swear to the Lord—I will take responsibility for her, to the very end."
For someone his age, the way he made that promise without retreating was… surprisingly manly.
"You're not a Starlight Knight anymore?" Adrian blurted, stunned.
The sudden turn left even Adrian—who had been opposing the relationship at first—momentarily at a loss for words.
"Even if you wanted to marry her… did you really have to go that far?" I couldn't help asking as well.
The Starlight Knight title was high status, but there didn't seem to be any explicit rule forbidding marriage. More than that, Ron was a commander-level figure—he even led a large number of capable subordinate knights. In any country, that was a serious combat asset. Yet he said he gave it up as easily as dropping a cloak. It was hard to believe.
"Heh…" Ron gave a dry laugh. "Of course there were other factors too. The Pope I used to serve has already passed away. I just… couldn't get used to the new Pope. Didn't suit my taste, so I chose to leave."
He tried to sound lighthearted, but you could still see a trace of helplessness on his face.
And the way he spoke made it sound like there was more behind it. That instantly reminded me of the Church's increasingly outrageous behavior lately. I quickly pulled him to sit down and pressed for details:
"Can you tell us what this new Pope is trying to do? Ever since he took office, the whole Church feels… different."
"You mean Eminem?" Ron smiled bitterly. Maybe he was thirsty—he casually picked up the tea on the table and took a sip before speaking with resignation.
"To be honest, I haven't had much direct involvement with him. But he's so young and already sitting in the Pope's seat—he's definitely planning to build some kind of new 'legacy.' So not long after he took office, the Church's upper ranks immediately launched a plan called 'Welcoming the Lord's Return.'"
"Welcoming the Lord's Return?" I frowned. "What does that even mean?"
That only made me more confused. Did the True Church's so-called "Lord" really exist? In my view, it was something with no substance at all. But if the Lord didn't exist, how could He "return"?
"I'm not very sure either," Ron admitted. "My position placed me among the former Pope's close confidants, so the new Pope is naturally wary of me. He wouldn't tell me too many details."
"All I know is that the plan is still in its early stage. For now, they're pushing to further expand the number of believers across the continent—so the Lord can 'feel our sincerity.' As for the next steps…"
He hesitated slightly, then continued.
"According to what other senior members of the Church have been guessing, the final target of this plan… may very well be Edenmere—in other words, your angelic race."
Ron's explanation stunned us.
At first glance, the idea that the Church would make a move against angels sounded impossible. But the more we thought about it, the more we realized it wasn't without logic. After all, the True Church had always taken it for granted that their "Lord" resided in Edenmere. So if they intended to "bring Him back" unilaterally, it was almost inevitable that they would clash with the angelic race.