“Temple of the Goddess of Beauty and North Ufiga artifacts…” Seated in his chair, Samson revealed a look of interest as he listened to Adèle’s words. He then responded while pondering. “The matter regarding the Temple of the Goddess of Beauty is easy enough to understand. But the artifacts from North Ufiga… heh, I had only speculated before, but I didn’t expect you to actually have ties to the legendary Heaven’s Arbiter Sect. No wonder you could so calmly speak of all those secrets earlier.” Samson commented, having more or less understood Adèle’s demonstrated resistance to cognitive poison earlier. “No wonder you dared to come here alone—so you have powerful support behind you. Thinking about it, it makes sense… You’re a successor of the Desire Path. If the Heaven’s Arbiter faith has indeed revived, reaching out to collaborate with you would be natural.” He continued. But Adèle didn’t focus on the topic of the Heaven’s Arbiter Sect and instead pressed on. “So, Consul, can you accept my requests?” Hearing this, Samson paused briefly, then after a moment of contemplation, responded. “Last year, the Heaven’s Arbiter Sect supported the rebel government in Addus. Falano once had strong interests in Addus, which were ruined by that rebellion. In North Ufiga’s broader situation, we regard the Heaven’s Arbiter Sect as an unstable factor. Do you think I’d help them?” He looked at Adèle seriously as he said this. But Adèle simply gave a light laugh, spreading her hands as she replied. “Consul, please don’t misunderstand. Is Falano’s greatest challenge right now the colonies? No—the colonies are merely peripheral matters. Your core issue lies in escalating internal political strife, the Church’s increasingly brutal interference, and the rampaging of the Afterbirth Cult within your borders… Compared to these problems, North Ufiga is hardly worth mentioning. Don’t forget the priority of contradictions. While we may have friction in smaller areas, there’s room for cooperation on much larger issues.” Adèle spoke calmly. After hearing her reasoning, Samson fell into deep thought for a while before nodding in agreement. “Hmm… Cooperation on a greater scale—how interesting. All right, tell me, what exactly do you want?” “What we want is usage rights for the Temple of the Goddess of Beauty tomorrow morning, and access to records on the artifacts Falano has plundered over the years—preferably with some preliminary research notes attached.” Adèle stated her requests directly. After hearing her, Samson gave it serious thought, remaining silent for a while before finally nodding and replying. “Very well… I’ll arrange it.” “Thank you for your prudence, Consul.” Adèle gave a slight smile and followed with a formal Falanoan court bow toward Samson. … 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂 In the distant sky over the Temple of the Goddess of Beauty, the ever-hanging sun finally sank below the horizon. Under the gradually darkening sky, Dorothy’s carriage was traveling down a small road. Seated inside the carriage, she was communicating through the information channel with Adèle, who remained back at the temple. “Seems like the negotiations went smoothly. This Samson is much more agreeable than we expected—he accepted all our proposals.” Adèle said through the communication link to Dorothy’s followers. Dorothy, lightly swaying with the carriage’s motion, responded lazily. “Well, we did save his life. Those conditions were all easy enough for him to grant. It’s not surprising he agreed to everything. What did surprise me was how easily he agreed—only raised minor objections regarding the Heaven’s Arbiter Sect, and didn’t say much about anything else.” “Oh? Then in your view, little detective, what else should Samson have objected to?” Adèle asked curiously. Dorothy replied immediately. “Samson has always presented a tough anti-Bourbon stance in the public eye of Falano, making him seem like the Bourbons’ greatest enemy. But now, this supposed arch-enemy of the Bourbons is sitting down and calmly discussing matters with you—a highly legitimate heir of the Bourbon line and a successor of the Desire Path, someone who could easily become the figurehead of the royalist faction in Falano. That level of calm is… unexpected.” Hearing this, Adèle paused briefly before responding. “Didn’t he say earlier? His objections to the Bourbons mainly stemmed from the malignant mystical incidents caused by Bourbon relics scattered across Falano. Maybe he doesn’t actually hold much personal malice toward the Bourbons themselves.” “Having not much malice isn’t the same as no malice. When you spoke with him, did you sense any hostility from him at all?” Dorothy asked. Adèle paused again before replying. “Come to think of it… no, I didn’t sense any at all. But since he’s a Crimson-rank Consul of Falano, once he recovered his abilities, I might not have been able to fully perceive his desires. It’s also possible he had a way to block my powers.” “True, the mystical side is still uncertain. But from my observation, during your conversation, his tone and expression never showed any disgust or dissatisfaction. When he mentioned the royalist faction in Falano, his tone felt more like sarcasm. And when he talked about the Splendor King, even while expressing disappointment, there was a trace of… sighing emotion.” Dorothy mused aloud. After hearing her, Adèle responded thoughtfully. “Now that you mention it… that’s true. When he brought up the Splendor King, he even deliberately glanced around the Hall of Glory, looking at all the trophies… Hey, little detective, do you think he could actually be…? No—if that were the case, why would he so publicly oppose the Bourbons?” As Adèle spoke, a startling conclusion formed in her mind—but she quickly began to question it. At this moment, Dorothy continued. “Think carefully—Samson’s strong anti-Bourbon stance began around the same time the Afterbirth Cult became rampant in Falano, and when malignant mystical incidents started spiking. The Cult was gathering Bourbon relics to decipher the Desire Path. To stop them, the best strategy would be for the state to step in and collect those relics en masse, and protect key Bourbon bloodlines. “But if he’d claimed he was protecting Bourbon heritage, the justification would have been too weak, and enforcement would be limited. Plus, it could’ve invited Church suspicion, since they’ve always feared a Bourbon revival. So… why not flip the narrative? “By portraying Bourbon relics as dangerous ideological remnants, emphasizing Falano’s revolutionary spirit and progress, he could enact Bourbon prohibitions from the opposite standpoint—claiming to purge the Bourbon ‘plague.’ That way, he could seize relics from the public before the Afterbirth Cult could get them, and monitor or detain important Bourbon descendants under the guise of suppression. “In other words: he pretended to oppose Bourbon to protect Bourbon.” Dorothy spoke her theory to Adèle, and after hearing it, Adèle was visibly taken aback. It took her a while before she responded again. "...Wait, is that even possible? That’s right… If Samson’s true objective wasn’t just opposing the Bourbons outright, then the Church’s deep-seated animosity toward him would make perfect sense!” “Yes. I suspect that while Samson’s approach may have fooled most people, those among the upper echelons who can truly see the bigger picture in Falano likely saw through it—people like the Falano Archbishop or his political rival among the Consuls. “Samson’s actions, under the guise of opposing the Bourbons, may have earned him enemies from all sides—the Church, the Afterbirth Cult, and the remaining royalists within the country. His political adversaries probably used this to weave a conspiracy specifically against him.” Dorothy continued her analysis. Adèle was silent for a moment after hearing her, then asked in return. “So that’s how it is? For the Church… are they really willing to tolerate working with the Afterbirth Cult just to wipe out the Bourbons completely?” “To the Church, both the Bourbons and the Afterbirth Cult are intolerable. But if cooperating with one to eliminate the other is more expedient, that’s something they’re absolutely willing to accept. As long as they can twist Samson’s ‘faux opposition’ into a legitimate one after his death, that’s enough for them. “Besides, in this incident, the Judicature Faction also wants to use it as a pretext to strike back against the other two factions. So if things had gone according to plan, they might have accepted temporary indirect cooperation with the Afterbirth Cult.” Dorothy explained further. Adèle then replied, her tone becoming more layered and complex. “To think that behind this conspiracy… so many entangled interests were at play. Before I came to Falano, I figured the waters here might be deep—but I didn’t expect them to be this deep. I truly owe you for this one, little detective… On my own, I wouldn’t have been able to navigate such a complex and perilous situation. “After everything that’s happened, you still remain composed and at ease. Is this the calmness of a Crimson-rank Beyonder? I can’t believe that in just a year, you’ve evolved into someone I now have to look up to…” Adèle said with sincere gratitude in her tone, and Dorothy replied softly. “It wasn’t too bad. Operating here at the outskirts of Flottes, the Archbishop in the city likely restricted my abilities to some extent. Being able to resolve this entire affair with low-intensity mystical interference was honestly the best outcome. And besides, Adèle, you likely acquired some clues for your own advancement to Crimson-rank in this mission. Maybe it won’t be long before you join me at the same rank.” “Really...? Then I’ll take that as a blessing from you, little detective.” “Of course. Now then, it’s getting late. Get some rest. We’ve still got work to do tomorrow morning.” With that, Dorothy ended the communication with Adèle, then continued steering her corpse marionette-driven carriage through the countryside, heading off into the dim horizon. … Time passed swiftly. As the moon set and the sun rose, the night quickly came to an end. When the darkness began to fade, the southern outskirts of Flottes welcomed the first light of dawn. At dawn, under the pale golden sky, the Temple of the Goddess of Beauty, which had been bustling for the past few days, was now completely silent and deserted. After yesterday’s events, Falano’s Anti-Mystic Security swiftly sealed off the temple grounds and took away all participants of the audience banquet. The entire temple was subsequently locked down, and even the servants who had been working inside were temporarily removed. The Anti-Mystic Security, mainly commanded by Consul Samson, was under his direct control. On his orders, the entire exterior of the Temple of the Goddess of Beauty was cordoned off by these guards, and the interior left completely empty, rendering the temple eerily hollow today. On the chilly and desolate Ceremonial Plaza in the early morning, cold mist lingered. A lone, elegantly dressed woman walked slowly through the vast plaza. Still wearing the Splendor King’s costume, Adèle stepped forward one pace at a time, passing the bronze statue of Charles, and came to stand before the largest building on the square—the Second Stage, Fountain of Dawn. The fountain retained its lotus-shaped water structure, with jets of water forming a blooming water lotus. Adèle silently approached the stage beside the fountain where she had danced yesterday and carefully observed the scene—only to discover something different from before. At the center of the fountain—on the circular platform created when the bronze statue was retracted—now lay thick stone tiles, each intricately carved. These carvings were interconnected to form a giant lotus, perfectly mirroring the water lotus. These were the same stone floor tiles originally assembled in the Opera Hall. Modular and reconfigurable, they were normally kept disassembled across the hall’s stage. During formal events like the audience banquet, they’d be assembled into the First Stage. Because of their modular nature, this stage wasn’t confined to a single location. It could be entirely removed and reassembled elsewhere. It didn’t have to remain in the Opera Hall—it could just as well be set up at another venue. The circular platform of the Fountain of Dawn happened to be the exact same size as the Opera Hall stage. This meant that the lotus tiles could be fully reassembled here—and that’s exactly what Dorothy had done. She had just instructed her corpse marionette to dismantle all the flooring from the Opera Hall and move them here to the fountain for reassembly. The resulting lotus formation nested perfectly into the fountain’s stage, as if it had always belonged there. Gazing at the blooming stone lotus within the water lotus, Adèle took a deep breath, lifted her dress, and stepped through the veil of water, once again ascending the fountain’s stage. Facing east, she began her dance anew. With grace and poise, Adèle danced again. Even though there were far fewer onlookers than yesterday, she poured herself wholeheartedly into each elegant movement—as if offering this dance not to an audience, but to the temple itself, and to the long-fallen Bourbon legacy. As Adèle danced, the sun slowly rose from the east. The radiance of dawn overflowed from the horizon, illuminating the golden dome of the Temple of the Goddess of Beauty, casting dazzling light across it. As the morning rays passed through the stained-glass dome of the Dome Hall, new patterns of light were projected downward. But unlike the dusky hues of sunset, the morning light came from the opposite direction. The eastern morning light caused the Dome Hall to cast faint, multicolored halos westward onto the Ceremonial Plaza. As time passed and the sun climbed higher, these halos gradually shifted toward the Fountain of Dawn. Within the changing interplay of light and shadow, the halos began to transform. When the halo at last shaped itself into a lotus, it aligned perfectly with the fountain’s stage. At that moment, within the Temple of the Goddess of Beauty—the shattered First Stage, the water lotus of the Second Stage, and the radiant halo of the Third Stage—all overlapped in perfect harmony beneath the dawn. And Adèle became the dancer performing upon all three stages at once.