Ivyst was fuming with anger.
As the Third Imperial Princess of the Saint Laurent Empire, she hadn't felt threatened by anyone in a long time.
Although she was the least favored one, her innate powerful strength meant she seldom encountered such situations.
What she encountered most was fear.
But today, some blind worm had the audacity to come before her and try to threaten her.
And that worm was from the Heavenly Principle Church no less.
As one of the three major churches in the Saint Laurent Empire, the Heavenly Principle Church had become increasingly autocratic over the years.
It even showed signs of surpassing the Silent Church and the Fertility Church.
In terms of the number of Transcendents and their power, the Star Knight Order they had established inside was almost catching up to the Royal Guard.
Even the top Transcendents were not far behind.
Just Fifth Rank Legends alone, if you included the newly promoted daughter of the Snow Eagle family, there were no fewer than six.
As for the even more powerful Sixth Rank Demigods, there were rumors that a former Archbishop of the Heavenly Principle Church had been lying in a coffin, sustaining life through various means, waiting to appear only when the church faced cataclysmic danger.
When it came to Sealed Objects, the Heavenly Principle Church was terrifyingly formidable.
There were as many as four zero-tier Sealed Objects officially registered, not to mention those hidden assets that should not see the light of day.
And setting aside Transcendents and Sealed Objects,
The Heavenly Principle Church was rightly the number one church in the Saint Laurent Empire in terms of the number of followers alone.
Take Orn City, for example.
As the capital of the border, it had a population of eight hundred thousand, of which about a quarter were followers of the Heavenly Principle Church.
It's no wonder they were no longer as modest as before.
But the problem is, Ivyst is royalty, and now they even dare to disrespect the Royal Family.
She scoffed when she recalled the conditions demanded by that clergyman.
Speaking of which, that man had come to see her today regarding a matter also relating to Duke Tierus.
As the Governor of the Southern Province, he had become increasingly dissatisfied with these churches in recent years.
Due to the Empire's somewhat weak control over the south, coupled with the border's proximity to the Demon Clan's battlefields, there had been frequent wars in recent years, many cities lacked governance and deterrence, showing a trend towards becoming lawless areas.
The more this was the case, the harder the ordinary civilians lived.
And, the harder life was, the more they needed some spiritual sustenance.
Hence, the beliefs of various large churches began to grow wildly on this fertile ground.
The Heavenly Principle Church was one of them.
As this force had become so vast, even official bodies like city councils and Security Bureaus in places like Orn City dared not make rash moves.
Or perhaps, they themselves, due to tangled relationships and the lure of interests, had chosen to stand with the church.
Here's something quite ridiculous.
The Royal Family hadn't received the population tax from these border cities for several years now, which added up to a very substantial amount.
These churches often banded together, using tax reduction policies to fool people.
But the civilians didn't live any better for having paid fewer taxes.
In fact, for the sake of loyalty to their faith, they d money to the churches, which was five or six times the original amount.
As the Governor of the Southern Province, Duke Tierus's visit to Orn City this time was to deal with these musty old affairs.
Still bloody tax collection!
This was also one of the reasons Duke Tierus didn't want to see Ivyst.
He was simply too busy.
This wasn't a battlefield; he couldn't just send the troops to roll over those parishes for not paying taxes.
If he did that, he'd be removed from his post as Governor tomorrow.
And perhaps sensing something in the wind, once they learned that Duke Tierus himself was coming to Orn City, those churches began to grow restless as well.
So the Heavenly Principle Church sent someone to have an audience with Ivyst.
In the end, they parted on bad terms.
It was laughable, really.
Those fools had actually hoped that Ivyst, a royal princess, would fight on behalf of the church against Duke Tierus in their disputes.
Or worse, create some chaos in Orn City to muddy the waters, which would delay the tax investigation, allowing them time to move their assets.
In return, they would "generously" offer her fifty thousand Gold Coins as campaign funding for the King's election.
Was the Imperial Princess only worth a measly fifty thousand Gold Coins?
Ivyst felt insulted in her intelligence.
Besides, everyone knew that her visit to Orn City was to foster good relations with Duke Tierus.
Such a proposal only proved that those behind it were either foolish or malicious.
Ivyst was already quite displeased, but then that fellow dared to threaten her.
"Your Highness, if you need assistance with those three hundred innocents outside the city, the church will definitely offer its strong support. But I hope you will consider this carefully, as if too much time passes, I'm afraid something unforeseen may happen."
On the surface, his words seemed earnest, but the last sentence betrayed the intention.
No matter their thoughts, Ivyst took this as a threat.
In her heart, she already sentenced that guy and those fools to death.
Her instinct was to kill him right then and there, which would have been in line with her personality.
But then she pondered, were the people from the Heavenly Principle Church really that stupid?
They knew such a proposal would anger her and sent such a fool to see her?
Could it be that they were hoping she would make a move and kill someone here, to blow things up and play the victim to obfuscate the situation?
With that thought, Ivyst managed to suppress her murderous intent for the time being.
Nonetheless, the over three hundred civilians stranded outside the city were indeed a huge problem.
Ultimately, this might just be the trap set by the Heavenly Principle Church and the city council for her.
Yet she had no choice but to walk into it.
Thinking about it, she felt an even greater headache coming on.
She wasn't sure if that fellow had any countermeasures. It was a bit like grasping at straws.
After all, this was a serious matter that implicated the well-being of the people, which couldn't be settled simply with quick thinking or schemes.
But for now, it seemed she only had the option to trust.
Trust that this fellow would create another surprise.
Three days were indeed too short a time; even processing fifty people a day would take about a week.
So Ivyst had already mentally prepared for their temporary failure.
If Lynn came to beg for a few more days, Ivyst wouldn't refuse.
But she would take the opportunity to give him a good talking-to and thoroughly suppress his arrogance.
Ivyst coldly picked up her teacup and sipped from it.
Then she caught sight of Lynn sneaking in through the door, looking rather guilty.
Seeing him actually lightened her mood somewhat.
She couldn't fathom why.
Appearing to have guessed his purpose for visiting, Ivyst asked with an authoritative tone.
The next second, Lynn knelt on one knee, presenting a stack of papers in his hands.
"Your Highness, these are the Extraordinary Contracts signed by the refugees stranded outside the city," Lynn said solemnly. "A total of 312 people, with 311 actual signatures."
"Except for one criminal who resisted stubbornly and whom I killed on the spot, all are accounted for, mission accomplished!"
His voice was loud, as if wanting the entire estate to hear.
Even the maids passing by outside stopped in their tracks, thinking there was some joyous occasion.
Ivyst looked at him, somewhat taken aback.
"You... what did you say?"