"Should we bring some more clothes?"

"Or perhaps prepare a local travel guide in advance?"

"As for the guards, a few would suffice. The others can enter beforehand to maintain local order. It won't affect us."

"Louis, Louis, are you daydreaming?"

Watching the hand waving in front of him, Louis looked up and said:

"I'll take care of the local travel guide. You have a lot on your plate already; focusing on this would be too exhausting for you."

Beatrice looked at him charmingly and said:

"How could it be tiring to be with you?"

Louis gently brushed aside her hair and said:

"But you must consider that I will be distressed. Seeing such a beautiful fiancée exhausted is not what a qualified fiancé should do. Of course, it'd be great if things could move a bit faster."

Beatrice coughed, turned her head, her ears slightly flushed.

Perhaps it was because they hadn't met in a while, she felt Louis's advances were particularly intense today.

—But not unwelcome.

Or rather, she wished he would caress her more.

"Then I'll leave this matter to you."

Suddenly recalling something, she added:

"There's news from the intersection at the City of Glory and Justice, Saintess Carlin has arrived in Tino City."

Louis was a bit surprised and then said:

"Is the selection for the saintess about to begin?"

Beatrice nodded:

"Miss Grace needs to be mentally prepared."

Louis pondered for a moment and said:

"Alright, I'll mention it to her later."

The saintess selection is a very serious matter for the Church of Glory and Justice.

Although most of the time, the candidates for the saintess selection are top talents cultivated within the church, competing against each other to ultimately select the most suitable saintess candidate.

But that is without the presence of Grace.

A saintess blessed by the divine does not appear in every generation.

It's accurate to say that the typical saintess selection, much like the selection of an imperial heir, results from factions clashing behind the scenes.

Of course, since the selection involves a saintess, and the Church of Glory and Justice is a renowned True God Church, the power struggles are far fewer compared to a royal succession.

The lack of a Divine Favorer is the main reason.

Having a Divine Favorer participating makes the outcome almost predetermined.

The selection usually becomes just a formality.

Once the process nears completion, the candidate saintess who is a Divine Favorer would directly assume the position.

This isn't to say there's any underhanded dealings.

The concept of a Divine Favorer means that to the church, each divine favor is a destined Holy Son, Saintess, or even Pope.

Unlike a God-chosen one.

A God-chosen one is selected by the deity.

A considerable proportion of past Popes were God-chosen ones.

It means that the god chose you.

When vying for high positions, the higher-ups are also willing to give you this opportunity.

It's just that in the church, the superior is the "god," and the position you rise to isn't merely mid-high roles but as a "God-chosen one."

But a Divine Favorer is different.

The term Divine Favorer means "one who is favored by the gods."

Being cherished, one naturally has nothing to fear.

Couple this with the deity's duties and doctrines, the one favored by the deity inherently aligns with the divine doctrines and associated duties in every aspect including talent, character, and values.

If a God-chosen one is selected from the earthly elites after mutual competition,

then a Divine Favorer is personally chosen by the deity and brought to their side.

Louis prefers to call a Divine Favorer an "ultimate lucky one."

After all, one whom the gods pin untold hopes on, anyone sensible within the church wouldn't dare resort to dirty tricks against.

The higher likelihood is to guard against any potential schemes from the royal family.

After all, royal families throughout history have never lacked attempts to elevate their own royal authority by borrowing the name of the saintess.

The simplest way is to use various means to entice or even force the saintess to marry a prince.

And indeed, history has such instances.

Because in this world, the church isn't the only power holding extraordinary forces.

The mainstream power on the Star Continent remains the supergroup nations as a unit.

Especially during imperial regime changes, princes vying for power would all set their sights on the saintess.

Some top countries can't maintain a strong presence for every church at all times; there are always ups and downs.

And not every saintess is a Divine Favorer.

When the empire is strong and the church is weak, and the saintess isn't a Divine Favorer, situations where "Prince X uses the saintess to gain public favor" can easily occur.

Many such messy affairs are more melodramatic than anything Louis has read in Western fantasy female-centric novels in his previous life.

Enough material for a million-word saga of entangled love affairs.

However, such things won't happen to Grace.

"On the church's side..."

Louis looked towards Beatrice.

Beatrice smiled and said:

"I've already emphasized to them that Miss Grace is a citizen of Ense, a partner of the royal family. Rest assured, no matter how extreme the theocratic power is, they will somewhat consider our opinions."

She said in a low voice, "Especially recently, when Father has just made a stand."

Louis's eyes twinkled: "The Supreme Forest must be in chaos."

Beatrice's eyes carried a hint of a smile.

Although much of the news wouldn't spread to the public, among the higher echelons, it's impossible to hide the fact that the emperor killed the Scions of the Dark Night God.

Too many troops were mobilized across the four nations.

If they could hide that, other countries' intelligence agencies might as well be incompetent.

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