“My, Your Majesty, Miss Nier, we are so honoured you still remember our orphanage, not to mention that you brought gifts . I was thinking about preparing summer clothing for the children, and you have brought us materials . Your timing is impeccable . Thank you so much . May G.o.d bless your kind souls,” said he orphanage’s dean .

The man in charge of the orphanage still had his signature eyes-shut smile . He looked the same as before . Actually, he was a little plumper . The orphanage was on track, after all . Furthermore, they had land that n.o.body would take from them . With nothing to worry about, I guess the dean put on some weight .

Nier and I gave them the presents . The dean cheerfully served us teas . With a smile, he corrected himself: “Sorry, my greeting was incorrect . You are now His Majesty and Royal Princess, Her Majesty, correct? I know about your child’s baptism . How blessed . I knew two people in love with each other would be happy together, true?”

“You didn’t know that we’d get married when I last came, did you?”

“What do you mean? I noticed it the first time . You were always looking at Royal Princess, Her Majesty . ”

“Ah… okay, okay, let’s go see the kids . ”

Face glowing red, I quickly tried to switch the topic . However, Nier noticed it, so she came over with and wrapped her arm around mine with a soft giggle . She must’ve overhead us by the looks of it . Nonetheless, I dare say she would’ve been disgusted to hear that if we were in the past .

I handed the candy to Nier . She cheerfully went off to look for the children . I set the material onto the table and told the dean to go see the tailor . I remember the tailor worked for the royal family . With my hand-written decree, they would make clothes for the dean for free . Although he was reluctant to make so many pieces for free, they worked for the royal family, so there was no refusing .

The dean and I were upstairs as before . Nier played with the children down below . We looked down as we did the first time I visited . I looked at pretty Nier and the sunlight . I softly laughed: “How nice to have such peaceful days . If there was no trouble when I came back, then it would be perfect . Something annoying had to happen during this trip, though . By the way, I also noticed you have chosen the old church, correct?”

The dean smiled . The golden h.o.a.ry leaf hanging by his chest gently swayed . After a quiet laugh, he answered, “Is that what everybody refers to them as nowadays? The church is different to how they were in the past now . In the past, they would extort people for money, but not now . Nowadays, the church will provide us with money and living expenses every year . They will also let our children help out at the church . They have helped us in many ways . Therefore, I am very grateful to the church, and I believe them . Recently, a new church has surfaced, correct? It is a good thing for religion to flourish . I may not be religious, but the two different religions have developed independently, so they can develop a better creed, I would a.s.sume . ”

“It’d be nice if they didn’t fight . ”

“Fight, did you say?”

“Yes . ”

It sounded as though the dean didn’t know what happened . I didn’t elaborate . Instead, I turned my attention to the children . Smiling, I inquired, “You said that the children went to work? Where do they usually go to work? In the church?”

“Not exactly . It depends on which location requires help . For instance, they might help at the unloading zone . Things are convenient for the children there, as well . Despite the guards inspecting the adults’ goods, they never inspect the things the children carry . As such, the church usually asks the children to move and transport things . ”

“They’re not transporting any illegal goods, are they?”

I recalled the salt incident . I couldn’t believe they thought of making statues with salt to get them into the city . Had I not had a lick, I never would’ve figured out their trick .

“Is the church still trying to transport illegal goods? What is it this time, gold? Gold needs to be handed to the royal family . Only a small amount circulates among the people . Illegally transporting salt is one thing, but gold? In the best scenario, you’ll just lose your hands . In the worst scenario, your head will roll . If the children are transporting gold, then they would be able to avoid inspections . Does the church have the guts to do that, though?” I contemplated .

“It definitely is not gold . Although they do not inspect the children, they still take a look . Inside is firewood . They must be using it to start fires . ” The dean laughed as he waved his hand .

I smiled helplessly . I must’ve been too jumpy . I did notice there were lots of fire braziers and fireplaces in the church . That justified them requiring a rather large amount of firewood . It would make sense for them to transport firewood, then .

I nodded: “Tell the children: if there are illegal goods, tell them not to touch it and to report it; otherwise, trouble will definitely come knocking . For instance, if they move gold, they’ll have their hands amputated in the best case scenario . Don’t let the church turn you into accomplices . ”

“Your Majesty, you may be a little prejudice against the church due to the past incident . The church is now totally different to how they were in the past . I believe the church will not accept that . Hence, you do not need to worry about them doing anything . ”

I shook my head: “Small favours aren’t representative of one’s true nature . It’s fine as long as the children are fine . However, if I’m being honest, I, too, have something I want to do . As you mentioned the unloading zone, I shall go and take a look . The current relations.h.i.+p between the two churches is capricious . A fight could break out between them at any moment . I need to ensure that neither side are transporting anything dangerous, especially weapons . They must not be allowed in . ”

The dean smiled: “Mm, there sure is a lot for you to pay attention to and worry about, Your Majesty . I shall not keep you, then . Your daughter with Royal Princess, Her Majesty must be very cute . It is a pity I did not get to see her . ”

“If you want to visit the Royal Palace, just mention my name . I’m sure the guards will let you in . In saying that, the status quo is quite volatile . I don’t want to bring my daughter out, since I rarely have safe moments . ”

“True . ”

The dean wouldn’t dare to go to the Royal Palace even though I said that as it was heavily guarded, and n.o.body was allowed to approach it .

I went downstairs and called Nier . Nier, however, seemed to want to go home… Perhaps she missed Daisy because she saw the children… I didn’t plan on going back . If I said that, though, she would probably be put on the spot .

I had to end the day’s exploration there . It was dangerous for me to go to the unloading zone by myself . If the church was doing something there, it was best not to alert them . I didn’t think anything would happen if I was one day late .