“So he didn’t say anything else?” Ravenna asked, her brows knitting slightly as she reclined against the velvet-cushioned seat opposite Marie in the luxurious cabin of the magic ship. The vessel hummed faintly with enchanted flower sounds, cutting smoothly across the cerulean waters. Its walls were paneled with polished mahogany, the lanterns casting a golden glow that swayed gently with the rocking of the waves. Marie shook her head, her fingers busy with a porcelain plate of sweets. “That was it,” she mumbled, lifting a cookie to her lips. She chewed slowly, her eyes distant. “For some reason… I felt like he was guilty. But I don’t know for what? Master.” Her shoulders slumped with a groan of frustration. “Do I really have to meet more Apostles in the future?” Her lips twisted into a pout as she reached for another cookie. Ravenna exhaled through her nose, calm but firm. “It cannot be helped. A Saintess alone cannot stand against the Witch. Without all twelve Apostles gathered under you, facing her is little more than suicide.” She took a delicate sip from her glass of wine, the liquid catching the light like molten rubies. “Argh.” Marie groaned again, dragging out the sound as though she were a child denied a toy. She stuffed another bite of cookie into her mouth, her cheeks puffing. After swallowing, she peeked curiously at Ravenna. “Are you really going to annex Otto City, Master?” she asked between bites. “How? Just with this one borrowed magic ship from the merchant’s association?” The question might have sounded mocking from another’s lips, but from Marie it was only innocent skepticism. Ravenna’s lips curved into a dangerous smile, one that betrayed nothing but confidence. “You will see,” she replied smoothly, savoring another sip of wine. Marie blinked, unsure whether to be reassured or unsettled. “Well then,” Ravenna said, finally setting the empty glass aside. She gathered a stack of bound documents from the side table and rose gracefully. “Go on now. I have to tend to these.” Marie followed her to the door, puffing out her cheeks again. “Master… are you really working even while we travel?” ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ 𝗻𝗼𝘷𝗲𝗹•𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮•𝕟𝕖𝕥 Ravenna’s hand paused on the brass handle for just a second before she glanced over her shoulder, her raven-dark eyes gleaming with something between amusement and exhaustion. “Running a city isn’t easy, Marie. If I rest too long, it all falls apart.” She pushed the door open, letting in a rush of cool sea air scented faintly with salt. “Go,” she added more softly this time, her tone carrying the quiet authority that always silenced protest. “Play, spar, or practice with the knights. The voyage is long, and you’ll need something to pass the hours.” This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. Marie pouted once more, but obediently stepped out onto the deck where sunlight sparkled across the endless horizon. The ship rocked gently beneath her feet, sails catching the wind as gulls cried above. The door closed with a click. Ravenna pressed her back against it for a moment, exhaling a sigh that seemed to carry the weight of both exhaustion and determination. Then, squaring her shoulders, she returned to the desk and lowered herself into the high-backed chair. Her fingers smoothed across the stack of reports and documents. Her lips curved into a wry whisper. “He didn’t bring up her father’s killer.” With a flick of her hand, she summoned a shimmering panel from the reputation system. [ Spend Reputation Points ] Access to the Internet: 100 Points per Hour Access to Magic Spell Library: 100 Points per Hour Geographical Scans: 5 Points per 1 Kilometer Nullify Minor Poison Damage (Self): 250 Points Nullify Minor Poison Damage (Others): 350 Points per Entity Major Heal: 1,500 Points per Entity Lie Detector: 2,000 Points per Use Enter Celestial Realm – Locked She selected the internet and navigated to a website, Lines of text unfurled before her eyes, the familiar words of Light’s Conquest. She scrolled until she found the chapter she sought. In the novel, Eugene had played a different hand. He had used Marie’s grief as leverage, revealing to her that the The Hercule Crime Syndicate had been behind the raid on her childhood village. It was that brutal truth, and the promise of vengeance, that bound the Saintess to his side. Ravenna leaned back, the leather creaking as her sharp nails tapped against the wood of the desk. “I was certain he would try the same… so why didn’t he?” The question lingered, unsettling in its simplicity. And then, slowly, her eyes widened as the realization formed. “Maybe… it’s character development.” The words sounded absurd at first, but the more she thought, the more sense they made. In the original novel’s timeline, Eugene’s growth came only much later, after the succession race had whittled down to Serena, Nolan, and William, and after the Witch herself emerged in the open. Only then did he begin to understand that brute-forcing every outcome into an ‘optimal’ solution was not the true path. That unity, not cold calculation, was the key to surviving the Cult of Absolution. Ravenna’s gaze turned toward the gently glowing horizon beyond the cabin’s window. The sea stretched endless and merciless, yet her mind churned faster than the tides. “I sent him to the border regions earlier, didn’t I?” she murmured, her fingers tightening around the quill that lay on her desk. “Perhaps… that accelerated everything. Did his growth come sooner than it should have?” And then another thought struck her like lightning. “He met Seraphina earlier too,” she muttered, her voice dropping into a low hum of calculation. “His love interest… yes. In the novel, it was their meeting that shifted him, giving him the first spark of humanity he needed. But because of me, he crossed paths with her far sooner than he ever should have.” Her pulse quickened, the thrill of strategy thrumming through her veins. “So that’s it. His heart softened early. His view changed earlier. His development: accelerated.” A smile curved across her lips, dark and triumphant. She could almost taste the opportunity blooming before her. “I can use this,” she whispered, a light flickering across her raven-dark eyes as the ship sailed forward into the open seas. “If the protagonist is ahead of schedule… then so too must I be.”