Boss Cat rolled happily across the sofa.
Seeing how overjoyed it was, Lanqi felt deeply satisfied. As long as his efforts throughout the morning brought happiness and joy to everyone, it was all worth it.
"Who is Tata?"
Beside the sofa, Sigrid caught the unfamiliar name and couldn't help but dart a glance at Lanqi and Boss Cat.
"A child from my household, meow!"
Boss Cat scrambled alertly to its feet and answered at once.
It feared that saying too much might cause Side to misunderstand.
The scene where Side and Hubao had nearly come to blows last time was still fresh in its memory.
Sigrid stared at Boss Cat for a moment, making the feline grow more and more nervous.
She seemed to realize something.
"One really can't underestimate you, Holy Son."
Sigrid offered Lanqi an amused smile.
So this seemingly dignified, mature dean had yet another woman around him besides that priest, Miss Milian Milford from before?
Boss Cat curled into a tight ball.
Lanqi merely kept his lips drawn in a flat, neutral line, offering no reply.
"Come on, out with it. Who is Tata?"
Sigrid scooped up Boss Cat, settled it onto her lap, and shifted closer to Lanqi, pressing him in a lowered voice.
"Side, have you read *Holy War Romance*?"
Lanqi finally turned his head, looking straight into Sigrid's eyes as he asked.
"...Of course. I had nothing better to do these past few days, so I happened to finish it here at Gloria's place."
Sigrid thought for a moment and, despite her confusion, answered.
It was a book published earlier this year by the Imperial Royal Magic Academy Press, authored by Sido Arendelle, an associate professor in the academy's history department.
Sigrid had heard the Holy Son mention before that he had attempted to recruit Lady Cloris of Duke Bernhardt's house for the Domination branch.
It was precisely through the introduction of Associate Professor Sido Arendelle of the Protos Royal Magic Academy's history department that he had made Lady Cloris Bernhardt's acquaintance.
Yet now Lady Cloris Bernhardt was under house arrest at the ducal manor on charges of treason. The intelligence she had shared with Lanqi over a month ago—that Duke Morotian Bernhardt, holder of the [Original Slate - Undead], had disappeared, and that the current Duke Morotian Bernhardt was merely a medicinal puppet she had propped up to keep up appearances—remained an enigma.
Even after Lady Cloris Bernhardt was placed under magic suppression and heavy imperial surveillance, Duke Morotian Bernhardt continued to remain active in the imperial capital, Herrom. This proved that the Duke Morotian Bernhardt currently in the public eye could not possibly be a medicinal puppet controlled by the young lady.
If one insisted on confirming Duke Morotian Bernhardt's true identity, the method was actually very simple: one only needed Duke Morotian Bernhardt to cast any undead magic and see whether it triggered the special effects of the [Original Slate - Undead] to determine whether he was truly himself.
As for Associate Professor Sido Arendelle, he had already gone missing before Lady Cloris Bernhardt got into trouble.
Piqued by curiosity, Sigrid had searched Gloria's house for books written by the associate professor, and it had turned out to be quite an entertaining way to pass the time.
Still, she had no idea why the Holy Son was asking about that book right now.
"One of the female leads in that book is either eating or holding food every time she appears. I think that character design is quite a lot like Tata,"
Lanqi explained at an unhurried pace.
"...Is that so."
Sigrid instantly felt she understood.
"Then I get it. Nothing serious—I was just asking because I was worried you might get tricked by a bad woman."
She waved the back of her hand dismissively, indicating she had no intention of dwelling on the topic any further with the Holy Son.
Boss Cat opened its mouth to speak, but held back.
It had the distinct impression that Side didn't take Tata seriously at all...
"..."
Sigrid glanced at the clock on the living room wall, feeling that the Holy Son had already spent quite a while keeping her company.
"You still have things to attend to in a bit, don't you?"
she asked leisurely, leaning back into the sofa.
"I need to be back at the Redmond Building before three o'clock. There are some visitors I have to meet in my true form, and then later this evening, I have a meeting with the Duke,"
Lanqi murmured thoughtfully.
A fair amount of work remained for today. With the election drawing near, every passing day was spent finalizing the preparations.
Hyperion had already successfully retrieved the [Poet of Great Love] and was now resting at the home she shared with her sworn sister, Michaela.
Later on, he would just need to head to the reception room in the Redmond Building and await the arrival of the three great demons.
"Holy Son, if you need any more help from me going forward, don't hesitate to ask anytime,"
Sigrid said, gently stroking the little black cat's sleek back as she looked at Lanqi.
In past days, apart from assigning three trusted direct retainers to the Holy Son, she had spent the rest of her time accompanying him while he crafted cards.
Though Sigrid merely sat in a corner of the workshop reading or sleeping, she didn't dislike spending time in the same room with the Holy Son.
"I'll still be crafting cards over the next three days. I'll come find you here at Gloria's place then."
Lanqi nodded.
Now that he had retrieved his intelligent card-crafting tool, the [Poet of Great Love], once he went to the Endless Library tomorrow to collect the Pink Sacred Ancient Vault selectable magic item rewarded by Herrom Prison, he could supervise the Poet of Great Love to help produce new magic cards.
All of this work had to be completed before the day of the cardinal election. Before Sigrid's seal was broken, even by the most generous estimate they only possessed one general-tier combatant. Although that might already exceed Askesan's expectations, Askesan likewise had mysterious supporters backing him.
"In that case, I'll take my midday nap now. I'm always drowsy these days... Even though in the past I would never let anyone see me asleep..."
Having heard Lanqi out, Sigrid leaned back against the sofa again. With her hand still resting upon the little black cat, her voice grew increasingly languid until it trailed off into a murmur.
Outside the window, the mellow afternoon sunlight was obscured by heavy clouds drifting past, casting silhouettes of the curtains across the dark brown floorboards, flickering between light and shadow.
Sigrid seemed to have been sleepy even before Lanqi arrived, and only after gradually relaxing completely did she finally succumb to the tide of drowsiness washing over her mind at this hour of midday rest.
Time inside the living room seemed to slow momentarily, filled with the tranquil breathing of a peaceful afternoon nap.
Lanqi did not utter a sound, nor did he leave.
He glanced at the cat occasionally, while the cat watched him steadily.
Boss Cat seemed curious as to why Lanqi hadn't left yet, choosing instead to sit there and wait.
During that time, Side seemed to drift between waking and dreaming a few times. Each time her hazy eyes cracked open and saw Lanqi beside her, she drifted back to sleep with complete peace of mind.
Thus Lanqi waited until the clock pointed to twenty to three. At last, he rose with gentle movements, bade farewell to Gloria and Boss Cat, and walked toward the exit of the living room.
Chapter 456