Miss Wang Weina, even your cousin won't do!

Silently placing his phone back in the bag on the clothes rack, Wayne turned over, lay down on the bed, and closed his eyes. He wasn't in a good mood; even the joy of seeing Theresa soon had been somewhat dampened. But he didn't do anything rash—he couldn't exactly trace the internet connection to find her, could he?

Instead of wasting time on that, you might as well wait for Miss Goodnight to come to you.

Wayne couldn't help but think of Theresa, who was about to arrive, and felt a pang of emotion.

If Theresa and Miss Goodnight were the same person, wouldn't that be wonderful?

However, this seems impossible. Even in Terra, with a population far smaller than Earth's, millions of people surf the internet. The probability of such a low-probability event occurring is no less than the probability of him transmigrating to this world. Could such a miracle happen a second time?

Chapter 3 Mission Objective: Protect Vina! (Triple Strike!)

Kazdel, Grey Palace, Main Hall. Time: ? ? ?

Therese sat on the throne, his gaze shifting back and forth between the intelligence presented by the absolutist in his hand, his brows furrowing deeper and deeper.

After a long pause, his face darkened, and he slammed the thick folder shut.

Theresis wondered why those fluorescent lights and birdmen of Laterano would be so kind as to give such a sought-after prize as Wayne to Kazdel. So that was their plan.

The events at Victoria's coronation ceremony were considered a secret and were completely blocked by Vina. However, the intelligence capabilities of the Pardoner were never to be underestimated. If the high-ranking nobles could not be bribed, then they would start with the lower-ranking nobles. If the lower-ranking nobles were evasive, they would inquire from the guards, waiters, and maids present. As long as the fragmented clues were pieced together and the similarities were found, the truth of the matter could be reconstructed.

This was a fact that Therese had never anticipated—Wayne's downfall and Vina's rise to power were not, as he believed, the result of an exchange of interests, nor were they a case of the two working together to deceive all the power-hungry Victorian nobles. Instead, it was a coup d'état! A long-planned usurpation of power!

Marshal Ernest, a close confidant of the former King of the North, was the first to launch an attack, questioning the legitimacy of Wayne's throne. The long-dormant royalists rose up in revolt, launching an impeachment proceedings against Wayne at the coronation ceremony. Vina, having used this opportunity, reaped the benefits of the victory, was crowned queen, and then, more out of pity than mercy, bestowed upon Wayne the title of Prince of Wales, confining him to the palace.

Lateran was absolutely telling the truth; the Aslan royal family truly consisted only of Wayne and Vina. However, they concealed the most crucial fact: Wayne had absolutely no chance of peacefully inheriting the Victorian throne!

Even a fool could understand that a queen who had usurped the throne from her brother would never return it to him, unless she wanted to face retribution from Wayne. This left Theresa, who was allied with Wayne, and herself, who aspired to build the Victoria-Kazdale Alliance and even the United Kingdom of Victoria-Kazdale, with only one option.

—Use extraordinary means to ensure that your brother-in-law inherits the throne!

In other words, they might have to take a huge risk to try to kidnap or assassinate Vina before they can stand on the same level as Laterano and compete for Wayne's heart.

This was Lateran's scheme to kill with a borrowed knife. They could reap the benefits without losing a single soldier and watch Kazdel and Victoria fight each other, while Theresis would have to bear the risk of "losing both his wife and his army".

In a fit of anger, Therese pulled out a handful of her hair and looked down.

Oh no, my hair is falling out again.

He took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.

This time, Laterano truly caught them off guard with their information asymmetry, but it was impossible for Theresis to give up this opportunity. After all, as Theresa said, if he were to execute his original plan, both the casualties and the success rate would be far lower. Continuing to seize this opportunity, at worst, would simply mean automatically reverting to Plan A after failure. Theresis would also gain more preparation time and reduce one competitor (Theresa, married to Victoria, was far less threatening than Theresa residing in Kazdel).

Moreover, he has never been one to give up easily.

Laterano wanted to use him to kill Vina, right? Then he'll do the opposite and protect Vina!

In any case, once the marriage is finalized, Theresa will be Princess Victoria in name only. As long as the Victorians have any sense of shame, they will not stand idly by when their princess's country is invaded. In this way, Kazdel's safety will be guaranteed, and his goal will have been achieved.

As for whether or not Wayne can take the lead, that's something for the Lateranos to worry about. The Sarkaz have a long lifespan. You want me to take on this hot potato? Then I'll pass the ball back to you and see who can outlast whom!

If he simply sends someone to cooperate with Theresa to ensure that no man other than Wayne appears around Vina, and then keeps waiting until Vina has no children and dies of old age, then Wayne, the only Aslan, can rightfully inherit the throne, right?

Therese smiled slightly and made her decision.

He beckoned to the absolutist who stood to one side, like a withered pine tree, and gave the order:

"Are there any talented individuals among the pardoners lately?"

"What do you want to do? State your request."

"I need to assign Theresa a bodyguard and assistant. This assistant must be obedient, loyal, strong enough to complete the mission, and keep quiet. Most importantly..."

Tracy paused, considering the circumstances of Vina, Theresa, and Wayne, and added...

"Most importantly, she must be female and beautiful enough. She will serve as a bodyguard to Theresa, the Prince of Wales, and the Queen, assisting Theresa in completing this secret mission."

The eyes behind the pardoner's mask flickered, and he asked, "What mission?"

Therese turned her head, fixing her cold gaze on the pardoner's face, and said calmly:

"It's none of your business."

"...Understood. I have a suitable candidate and I will make arrangements immediately."

The pardoner turned and walked out of the main hall of the Gray Palace. Unbeknownst to him, his back was already soaked with cold sweat.

Therese watched his retreating figure until he completely disappeared from sight before giving a slightly mocking smile.

The absolution master has been meddling more and more lately, and he has also noticed that the absolution masters are not faithful.

But he decided to play the long game and catch a big fish.

The absolution master is still useful, and very useful. Before I have all their dirt on them and can be sure of wiping them out in one fell swoop, I'll let them off the hook for now.

.........

Kazdel, the Order of the Exonerators, Time: ? ? ?

Churches are generally unlit buildings, but the churches in Lateran can be illuminated by the halos of the Sakota people, a special ability that the absolutists clearly do not possess.

In the pitch black, the absolutioner wearing a Baphomet mask strode back into the church. Under the silent gaze of his many colleagues, X knelt on one knee, looked at the leader of the absolutioner order sitting in the main seat, and recounted the events of the afternoon.

Clad in a black robe that completely covered his body, the leader of the order, after listening to the report, remained silent for a brief moment before asking:

"So, Theresis wants you to place another person from within the cult into Theresia's group?"

"Yes, and he said it himself, it was for a special mission."

The pardoner guessed,

Could it be an assassination attempt on Queen Victoria?

“It’s possible.” The leader of the order nodded. “But in any case, we should grant him this wish.”

He waved his hand, looked at the many pardoners below the stage, and asked:

Does anyone have a suitable candidate?

The audience looked at each other, then shook their heads helplessly.

Loyalty is a given; they can easily find someone to choose. Strength is another matter; there are plenty of pardoners out there. Keeping secrets is even easier; any pardoner who can't keep a secret is probably already in the Originium mines of the wilderness, preparing to become ore for the Cilician Industrial Zone.

However, to meet all the above conditions at the same time, and also to be female and beautiful, would be a bit troublesome.

The "beauty" that Tracy described couldn't possibly be just a model's level; she must be at least a national beauty, one in a million.

The Order of the Forgivers doesn't even have 10,000 members in total, so where would they find such a person?

The absolutioner, kneeling on one knee, looked at the leader and gestured with his lips:

"Didn't we just recruit one recently?"

The leader frowned; he knew who he was talking about: "But Shining isn't ready yet."

"But she is outstanding enough, and her Originium Arts are strong enough. How about letting her shed all the symbols of her identity as a Pardoner and accompany Theresa on her mission as an ordinary guard?"

The pardoner paused.

"Just make her promise to complete the task assigned by Theresis. As for the mission, we'll try to save them if we can, and abandon them if we can't. For the greater cause, one person is insignificant."

The leader remained silent for a few minutes before finally nodding slowly.

"Then notify Shining and get ready."

Chapter Four Vina: *Victoria's profanity* (four consecutive attacks!)

Victoria, north of Lentinham, Royal Westminster International Airport.

Vina stood excitedly behind the observation window of the control tower, gazing at the azure sky, where the sun and clouds were reflected in her vision, and she didn't want to miss a single bird.

Because soon, the learned, wise, kind, and amiable royal tutor that Vine had described would arrive in Londinium by flying machine. Vina couldn't help but picture her various appearances.

Perhaps she was a thin, rigid old woman, with every wrinkle on her face etched with rules and regulations?

Perhaps she is a plump, endearingly clumsy middle-aged woman with a humorous and witty teaching style?

As for young and beautiful girls? Vina didn't even consider that possibility.

The King's tutor is not a position that just anyone can hold. Without rich experience and profound knowledge, it's impossible for someone of Vina's age to shoulder this responsibility. After all, although Vina promised not to discriminate against her teacher because of her race or appearance and expressed her regret, she also stated that if the teacher's teaching level did not meet Vina's approval, she would naturally have the right to dismiss her. Victoria expects everyone to fulfill their duties and does not tolerate idlers.

To be a genius who is knowledgeable, experienced, young and beautiful, such talent may exist in other fields, but it is absolutely impossible in the special profession of "king"!

Unless Wayne can grab a queen on the spot to teach her a lesson.

Just kidding, that's impossible. There are only a few countries on Terra, and you can count the number of their queens on your fingers. Let alone the fact that there isn't a beautiful young queen, even if there were, why would she abandon her own kingdom and come to Victoria to teach her? Wouldn't she be afraid of being left without a ruler?

The beautiful young queen has no other family but her!

Time ticked by, and as the control tower staff received the aircraft's communication signal and began to guide the aircraft's landing, Vina finally saw the iron bird soaring through the sky.

Since the person was invited by Wayne, Wayne was naturally in charge of picking them up at the airport. As the plane was about to land, Wayne walked out of the waiting hall fence and led Miss Mudrock, who was going to act as a translator, and Minister Ernest, who was representing Her Majesty the Queen, toward the plane's scheduled landing location.

Vina noticed Wayne's figure, reached out and waved at him twice, her face beaming with a happy smile.

Wayne has been a great help to her these past few days. What used to be a busy day and night has become much more efficient with their collaboration, and they finished the task in less than a morning.

It was tiring, but Vina was also very happy to work with Wayne. However, if she could master the skills of handling miscellaneous tasks sooner, Wayne would probably be even happier.

Thinking this, Vina looked forward even more to the life mentor in the plane taxiing on the runway.

Beside the runway on the tarmac, Wayne raised his hand and waved to Vina. After confirming that the girl saw him, he turned around and took a deep breath.

Vina's personal arrival to pick him up was somewhat unexpected, but it didn't affect the overall situation. Wayne's gaze was focused on the silver-white metal door of the aircraft that had just landed, and he waited quietly for the door to open.

To say I wasn't excited would be a lie. Behind that large door stood one of the most important figures in the entire "Arknights" universe, Princess Sarkaz, the founder of the Tower of Babel, the predecessor to Rhodes—Theresia. A figure regarded as a saint by W and as a mentor by Amiya.

They say seeing is believing, so meeting Theresa was undoubtedly the most prestigious character from the original work that Wayne had encountered since his transmigration.

This also means that he has finally taken a crucial step toward his goal.

Just as Wayne was marveling at this, the procession had already unfolded around him. The Royal Army honor guard, which was accompanying him, lined up neatly on both sides of the red carpet that had been laid out in advance. Wearing tall black fur hats, they held steel guns, their faces resolute, and stood in position, like two barriers guarding the red carpet avenue.

Minister Ernest stood slightly behind Wayne, holding a gift box containing a medal Wayne had commissioned for Theresa. The medal was supported by an olive branch and contained a mysterious blue sphere.

Ernest felt it was somewhat impolite to present such a medal with unclear meaning on such a solemn occasion of welcoming state guests, but Wayne insisted. According to him, it was the emblem of an organization representing the "symbol of peace." Theresa would certainly like it.

Although Ernest had never seen such a symbol of peace before, nor had he ever heard of an organization using such an emblem, and he couldn't understand why Prince Wayne was so certain that the unfamiliar Theresa, being a warlike demon, would appreciate such a symbol of peace, he was, after all, subordinate to Wayne. This man always had many ideas that Ernest couldn't understand at all, and as it turned out, those strange ideas always yielded extremely impressive results in the end. So Ernest had grown accustomed to it, not questioning it, and simply obeying.

If others knew that Marshal Ernest, who was known for his autocratic and stubborn nature, would have such an idea, they would be shocked. But Ernest did not think there was anything wrong with it.

Under everyone's watchful eyes, the plane's cabin door finally opened slowly.

.........