The Villain Saint is my secondary account

The guards outside the door waited for a while but received no response. They tried to push the door open, only to find that it was locked from the inside.

At that moment, Skadi opened the window of the lounge and, with the agility of a master swordsman, climbed onto the windowsill outside.

The exquisite and gorgeous princess dress felt a bit restrictive at this moment, but fortunately it wasn't too troublesome. It was just that the cold wind sweeping through the high-rise buildings gave her a constant sense of tension, as if she were about to fall.

She tore open the hem of her long dress, then clung to the edge of the windowsill, carefully using her toes to reach the marble platform below, and finally, with great difficulty, managed to land on the windowsill of the room below.

This was her first time doing something like this. Although she was a little nervous, her physical condition made the climb out of the window only a bit dangerous. The only annoyance was the few crows that kept circling around her.

"Get out of my way! Don't follow me, you stinky birds!"

Just then, she heard the door to the lounge where she had been sitting upstairs being slammed open with a bang, followed by a cacophony of footsteps.

"Where did she go?!" "Look out the window, hurry downstairs and look for her!!"

Upon hearing this, Skadi dared not linger any longer and rushed out of the room, running towards the stairwell to the side.

Sure enough, just as she entered the stairwell, several fully armed palace guards leaned out from the corridor on the next floor.

They were all stunned for a moment, then started walking at the same time.

"Stop, Your Highness!"

Skadi paid no heed to their shouts and ran downstairs as fast as she could.

However, just as she was about to reach the bottom of the stairs, she saw from the outside window that the stairwell on the first floor had been surrounded by guards, so she quickly turned around and rushed into the corridor on the second floor.

When the students on the road saw Skadi running away with a fierce expression, they all consciously stepped aside to make way for her, while the guards behind her gave chase.

In an instant, the entire floor was in chaos, with pages of books scattered everywhere after being knocked over, and screams from some timid students.

Just as Skadi was about to reach another staircase across the corridor, a pair of guards in light armor rushed up from below the stairs.

Just when she was trapped between two sides with no way out, the door to a room next to her suddenly opened.

A small hand reached out and grabbed Skadi's arm, pulling her inside.

"You are...?" Skadi looked at the blonde female student with a face as delicate as a porcelain doll and was somewhat taken aback.

"Hide in the closet, Your Highness. Many palace guards are looking for you at the academy. You won't escape by running away like this!" the girl replied.

Skadi looked into the girl's emerald green eyes and pursed her lips. Although Ye Xiao's letter told her not to trust anyone, the situation was urgent and she had no other choice.

She jumped out of the window at the back of the small room, but with royal guards waiting downstairs, she was bound to be caught. Therefore, Skadi ultimately chose to believe the girl's words first and turned to hide in the wooden cabinet next to her.

"boom"

The next second, the door to the room was kicked open, and a palace guard entered, sword in hand. Seeing only a terrified blonde girl inside, he asked in a cold voice, "Where did Princess Skadi go?"

The girl swallowed hard, then pointed tremblingly to the open window behind her.

The palace guards' furrowed brows relaxed slightly. They had their own companions downstairs, and Skadi knew she wouldn't be able to escape if she jumped from there.

So he immediately closed the door and left in a hurry.

A moment later, the blonde girl opened the closet door and handed Skadi a simple school uniform dress. "Change your clothes, Your Highness. Your royal attire is too conspicuous."

"Thank you... By the way, you look familiar. Who are you again?" Skadi asked in surprise.

“Your Highness may not remember me, but we have indeed met before. My name is Freya, and I used to be an arcanist in the Loren Sanctuary.” Freya smiled. “I was once a candidate saintess of the Loren Sanctuary, so Mr. Ye asked me about some things. However, time is running out, so I won’t go into details. Right now, the most important thing is to find a way to get you out of here.”

Supplementary information on interludes

First of all, thank you all for your support, hahaha!

As we are about to enter the final battle of the Imperial Selection arc, but due to the length of this volume, the number of characters, and the relatively complex plot structure compared to the previous volumes, many readers may have become somewhat unclear about the situation of certain forces or important figures while following the story. Therefore, the author will briefly summarize the currently known information to help readers understand the upcoming developments.

Currently, on the overt front of the royal election, it is a struggle for the throne between conservatives and reformers, while on the covert front, it is actually a power struggle between four religious factions represented by four deities.

The following image shows the four deities and their respective factions (I drew it on my phone before I got home, so it's a bit rough, but that's the gist of it, please bear with me, haha):

The first force is naturally our main characters, represented by the deity Ella, assisted by the second princess Lilia, secretly supporting the eldest princess Skadi, while openly cooperating with the fourth prince.

This part of the force is marked in gray on the map.

The second faction, the Samuel Order, is represented by the goddess of arthropods. Their true form is speculated to be Hecate, a descendant of Senea, the earth goddess of the Old Gods. Their influence extends across the continent. They have sent three elders to establish a stronghold in the royal city of Loren and recruited the young princess Erica and the eldest prince Evans as followers. After the death of the eldest prince, the Samuel Order has now joined the conservative faction and is cooperating with the eldest princess Skadi.

This part of the force is marked in yellow on the map.

The third-party faction, the Cult of Life, is represented by the Mother of Life. Their true form is speculated to be Pandya, a descendant of Senea, the Earth Goddess of the Old Gods. They originated in Greygold Town, and it seems that there is an even more powerful god behind the scenes who is pulling the strings. On the surface, they are cooperating with Alyosha, the god behind the Royal Selection Reform Faction, to compete for the throne, but in secret, they are using the Royal Selection as a cover to achieve other goals.

This part of the force is marked in blue on the map.

The fourth faction, the Royal Selection Reformists, is a newly formed noble faction established by the Third Prince Leonard and the Fourth Prince Raymond. In reality, it is manipulated by a deity calling herself Alyosha. Alyosha initially cooperated with the Cult of Life, but after discovering that the key pawn of the Royal Selection, the Fourth Prince, had been poached by Ella, she weighed the pros and cons and, realizing she was outmatched, chose to actively cooperate with Ella to jointly fight against the Cult of Life.

This part of the force is marked in green on the map.

The plot of this volume is quite complex, but for the sake of storytelling, the main perspective is still focused on the protagonist. Therefore, the actions and plans of other forces in secret are mostly only briefly mentioned or simplified in certain places in the text, without spending a lot of time explaining them. However, because this writing style can only see the whole picture from the protagonist's single perspective most of the time, and many characters often speak with complex meanings or even lies, it may sometimes confuse readers about the development of the plot.

In this regard, the author can only try to improve their writing skills. The author's goal is to make the plot development easy for readers to understand without too much thinking, while also maintaining the story's appeal. However, writing it proved to be very difficult; it felt like most of their brain cells were sacrificed, haha! (●'?`●)

Hopefully, this simple summary of information can help all readers understand the current situation. The final battle of the Imperial Selection arc is about to begin, so stay tuned! Hahaha!

Chapter 169 The Eve of War

The commotion in the main building of the college attracted the attention of many people.

The noble students looked down at the royal guards running back and forth downstairs, all wondering what had happened.

The capital city has been in turmoil lately, and even the students who know very little about the inside story feel uneasy.

Meanwhile, upstairs at the Magic Research Institute on the other side of the square, Bazel stood with his hands behind his back by the window, gazing at the main building in the distance. "The Holy Maiden specifically sought me out for a discussion at this time. Could it be that she did this so that I wouldn't be able to personally capture Her Highness the Princess right now?"

"There are already so many royal guards. If Mr. Bazel were to intervene again, it would be too unfair to our little princess."

Ella sat quietly on the sofa and took a sip of her red tea.

"But the Twin Dragon Bloodline is a requirement of the Life Cult... It's not advisable for us to expose our conflict with them now."

Barzel spoke slowly.

He only dared to carefully consider his tone when offering his opinions. Even though he was already a transcendent being and the empire's foremost archmage, he still needed to maintain utmost respect when facing the smiling young girl before him.

He constantly reminded himself that the person before him was no longer the daughter of his student, Duke Heville, but a true deity.

The thought of stroking the other person's head in the dean's office just a few days ago still makes me a little apprehensive.

“Just tell the Cult of Life the truth that I’m in your way,” Ella waved her hand. “They’ll understand.”

"……OK."

Bazel didn't dare to ask any more questions. The third and fourth princes were currently preparing for the coronation ceremony at the palace, so Alyosha entrusted him with the matter of connecting with Ella.

……

As the sun sets, a thick fog begins to rise.

Outside the high walls of the imperial city, a cloaked figure rode a fast horse through the night.

Skadi, still recalling Freya's earlier words, kept thinking about the note left on the way to Polk Manor.

The other party was also framed by the saintess and forced to leave the sanctuary. After being told by her, Skadi now understands that the vast imperial city had long been corrupted by that woman, and the evil power had been taking root and sprouting underground.

Polk Estate is located deep in the forest beside a tributary of the Blue Dragon River. As soon as you enter, the servants of the estate lead Skadi directly to the lord's room.

There, Skadi met her fifth brother, Holgard, whom she hadn't seen for several years.

"It's been a long time, Skadi." The fifth prince, who was rumored to be a playboy, had puffy eye bags, but his eyes were clear. "Unfortunately, now is not the time for pleasantries. Before he left, Mr. Ye entrusted me with all the information he knew. Now, as he instructed, I am passing it on to you."

“Thank you, Brother Holgard…” Skadi took the parchment scroll from the fifth prince and gently unfurled it.

The content above is largely the same as what Ye Xiao left in the note before, only the details are more detailed.

Indeed, Ye Xiao only made a slight change, placing Ella in the position of Mother of Life, while concealing the traces of Ella's help in all the stories he experienced.

As Skadi read through the text, her mind grew increasingly tense as the scrolls gradually revealed information about the Samuel Order and the Church of Life.

From the very beginning, both the Samuel Order and the Church of Life had their own designated heirs.

The imperial election was merely a means to delay the unification of the various factions in Loren. For both sides, the real deciding factor was the religious infiltration of the noble forces during this period.

Therefore, their goal is not the obvious outcome of the game, but rather how many pieces they have secretly held back can be revealed and put to the test after the game is overturned.

“Skadi, you’ve been focused on the royal selection and may not have noticed, but I’ve been sending people to scout the surrounding area these days. In fact, several lords’ armies have crossed the border and are secretly gathering in the forests around Valond province.”

"Both the Samuel Order and the Cult of Life have used their own methods to control a group of noble forces that only obey them. You may remember that when these nobles first went to the capital, they brought a lot of private soldiers with them under the pretext of safety and capturing the rebels who killed the king. They were stationed on the provincial border. Now, taking advantage of the turmoil in the capital these days, and with the provincial border guards being transferred into the city to supplement the security personnel, many people have disguised themselves and sneaked into the province."

"Regardless of who becomes king, they will launch a coup during the weakest point of the coronation ceremony and put a puppet crown prince who truly belongs to them on the throne."

Holgard looked at Skadi, who was engrossed in reading the parchment, and said, "This is also why Mr. Ye asked you to come here temporarily, Skadi."

"Civil war is about to break out."

Skadi pursed her lips. Although the imperial city had become turbulent due to the recent internal strife in the imperial selection, she still thought that the word "war" was very far away from her.

"Are they... insane? The Royal Knights are still in the capital, how dare they..."

“You can’t judge people who have been blinded by cults with worldly eyes,” Holgard sighed. “Normally, with the military strength of the royal family, the armies of those marquises and lords would not dare to come to the capital to take a share of the spoils.”

"But now the royal family itself has already fallen apart. As for the knights under the royal family, the court mages, the imperial guards... how many of them are still united?"

“Polk Estate is under the protection of a certain lord, so it should be considered relatively safe in the early stages of the war. But if the situation really deteriorates, I will find someone to smuggle you abroad to lay low for the time being.”

This is not an exaggeration. In fact, if the situation really exceeds expectations, Ye Xiao did plan to send the Seven Stars Society and Skadi to Stormport or even abroad for refuge.

So when he realized that it didn't matter who became king in the end, but that the end of the royal election itself would be the fuse for civil war, he decisively sent Prince Raymond on his way and then tricked Skadi away.

Skadi was starting to feel a bit dazed as she listened to Holgard's pessimistic words. Looking out the window at the brightly lit imperial city in the distance, a sorrow that she couldn't quite describe welled up in her heart.

Although most of her life spent here has not been pleasant, this is still her home.

It is also the hometown where she holds memories of that man.

From then on, they were displaced and fled abroad...

Skadi pondered, a pang of pain rising within her.

"And he understands that the power you've gained in just one month is not yet solid enough to warrant someone going through fire and water for you, yet you are still one of the potential threats to the throne. You have a lot of voice but little real power, so you must avoid tomorrow's crisis," Holgard continued.

"Brother... is there really no other way?" Skadi bit her lip. "If I could, I really wouldn't want to run away..."

"It's not that there's absolutely no way out, but given how things have developed, it's probably beyond our control right now..."

"Just tell me what it is... I'll do it."

Holgard slowly looked into Skadi's lake-blue eyes.

"Eliminate the source of war, the mother of life."

Chapter 170 Palace Incident

The following day at dawn, the ceremony for the new king's ascension to the throne was unveiled.

The streets and shops were decorated with lanterns and colorful fireworks that bloomed in the sky.

The streets were deserted as a massive crowd gathered at the waterfall lake at the foot of Walloon Mountain, while the royal palace atop the mountain, bathed in a thin mist, shone brightly amidst flowers and luxurious decorations.

The entire imperial city was filled with a strong and solemn celebratory atmosphere.

Although the morning mist still lingered, after more than a month of turmoil in the struggle for the throne, the birth of the new king finally dispelled the gloom like dawn, bringing peace to the once anxious people.

Who could have imagined that beneath this peaceful scene, a real storm was just beginning to brew?

At this moment, in the palace, Prince Godwin solemnly read his coronation address in a gentle yet aged voice.

The holy bishop Holmes and the white-haired archmage Bazel stood side by side, extending their hands to bless the new king Raymond, ancient prayers and incantations intertwined.

The new king, clad in magnificent robes, slowly knelt down under the watchful eyes of the crowd and accepted the crown symbolizing supreme imperial power with slightly trembling hands.

"In the year 1405 of the Loren calendar, at the beginning of the month of rest, at this moment, we will fulfill our sacred duty and entrust this crown, which carries a thousand years of glory, to the new king of the empire, His Majesty Raymond Betis."

As soon as he finished speaking, the nobles in the hall all curtsied.

Finally... that day arrived.

Prince Raymond, holding the crown, couldn't help but glance excitedly and gratefully at Ella in the crowd of nobles.

This pure and holy girl wore a long, snow-white dress that trailed on the ground. Her slender, delicate skirt was as pure and gorgeous as waves under the moonlight, and her silver hair cascaded down to her waist like a waterfall.

An elusive glint flashed in a pair of deep eyes, like swirling eddies of red wine.