Working Hard

Pure excitement! Artie felt her adrenaline rushed throughout her body when she heard those words! One of her personal goals in this world was to reconnect Miel and Larkin properly, and it seemed that she was getting a cemented path towards it. The System was also gifting her with the achievement as if it knew that she really liked what she had done. Moreover…

[You have unlocked a page of the 'Chronicles of the Forgotten Devildom'!]

[The seneschal soon learned about the princess's betrayal and realized the cruel fate this had bestowed on the archduke. Knowing that he wasn't deliberately thrown away and that the archduke had been looking for them made the seneschal change his heart.]

[However, his words had been deeply-rooted in the archduke's mind. The son knew that he would never be seen as the lost innocent son that he really was. This had kept the two from ever realizing that they had been blinded by their own assumptions.]

[Continue deciphering the affairs of the world for more pages of the 'Chronicles of the Forgotten Devildom'! You need one more page to unlock the big reward!]

[Reward obtained!]

[Apostasy + 20! Total meter points: 321; Veneration 199, Apostasy 122.]

[You have reached a total of 300 total meter points! Meter points scaling will increase. You will now have the chance to earn more Veneration and Apostasy points. Chances of triggering apostasy surges will also increase. Authority Bursts will also charge faster.]

[You are not yet eligible for the reward! The rewards will be stored temporarily!]

Artie hid the frustration in her eyes as she pushed aside the notifications of the System. She continued to chat with Miel until a maid called her for dinner. Miel left shortly after, preparing for the dinner as well. The angel sighed as she leaned against her door and reviewed all the notifications that she had earned.

The hardest one to stomach was the increase in getting Apostasy points and surges. She frowned at the screen before her eyes and ran a palm down her snood. "It seems like there is no way to actually stop Apostasy points from coming. Could it be that having high Apostasy has its merits? Hmm, I always get Apostasy if I do things related to the demons. If the System is pushing these points down my throat, I can only assume that I need it."

She then twitched. "System, can I see the next rewards that are related to my Apostasy points?"

[Current Apostasy meter: 122/????. Next reward: At 200 points, your Concealment will enter Level 1. Low-level demons will not be able to detect your magic. Chances of visage anomaly will be slightly lowered. You will be entitled to link your soul with Tier-1 connections.]

[Current Veneration meter: 199/????. Next reward: At 200 points, your Authority Burst's power will increase to Level 2. Your basic attack will pierce through low-level demon shields. Your Reverence and Fate will earn an extra 10% in calculations.]

"???" Artie's eyes bulged out. Not only was it possible for her to review almost everything about Heaven's Creations, but it was also showing her further areas of concern. "Apostasy is used to blend in with demons while Veneration gives me more power as an angel. These are not simply routes to follow; they are essential guides as to what I must do and must not do in this world!

"What route?! These are lifelines!" Artie covered her face with her fingers only because she could not grab her hair under the snood. Then, she calmed down. To be honest, Heaven's Creation was not wrong to call these routes. If she wanted to be notorious, she could just rake in Apostasy points more than she could get Veneration.

She once thought that too much Apostasy would cut off her supply of magic. By the looks of the world and its possible progress… the more Apostasy points she gained, the more connected she was to the demonkind. If she could draw power from this demon vein that Larkin drew power from, wouldn't that be akin to holding onto her power even if Heaven abandons her?

Headache. Artie got too much a headache just thinking about these. However, she couldn't just jump into her bed and disappear for a day. She needed to show herself to people lest they would misunderstand. "I would just forget about this for now. Sigh, I didn't think it was better for me to be so horny for Larkin than being level-headed and deep into the ball game."

…

Flap, flap. The sound of flapping pages echoed in the library. Artie Shen was reading through casually over the history books available in the library of the castle. After her encounter with the Lady of the Land, she realized that her knowledge of the affairs of the continents and races was a good weapon to have against greater powers. Angels were paraded as creatures of supreme intelligence; she needed to live up to it.

However, she couldn't find anything about the history of the devildoms before they became devildoms. The Grand Duke of Ellis Plains was already mentioned a lot, but there were no other footprints as if he was some kind of deity that graced the land. She also tried looking for the terms she encountered like 'Silken Road of Darkness' from Alfora and 'Cupo Magia' which was used as a kingdom name for the First Queen.

It's just that… even a big library as such held no secrets that could have helped her understand. She eventually got bored and focused on something else: her fraud identity!

The book she was browsing was about Kaigansa. In addition to being an archipelago, it was actually the land of the elves. That was why Jillian was not weirded out by her transformations; it was said that the most powerful of the elves could meld nature into their will. This was good. She could transform casually and claim that it was because she had elven blood. There was only one problem though…

Mixed bloods were not blessed with magic by their supreme deity: Mother Yggdra. If she wanted them to believe her, she must concoct a very splendid story. However, doing so and providing documents would slash her Mortality. She was scared even if she had no idea what that meant for her truly.

She leaned against the chair and groaned as she slouched against the back, sliding down with her legs open. That was when she felt eyes were upon her. When she opened her eyes, she found Larkin looking down at her, frowning down at the improper posture she was assuming.

"Babe!" Artie laughed out as if masking the fact that she looked uncouth in front of her archduke husband. She quickly closed her legs and sat straight before shifting to the side to smile at him.

Larkin only raised a brow before taking a seat next to her at that huge table. "You're working hard today. Is it because you met the Lady of the Land?" He looked at the books piled before her and the one in front of her.

"Yeah, I just realized I know too little of this world. Who knows? The next time we meet an ancient demon, I might not be able to bluff it into leaving us alone..."

Larkin frowned. "Ancient demon? The Lady of the Land… is a god."