Generally speaking, a temporary army like the Free Knights Order would disband itself after a war. However, due to the imperfect operational mechanisms of the Fars Empire, many knight orders would continue to operate for a while after the war, extending their pay period.

  Most of the time, the Empire would turn a blind eye to such matters and rarely intervened.

  The registration term for a Free Knights Order was usually one, three, or five years, depending on the scale of the war. It wasn’t uncommon for knight orders on the frontlines to have their contracts expire mid-war, pay halted, leading to mutiny and defeat.

  Renewing the registration for a knight order was such a niche and overlooked task that it was rarely discussed.

  How powerful was a single flor?

  It could secure the maximum registration term allowed by Imperial w for a knight order!

  Although there had never been a knight order in peacetime that managed to collect pay for more than twenty years, it was still an exceedingly valuable favor.

  Charlot took the knight order registration document and offered a polite Imperial Salute. He and the middle-aged clerk shared a silent understanding—neither exchanged words, nor even a gnce.

  Charlot and Dolores exited the office.

  The middle-aged clerk finished work on time and followed his colleagues out.

  Charlot left the Central Government Office and asked, “Dolores, where are you headed?”

  Dolores replied without hesitation, “Back to the university!”

  Charlot, who also intended to visit Gorgias University to see Annie, immediately informed Mrs. Nancy, and the carriage headed towards the university. Since the four major universities and the Central Government Office were all in the Val-de-Vas district, the carriage arrived quickly.

  Charlot had pnned to part ways with Dolores at the university gate, but to his surprise, Dolores spoke into the communication tube, “Go straight in.”

  Seeing Charlot’s slightly puzzled expression, she expined, “You graduated from Sheffield University, but I graduated from Gorgias University. It’s not strange for me to have a permanent access pass to my alma mater, is it?”

  Charlot rubbed his forehead and thought, “Is that what I’m puzzled about? I’m more worried that us appearing together will make Annie misunderstand.”

  Though, when it came to his goal of “living off a wealthy woman,” the young dy of the Soumet family was no less qualified than the one from the Bretagne family. Still, Charlot had his principles. Patiently, he said, “I just think it’s inconvenient.”

  Dolores covered her mouth with a soft ugh and said, “I know, you’re afraid Annie will misunderstand. But she won’t. When I enrolled in the university, I swore before the Goddess that I would never marry.”

  Charlot’s expression shifted slightly, and he asked, “You’re a Divine Contract Bearer?”

  Dolores nodded. Seeing the faint trace of sympathy in Charlot’s gaze, this noble dy of the Soumet family said calmly, “Don’t pity me. I’ve had enough of that, just like I’ve had enough of the marriages my family arranged for me.”

  Charlot sighed. “I once wished my family would arrange a marriage for me.”

  “And then…?”

  Charlot deliberately paused but didn’t continue, mimicking a web novel author who had abruptly abandoned his story. This piqued Dolores’ curiosity. She asked, “You weren’t from a distinguished background, but you managed to enter a university and even became an Imperial civil servant. You should’ve been an excellent candidate for marriage. Why didn’t your family arrange anything?”

  Charlot replied ftly, “Because my eldest brother runs the family.”

  Dolores immediately looked at him with sympathy, imagining a tragic younger brother being bullied by a domineering elder brother and sister-in-w.

  Charlot’s elder brother, if he knew someone thought of him this way, would definitely cry injustice. He had discouraged Charlot from interfering with the family’s business primarily because Charlot was a typical wastrel—a pyboy with a bad reputation and a knack for squandering wealth. His elder brother feared Charlot’s involvement would ruin the family’s generational hard work, not because he cked familial affection.

  After Charlot agreed to renounce his inheritance rights, his brother even gave him 550 écus, nearly seventy percent of the Mecklenburg family’s liquid assets. His actions were beyond reproach.

  Although the Mecklenburg family were merchants, they weren’t wealthy magnates with limitless riches—just a family worth a thousand or two écus at best.

  Charlot’s words were mostly to sever ties with his past. He worked hard to cultivate a lonely persona in front of everyone, and he wouldn’t treat Dolores any differently just because their retionship was casual.

  Maintaining an image required consistency.

  To comfort Charlot, Dolores said, “Don’t be too upset. You know, one of the marriage candidates my family arranged for me back then included Zimourman Axel Robin.”

  Charlot’s expression froze in astonishment. “After the Night Window Incident?”

  Dolores rolled her eyes. “What else? Did you think it was after the Imperial Rose Incident? I would’ve gone insane by then.”

  Charlot tried to imagine it but couldn’t fathom the logic of the Old Continent’s nobles.

  He could picture Menielman Soumet tearing up her engagement after discovering her fiancé’s unspeakable nature. He could imagine the elders of the Soumet family deciding to switch in a younger cousin.

  He could also imagine Dolores’ shock at that moment...

  But he couldn’t understand how the brains of certain nobles functioned to produce such absurd decisions.

  “Then you became a Divine Contract Bearer?” Charlot asked.

  Dolores nodded. “At that moment, I decided. As soon as I entered university, I made my contract with the Goddess and became a Divine Contract Bearer. I will never marry.”

  Charlot sympathized deeply. With such a family environment, he might have chosen the same path.

  There was a saying in the Empire’s education circles: “National Institutes serve the royal family and Empire; Imperial Universities serve the Gods.”

  But most university graduates still chose to join the government for well-paying jobs.

  Only a rare few, touched by the Gods during their university years, decred themselves Divine Contract Bearers—essentially divine apprentices.

  Upon graduation, they could join an Orthodox God’s Church and obtain an official position.

  Charlot had once considered this path. Joining an Orthodox God’s Church came with numerous privileges, but it also meant abandoning any worldly power and submitting to strict doctrines. For instance, a Divine Contract Bearer could never marry or own secur property—far too inconvenient for Charlot’s lifestyle.

  Of course, one could graduate without joining a Church and live independently, but the same restrictions applied: no marriage, no property.

  A Divine Contract Bearer could renounce their status, but the cost was steep. The Gods would mark them with their displeasure, erasing any transcendent abilities granted by the divine system, and leaving them with a lifelong negative “debuff” worse than any Evil God’s curse.