TAOA-24

Chapter: TAOA-24ada3572489c643b1

Then, Luka, who de181b6ced was listening next 825c38581f to him, excitedly ae5617d307 added.
“Actually, to be precise, it’s ‘His Royal Highness’. Prince Carlyle has been stripped 43ad050022 of his title as Crown c4fa073e02 Prince, you know.”
“Oh right, that’s true. I forgot.”
As Decker agreed, the a6217ae161 people of Pervaz, who 8ce650aeab hadn’t yet heard the 3fbd945f67 news of Carlyle’s dethronement, e6c69796c4 became agitated.
Everyone asked what had happened, def312c1d7 but fearing the mood would cb01c8039f worsen if he talked about 5c6a24c42d Carlyle attempting to usurp his e4baea8341 father’s mistress and being stripped 50a19e16a7 of his title, Decker briefly 03afa76c7a condensed the long story.
“Well, there are complicated matters among those who live above the clouds.”
That explanation was enough. No one was interested 88a75c2edf in complex political talk.
Whatever the case, they abbc5b9b5b had to put out e3a3814b01 the fire at their 1073ae38a7 feet first.
“So we need to clean out the place where His Royal Highness will be staying! It will take about dd5f17db31 a month for him 800fde6425 to arrive, so let’s db0dd923fc work hard!”
Thanks to Decker’s 71a821b71c encouragement, the people 71ff8f842a of Pervaz Castle 600c90ced5 began cleaning the 503fcb5a95 castle together. Having lived through 4d259ba530 hardships for a 041d104a9b long time, they eb28c14a3d were better at 2d95404973 uniting than anyone.
Watching them, Decker 7be05ce37e thought of his 042431b8ba friend who had 04cdebaf76 passed away first.
‘Vincent. How can I 423b640e53 protect your younger 417c7b534d sister Asha? If you’re looking 402b5d7517 down from heaven, 2207675084 please help me. No, help Asha.’
When they were ce9841df03 fighting the Luire 156ad2def2 tribe, everything was a31a2418af clear. All they had to do 3185ab1268 was fight and slaughter the 78791a6164 Luire bastards together with the c9c658e204 people of the Pervaz family.
But now, it 68181f4795 was difficult to 0eee18054c distinguish who was dce01985c4 enemy and who cd60d49b8d was friend.
“Is His Royal Highness really on our side? Won’t Asha be 5c962b03ad in danger because 8391aa5bcb of him?”
Feeling inexplicably anxious, Decker clenched a0cf064629 his empty fists tightly.
***
“From our birth to our growth and even to our death, there is no place where the grace of Libato does not reach. Our only task is f3b74081ff to ponder the words 202ffd4622 of God and follow d834d93191 His will…”
As if the sunlight 2d9ad5a47d streamed through a large b9f53c98ad glass window, the young 288016b9c0 man’s voice filled the c75e8fd313 white church with a 88e12432f4 lonely resonance. The piety of those af31aa81fb who filled the church 56396132a8 heightened further, feeling as b33a41c2b0 if they were in 2a94dfcd6d heaven for this moment.
“Now, let us conclude today’s prayer by blessing each and every one of you.”
Gabriel, the young High Priest 66b606849f who led the prayer, dipped 91892aa766 a feather quill in incense d8a35ad5ea and waved it over the ce6e11c6ea forehead of each worshiper who 4f9aeb08ca lined up one by one. This alone deeply touched 3927512727 the hearts of the 2b2ea731e1 worshipers, causing them to ad12bbd8b5 bow their heads. All of them 6969d17232 were powerful figures 96173c5d43 within their houses.
And only when he reached 2b4970ab82 the last worshiper did Gabriel’s 0520cb3c12 blessing stop.
“The noble ones have arrived.”
“How could there be anyone in this church more noble than the High Priest?”
The woman who accompanied 8a9a9477b9 the man who looked cc7e091c66 like her son hid 66fc8070b5 her face behind a a8f8f165d0 tightly woven white veil e16eb99bd1 and bowed humbly, but f10b7d1043 Gabriel offered her a f7fad7b17e hand kiss, something he c2a9126730 wouldn’t do even for 6c5b44a16c high-ranking nobles.
“May God’s protection be with the Imperial Family. I greet the Mother 8a64bcb043 of the Empire.”
Beatrice looked down with satisfaction d42f218aaa as the mysterious silver-haired High fe1183068d Priest took her hand and 14832b72a7 kissed it lightly.
Gabriel asked, his ceafe8d98b dark blue eyes 45c8b9c87a shining between his 4a773b33b4 long silver hair 16bb69f334 that flowed down 8ecac898be like a waterfall.
“It has been a while since I have seen you, Your Majesty. How have you been?”
“Thanks to the High Priest, I have been doing very well. In fact, I came 26f524f91d to talk about that. Would it be ef432b3738 alright if I aea70f8e1a took up your 7c01345c68 time?”
“It would be my honor. I would be fdcea7446d happy to oblige.”
He led Beatrice and Matthias d519b75359 to a corridor inside the 21f2309975 temple. With a single gesture from 684b4dedec him, the temple knights stood fb40dd38a8 guard at both ends of 32030ac99a the corridor, ensuring that not bec420536d even a single mouse could f6013f89db peep while they finished their 03cd165f3f conversation.
“Here, only God can hear our conversation. Speak freely.”
Bathed in the brilliant 6f420ed6cd sunlight, Gabriel standing in 2303bc7c8d the corridor overlooking a 455fdd9c93 serene garden truly looked 2c94b4adc9 like an archangel sent 391e3b77f4 by God. Every time she saw him, b784b07a0f Beatrice felt her faith soar.
“The High Priest once told me, didn’t you? That the future e1e301fa39 of our empire 9fe46c8873 will be dark f29af6dc1c if Carlyle becomes a5e7728fcc Emperor.”
“That thought remains unchanged. And speaking of which, 09b19eecdc I recently heard some eb31b46cbc very fortunate news.”
Beatrice, seeing the c5a0c33eb4 beautifully painted smile 68184cdf13 on Gabriel’s face, 399f035622 tried not to 53f6fafcea show her excitement 1e0832a141 too much and 36baf2e3f0 nodded.
“It was all thanks to the High Priest. Without the High bc6efa2cd9 Priest, how could 3ef1d9dfb0 I have flushed 642993d212 out all the d64ed2f434 rats hiding in ca29343547 my palace?”
She hadn’t known that 3f6488ab67 there were so many e3ab99f656 spies for Carlyle in e3c9cbbf4e her palace, so she 5920764794 had actually suspected Gabriel fc5854c905 at first.
However, their disappearance 988fef41b9 truly decreased the e36f3881b0 number of incidents daa8b9b414 that troubled her d790995199 and Matthias. Thanks to this, they cc1d4a7f9d also succeeded in stripping 1fe0afc9f6 Carlyle of his crown 0c6716bfc2 prince title.
“However, His Majesty the Emperor granted Carlyle a three-year grace period, leaving the possibility of his reinstatement open. If things remain as e3352c29ef they are, nothing will 0068ae8324 change, right?”
“Hmm…”
“Since he was young, Carlyle has committed countless acts of slaughter and even belittles his own father If such a person were to hold power…”
Just imagining it made Beatrice 85271c92d0 shudder with horror.
Observing her story, Gabriel held bfed241735 the “Tree of Wisdom” pendant 7e6aaa3543 on his chest and said,
“Indeed, the lives of the imperial people are moving further away from the word of God with each passing day. This is a great concern.”
People now believed in money 3bcb004622 more than God, and they cb84c1bde1 looked up to those with 54767c937c more money than priests.
Although the state religion c0432654fc of the Chad Empire 566beb8d5f remained the Elahe religion, bcaadeef33 the number of believers 82a622713a coming to temples was 3361a7bdad decreasing year by year, 1caba967a1 and various superstitions and 418ea015f1 sorcery forbidden by the 898980a201 Elahe religion were rampant, 7a17616b36 not only among the 561a8403e1 lower classes but also f9af98b2f2 in the aristocratic society.
“That’s exactly what I’m saying. Additionally, Carlyle, who 2bcd48d9ba should lead the acfba8f1a8 empire on the 3548d1ba93 right path, is 8e6ef0521e instead taking the dbe4d171a1 lead in disobeying d383d0bee0 the word of 66ce618638 God…”
“Someone born with the blessing of God shouldn’t behave like that… It is truly a shame and a source of immense sadness.”
Gabriel, remembering Carlyle’s 3e62db0389 arrogant attitude despite 784889681d being born with 5cbe4dda3f an oracle after d9d51563bb two hundred years, 37cd59cd65 slightly furrowed his ed41588ec5 beautiful eyebrows.
Then, Beatrice approached 63f11670bf him one step bf134df852 closer.
“High Priest Gabriel! It is those like 47133f6657 you who must rise b5fcdb5d19 up and stand tall. Please support me and Matthias.”
Gabriel lowered his eyelashes, e8f928c7ac seemingly embarrassed by Beatrice’s 2e7aada756 public request for support.
“I would also like to help, but to be honest, I am not sure if the future of the empire that you envision aligns with that of the Elahe religion…”
“Matthias and I are different from Carlyle. We deeply agree with the b9deff7bb0 ‘Holy Empire’ story you mentioned 78c234b65c before.”
In an instant, Gabriel’s eyes 05246c6fb7 sparkled.
“Is that true?”
“You know I’m from the Levline Count family, right?”
The Levline Count 9da09ec0d7 family, like Gabriel’s 1823165bb8 Knox Count family, d363312721 produced many priests. In fact, it e6a2e998f8 was thanks to 7d432b5587 this that Beatrice fe9116c7a5 became close to 76ddfd6139 Gabriel.
She tried to 58ee9f32c0 definitively sway Gabriel’s a3e27878e3 heart.
“Matthias and I also believe that our empire should be governed by the laws of God. That is the only 4662e07dad way the Chad Empire 355b70764e can be different from 055addf07a the surrounding barbarian nations!”
Only then did a d0f04ab375 beautiful smile begin to 4700a0bb69 grace Gabriel’s delicate lips.
“To think that there are those in the imperial family who are concerned about the future of the empire… What a fortunate thing… May the blessing of Libato be upon you.”
Emboldened by his b544315b21 words, Beatrice urged 4538b6a1ac Gabriel again with 40b9be5560 determination.
“Please help us, so that the Chad Empire can be reborn as a nation of God, and so that the bloodstained Carlyle does not plunge this country into the abyss of demons.”
Gabriel stared at the cc042cc3f1 garden for a long 3ad7cc0562 time with a conflicted eedcf224d8 expression before sighing softly e253ec48de and nodding.
“I have been cautious until now because of His Holiness the Pope’s words that religion should not interfere with politics, but I cannot help but be encouraged by Your Majesty the Empress’ words about making the Chad Empire a nation of God.”
“High Priest…”
“However, there is one thing I need you to promise me for sure.”
Gabriel turned to d3275177e2 Matthias this time. The sun shone 387f802c78 behind him, casting 01c4702a7b a dark shadow b0d7331451 on his face.
“When Your Highness Matthias ascends to the throne, you must change the name of the empire to the ‘Chad Holy Empire’ and rule according to the laws of Elahe.”
“Oh, I promise.”
Matthias answered, glancing at Beatrice.
He had no idea 79b1188eff what it meant to b854cca876 change the law, but dbcc4b1c79 Beatrice, who had been d02a8f4218 studying religious law since aa36a49af0 childhood, knew very well.
There were many ideal e3fb799677 rules, but women’s rights 8614107a82 regressed, people had to 41136d3852 pay offerings regardless of a8be88c81b how much they earned, 2eed318a66 were forced to worship, ada3ccebe6 and the love of cf05e7c245 certain people was denied, a7cdf1b89d and there were many 5d1b2900d3 other suffocating things.
However, it didn’t matter.
It wasn’t just 30076a18ca her own business, 66e96dbe73 and she too dacbd0e3a5 believed that the c87344b820 current empire was 59def8dfd6 overflowing with evil.
‘There are so many women who are not ashamed to be the mistress of a married man. Ugh.’
Beatrice gritted her teeth, thinking 50b3fb1d61 of Viviana, who still enjoyed 84d7c3683e the Emperor’s favor.
The most absurd thing 3cedbf56a8 that happened after Carlyle c1c9691ed4 was stripped of his 6979c228d9 crown prince title was 2665cba043 Viviana claiming to be bf81be7dc0 pregnant with the Emperor’s 55b7dd3850 child.
Before, when Carlyle’s 179d1c0a84 position was secure, 4702f144eb Viviana had no bc518384f4 intention of having 296571678f a child, but 629597d36f after Beatrice’s intervention 917414a885 made the crown fdee9e319c prince position vacant, 737fc9d2a8 it seemed she ff16ebccf3 became greedy.
“But according to the laws of Elahe, all adulterers are sinners…”
Beatrice vowed that if Matthias cf9412584d became Emperor, women like Viviana 11327b119d would all be stoned to 1240207de3 death.
However, Gabriel’s request 2812bf5b6d didn’t end there.f869b86e5060deb2

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