Translator: Dj2203
Editor: Dj2203
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From the moment Anos mentioned Susan for the first time, Luo Mi began to think nervously, trying to think of what reasonable lie he could make up to cover up the matter.
Unfortunately, in the end, he didn’t think of a way to circumvent Anos’s confession eye like before, so he could only confess truthfully: “It’s Susan.”
Anos had a good memory, but his blue eyes were calm as he asked: “That succubus? What did she want from you?”
Luo Mi had become very familiar with how to show a pious expression: “Susan hopes to learn from me and communicate more deeply with God’s servants.”
As expected, Anos was led astray and showed a surprised expression: “She wants to believe in God?”
Luo Mi said sincerely: “I have always believed that even demons can have faith.”
Anos was silent for a moment, then a gratified smile appeared on his face: “Lian, I didn’t expect that you could extend the glory of God to a level that I couldn’t. I was right about you.”
Luo Mi knew that he had passed this hurdle again, and he breathed a sigh of relief. He secretly decided to tell Susan later and ask her to be low-key when she came to see him.
Then he heard Anos say, “Next time she wants to listen to God’s teachings, she doesn’t have to use this method. You can just invite her here. If there are any misunderstandings, you can ask Reinhardt or Luke to accompany you.”
Luo Mi was stunned, and said with some complexity: “Thank you, Anos.”
“It is my duty to lead the lost lambs back to the right path.” Anos solemnly made a cross on his chest, and then said solemnly to Luo Mi, “If she is still wary of us, you can communicate with her privately, but you must pay attention to your safety – it’s not that I like to doubt others, your safety is equally important.”
Luo Mi nodded.
Anos took Luo Mi’s hand and fiddled with the feather bracelet on his hand with his fingers: “The holy light power stored in it is not consumed much. If you feel the temperature of the bracelet drop, remember to ask me for more. In fact, I am mainly worried that you will be deceived.”
Luo Mi thought Anos came to question him, but he was actually concerned about him. He felt a little ashamed: Alas, I have been lying to him until now…
….
After Anos walked out of the car, he said to Reinhardt, “Next time the girl in black comes, remember to ask someone to protect Lian nearby.”
Reinhardt agreed.
Anos pondered for a moment, and suddenly asked: “Will succubi have sex with each other?”
Reinhardt was stunned, not knowing why Anos asked this. However, Reinhardt, who had been on the front line of the Demon Realm, had learned demonology very well: “Succubus mating is essentially eating, so it is not surprising that the same species obtains food, but most succubus don’t like to do this.”
Anos really didn’t know this: “Why?”
“Perhaps it’s because their own kind don’t taste good? Or since it’s eating, it means that one of the two succubi will become hungrier than before.” Reinhardt guessed, “This is very different from vampires.”
Vampires sucked blood from different objects. Some preferred humans, some preferred their own kind, and some even preferred animals. They did not have the racial consistency of succubus.
Anos’ light golden eyebrows stretched slightly, and he nodded and said, “That’s good.”
Reinhardt raised his eyebrows slightly: Why do you ask this, Your Highness?
….
Soon, the Vatican’s convoy arrived at Troon, the capital of the Principality of Perde.
Troon was a beautiful city of flowers and birds. Its pleasant climate was suitable for the growth of various flowers, which also attracted birds of all colors to compete for beauty. Gentlemen could often be seen strolling leisurely with bird cages on the streets here, and ladies could also be seen feeding colorful birds in the square.
Of course, this also resulted in bird droppings being seen everywhere on the streets. Even if the Principality of Perde arranged cleaners to clean diligently, the amount of bird droppings produced was still too high.
As famous as flowers and birds was the “romance” of the people of Trondheim.
In Troon, both men and women could easily fall in love at first sight, and it was very common for them to quickly propose marriage after meeting by chance on the street. People around them would not even be surprised. Instead, they would be easily influenced and new sparks would be created.
Because of this, the marriage and divorce rates in Trondheim were quite high – if it weren’t for the fact that the people of Trondheim were also famous for their loyalty and romance, the Vatican would probably treat this place as a place of sin.
When listening to Reinhardt’s introduction to Troon City in the motorcade, Luo Mi didn’t quite understand at first: “How can high divorce rate and high loyalty be together?”
Reinhart said cryptically, “Because they usually divorce first and then start another relationship.”
Prince Pearl, who was trying to get close to him, also smiled and said, “I heard that the love of people in Troon comes and goes quickly. After the initial passion, they will divorce amicably and pursue others for the next spring.”
Luo Mi: “…”
This was too fast.
Anos, who was listening at the time, obviously did not agree with this approach, but he did not say anything.
Now that he had arrived in Troon City, Luo Mi felt the romance of the place as soon as he got off the carriage.
Right where the Vatican’s convoy stopped, a young man in a loose shirt knelt on one knee with flowers in his hand, passionately confessing his love to the beautiful nun in front of him and asking her to marry him.
Luo Mi hesitated for a moment, then turned to ask Reinhardt: “Can nuns get married?”
Reinhardt replied: “Like other clergy, lower-level ones can get married, but they can no longer work in the church and can only work in other church industries.”
Apparently, the gentleman did not have the charm to make the nun give up her church work and was politely rejected in person.
The gentleman did not mind being rejected. Instead he stood up cheerfully, patted the bouquet amid the good-natured laughter of his friends, took off his hat to salute the nun, and then left in a dashing manner.
The nun acted as if nothing had happened, and came to the front of the Vatican’s motorcade, bowed to the leading cardinal and said, “Please follow me.”
The cardinal looked at the few welcoming groups behind the nun, his face darkening, “Did Archbishop Valentine only ask you to come and welcome us?”
The nun said respectfully, “Mr. Valentine was temporarily invited to the palace to pray for His Majesty’s new little prince.”
The cardinal chuckled, not getting angry at this obvious disrespect for etiquette, and nodded: “Thank you for leading the way.”
Luo Mi touched his chin and said, “It seems that the royal family and the pietist faction of the Principality of Perde are not very friendly to the secular faction that dominates the Holy See.”
Anos was about to explain when he saw Prince Pearl walk up to Luo Mi and speak in advance: “According to the philosophy of the Devout, the faithful should focus on prayer and comprehend the will of God through spiritual encounters. Secular power will corrupt spirituality, so the Devout advocate low-key preaching, no armed forces, no interference in secular politics, and even no religious taxes. They are thus very popular with the dignitaries in the Principality.”
The secular faction had its own armed forces and could compete with the Empire over religious authority and jurisdiction, so it naturally earned the hostility of the Principality.
Luo Mi glanced at Pearl and couldn’t help but wonder, is it something that a prince of the empire can casually say?
Perhaps the Empire also wanted a Vatican dominated by the Pietists?
Pearl received Luo Mi’s gaze and laughed: “The relationship between the Empire and the Church is not that simple. They have been an inseparable whole for a long time. At most, they hope that the other party will make concessions on minor interests.”
He glanced at Anos with a smile and said, “Let’s not talk about the big ones. The imperial nobles like to send their second sons who have no inheritance rights to monasteries, hoping that they can become high-ranking clergy or even bishops in the future. These people are more suitable to join the chessboard of the imperial nobles than the pietist people who only care about praying.”
Anos nodded calmly: “That’s right.”
Pearl’s smile widened a little.
Luo Mi looked around and realized: Is this one of the heirs to the empire expressing his attitude to the next Pope?
Well, it is easier to enhance the feeling of “sharing the same hatred against the same enemy” when you come to the parish of another sect than when you are in the holy city of Bethlehem, which is absolutely safe and advantageous…
But why didn’t Anos seem very happy? Didn’t Anos notice Pearl’s advances?
Luo Mi had been with Anos for a long time and knew that Anos’ current calmness meant that he was in a slightly bad mood.
After thinking for a while and still unable to figure it out, Luo Mi simply gave up thinking: these things had nothing to do with him anyway.
….
The headquarters of the Pietist Faction was the Cathedral of Santa Cecilia in the city of Troon, but the convoy of the secular Vatican would naturally not drive in. Instead, it stopped at a manor in the suburbs and would go to the cathedral when the debate took place.
But Anos was an exception.
A middle-aged priest with gray eyes and gray hair came up to Anos and bowed slightly to him: “Your Highness, please stay at the Cathedral of St. Cecilia.”
Anos was not surprised and nodded slightly.
Luo Mi glanced at the cardinal who was leading the team and found that the cardinal did not show any surprise and only led the secular people into the manor.
Pearl came close to Luo Mi and explained, “Although the pietist faction opposes many of the secular faction’s ideas, they only support His Highness Anos, who is an angel on earth. Of course, they do not recognize the title of ‘Son of God’, which has power implications, and only call him ‘Angel’.”
Indeed, when they met the two pietist missionaries, they also tried every means to pull Anos over there… Luo Mi nodded, then looked at Pearl and said, “Are you going with us too?”
Pearl smiled slightly: “I am not a member of the secular faction of the Church. What reason does the devout faction have to reject me?”
Luo Mi thought about it and it made sense – maybe the Pious Faction was hoping to persuade one of the heirs to the empire so that the Pious Faction’s influence could expand to the empire.
So they got on the same carriage and headed towards the Cathedral of Santa Cecilia.
The gray-eyed pastor who was traveling with them didn’t say a word after getting on the carriage. He just closed his eyes and prayed silently.
Anos was no exception, he sat there calmly, not knowing what he was thinking about.
The atmosphere was inexplicably heavy.
Luo Mi couldn’t help but look out the window at the city of Troon, admiring the scenery of this city with a very good level of greening.
Perhaps influenced by the romantic atmosphere, the clothing style of the city of Troon was bold and diverse, which was more pleasing to the eye than the dignified and solemn holy city of Bethlehem and the monotonous and uniform city of Losa.
Pearl smiled and asked, “What is the pastor’s name?”
The gray-eyed priest opened his eyes and answered in a calm tone, “Grani Valentine.”
Pearl was obviously stunned for a moment, and his tone was filled with undisguised surprise as he asked: “Archbishop Valentine?”
Upon hearing this, Luo Mi opened his eyes wide and looked at the unprepossessing middle-aged priest.
Only Anos had a calm expression, as if he had expected it.
Grani Valentine made a cross of the same length on his chest and said, “It is an honor for the Pietists to welcome His Majesty the Angel.”
Luo Mi muttered, “Lying doesn’t count as going against God’s will?”
The current leader of the Pietists gave his own answer to this question: “Means are only means, and God’s will is in everyone’s heart.”
Luo Mi pondered for a long time and figured out his subtext: Isn’t this free conviction?
As long as I believe this is God’s will, then nothing I do would be against the doctrine?
This sounded a bit dangerous…
Anos finally said the first words after getting on the carriage: “God taught us not to lie.”
Archbishop Valentine’s gray eyes fell on Anos, and he said slowly: “Why did His Highness the Angel use divine magic to conceal the true identity of the people around him?”
Luo Mi was stunned for a moment and realized that he was talking about him.
Anos was silent for a moment: “Hiding is not lying, it’s just to avoid trouble.”
Archbishop Valentine nodded, “That’s right. It’s because the secularists have merged with the filth of the world that they need to use these alternative means to hide part of the truth. If they can all have devout faith, His Majesty the Angel will naturally have no trouble. It is rumored that in the Second Age, God once sent angels to help the world, but they were insulted by the world, causing the rebuilt Ionion to be destroyed by God again. It can be seen that entanglement with the secular world will only bring destruction and corruption, the same for us and you.”
“Your Highness, I have heard that you think demons should also have the right to confess, but the secular faction not only does not support you but also prohibits you from speaking your mind. If you can come to us, we can naturally fulfill your wishes.”
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