Translator: Dj2203
Editor: Dj2203
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In Sig, the main mode of transportation was steam-powered automobiles, which, although somewhat noisy, were much faster than horse-drawn carriages. In the Empire, however, society had long been integrated with machinery; most nobles preferred to travel by car, with only a few stubborn conservatives using horse-drawn carriages or rickshaws.
As a result, the streets of Sig were mostly wide and had well-established traffic rules, including traffic police and traffic lights.
While waiting at the traffic light, Anos’s communicator rang.
After finishing the call, Anos frowned slightly: “Do you still remember those three chosen ones from the Duchy of Perde?”
Luo Mi nodded: “Did something happen to them?”
“They’ve disappeared.”
Luo Mi was somewhat surprised: “Missing? Were they murdered?”
He couldn’t help but recall what the Blackwing Lord had said: the Chosen Ones are the eyes of God, and he was seeking them out to kill them.
Anos shook his head: “The Knights Templar and the Divine Legion have tried everything but have not found any trace of them, not even a trace of death. It’s as if they just vanished from this world.”
Luo Mi didn’t know much about the capabilities of the Holy See’s divine magic, but since Anos said so, it meant that the three chosen ones hadn’t simply disappeared… Luo Mi suspected the Blackwing Lord for a moment, but then quickly remembered that the Blackwing Lord had been beaten back into shadow form by Anos, so he shouldn’t have such an ability.
There was still not enough information… Should I ask the other Anos later? I’m afraid that the betrayal I finally managed to forget might be brought up again…
While Luo Mi was still hesitating, the steam car had already arrived at the palace.
At this time, Caroline II was summoning her ministers to handle state affairs, and Pearl and Charlotte, as candidates for the imperial succession, naturally followed along. Only Prince Charles remained idly in his palace.
This allowed Anos to visit without needing to find a reason.
The princes and princesses of the Pelant family lived in the palace until adulthood, but upon reaching adulthood, they were allocated independent estates, allowing these heirs to the empire to interact with nobles and ministers and engage in various affairs of the empire on their own. For example, Pearl and Charlotte lived near the palace, signifying their recognition as independent social adults.
However Prince Charles still lived in the palace. Although his father had repeatedly asked Caroline II to grant Charles independence, Caroline II had refused to recognize Charles’s independence on the grounds that “Charles is in poor health.”
Upon entering Prince Charles’s residence, Luo Mi was taken aback: the various weapons hanging on the walls, the sand table in the center, the decorative armor, and so on, made the palace resemble a military tent or a military museum.
Prince Charles, dressed casually and with slightly disheveled hair, bowed to Anos and asked, “Your Highness, what brings you here?”
Anos smiled and said, “I heard that His Highness Charles has not yet been baptized and converted to Christianity, so I would like to come and preach to His Highness Charles.”
This was a very standard missionary way of speaking. Charlie did not reveal any meaning but politely asked Anos and Luo Mi to sit down and adopted a posture of listening attentively.
However, Luo Mi noticed that Prince Charlie’s eyes were actually quite vacant, just like when he was in college taking required courses that he didn’t like but had to listen to, his mind wandering off somewhere.
After Anos finished recounting a segment, Charlie came to his senses and said, “Your Highness spoke very well, which has deepened my understanding of God’s will.”
Anos’s smile faltered slightly.
Fortunately, he wasn’t there specifically to preach. He put down the Bible, his smile unchanged: “In that case, Your Highness, why don’t you consider baptism and conversion?”
Charlie replied expertly, “This matter requires His Majesty’s approval.”
Luo Mi found a way to start the conversation and asked, feigning ignorance, “I’ve heard that most people are baptized by the bishop of the nearby church after they are born. Didn’t Your Highness Charles receive a baptism?”
Prince Charles’s light brown eyes subconsciously turned towards Anos: “Back then, the relationship between the Empire and the Papacy wasn’t as close as it is now.”
On the way here, Luo Mi had already guided Anos to recall the bishop of St. Patrick’s Cathedral before Bishop Eugen— just as the demon Anos knew, Anos himself only knew that Bishop Florian was “martyred” on the edge of the Demon Realm after being transferred and did not even know what the bishop looked like.
At this point, Anos indeed went along with it, casually saying as if in conversation, “When Prince Charles was born, the bishop of St. Patrick’s Cathedral was His Excellency Florian?”
Charlie gave Anos a slightly strange look.
Anos’s light golden eyebrows twitched slightly, but he said nothing.
Finally, Charlie replied, “I was only six years old when His Excellency Florian was transferred from St. Patrick’s Cathedral, so I don’t remember very clearly.”
Anos’s gaze swept over Charlie’s face, but he didn’t say anything— Charlie was lying.
Why did Prince Charles lie about Bishop Florian’s affair?
Looking at Anos’s expression out of the corner of his eye, Luo Mi felt that things were developing in the direction he had expected, and he couldn’t help but feel relieved.
He didn’t suggest seducing Prince Charles to tell the truth himself for two reasons: firstly, he feared offending the royal family, and secondly, he knew Anos possessed the “confessional eye” that could detect lies. Therefore, he wasn’t worried about Charles’s intentions; he only needed to let Anos know which direction to investigate.
In the ensuing conversation, Luo Mi subtly guided the conversation, successfully drawing Anos’s attention to the relationship between the royal family and the alchemy school, as well as the peculiarities of Bishop Florian.
Of course, it wasn’t entirely smooth sailing— Prince Charles’s gaze quickly shifted from Anos to Luo Mi.
For Charlie, who knew a thing or two, the beautiful succubus’s points were always quite crucial.
Anos noticed Charlie’s gaze and subtly blocked Luo Mi with his body.
Charlie glanced at Anos indifferently, his lips twitched slightly, and then he returned to his blank, absent-minded state.
Seeing that Charlie had no intention of cooperating, Anos politely closed the book and took his leave.
Before leaving, Luo Mi couldn’t help but turn back and glance at Prince Charlie.
Judging from the surrounding arrangements, Prince Charles, like his father, likely aspired to join the military. However, joining the military would inevitably draw him into the power struggle between the military and the royal family. And this was not what Caroline II desired.
Therefore, Prince Charles could only ever be a prince with nothing to do.
Luo Mi sighed with some regret and turned to Anos, muttering, “I’m a little surprised. It seems that Prince Charles and Queen Caroline II have a pretty good relationship.”
Anos chuckled and asked, “How did you figure that out?”
Luo Mi thought for a moment: “Intuition.”
Based on his experience surfing the internet, Charlie should be full of resentment towards Caroline II and even side with his father, but Charlie’s tone when mentioning Her Majesty the Queen was almost the same as Pearl’s.
Anos smiled and said, “Indeed, Prince Charles has a deep admiration for Queen Caroline II. Well, that’s quite normal. Her Majesty’s life and abilities are legendary, and it’s hard for children who grow up around her not to admire and imitate her.”
Luo Mi nodded thoughtfully, then asked on a whim, “What do you think of Caroline II?”
Anos thought about it seriously: “Caroline II is a very capable ruler. She was able to rebuild the collapsing empire under pressure from Your Majesty and even make it a worthy rival today… If possible, I would like to learn from Her Majesty the Empress.”
Towards the end, Anos’s voice carried a hint of regret. As the Holy Son of the Papacy, Caroline II would certainly not have the patience to teach him, and Saint Gregory III would certainly not allow his successor to learn from a secular ruler.
Luo Mi’s eyes were somewhat complicated as he muttered, “Caroline II’s children do indeed admire her very much.”
Anos assumed he was referring to Pearl and Charlotte and nodded in agreement.
Back at their own lodgings, while Reinhardt went to make tea, Luo Mi asked, “Where do you plan to start your investigation next?”
Anos placed the Bible on the table: “I have a very good person to ask about Bishop Florian.”
Luo Mi blinked.
“Father, that’s Bishop Thomas,” Anos said with a smile. “When Father joined the Papacy, Bishop Florian was still at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and Father happened to be there too, so he must have had dealings with Bishop Florian.”
Luo Mi almost forgot about Bishop Thomas; the first thing that came to mind was those azure eyes— eyes that were very similar to those of Anos and Caroline II.
When Luo Mi first met Bishop Thomas, he suspected that Bishop Thomas was not Anos’s biological father, but now it seems that Anos’s eyes are inherited from Caroline II… Could it be a coincidence that Bishop Thomas’s pupil color is so similar to theirs?
As Anos sipped his tea, he dialed Bishop Thomas’s number.
After explaining the situation to the other end, Anos put down the communicator with some confusion: “Father said he would come in person.”
After Reinhardt’s reminder, Luo Mi had already considered some possibilities: Could it be that the Vatican would be listening in on phone calls?
He asked, “When will Bishop Thomas arrive?”
“That’s exactly what’s puzzling me.” Anos put down his teacup. “My father said he’ll be at the palace soon.”
Luo Mi opened his eyes wide.
….
A few hours later, Bishop Thomas appeared before Anos and Luo Mi.
His clothes were covered in dust and rust, as if he had rushed over at breakneck speed.
Anos invited Bishop Thomas to sit down and personally poured him a glass of water before asking, “Father, did Your Majesty have some business to discuss with you here so urgently?”
Bishop Thomas shook his head: “I came here for you.”
Anos was somewhat surprised: “Me?”
Bishop Thomas’s blue eyes swept over Luo Mi and Reinhardt, but he did not answer immediately.
Luo Mi and Reinhardt stood up tactfully: “Let’s go find Prince Pearl and catch up.”
Anos’s gaze lingered on the two figures’ backs, which seemed to move in perfect unison, before turning back to look at Bishop Thomas.
Bishop Thomas took a sip of water to catch his breath before looking up at Anos: “Why are you asking about Florian?”
After careful consideration, Anos recounted his investigation into the relationship between the alchemy school and the royal family.
Bishop Thomas listened in silence, then let out a soft sigh: “I don’t really recommend you investigate Florian’s side; it could easily get you into trouble.”
Anos’s face showed a hint of surprise: “Get me into trouble?”
It wasn’t that he was arrogant, but rather that his current position meant there were very few things that could cause him trouble.
Bishop Thomas first glanced at the coat of arms of the Pelant dynasty on the wall, then looked at Anos.
Anos was already eighteen and a half years old. His handsome face had gradually lost its boyish naiveté and gained the maturity and composure of adulthood.
Bishop Thomas exhaled again, as if trying to expel some heavy burden, and finally said, “I have a photograph of Florian here.”
He took a picture frame from his pocket and placed it in front of Anos.
Anos recognized it; it was the same framed picture of his adoptive parents from his short childhood that had always been displayed in his room.
“The back of the photo in the frame.”
Anos did as instructed, opened the photo frame, took out the old photograph, and turned it over.
Without Bishop Thomas needing to explain, he understood, took out the cross, and gently tapped the back of it.
The yellowed photograph gradually revealed an exceptionally handsome profile, with his head tilted back, gazing at the cross with a devout and serene expression. His deep blue eyes were filled with peace and compassion, and his long, light-gold hair hung down, covering his ears, making him appear as if he were draped in a golden silk.
Anos’s expression froze slightly.
For a moment, he thought he was looking in a mirror.
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