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A man attired in red robe came arrived below the huge statue of God and knelt down next to the young boy. Accompanying a bow, he reported, “Your Excellency, you can go rest now. Leave the rest to us. The new church has not yet taken any action; therefore, we need not worry too much. Even if they want to attack, they would not do so at this point in time. If we try anything now, we will definitely infuriate Her Majesty. We cannot allow ourselves to be subjected to a second blow.”
“I know.”
The young boy stood up. He tightly clasped a pure-gold ornament in his hand. It was a hoary-stock-shaped chest pin: “The church saved me in the past. This time, it’s my turn to save the church. While the church has gone through so many struggles under my lead, I believe that it is God’s trial for us. I believe in hoary stock; I believe in our faith. Despite it being an era where this faith has crumbled, I am certain we will be able to advance with our beliefs again. I believe that. I’ve always believed that.”
Hoary stock, a flower, which was similar to a circular ball, was the church’s emblem. It was said that the country was established on a city of hoary stock. Alas, it was practically all burnt when the barbarians rioted during Elizabeth’s father’s reign. The flower no longer existed in the reconstructed Hilles City. There were only some that could be found inside the Royal Palace and the church. The church considered it to be a holy flower symbolising the beginning of life.
The young boy looked up at the huge statue of God in front of him. God didn’t lower his head to look at those below, but he had his hand extended toward them, which meant that he could hear their voices from their souls. Those who betrayed the faith were punished, and those who didn’t pray were destroyed. The church had been destroyed once, but Her Majesty gave the church a chance to return to the Royal Palace. They, therefore, reasoned that they should be able to regain their status. Though what they preached was completely in the hands of the Royal Palace henceforward, Her Majesty didn’t seem to care for the power that His Majesty risked everything to obtain. She never got involved with any of the church’s business, and she never oppressed them or anything of similar nature after their destruction. Hence, the church was very grateful to Elizabeth and Troy. That magnanimity was rare to come by.
The church planned to communicate properly with the royal family with Daisy’s baptism as a medium. Due to the dispute between the old and new churches, the churches were in a rush to prove their status. The royal family had attacked the old church before. Subsequently, the new church never stopped using that history to attack the old church. Additionally, the new church had begun to influence vassals within the Royal Palace in an attempt to gain the approval of the royal family as the legitimate church. The old church virtually had no channels to get through. Although the new church and old church had yet to open fire on all fronts, specifically physical warfare, their overzealous believers had already begun to have small skirmishes amongst each other. With that said, due to the severity not being too serious, Empress Elizabeth wasn’t yet aware of it.
“Hoary stock shall protect us. This time, we will definitely obtain everything that we want through Daisy. Our status, our belief, our God, we shall put the purity of hoary stock on the line! We must realise all of our dreams! We must!”
The boy stabbed the golden pin into his hand. Nevertheless, that couldn’t damage his determination and resolve. The young boy’s belief in god and his faith was his greatest strength.
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Present time in the interior of Hilles City Royal Palace.
“I’m not getting involved with the two factions business. I already made my stance on that clear. I’m not religious. At present, I don’t have any designs for the church, either. The church should be aware of what they can and can’t do after the last incident. I’m too lazy to bother with them. Even if there’s any problem with the church, I still won’t take the initiative to interfere,” clarified Elizabeth.
Elizabeth sighed. She fiddled with the black veil on her face and then looked at the vassals down below. She snickered: “I never thought that there were so many of you who were religious. I never expected you to be so passionate about it that you’d come to mention it to me on your own accord. I really want to know what the new church gave you. Shut up, the lot of you. I don’t want to hear you preaching to me. I just want to know what exactly the new church gave you to convince you.”
“They… gave me hope. They healed my son’s leg disease. That was a disease that was declared incurable after seeing countless doctors. That is why I believe them. Previously, the church I believed in relied merely on faith, while the new church has indeed brought about miracles.”
Elizabeth laughed: “Spare me. I don’t care about your religious beliefs, and I won’t pick on you because of your beliefs. But nonetheless, I must remind you of one thing, and that is that there is only one god in the Royal Palace, and that is me. I will be angry if you keep mentioning other gods in my presence. Henceforward, religious topics are not allowed to be discussed in the Royal Palace, understood?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
The people down below nodded. They stood up and left one by one. Elizabeth sighed after they all left. Castell came up to her side and served up a glass of wine. With a smile, he asked, “Your Majesty, your schedule has been more and more packed recently. In the past, these people would not take the initiative to come and see you at night, would they?”
“Indeed. I never had an audience with so many people at night in the past. Does believing in their so-called religion erase their fear of death?”
“In my opinion, I think that you are not as imposing as you were in the past as of recent. That must explain why everyone is somewhat impudent.”
“It seems that I need to maintain my demeanour from the past, then. Night time is my rest time. I don’t want to work during my rest hours. I’m getting annoyed.” Elizabeth rubbed her black hair: “Has our envoy reported back?”
“His Majesty has set out. He should arrive at the Royal Palace in two days.”
Elizabeth stood up: “Good. Henceforth, nobody is permitted to see me at night. In addition, whoever brings up the church’s matter while in the palace again is immediately fired. However, the church is getting more and more conceited by the day. I don’t care if they’re new church or old church. If they involve my son and Royal Palace, I need to punish them. By the way, this new church or whatever is seriously far too rampant. Castell, go and dig up their background information. If they go too far, eliminate them!”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”