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The Spring’s Appearance (6)
“You best have a legitimate reason for disturbing me so late at night. I have no qualms beheading you for disturbing my time with my family.”
Elizabeth sat down on the sofa. Castell immediately served her a glass of wine. Elizabeth flicked her black hair. She brushed aside her black face veil and had a drink of the strong wine. The man, who was standing there feeling panic-stricken, knelt down and saluted her. He nearly bit off his tongue as he greeted her in a shaky voice: “I-I am very honoured… Your Majesty… Y-Your Subject… o-o-on behalf of the new church….”
“I don’t care who you are. Are you out of people, though? You sent a man who can’t even speak to waste my time?”
Elizabeth placed her cup down loudly. She rose and grouchily turned to leave. The man anxiously leapt to his feet and exclaimed, “Sorry, sorry, sorry… I… I mean, your subject… your subject… is here for the first time today… and so…”
Elizabeth looked over her shoulder: “Turn around, then. Don’t look at me, and you’ll be able to speak, right? I forgive you for being rude. Just tell me what you have to say.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
The man let out a breath of relief. He turned around to face the wall behind him. He was always told that Empress Elizabeth was an Empress so stern that she violently killed with or without reason, which was why he was so on edge that he virtually couldn’t speak. He never imagined her to be so gentle. She didn’t reprimand him for his rudeness, nor did she kill him.
Eyes on the wall, he explained, “Your Majesty… your subject is here to see you on behalf of the new church. Your subject wanted to know if our new church would be able to have the honour of holding Daisy’s baptism. We have authentic holy water, not the counterfeit type used to swindle people. All wounds can be healed with it; th-.”
“I don’t care if you’re the new church or old church. I don’t believe in your religion to begin with. I don’t understand your internal affairs, either. That’s why I haven’t interfered. That said, if your matters get Daisy involved, I will never approve. Daisy is my cherished grandchild. I will not allow her to become a tool for your religious practices’ conflict. I already spoke to the pope about the baptism and, thus, won’t change my decision. If that’s what you wanted to discuss, you don’t need to say anymore. If that’s all, I’m heading back.”
“But is it not true that those on the battlefield all believe in God?”
“I am the soldiers’ god.”
Castell could see that Elizabeth didn’t want to continue with the talk. He, therefore, immediately called for the Valkyries to escort her back to her palace. The man behind her immediately raised his head and cried, “Your Majesty!! Your Majesty! Please consider it! Please consider it! We guarantee…”
“I said, I don’t want to think about this. Daisy isn’t a tool for you to gain power or fame. My impression of you is incredibly poor. You don’t care for Daisy. You just want to use her to get what you want.”
“Your Majesty! Your Majesty!”
“One more word from him and behead him.”
Two Valkyries drew their swords. The man immediately shut up. The Valkyries went up to his side and bowed: “Mister, the discussion has ended. You can leave now.”
The Valkyries were polite on the surface, but their blades told a different story. The man had no choice but to leave. He took one last glance at Elizabeth, who exited, and then left the palace.
“I’m a new believer. I thought that my church was the real church. The miracle I witnessed was a true miracle, but that fraudulent church is leveraging their presence as the older church to impose their influence. We can’t engage in physical altercations under Elizabeth’s influence, but it seems she’s not willing to help us. At present, there’s only one piece of good news, and that is Empress Elizabeth doesn’t plan to help either side,” reasoned the new church’s member.
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As she headed back to the inner court, Elizabeth grouched, “Far out. They’re a real piece of work.”
Castell smiled: “Is this about Princess Daisy’s baptism? At current, the new and old church’s conflict has reached its peak, which is why they are trying everything to try and seize every opportunity. Given the situation, whoever wins the support of the royal family will become the sole recognised church. However, due to His Majesty’s history with the old church, they are afraid His Majesty will seek vengeance against them. For that reason, they want to make up for their former mistakes with this baptism. This will be the biggest baptism in history. The new church, on the other hand, wants to rely on their so-called miracle to win over Princess Daisy.”
“I won’t hand her to anyone. I agreed to have the old church conduct the baptism, so I won’t change my decision because of these people. If things get out of hand, cancel the baptism.”
Elizabeth irritably threw a punch at the wall to her side, thereby scaring the living daylights out of Castell. He was afraid that Elizabeth would hurt herself. She didn’t mind her hand, though. Instead, she went outside and looked at the light in Nier’s room. After mulling over things, she commanded, “Castell, have two Valkyrie teams take over the big chapel, and arrange for the military to enter the city. Ensure that every place is safe. Do not allow any conflicts to occur in the Royal City. Strictly guard the holy water and interior of the church. Do not allow anyone to go near the holy water or Daisy, understood?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Castell understood what Elizabeth meant. Elizabeth didn’t want the two factions fighting to hurt the innocent. More importantly, she didn’t want them to ruin the baptism. Elizabeth wasn’t religious. She merely wanted Daisy to be able to safely make an appearance before the masses. Daisy was set to succeed the throne that Troy wasn’t going to succeed. As such, everybody had to know of Daisy’s existence early. Otherwise, what happened with Troy back then would repeat itself.
“But is it really a good idea to let the two religions duke it out?” Elizabeth nonchalantly shook her head then snickered. “It has nothing to do with me; but nonetheless, isn’t that better? The big church split. The remaining two factions want to win my support. Therefore, regardless of who falls, they’ll go from an autonomous church into my puppet. That way, the last loose end of my rule that I haven’t been able to control will be no more. That’s why we just need to watch. Watch them cripple each other, and then we’ll come in and take over.”
“I see.” Castell chuckled.
While Elizabeth didn’t kill anymore, she hadn’t changed much. She was still as ruthless as ever.