Gospel of Blood

Charlotte’s exchange with Louis V went smoothly.

Evidently, the monarch, determined to strengthen central authority, wasn’t interested in giving the North a wavering choice and was committed to reinforcing royal power without resorting to elaborate schemes. This meeting was both a threat and a temptation.

Charlotte had no particular resistance to renouncing her oath and pledging loyalty to the King of Crescent. In some ways, this development was exactly what she wanted.

Not to mention, her promise to the Holy Court was essentially an empty one from the start, and her interests clashed far more with the Holy Court than with Louis V.

Charlotte intended to develop her own faith in the North, inevitably leading to friction with the Church. If the Church’s influence in the North continued to wane, that would be one thing. However, if the Church decided to reinforce its presence due to her proximity to it, and sent more priests to “assist”, it would be troublesome.

Charlotte was already a “Demigod” and had prepared to secretly spread her faith in the North. Once she began extensive preaching, it would inevitably harm the Holy Court’s interests, leading to their interference. This intervention was almost a certainty.

However, siding with the royal family presented a different scenario.

Yes, spreading her faith in the North would conflict with the Church’s interests, but the conflict and differences between the Crescent Royal Family and the Church were currently even greater than her own.

Even if Charlotte spread her faith, she wouldn’t do so openly at this stage. As long as the Holy Court didn’t notice, she could carry out her mission secretly. Meanwhile, Louis V’s well-known determination to weaken the Church’s power and strengthen the monarchy worked in her favor.

The Holy Court was the largest religious force in the world of Myria, boasting many high-ranking and Legendary clerics. However, the Holy Court’s control over the various nations of Myria wasn’t as strong as one might imagine.

If it were, there wouldn’t be kingdoms like Coria, secretly controlled by bloodbornes with the tacit approval of the Holy Court, or “rebels” like Louis V, who directly challenged ecclesiastical authority.

Continuing to rely on the Church would make her a thorn in the side of the Crescent Royal Family. The Church, seeking to strengthen its influence or “support” her, might send more priests to the North.

But if she sided with the King…

The royal family would not only bestow numerous benefits upon her but also serve as a shield against the Church. In matters like the deployment of priests, the royal family’s reaction might be even more vehement than Charlotte’s.

Charlotte might not even need to act, the royal family would step in to block the Church.

This was quite likely.

After all, Charlotte was known as a devout Holy Believer and even had the title of “unauthorized Saintess.”

Even if she had disagreements with the Church, the royal family would guard against her aligning too closely with the Church and resolving their conflicts. The royal family could woo her, but so could the Church.

As for the possibility of future centralization efforts targeting her… Charlotte wasn’t worried.

Louis V was indeed an ambitious monarch with more control over the Crescent Kingdom than any previous king. However, compared to the “Sun King” of historical record who successfully centralized power, Louis V faced far more challenges and difficulties.

He had to deal with more powerful noble forces, a more influential Church, and the actual Gods behind the Church.

Not to mention, there was Louis V’s age to consider.

The Star-Moon War had been fought intermittently for over eighty years, and it had been more than ten years since the last ceasefire. Over a hundred years had passed, and Louis V was already over seventy.

In the world of Myria, the lifespan of extraordinary beings was no different from ordinary people. No matter how powerful one was, they would still die when their time came. Even though Louis V was a Legendary and long-lived, based on the average lifespan in Myria, he wouldn’t last much longer.

Ten years at most, but Charlotte didn’t think Louis V could subjugate the nobles within that time.

Nobles weren’t pushovers either, they would resist if pressured too hard.

Louis V might not be able to establish an “absolute monarchy” in the Crescent Kingdom with his own power, though his successor might. However, that would require his successor to continue his policies and possess equal capability.

But that wasn’t Charlotte’s concern.

In essence, Charlotte wasn’t truly loyal to the King, she sought to divert pressure from the Church and find a scapegoat and shield.

In ten years, Charlotte estimated she might truly ascend to Godhood.

The meeting ended smoothly, and it was noon.

In high spirits, Louis V invited Charlotte to stay for lunch at the Crescent Palace.

This was another notable difference between Myria and medieval Earth, where nobles typically had two meals a day, and commoners often only had one. In Myria, three meals a day had long been the norm for nobles.

Charlotte accepted the invitation.

The Crescent Royal family’s lunch was lavish, even more so than the Castell family’s. The food was delicious, prepared by top chefs from across the kingdom, with fresh ingredients transported directly by magic from various regions.

Remarkably, over 80% of the ingredients were extraordinary materials—meat from magical beasts, vegetables from magical plants, and even the bread contained magic.

Charlotte enjoyed the meal immensely.

Besides King Louis V, the Crescent Queen also joined the meal.

The Queen, much younger than Louis V, appeared to be around forty. According to Charlotte’s knowledge, this was Louis V’s third wife and the only one without children.

As for the Second Prince of Crescent, he was said to be studying in the Cathedral and did not attend the meal.

“Hmph, what a rebellious son! As a prince, he’s uninterested in governance but runs off to the Church daily! A disgrace to Valva!”

While having dessert, Louis V chatted with the two and grumbled.

Charlotte made no comment.

With the First Prince dead in the Star-Moon War and the Third Prince recently executed, Louis V only had the Second Prince left.

Unfortunately, the Second Prince had no interest in governance and was obsessed with theology.

Many conservative nobles in the kingdom liked the Second Prince, but Louis V was not among them.

Clearly, Louis V was dissatisfied with his primary heir.

“Francois is still young. He will understand your intentions as he grows older.”

The Queen gently advised.

“Young? He’s thirty-five! At this rate, he’s unfit to inherit the throne!”

Louis V expressed his displeasure.

Charlotte listened without speaking.

She was thinking about what Louis V’s words implied.

Louis V’s dissatisfaction with the Second Prince was well-known throughout the kingdom.

Many nobles believed that after the fall of the Third Prince, even if the King was unhappy with the Second Prince, he had no choice but to let him ascend. But now it seemed… Louis V did not share this view.

Charlotte understood that Louis V’s complaints were actually meant for her ears.

More precisely, through her, he was addressing the nobles.

Even with the Third Prince executed, the Second Prince would not be named heir!

Could it be that Louis V intended to find a successor from a collateral branch of the Valva family?

Charlotte pondered this.

At that moment, she considered possible candidates from the collateral branches of the Valva family.

The Valva family had dwindled in number, and even including distant relatives, there weren’t many candidates. She could think of only a few likely contenders.

For instance, the Duke of Moonshield, John de Anro, who was a posthumous child of the previous king, or Louis V’s nephews who had been granted the title of count.

These royal nobles mostly supported centralization, but it remained unclear which one Louis V favored.

Clearly, Louis V was sending a message to the nobles: don’t count on backing the Second Prince to decentralize power.

However, Charlotte was puzzled.

Given Louis V’s strong stance and his emphasis on strengthening central authority, had he never considered grooming a suitable heir to carry out his vision?

Charlotte sensed something amiss.

…

After having lunch with the royal family, Charlotte took her leave of the palace.

She did not mention the future inheritance of the Castell family following her vow of celibacy, nor did Louis V ask.

This could be considered a mutual understanding.

The Valva family had dwindled, but the Castell family had only Charlotte as its sole heir.

Other families that had intermarried with the Castells might have claims to the North, but claims diminish over generations. The first generation holds the strongest claim, the second weaker, and by the third, it often isn’t recognized.

By the fourth generation… it becomes entirely void.

Most of the Castell family’s intermarriages happened in Charlotte’s grandfather’s generation. Her father’s generation had few members, with only one aunt married into the Borde family.

This meant that while many nobles held claims to the Castell family, either they were too old or their claims had weakened to insignificance.

Charlotte, being young, had a long life ahead of her. As long as she outlived those strong-claim distant relatives, the Castell family would eventually have no bloodline heirs.

Charlotte, now a royal vassal, would see the king reclaim titles and lands once the Castell line ended without other claimants. This was likely why Louis V could accept the Castell family for now.

As long as Charlotte remained celibate, the North would eventually fall to the Valva family. As long as the Castell family’s intermarried relatives lived, the King would not harm Charlotte and might even need to protect her.

Until… Charlotte eventually joined the “Divine Realm.”

After leaving the palace, Charlotte reunited with the long-waiting Sebastian. Seeing Charlotte, the elven butler breathed a sigh of relief.

“Master, you’ve finally come out.”

“Why? Were you worried I wouldn’t come out?”

Charlotte joked.

Sebastian scratched his head.

“Not exactly, but the King is, after all, a legendary figure, so there was some concern…”

Charlotte smiled.

“No need to worry, everything went smoothly. No, it went more than smoothly.”

With that, Charlotte briefly explained her “agreement” with Louis V.

Upon hearing this, Sebastian’s eyes lit up.

“Full protection? Does that mean… when the Nez Clan attacks the Starfall Kingdom, we can directly intervene and reject the church’s armed forces without fearing church pressure?”

Charlotte nodded.

“Naturally. The matter of taking the blame can be left to our great king.”

Charlotte had an alliance with the Nez Clan to support their reclaiming control over the Starfall Kingdom and driving out the church, in exchange for the Roman Duchy title and lands.

This support was not only material but also political, inevitably offending the church.

However, with Louis V’s direct protection, it was different.

If the church targeted a count under a duke, it could be justified, and the King would only watch and perhaps condemn it. After all, “the vassal of my vassal is not my vassal.”

But for a royal vassal…

Given Louis V’s attitude towards the church, he would likely be happy to take the blame in this matter.

Thinking of Louis V’s strong stance against the church, Charlotte had a thought.

“Sebastian, how many Legendaries does the Valva family have? Are there any hidden forces?”

Sebastian paused, then thought.

“I don’t think so. The only Legendary figure should be the King. I haven’t heard of any hidden forces.”

“Strange. Then how does Louis V have the confidence to directly oppose the Church? Lutecia Diocese alone has three Legendary clerics.”

“Master, more precisely, the king is opposing the Crescent Diocese, not the entire Holy Court. The Holy Court and the Crescent Diocese are two different things. This involves the internal division of the church.”

“Oh? Tell me more.”

Charlotte showed interest.

The church’s texts never discussed its dark history, and she admitted she was genuinely curious now.

Sebastian pondered, then explained.

“Master, this dates back to the reform of the Holy Legion by the Holy Court centuries ago.”

“At the height of the Holy Court’s power, its strongest force was the Holy Legion, which conquered any enemy before it. The Holy Legion was directly controlled by the Theocracy, enabling the Holy Court to dominate the continent and divide it into numerous dioceses.”

“However, over time, maintaining the Holy Legion became increasingly costly, and it grew corrupt. Eventually, the Theocracy had to reform it into local judgment forces.”

“Since then, the Theocracy could no longer suppress the dioceses. Although the Holy Court remained powerful overall, the internal power distribution had drastically changed, with dioceses rising and the Theocracy declining.”

“Today, while the Theocracy is still the leader of the Holy Court, dioceses have evolved into semi-independent ecclesiastical fiefdoms…”

“This is why the King dares to act against the Crescent Diocese. As long as it doesn’t affect the core interest of ‘faith’, the Theocracy is happy to see the dioceses weakened.”