Chapter 153 3 Departure

Chapter 153 -3- Departure

Charlotte didn't know that she had disturbed the statue of the Lord God worshipped in almost the entire Holy Royal Court by "sucking blood" in the "holy ritual".

However, with the keen perception of the blood race, from the surprised expressions of the priests and the whispered discussions of the guests, she soon learned about the changes that had just happened to her.

But unlike the priests and guests, she knew very well that the holy light on her body was not favored by the gods.

To be honest, the vision just now was more like the wrath of the gods.

The dazzling holy light descended on a large scale not to show her the grace of the gods, but to purify her, the "evil pagan".

It was just that Charlotte absorbed the holy light that purified her, which caused everyone to be unable to feel the destructive power contained in the holy light, but only witnessed the brilliance and holiness of the holy light.

"It seems... I have to be more careful when I encounter the divine rituals related to the holy light in the future."

Charlotte thought secretly.

The highest-ranking priest present was Raoul of the second level of Silver Moon.

If there really were priests with blazing sun or even legendary strength here, they might be able to see the truth of the Holy Light coming just now.

After the sacrament ceremony, the atmosphere in the hall became noticeably subtle.

The priests looked at Charlotte with increasingly fiery and dazzling eyes, as if they were looking at a treasure. Even the old priest Raoul couldn't hold back his excitement.

As for the nobles watching the ceremony, their eyes were much more complicated.

There was curiosity, amazement, enthusiasm, emotion, contemplation, and worry...

Especially those representatives from the Castel territory.

With her keen spiritual perception, Charlotte noticed that most of the envoys of these vassal nobles almost all became serious at the same time.

"Charlotte, it seems that your compatibility is really compatible with the Holy Light. I have been performing sacraments for people for more than 30 years, and this is the first time I have seen such a dazzling divine favor. Do you really not consider joining the church?"

The old priest Raoul couldn't help asking again.

Charlotte smiled slightly:

"Thank you for your invitation, Grandpa Raoul."

"But, after all, I am a noble, and I have my own responsibilities and obligations..."

Family members know their own affairs. Charlotte is still clear whether the descending holy light is God's grace or God's anger.

In the Sacred Royal Court that has lasted for thousands of years, there are always capable people who can see her problems. If she really enters the church, it will be like dancing on a tightrope, repeatedly testing the edge of danger...

Even if she wants to fleece the sheep, she won't be so crazy to seek death.

Isn't it nice to stay in her own territory and go to the church to fleece quietly at any time?

Seeing Charlotte's refusal, the old priest nodded regretfully:

"I understand... But, as I said, if you are willing, the door of the church will always be open to you."

After that, he smiled again:

"Okay, let's proceed to the final succession ceremony!"

After the coming-of-age ceremony, it is the succession ceremony of the title.

The succession ceremony of the title can be big or small, and generally there are two steps.

The first step is to take over the scepter symbolizing authority and status from the elders of the family or the lord, which means that she has officially taken over the management of the territory and has become a feudal noble in the true sense.

The second step is to swear an oath under the witness of the holy light and swear allegiance to the lord.

Because Charlotte is the only one left in the Castel family, and the Duke of Borde, the feudal lord, is currently lying in bed and unconscious, the old priest Raoul is still the one who holds the succession ceremony for the girl.

Charlotte knelt on one knee and took the scepter engraved with the Castel family emblem from Raoul, and then swore allegiance to the Borde family emblem temporarily hung on the wall of the hall.

Well, although she doesn't like the Duke of Borde, she still has to go through the necessary procedures.

As for returning to the territory after swearing allegiance, it's that the emperor is far away and no one can control her.

Perhaps the vision of the previous sacrament was too shocking, and the succession ceremony seemed much more low-key and ordinary.

After the ceremony, Charlotte finally officially inherited the territory and became the Earl of Castel.

It doesn't matter whether the Duke of Borde recognizes it or not, the church has already recognized it.

The succession documents have been written. Even if the old Duke who is bedridden is depressed, the Earldom of Castel finally welcomes its new lord.

From today on, other people will no longer call Charlotte Miss Charlotte, but Earl of Castel.

…

The news that Charlotte of Castel officially inherited the title quickly spread throughout the streets and alleys of Borde.

As the leading noble in the Principality of Borde, the news of the handover of the title has always been a topic of conversation.

In addition to the succession of the title, there is the "miracle" in the sacrament ceremony.

Regardless of the truth, a statement that even many priests of Borde believe in has gradually spread in the streets and alleys-

Charlotte of Castel... is the favored one of the Lord Harald, a pure saint protected by the Holy Light.

Especially after the vision of the Holy Ritual and the identity of the only survivor in the Blood Demon case, this statement was further confirmed. It was because she was a pure saint and was protected by the Holy Light that the evil Blood Demon Cult failed to kill the girl...

Charlotte thought it was outrageous, but it was actually made up by this group of funny people.

It is said that after the bedridden old Duke of Borde woke up and learned about this, he started coughing violently again on the spot, coughed up a lot of blood, and fainted directly.

It was rumored that the Duke of Borde was running out of time and could die at any time.

As the Duke of Borde's condition worsened, the situation and atmosphere in Borde City became obviously turbulent and strange.

The nobles were very concerned about the succession of the Duchy of Borde.

Considering that the Duke's illegitimate son Leno voluntarily gave up his inheritance rights and went to East Yunite to set up a mercenary group as a mercenary, and the original first heir, Count Tulip, also "died of illness", the first heir of Borde became the Duke's only daughter Eleanor.

News has come from the capital that the Duke's daughter Eleanor and her husband, the third prince Philip of the Crescent Kingdom, are said to have set off south and are on their way to Borde.

Some Borde nobles who heard the news have even sent people north to greet and greet the arrival of the new master.

It can be said that the Duke of Borde has been too harsh in the past year with the Drunken Dream Salon. Not to mention that he has been abandoned by his friends and relatives, but also that people have left him alone. After he became seriously ill, even the Duke's Mansion has become much quieter, and fewer and fewer nobles have visited him.

It can be predicted that the Borde family, which has controlled the Principality of Borde for 900 years, will probably only last for one more generation at most, and everything will return to the Crescent Royal Family.

However, Charlotte no longer cares about these things.

After officially inheriting the title, she wants to live a comfortable life, stay away from Borde, a place of right and wrong, and no longer participate in the power struggle of the Principality.

She has already thought about it. She will pay the contract tax on time, and the conscription soldiers can also be provided according to the vassal contract. As for the rest... these nobles can do whatever they want, just don't provoke her.

...

The next day.

Charlotte embarked on the journey back to the territory.

When she first crossed into this world, although she had the title of a noble, she was alone. A year later, the number of people who followed her to the territory had exceeded 500.

Among them, nearly 300 people are the escort team of Castel, more than 100 of them are armored extraordinary knights, and the leader is still Baron Sharon.

In addition, there are more than 30 representatives of lower-level nobles from the territory who participated in Charlotte's coming-of-age ceremony, and they will also return with Charlotte.

As for the remaining more than 170 people, they are all the teams that Charlotte has pulled together. She brought all the boys and girls recruited from the outer city with her. In addition, there are some extraordinary people from the Rose Society and several demon knights.

That's right, demon knights.

After Kara left the Demon Hunting Institute, many demon knights chose to resign and leave because they couldn't stand the church and the Inquisition. They were all conquered by Charlotte with money.

This even includes Chatham, the former captain of the Demon Hunting Knights, who is quite friendly with Charlotte, and a first-level extraordinary knight of the Stars.

That is, taking advantage of the chaos in the Bolde Church and Raoul becoming the new high priest of Bolde, Charlotte had the courage to pry into the church.

In addition, Sebastian and Nice will go with Charlotte.

Sebastian is Charlotte's handy butler and the first thug in public, so he must be brought along.

Although the black cat Nice is not very good, he knows a lot of things, and Schrödinger's strength is often unexpected, so Charlotte does not intend to leave it in the church.

However, Charlotte left Quasimodo in Borde.

Quasimodo is not a superhuman, and has never been to the Earldom of Castel. Compared with going to the territory with him, he can play a better role in Borde City.

He will be fully responsible for the family's affairs in Borde, take care of the Castel Manor after Charlotte leaves, and manage the family's business in Borde.

There are more than 500 people, more than half of whom are superhumans, and there are more than 20 people who have entered the rank.

In addition to the Castel family's mighty team, there are also some armed caravans who hope to follow Charlotte and get temporary shelter.

The journey from Boulder City to Castel is long, and it is inevitable to encounter bandits and robbers along the way. When passing through the forest, you may also encounter monsters, which is not safe.

With a powerful caravan like Castel, some armed caravans naturally do not want to miss the opportunity to hitchhike and get temporary shelter.

Of course, this kind of hitchhike needs to be paid.

Charlotte would not think that the money is too much, and she did not refuse.

Adding those small and medium-sized armed caravans, the number of people who finally gathered at the north gate of Boulder City has exceeded a thousand...

From a distance, it looks like a small army.

Below the Duke, only a noble like Castel would make such a big scene to escort the lord home.

"Master, everything is ready, shall we set off now?"

At the city gate, Sebastian, dressed in a tuxedo, saluted Charlotte elegantly and asked respectfully.

Standing under the black parasol held by the maid Shirley, Charlotte, wearing a black and red Gothic dress, looked towards the city gate and shook her head gently:

"Wait a little longer."

Time passed, and more and more residents gathered at the city gate to watch Castel's convoy.

After a long time without seeing the target, Charlotte felt a little regretful and turned around to order the departure.

However, at this moment, the sound of horse hooves came from the direction of the city gate.

Charlotte's heart moved slightly, and she turned around and saw Lottie, wearing a priest's robe, riding a horse and rushing over.

Charlotte's expression suddenly relaxed and she smiled.

Lottie rode her horse and quickly came to the girl.

She got off her horse and said a little apologetically:

"I'm sorry... Xia... Earl, I went to the cathedral to issue the transfer order, so I was a little late."

"Just call me Charlotte."

Charlotte smiled.

"Transfer order? Is it an order to transfer Castell?"

she asked again curiously.

"Yes, after Lord Raoul checked, he found that there were many vacancies for priests in the Earl of Castres, so he helped to issue a transfer order."

Lottie answered.

Charlotte suddenly beamed:

"This couldn't be better."

Lottie worked in the church hospital, and the establishment was not actually considered an official position in the church. Originally, Charlotte was intended to be brought to the territory as a privately hired noble priest.

But now it's different, or better.

With the transfer order, Lottie had a formal church status, which was equivalent to becoming a civil servant of the church.

Taking this as a breakthrough, it is possible for Charlotte to intervene in Castel's church affairs in the future and truly achieve monopolization of power in her own territory.

All I can say is that there are still people who can do things easily.

When Lottie arrived, Charlotte had no intention of staying any longer.

She gave the order to set off in the name of Count Castres.

At the command, the knights got on their horses, and the merchants and nobles boarded the carriage. Charlotte, accompanied by the maid Shirley, entered the most luxurious Castel family carriage in the center of the motorcade. There were eight Starry First Order people around the carriage. The knight follows and guards.

As for the black cat Nice, he wanted to follow Charlotte into the carriage, but the girl picked him up by the scruff of his neck and threw him out. He had to sigh and get into the carriage behind to find some maids and ladies to stick up with him.

Amidst a series of sounds of riding horses, the mighty team started their journey with smoke and dust rising.

Sebastian rode beside Charlotte's carriage.

However, the moment he mounted the horse, his heart suddenly moved, and he couldn't help but glance at the caravan behind the convoy.

"What's wrong?"

Charlotte opened the curtains.

"It's nothing... maybe it's an illusion. I seemed to have sensed a familiar atmosphere just now."

Sebastian looked away and said uncertainly.

On an inconspicuous carriage in the caravan behind Castel's motorcade.

The old woman wearing a gray hood forcibly pulled the girl in, and said with a serious expression:

"Rena, don't look around. We followed you secretly. That person's perception is beyond your imagination. Don't be discovered."

After hearing the woman's words, the girl tilted her head in confusion.

The old woman was stunned for a moment and shook her head:

"No...I didn't mean Sebastian."

As she spoke, she looked towards the center of the motorcade, with a hint of solemnity on her old face:

"I mean... the one he follows."

…

At the same time, in the distant hinterland of the Yunet Empire.

In the Cathedral of the Holy Capital, the center of the Holy Royal Court and the capital of the Theocratic State.

In the brightly lit hall, the chief priest of the Holy Royal Court stood up slowly facing the solemn statue of the god.

He gently put down the sacred scepter in his hand, turned around and looked at the priest who was standing respectfully, and his old voice had a hint of solemnity:

"Reports have come back from all over, and it's not just the Cathedral that is experiencing visions."

"Go and investigate what the source of the vision is."

After receiving the order, the priests respectfully resigned.

The chief officiant turned around again, faced the statue of the god, and devoutly drew the ring cross:

"O Lord, the most merciful..."

"It's you, are you about to wake up?"

Still a two-in-one