Frian Pavone, also known as Frian V, is the current King of the Camella Kingdom, father of Princess Mirexia. His abilities are quite outstanding even among the past kings of Camella. Moreover, his virtues and steadfast faith in the Goddess have earned him the respect and recognition of both domestic and foreign people, as well as the Church of Radiance followers.
Just a week ago, he received a visit request from the Church of Radiance. The Pope stated that the Camella Kingdom has always been a loyal follower of the Church, but recently there has been a lack of communication and interaction.
He hoped to deepen the relationship between the Church of Radiance and the Camella Kingdom, so he sent the Church of Radiance’s Red Cardinal, Silas Handel, with an embassy and gifts to the capital city of Camella, Saint Harren City.
As a devout and faithful follower of the Goddess, Frian V naturally agreed with pleasure and prepared a banquet and ceremonial guard on the scale of welcoming a foreign leader, to show his respect for the Church and the Goddess, as well as the importance he attached to this meeting.
Of course, the Church, which has not had much interaction with the Kingdom, suddenly sent an embassy to visit, definitely not because of the reason of “long-time no greetings.” This is something that everyone tacitly understands.
“I have long heard that Your Majesty is brave and extraordinary, truly living up to your reputation. Your virtues and steadfast faith in the Goddess are well-known far and wide. Therefore, this time, the Pope has asked me to bring the secret silver statue and sacred artifacts cast by the Church as a greeting gift. This humble gift is not much, but I hope Your Majesty will not disdain it.”
“The gifts have already been taken over by the Wrathful Dragon Knights,” Silas said respectfully, holding the Holy Cross.
“This gift is too precious, please convey my thanks to the Pope on my behalf,” Frian V stood up from the throne and greeted the distinguished guest from the Church with a pleasant expression.
“Come, grant lord a seat.”
Two Wrathful Dragon Knights brought a luxurious chair and placed it below the throne, then left. The hall was once again left with only Frian V and Silas.
“The Pope has sent you, Your Eminence, with gifts to visit me from afar, truly making me feel overwhelmed with honor,” Frian V gestured for Silas to sit and speak with him, then he sat back on the crystal-inlaid throne adorned with flying dragons.
“Let me think, since that incident more than ten years ago, the Camella Kingdom has rarely received any decrees or guidance from the Church and the Goddess. In the blink of an eye, so many years have passed, truly making one sigh with emotion,” Frian ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ V sighed with a look of lamenting the changes.
Hearing this, Silas’s eyebrow twitched.
He didn’t know why Frian V suddenly mentioned the incident from more than ten years ago, whether it was intentional or not.
However, regardless of whether there was any hidden meaning, he had to pretend there wasn’t.
“Please forgive me, Your Majesty, all under heaven are believers and followers of the Goddess, and the Pope cannot favor one over the other, right? The Goddess’s decree advocates peace and unity, which has always been the purpose of the Church of Radiance. And the Camella Kingdom has always followed the guidance as a guiding principle to lead the people. With the world at peace, the Church naturally cannot stir up trouble without reason,” Silas smiled and responded to the hidden question in Frian V’s words.
“Stir up trouble without reason? Yes, indeed,” Frian V nodded in agreement and continued along the line of conversation.
“Since that is the case, the Pope, who is always busy for the people and believers, always striving to implement the Goddess’s will, has sent you, Your Eminence, to find me today, surely there is something important to entrust?”
“To be honest with you, this trip I come, besides the Church’s long-time no greetings to the Camella Kingdom, there is also a trivial matter, hoping to get Your Majesty’s approval,” seeing Frian V following his lead, Silas also smiled slightly.
“Oh? What matter does the Pope need my approval for?” Frian V held the scepter, somewhat puzzled. “Your Eminence, please speak freely, if there is anything I can help the Church with, I will not refuse.”
“Haha, as expected of the [Lion] of the Camella Kingdom, Your Majesty’s steadfast faith will surely receive the Goddess’s protection,” Silas smiled and no longer intended to hide anything.
“It’s like this, the Pope recently learned through the priests and branch churches of the Camella Kingdom that the Camella Kingdom seems to have found an ancient book written by the seventh-generation Saintess, Elusa Varelis, in some ruins. May I ask Your Majesty, is this true?” Silas’s expression remained unchanged as he stared into Frian V’s eyes.
“Yes, it is true, the Church’s information is as swift as ever,” Frian did not hide it and readily admitted.
“Then, Your Majesty, you also know that it is a lost ancient book created by the Church of Radiance’s Saintess, right?” Silas continued to ask.
“Of course I know, could it be that Your Eminence has come for this?”
“To be honest, Your Majesty, the Pope is very interested in that lost ancient book left by the Saintess. He believes that if we obtain that ancient book, we can better benefit the believers and better carry out the Goddess’s will. So, the Church’s intention is, if it’s convenient, could the Camella Kingdom return that ancient book to the Church?”
“Of course, we are absolutely not asking the Camella Kingdom to do this for free. Although that ancient book was written by the Saintess, it should indeed belong to the Church of Radiance, but after all, it has been lost for a long time. If not for Your Majesty’s wise decision, this ancient book might never have seen the light of day, let alone be used to benefit all beings.”
“As long as Your Majesty is willing, name the price, and we don’t even need the original, just let our Church’s recorders make a copy,” Silas made it clear, his words almost bordering on soft coercion, and he kept emphasizing that the ancient book was the Church’s property, and no other forces had the right to possess it.
“Your Eminence, I understand your meaning. As followers of the Goddess, our Kingdom is also willing to contribute that ancient book, so that the Pope can use it to benefit more believers. But unfortunately, now is not the time,” Frian V shook his head.
“Not the time?” Silas frowned. “May Your Majesty explain, what does ‘not the time’ mean?”
“That ancient book is incomplete, and it is severely damaged, with very little useful content, making it uninterpretable. But don’t worry, I have already sent my most professional cultural relic restorers to restore it,” Frian V said.
“Regarding this matter, you can leave it to our Church of Radiance. After all, that ancient book is our Church’s property, and we are more professional in restoring it.”
“But currently, it is the most critical moment in the restoration of the ancient book, so it really can’t be handed over at this time. Besides...” Frian V paused, speaking in a doubtful tone.
“If I remember correctly, the Church has already taken everything that should belong to the Church from the Camella Kingdom.”
Hearing this, Silas couldn’t help but frown.
“According to the agreement back then, the Church of Radiance must not trouble Elusa Varelis and can only take the relics from the residence. Since then, the Church has also acknowledged that it has taken everything it should, the sacred artifacts belonging to the Church and the notes and writings of past Saintesses. I remember it was so, right?” Frian V stroked his chin, pretending to ponder.
The implication was clear, stating that since the ancient book was unearthed in the Camella Kingdom, it belonged to the Camella Kingdom.
“Your Majesty is not wrong, but we must not forget that the ancient book was ultimately written by the Radiance Saintess and should belong to the Church,” Silas seemed still unwilling to give up.
“But as far as I know, the Church currently does not have a Saintess, right?” Frian V frowned. “Or am I mistaken?”
“That is true, but...”
“Even if we follow this method of attribution, I think it should belong to the descendant of Saintess Elusa, the only heir of the Varelis family, Elusa Varelis, right?” Before Silas could speak, Frian V continued.
“But Elusa Varelis is now a subject of the Kingdom, and it is not an exaggeration to say that the Varelis family is now a noble family of the Kingdom. So I think it is legally reasonable for the Kingdom to possess this ancient book.”
“...Your Majesty, we can accept any demands, as long as it is something the Church possesses,” Silas was still somewhat unwilling.
“I have also said, currently it is the most critical moment in the restoration of the ancient book. To prevent the wisdom of the past Saintess from being tarnished by later generations, dishonoring the Goddess and the Saintess’s legacy, we cannot interrupt the restoration work at this juncture,” Frian V shook his head.
“Since Your Majesty has made up his mind, I will not persuade further,” hearing this, Silas sighed, seemingly choosing to compromise. “But I must remind Your Majesty, that ancient book is of great importance, and the news may not only have reached the Church, but also other forces, and there may be many dangerous elements among them.”
“Thank you for the reminder, Your Eminence, I will keep it in mind,” Frian V smiled and continued to find a topic to chat with Silas.
After that, Frian V waved his hand, and the two, accompanied by the Wrathful Dragon Knights, went to the banquet to dine.
“Your Eminence, how did it go?” After the banquet, back in the royal hotel, a man in a gray-blue robe inquired.
“Eighty percent chance it’s a no-go,” Silas shook his head.
“Then, are we just going to report back to the Pope like this?”
“That’s the only way, what else can we do? This is their territory, anything we say here is not to our advantage,” Silas’s expression showed a bit more depth, his eyes flickering with obscure light.
“Indeed...”
——
“What? You want to compete for a student council position?!” Fred asked in shock while shuffling cards.
“I say, Vinny, are you sick? When did you become so ambitious? Don’t scare me! Bring back the old Vinny who vowed to laze around with me for a lifetime!”
“Yeah, Vinny, didn’t we agree to laze around together for life? Have you forgotten the bond of our card-playing club so quickly?” (One of the Card mates said.)
Hmph, bond? You mean the bond of buying hundreds of packs and pretending to get lucky, luring me into buying too, only to make me bankrupt and forced to work as a maid in a maid café, then getting tortured by Aesphyra all afternoon?!
“Stop joking, I’m serious this time. I really want to take the exam. Don’t keep me in suspense, do you know the process? If you do, describe it,” with that, Vinny played the only blue card in his deck.
“Hey, not bad, indeed a good card. If I remember correctly, your deck didn’t have this card before, right?” Fred asked.
“Hmph, you can buy cards, but I can’t? I just casually bought a pack the other day and got this,” Vinny bragged without fear of overdoing it, determined to save face, then pretended to sigh helplessly.
“Ah, bad luck, only got one blue card in a pack, unlike you guys, who get at least a gold card, or even a rainbow card, in every pack.”
“Vinny, you got it in one pack? Hey, that’s not bad. Back in the day, my unluckiest pack only had three purple cards, oh, that made me so angry, I never wanted to touch these damn cards again!” another card-playing friend boasted, not to be outdone.
This boast was so exaggerated that it left everyone present speechless.
“Cut the crap, I know you too well. Three purple cards in one pack, and your unluckiest time? I bet you opened hundreds of packs and only got three purple cards, which broke you, right??” another friend immediately teased.
“Pfft! You haven’t seen the world, you don’t know what true blessing from the Goddess of Luck is. Come on, let’s have a match? Today, I’ll beat you to a pulp!” the friend who was exposed got angry.
“Sure, come on, let me show you the [Saintess Elusa] I just got recently, let’s go!”
Saintess Elusa??
Hearing this, Vinny was stunned. Since she’s a Saintess, she must be one of my ancestors, right?
“Hey, Brother Lester, you got a new card? Let me see?” Vinny called out.
“Hoho, of course, I am truly blessed by the Goddess, look! The latest ultra-rare card from the Church faction, [Saintess Elusa], I’ve already got it! Hahaha!” with that, Lester showed off the dazzlingly radiant animated card in his hand.
The character on this card would change with the viewing angle, creating a “moving” sensation. This was the top-tier card of the ultra-rare level.
“Damn it! You jerk! Spill it, how many months’ worth of allowance did you spend?!”
“Keeping it from us brothers, and you actually got it, brothers, today I’m going to beat this show-off to death, who’s with me?!”
“Count me in, let’s beat him up!”
“Tch, it’s nothing, you can live without it, right?!... That said, so annoying!!”
“Hey hey hey, no need to get physical if you can’t handle it! I really got this card in one try, no lie!”
“Spit! Even at death’s door, you’re still stubborn, today I’ll see if your mouth is harder or my fists are harder!”
While these clowns turned into lemons and made a ruckus, Vinny was seriously looking at the card’s design.
It depicted a stunningly beautiful cherry-haired girl in a pure white Saintess gown, her hair braided at the back, the gorgeous light cherry hair swaying in the wind, her hands clasped in prayer, the smile on her lips combined with this posture, like a saint praying for all living beings, even the dazzling sunlight on her could not match her brilliance.
As the angle of light changed, the girl’s posture shifted, she opened those charming peach blossom eyes full of love, and at this angle, Vinny actually felt as if she was looking at him.