When Charlotte looked at the old priest in front of her and said shyly that her heart belonged to someone else, the entire banquet fell into an eerie silence.
"You, you, you...Castle! Do you know what you are talking about!"
"That's a priest! He's also a bad old man!"
"Are you crazy!?"
A young male noble's eyes widened and he couldn't help shouting.
After hearing his words, the girl's eyes also widened. Her pure blue eyes were full of doubts and disbelief, and her reddish cheeks hinted at shame:
"Your Excellency Jordan...what are you talking about? How rude!"
After saying that, Charlotte looked forward again, her hands clasped together, her expression pious and pure, her soft and charming voice full of the simplest yearning and enthusiasm:
"What I mean is that my heart has long belonged to the great God, to the supreme holiness..."
Seeing the girl looking at him again, Raoul's eyes twitched.
However, when his peripheral vision glanced at the wall behind him, his heart suddenly moved slightly, and he quickly stepped aside quietly.
Charlotte's eyes did not change.
When the nobles followed the girl's line of sight and looked carefully, they discovered that what she was looking at was the old priest Raoul. It was clearly the mural behind Raoul!
To be more precise, it was a religious decorative painting depicting the god Harald creating a new world after the great flood that destroyed the world.
The young noble who stopped the girl was stunned for a moment, his face turned red instantly, and he wanted to find a crack in the ground to crawl in.
Charlotte, on the other hand, drew a standard cross on her chest and recalled with a happy and pious expression:
"When something like that happened that night, I was really frightened, scared...and desperate..."
"It was the knights of the church who rescued me and brought light to me in the darkness."
"When I was in the mission hospital, Lord Raoul and Lord Lottie would chat with me every day."
"In the process of communicating with them, I was confused and deeply felt the greatness and holiness of the Lord of God..."
"I think... the Castel family must have committed too many unforgivable crimes, so as the heir, I will suffer such a terrible disaster."
"However, even so, God is still willing to forgive me, God is still willing to accept me, God is still willing to save me..."
"After I was discharged from the hospital, I would have in-depth discussions with the priests every day to discuss our Lord's teachings."
"And as I get to know more deeply, I feel more and more the majesty of my Lord, and I feel more and more the vastness of the divine radiance..."
"From that time on, the black and white world took on new colors. I saw the light, I saw the future, I saw my true destination..."
"My heart...has long belonged to the great holiness."
As she spoke, the girl leaned forward slightly and bowed respectfully to Harald, the Lord of Gods on the mural. Her young voice was extremely respectful and full of sincere gratitude:
"Praise...holy!"
The light of the crystal lamp shines on her body, making her dreamy and colorful.
The beautiful girl wearing a white dress looked pious, like an angel on earth saluting the gods.
Seeing this holy scene, the priests were also touched and looked back with memories. They seemed to recall the yearning and awe, piety and fanaticism that came from their hearts when they worshiped under the light of the Lord for the first time.
"Impossible! This is absolutely impossible! His Majesty the King will never agree! This violates the provisions of the Sacred Code!"
The old count said angrily.
Other nobles also echoed, scolded, cursed, or accused, but all said the same thing, that is, what the girl wanted to do was illegal and unacceptable.
It wasn't until an old voice sounded that everyone became quiet:
"Why...can't?"
It was the high priest who spoke.
This old man who always had a kind smile, the highest cleric of the Principality of Boulder, stopped smiling for the first time.
He glanced at the angry noble and said slowly:
"The Sacred Code does stipulate that the church cannot usurp the land of the nobility."
"But there is no rule that devout believers cannot dedicate their land to the church."
"What's more, that is in the future. Even if the church obtains land, it will only establish a theocratic prefecture. It will not take over the center of the royal court and become part of the theocratic country."
"The theocratic territory is still loyal to the lord and still belongs to the principality and even part of the kingdom."
"Have you forgotten? Three of the twelve principalities under the jurisdiction of the Crescent Kingdom are theocratic principalities."
The high priest's voice was soft and calm.
The angry nobles collectively fell into silence.
Moreover, as one pole of the secular world of Miriam, the church naturally also owns land.
Maybe the gods don't care about the secular land and only care about faith, but the priests who spread the grace of the gods do.
Priests also need to eat, and priests also need funds to preach. Priests are also human beings, and they have their own desires.
The Theocratic State and Theocratic Territory were born in such an environment.
Among them, the Theocratic State is located in the eastern part of Western Union. It was established with the support of Charlemagne I, the founding emperor of the First Empire of Union. The entire country is completely ruled by the Holy Court from top to bottom, and is headed by the Chief of the Holy Court.
The chief priest serves as the leader of the country.
At the same time, it is also the center of the Holy Royal Court.
The theocratic realm is a little different. It is a special form of vassal. It is also called a religious vassal by the nobles. Most of them are established by the country's rulers to gain the support of the church.
The lords of theocratic territories are not nobles, but priests and priests. Depending on the size of the territory, they are usually called lord priests or parish archpriests, and are mostly appointed by the church.
In the world of Miria, theocratic lords are not uncommon. Large and small theocratic lords are located in secular countries. The rulers are almost all priests appointed by the Holy Royal Court, but at the same time they are loyal to the secular lords.
Except that the ruler is a priest, half of the contract tax revenue must be handed over to the clerical state, and the limit of levies provided to the lord is reduced by half, there is no big difference between them and other noble vassals, and because of the "Sacred Code"
According to the regulations, the theocratic leaders will not participate in the battles of secular lords, nor will they take the initiative to expand.
By the way, there are also nobles under the theocratic realm.
However, unless they have the power to appoint religious vassals, the vast majority of rulers in secular countries do not like theocratic rulers. This is not only because theocratic rulers pay half less tax and provide less levies, but also because theocratic rulers
The right to appoint the lords of the territory is controlled by the theocratic state, which results in the monarch lacking sufficient control over the theocratic territory, and it cannot be recovered by conventional means like the aristocratic fiefdom.
The struggle between royal power and divine authority in the world of Miria often revolves around the divine authority.
It is precisely because of this that when it comes to the affairs of the Theocratic Territory, the Holy Royal Court, which has always been a salty fish, will immediately become energetic and refuse to give in.
At this moment, the nobles were completely silent.
Their eyes fell on the holy girl, and for a moment they were not sure whether the other party had really become a fanatical holy believer, or whether she was just using the church as a shield...
"Okay, let's continue with the banquet. These are things for the future. The protagonists today are our Lord Duke and Monsignor Lenore. I haven't given the sacrament to Monsignor Lenore yet."
The high priest smiled slightly and said gently.
The application of the sacrament is a sacred ceremony that every noble must undergo when reaching adulthood, which represents the recognition of the noble status by the gods.
For illegitimate children, it also represents the legalization of official status.
Looking at the smiling high priest, the old Duke's face turned ugly for the first time.