Free Web NovelThe noble gold and holy silver intertwined like living vines, pure white petals blooming upon them, every strand of stamen radiating a gentle, sacred glow.
It was dazzlingly beautiful, yet brought no sense of pressure at all. It was like a handful of warm water poured down from the heavens; simply by looking at it, one could feel their soul being cleansed.
This was the crown bestowed by the Goddess, bathed in Her grace for a thousand years.
It was also a floral crown that had grown in the mortal world, because it was the most prominent symbol of the Church Saintess’s identity, entrusted with the devout faith of countless believers.
In a certain sense, this floral crown’s importance to the Church and its believers was even greater than the scepter in His Holiness the Pope’s hand.
After all, the Pope’s scepter represented supreme authority, and would only make people submit and fear.
But this holy crown was what truly represented the Goddess’s mercy.
Yet now, that “mercy,” incomparably important to countless people...
Seemed as if it were about to be viciously thrown to the ground like a broken toy in the hands of some brat.
Yes.
Thrown just like that onto that filthy, dust-covered, sullied...
Ground.
“Wh-what are you doing?!”
Cardinal Clemens widened his cloudy eyes. The steadiness accumulated over a hundred years was utterly useless at this moment. When he saw that the floral crown had already been lifted to its highest point by Liya, it was as though his own soul had been thrown high into the air as well. His withered body trembled as if it might fall apart at any second.
“St-stop! Your Holiness, stop!”
Had Clemens not only just awakened from the Holy Coffin, his body still not yet recovered enough to move freely, and had he not feared offending Her Holiness the Saintess, he might already have thrown himself forward directly to stop Her Holiness’s foolish act!
The other cardinals were frozen on the spot.
Because even after living for so long, when had they ever seen such a sight?
That was the Holy Crown!
It was the symbol of the Goddess walking among mortals, the symbol of Her Holiness the Saintess’s identity!
How could she smash it as casually as an ordinary cup during an argument?
Also, what had Her Holiness the Saintess just said?
She said she would not be...
The Saintess anymore?
“Your Holiness! Do you... do you understand what you are saying?”
“Of course I do.”
Seeing the cardinals react so intensely, Liya’s raised hands instead steadied, letting the floral crown remain suspended in midair.
But her eyes had grown visibly redder, even brimming with tears. Her puffed-out cheeks also made her look like a flailing little pufferfish, wronged and pitiful.
“But just as I said earlier, I already believe I no longer have the qualifications to be the Saintess. The Saintess... I won’t be her anymore. This floral crown... I don’t want it either!”
“......”
Whether she had the qualifications or not was one thing...
Could she first put down the Saintess’s Crown and talk properly?!
Clemens nearly lost his temper outright. As an “old relic” who had lived for an extremely long time, he had experienced several generations of Saintesses. But which Saintess had ever tried to smash the Saintess’s Crown onto the ground? And which Her Holiness the Saintess had ever treated the dignified “position of Saintess” so casually?
Saying she did not want it, and then not wanting it?
Did she truly think this was just an ordinary floral crown?
“Your Holiness, calm down!”
“I am very calm!”
“If there is something to discuss, we can discuss it properly...”
“Wasn’t I already discussing it properly? But... what use is that?”
Liya sniffled. Her lovely little face looked so wronged that one’s heart seemed ready to break with just a glance.
“Since I can’t rewrite the Church’s rules, and I also can’t stop such a tragedy from happening, what use is there in me being the Saintess? Since I am useless, why should I keep occupying this position? I might as well step down on my own.”
“Your Holiness, whether you are useful or not is not for you alone to decide... and the position of Saintess is absolutely not something to be treated so childishly. Please...”
“I’m not being childish!”
Liya raised her voice and said righteously, “In the holy canon, the Saintess’s duty is to guide believers, while also spreading the Goddess’s grace and mercy as the Goddess’s representative walking among mortals.
“But I have neither properly guided the believers nor been able to display mercy. According to the holy canon, am I not already unfit to be Saintess? Since I am unfit, isn’t it only natural for me to step down?”
“This...”
Clemens choked.
As part of the Church’s “foundation,” and even as one of the “weavers” of certain doctrines in that holy canon, he naturally understood the canon’s details better than anyone.
And precisely [N O V E L I G H T] because of that, he was now trapped in the same awkward position Liya had been trapped in earlier.
...The other party was completely correct. There was nothing wrong with her reasoning at all.
As the Saintess, if she sat by and watched a tragedy happen right before her eyes without doing anything—regardless of whether the victims were believers or nonbelievers—that could indeed be considered dereliction of duty to some extent.
Because in the Church’s teachings, the Goddess’s kindness and compassion...
Were equal.
This was reasonable, lawful...
And in accordance with the holy canon.
“Your Holiness... some matters cannot be generalized.”
Clemens’s cheek twitched. Nothing in the world was more ironic than the weapon he had just thrown out immediately turning into a boomerang and flying back to strike him right in the forehead.
But naturally, he would not give up his position so easily either. They were all shrewd old foxes. He naturally understood that Her Holiness the Saintess was doing this simply because she was dissatisfied with his decision just now.
That was right.
She was pretending.
She was forcing herself!
How could there be anyone in this world who did not care about the lofty position of Saintess? How could there be anyone who did not care about a floral crown that allowed one to receive the Goddess’s grace from the closest distance?
“Leaving aside regulations for the moment, the position of Saintess is of great importance. It is not something you can simply discard because you say so. Countless believers have already recognized you. How could they allow you to step down just because you say you will? Please calm down first. After this matter passes, we can discuss it properly...”
“I really am very calm!”
Liya interrupted Clemens. Her delicate brows drew together slightly, making one feel heartache, while that resolve clearly came from the depths of her heart.
“Rest assured, Cardinal Clemens. The responsibility for this matter lies entirely with me. I will explain things to the believers. My stepping down has nothing to do with the Church, and nothing to do with you, Cardinal Clemens.
“I simply failed to complete the duty the Goddess entrusted to me and failed to stop this tragedy from happening. I am stepping down because I am incompetent and ashamed. I absolutely will not put any pressure on you, nor am I threatening you.”
Liya’s voice was gentle and sorrowful, so pitiful that anyone would feel for her.
“All fault lies with me!”
“......”
Wasn’t this fucking threatening him?
Clemens’s entire body went numb. Though he had only recently emerged from the Holy Coffin, he knew that this Saintess, whose honored name was “Purity,” now fully possessed the popularity and prestige a Saintess ought to have.
That popularity and prestige had already, to a certain extent, fused her with the word “Saintess” itself.
So once she said this, even if she had voluntarily thrown away the position of Saintess, Clemens would still be drowned in the believers’ spit.
Stepping down because she was incompetent and ashamed?
Who was she fooling?
Her Holiness the Saintess was so kind, so noble and flawless. She must have been forced down by you rigid old bastards!
As for how he, a cardinal who had just crawled out of a coffin, could force away the Saintess, whose status in the Church was second only to His Holiness the Pope...
The believers would not care about such details.
Clemens understood the believers’ fanaticism and foolishness far too well.
And now it seemed Her Holiness the Saintess understood them very well too.
“Your Holiness, I guarantee that this admonishment will be very gentle.”
Clemens finally could not quite withstand it anymore and began moving his previously never-yielding “principles” slightly backward.
“The tragedy you speak of definitely will not occur. Therefore, your so-called dereliction of duty is merely...”
“Oh? Gentle? How gentle?” Liya continued to bite down without relaxing, pressing him further.
“......”
How else could it be gentle?
If they wanted to make a believer abandon their original faith, could words alone possibly do it?
If conflicts between faiths were so easy to resolve, there would not have been so many “holy wars” in human history!
Therefore, the so-called concession in handling it was merely not making the scene so ugly, making the “admonishment” a little more subtle, a little more merciful, a little more passable on the surface...
As for the result...
The Black Sun Cult absolutely could not be permitted to exist.
That was inevitable!
This truly could not be conceded!
“Please rest assured, Your Holiness. We will handle it appropriately.”
“How appropriately? You’ve been talking for so long, where are the details?”
“The method will be studied further... Please be patient, Your Holiness...”
“So you still aren’t willing to let those poor believers go?”
“...This concerns the Church’s dignity and prestige. It is not something that can be changed so easily.”
“So in the end, Cardinal, you are still trying to fool me?”
Liya lifted the floral crown higher again...
Higher...
And higher...
“In that case, I have no other choice. Aside from resigning from the position of Saintess to take responsibility, how else can I answer to the many believers, and to the Goddess who has always been watching me? Everyone, farewell. I shall now...”
“...Enough!!!”
After a brief silence, Clemens finally could no longer suppress his anger, and his attitude suddenly made a complete one-eighty.
A moment ago, he had been shrinking back submissively, but after submitting for so long, Her Holiness the Saintess was still pressing him relentlessly. What else could he do? Of course he could only harden his spine.
Of course, he also had the capital to do so.
If Her Holiness the Saintess truly stepped down like this, the result would absolutely not be something a single cardinal like him could bear.
But that was impossible!
Even now, Clemens still did not believe that the young girl before him...
Liya Angel...
Would truly give up her position as Saintess so easily.
Absolutely impossible!
Because that was the Saintess!
The lofty Saintess, revered by countless believers!
No one could easily give up such a high position, such a qualification to be admired by millions!
She was merely using this matter to pressure him.
But pressuring him once or twice was one thing. Again and again and again—did she truly think he would keep yielding forever?
Even if she was Her Holiness the Saintess, even if her status was noble, this matter concerned principle. He, Clemens...
Would never truly yield!
Even if these old bones scattered here, he never would!
“Your Holiness! Please stop being so childish. How long do you intend to throw a child’s tantrum here—”
Whoosh—
Clemens’s roar came to an abrupt halt.
Of course, this was not because he realized how disrespectful it was to roar at Her Holiness the Saintess.
It was because he heard the sound of air being torn apart.
At the same time, he also saw Her Holiness the Saintess not far away directly throw down the floral crown in her hands.
Clemens’s eyes gradually widened once more.
His eyes were already very cloudy. Those were the marks left by time. Yet at this moment, they clearly reflected the scene happening not far away.
The floral crown fell from on high like a shooting star.
She threw it...
She really threw it...
She really threw that holiest and purest floral crown, the symbol of the Saintess’s identity, toward the ground!
“No!!!”
Clemens had never imagined that his already decaying self could actually unleash such a full-bodied roar of anger.
Nor had he ever imagined that this body, though still retaining a few traces of the strength it had possessed at its peak, but already incomparably aged, could burst out with such unimaginable potential.
By the time he reacted, he had already crossed the long conference table in an instant and arrived at Her Holiness the Saintess’s feet.
His hands spread open.
At the critical instant, by the narrowest of margins...
He caught the floral crown.
The distance was not particularly long, but combined with the fact that Liya had truly used no small amount of strength when throwing it down, Clemens’s speed could only be called formidable!
“As expected of the Church’s foundation.”
To the side, Archbishop Ision looked at the long table that had been directly smashed into powder by the high-speed charge just now and sighed emotionally.
“Impressive!”
“Wow.”
Even the Judgment Archbishop, the strongest one present, could not help clapping, letting out a tiny gasp of admiration.
“What a fast kneeling slide!”
“......”
Kneeling on the ground, both knees scraping against the floor and plowing two deep trenches into it, Cardinal Clemens raised his head.
He looked at the floral crown in his hands, then looked at Liya, who had poked her curious little head out above him to look down.
His pale lips...
Trembled uncontrollably.
“You... you really threw it!”
“What else?”
Liya puffed out her cheeks and whispered, “Did you really think I wouldn’t dare? Anyway, even if I don’t become the Saintess, someone will still support me.”
“......”
For the first time in his life, Clemens felt the urge to cry.
For a hundred years, he had been known for being cold and severe. Under his cold severity, whether it was the previous Her Holiness the Saintess or certain archbishops in charge of great cathedrals, there had been times when they yielded on some matters.
But now, for the first time, he also felt that his cold severity was utterly useless.
Because the other party simply did not care.
“You are Her Holiness the Saintess. How can you...”
“How many times do I have to say it?”
Liya planted both hands on her waist and said as if it were only natural,
“It is precisely because I cannot stop disaster from happening that I feel ashamed and guilty, and believe I do not have the qualifications. That is why I want to step down. Don’t use the name of Saintess to pressure me. As you can see, I am unworthy!”
“......”
Fine, Her Holiness the Saintess.
You are invincible.
Clemens was truly speechless in every sense, because he realized that in this exchange, he had lost.
Lost terribly.
Because he could not truly let Her Holiness the Saintess step down like this.
The consequences of that would be far more terrifying than allowing some tiny Black Sun Cult to grow.
“I understand. Regarding the method of handling the Black Sun Cult, I will reconsider.”
“Really?” Liya’s eyes lit up.
“Given the current situation, do I still have a second choice?”
Cardinal Clemens drooped his head in defeat. The other cardinals shook their heads, exchanged glances, and could only accept this result as well.
Since Clemens had already ended up like this, they did not dare continue playing with Her Holiness the Saintess under these circumstances.
They had thought this was the perfect moment for them to appear and purge the Church’s atmosphere.
But they had not expected...
Before they could even display their abilities, they had already thrown out their backs onstage.
In the end, it was the age of the young now...
“Thank you so much! Clemens, you really are a good person!”
“...Please spare me the words ‘good person.’”
Clemens slowly rose and looked at Liya, his gaze...
Carrying “resentment.”
“Your Holiness the Saintess, our argument is one matter and this is another. But no matter what, you truly cannot throw it!”
Feeling the warm touch of the floral crown in his palm, Clemens felt incomparably heartbroken. In his eyes, how was throwing the floral crown like this any different from directly tearing up the original holy canon?
Blasphemy!
This was simply blasphemy!
If something had truly happened to it, what would they do if the Goddess sent down punishment?
“Don’t worry.”
Who could have expected that Liya would simply wave her hand with an indifferent expression?
“I’ve tested it. This floral crown can’t be broken by throwing it at all, and it’s very useful for cracking walnuts too!”
“......”
Tes...
Tested it?
Can...
Can’t be broken?
And what else...
Cracking walnuts?
Clemens froze.
He stared blankly at the floral crown in his hands. Its luster was bright and flawless, and it indeed looked completely undamaged.
But...
“You... you’ve thrown it before?” Clemens looked at Liya in disbelief. “And used it to crack walnuts?”
“Ah, I let that slip... no, wait, what are you talking about?”
Liya abruptly put on a stern face and quickly placed the floral crown back atop her head.
At this moment, she no longer looked anything like she had when she was “throwing a tantrum” earlier. Her every word and movement was noble and elegant, without a single flaw.
“Bold Clemens, are you slandering a Saintess crowned with the name of Purity? Believe it or not, I’ll punish you for disrespect right now and make you clean every latrine in the entire cathedral.”
“......”
