The Path to Lordship Begins in the North

Meanwhile, in the capital city, Lilith met with the Pope of the Cult of the Holy Spirit at the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit's Rest.

"His Majesty the Pope."

Lilith instinctively used the etiquette she had when she was still a saint, but the Pope did not dare to accept it and instead used the etiquette she had used when meeting the king.

However, as long as neither of them feels awkward, it's others who will feel awkward.

"Your Majesty, how have you been lately?"

Although the old pope addressed himself as "Your Majesty," his tone was more like that of a grandfather concerned about his granddaughter who had just entered society.

"Everything is fine. The recent reforms have been progressing exceptionally smoothly, thanks to the strong support of the Pope and the cardinals."

After saying that, Lilith touched the lantern at her waist. She was no longer a saint and seemed to no longer be qualified to use the lantern, but the Pope did not seem to have any intention of taking it back.

The Pope noticed Lilith's actions and simply said, "Let's leave it with His Majesty."

Thinking of the strange cause of Augustine III's death, Lilith nodded.

The Church of the Goddess of Light has been unusually low-key lately, seemingly staying out of the turmoil in the capital. However, some observant people will find that the Church of the Goddess has been providing assistance behind many of the reforms in the capital.

For example, many pilot programs were launched in areas with a large number of believers, making it hard not to suspect that Her Majesty the Queen still has ties with the Church of Christ.

However, this is not surprising. Not to mention that Lilith was a saint before she ascended the throne, Augustine III had many collaborations with the Cult of Goddess from the beginning.

Lilith even regarded the Church of Goddess as her own home, and would go to the church to pray whenever she sensed danger.

Although Lilith, like the old Pope, was not very devout.

The Church of the Goddess of Light is no longer as glorious as it once was, and now it can only rely on the monarchy. However, as long as the old pope is willing, the Church's widespread influence remains a force to be reckoned with.

Unbeknownst to everyone, the old pope was taking advantage of the Queen's reforms to continuously push for internal reforms within the church, making it more secular.

"Your Majesty, what are your thoughts on the religious reforms we are currently undertaking?"

Although the church was decorated in a holy atmosphere and surrounded by devout believers who faithfully watched over the Pope and Queen, and everything seemed to be thriving, Lilith detected a hint of helplessness in the old Pope's tone.

"It was far more successful than my aristocratic reforms."

Lilith gave a wry smile. There were some real red lines that could not be crossed in aristocratic reforms. Once crossed, no matter how high Lilith's prestige was, it would only turn into a revolution against herself.

The old pope shook his head. The king was gradually losing control over the feudal nobles, and so was the church.

Traditional religious thinking is no longer applicable. After the split, the Church of the Goddess of Light can only submit to the monarchy and is gradually weakening. Now the Vatican must find a new way out, especially after the goddess no longer responds to believers.

The old pope's approach was to leverage the fact that the Church of the Goddess of Light was the most widespread belief among humankind, continuously secularizing it and weakening the concept of a central papacy.

This is tantamount to the old pope voluntarily relinquishing his power and returning faith to the believers. Although his power has decreased, he has gained corresponding influence. However, the old pope is not particularly concerned about the power he holds; ensuring the continuation of the church is now his top priority.

The old pope even wanted to open up the interpretation of the goddess's scriptures, that is, to return the right of interpretation to the general public, but this was met with strong opposition from within the Vatican.

Once it is open, many heretical doctrines will have a basis, especially the small Vatican that split off.

After a moment of silence, the old pope took out a reform plan from his pocket and handed it to Lilith.

"This is?"

"It's a religious reform plan for gray and white-collar workers."

The old pope looked into the distance.

"I'm sorry, Your Majesty, but to be honest, we are no longer able to control most of the churches in the North. Those churches have basically broken away from the control of the central papacy, and they now operate under a different system, making it difficult for us to interfere."

"It's not your fault."

Lilith comforted the old pope, saying that the blame should really be placed on Augustine III, since he was the one who first started the reckless pursuit of the North and abandoned the Basilica of Our Lady of Salvation, which left most of the churches in the North in a semi-independent state at that time.

After quickly glancing at the religious reform proposal from the gray-collar workers, Lilith put the report down.

Aren't you even a little bit shocked?

The old pope was somewhat surprised to see Lilith's calm and composed face, but he quickly became pleased. It seemed that Lilith had cultivated the ability to not show her emotions, making her a qualified queen. Even without religious protection, she probably wouldn't do too badly.

When Lilith heard the old pope say this, she could only smile awkwardly. Was she supposed to say that she had seen a similar reform plan before?

After all, it's similar to the regulations governing religion in the previous life.

Although some of the regulations seemed outrageous to the old pope, Lilith found them entirely expected. The most surprising thing was that the other party actually dared to play these games in a world where there are real gods, and that the devout heroine actually agreed to them.

But to be honest, Lilith is still very envious. Although divine power is still under the control of the monarchy, Lilith's monarchy is not stable and is fundamentally different from that of the gray-collar workers.

The church of the gray-collar workers has been completely integrated into the gray-collar workers' management system, unlike the current central papacy and the king in the capital, which are two separate systems.

"This reform plan has many aspects worth considering. For example, it eliminates the need for religious personnel to conduct internal investigations and instead incorporates them into the territory's oversight system, turning the church into a semi-administered agency, completely subservient to the lord."

The old pope flipped through the reform plan page by page on the table. Although Lilith felt that what the old pope was saying was a bit too shocking, he was indeed a pope who, like herself, was not very devout to the goddess.

“Some of the governor’s ideas coincide with mine. For religions without divine response, secularization is the only way out. If we can implement the same reforms, it will be of great help to His Majesty. However, to carry out these reforms, we need a strong king and a stable country.”

The old pope looked up at Lilith and continued, "Unfortunately, I may not live to see that day. I have made some annotations on this reform plan. If that day ever comes, Your Majesty, I hope you will protect the Church of the Goddess of Light according to this reform plan."

After saying this, the old pope pulled out a thick stack of annotations, which were even thicker than the original reform plan.

After looking at it for a while, Lilith felt that the annotation in her hand was extremely heavy. The old pope not only summarized the religious plan implemented by the gray and white collars, but also analyzed for Lilith how to carry out reforms based on the current situation of the kingdom.

Many of these methods would be beneficial even for the reforms Lilith is currently pushing forward.

In these annotations, the old pope even analyzed the psychology of some religious figures quite thoroughly, which made Lilith sigh that it was no wonder the old pope was not devout at all.

He did not believe in the goddess, but rather in the teachings of the goddess that instruct people to be united and loving.

"In some chivalric novels, a pope like myself is always the villain. To be honest, I can't blame those authors. After all, the former Papacy did indeed... did indeed violate the goddess's canon, and it was both heretical and involved in religious wars. In the end, it even split itself apart. It's really hard to talk about."

"But I hope that, at least starting with me, the Vatican can return to the image it had in its original scriptures, the image that the goddess desired."

After saying that, the old pope revealed the real reason why he had summoned Lilith today.

"Your Majesty, the Holy See has decided to officially bestow the title of Saintess upon Flora of the North."

This is tantamount to cooperating with Lilith to set things right, and also helping Lilith to create cards out of thin air, thus showing goodwill to the gray-collar workers.

"And also, restore your title of Saintess."

Lilith was startled upon hearing this.

"Are you serious?"