Firefly Journey

Monday, the sun was high in the sky, and the weather was nice.

From the moment the first rays of dawn illuminated Prone, devout believers began to enter the church in twos and threes along the streets.

Every Monday is the day the Vatican prays to Julius, as is customary.

On this day, believers pray in the belief that they will receive more protection from the sun god.

The church today is different from the past.

The orderly ranks of papal knights, clad in heavy armor, surrounded the church completely—a sight the people of Prone had never seen before.

Only the nobles in the city could vaguely guess what was going on.

The Vatican has adopted an offensive posture. Who in the city is worthy of such treatment from the Vatican?

The princess's army is outside the city. Could it be because of them?

Various speculations filled the minds of these nobles. While trying to figure out the Papacy's intentions, they were also thinking about how to stay out of this storm.

When the time came, the prayer service officially began, and the familiar faces of the believers noticed that today's pastor was a new face.

In the past, the weekly prayer ceremony was presided over by "Iron Hook" Woz, a man known to all the nobles in the city, but today a young man presided over it.

It's not surprising that they changed priests, since Woz might be unavailable, and it's reasonable to find someone to replace him. But this person is too young, too young to be a priest.

It was Lin Yuanran's first time presiding over a prayer ceremony, and he was very nervous. Fortunately, everything went according to plan and there were no unexpected incidents.

After a two-hour prayer service, the believers gradually left the church. Lin Yuanran took off his pastor's uniform and returned to the back hall of the church.

Woz said, "At this time in the past, Enor would arrive faster than anyone else, eager to let the whole world know that he was Julius's most steadfast follower."

Lin Yuanran couldn't help but chuckle.

The Kingdom of Delos has always been close to the Duchy of Bema, and the Papacy is the de facto controller of the Duchy. Aynor has no choice but to submit to the Duchy, otherwise he would not be able to seize power at all.

For the past few years, every Monday, Enor has arrived at church without fail, rain or shine. Even archbishops like Woz have missed church services for various reasons, but Enor has never been absent.

Was it because he was truly devout?

Of course not. He had to be extremely cautious and humble in every way in order to temporarily secure his safety under the watchful eyes of the Papacy.

He didn't come today.

Why not come?

Woz didn't know either, but Lin Yuanran was quite happy and said, "Who cares if he comes or not. If he doesn't come, we'll go find him."

Woz was taken aback and quickly asked, "What are you going to do?"

Lin Yuanran stood up and said nonchalantly, "I asked you to gather the cavalry of the Kingdom of Delos, not just to let the Delos admire the splendor of my Holy See."

"Gather together, follow me to the royal residence."

Woz didn't know what he was going to do, but since the Pope had spoken in the future, he had no choice but to obey and go out to gather the cavalry.

The heavily armored knights lined up in two rows, their eyes resolute and solemn. Lin Yuanran did not utter a single reprimand and led the way toward the royal residence.

The Dawn Cavalry galloped through the capital of the Kingdom of Delos and soon arrived at Enor's residence, where they lined up in a row.

In the air, the knights riding dragon eagles and griffins stood ready with their spears in hand. As long as Lin Yuanran gave the order, even if this was Ainol's lair and they faced an enemy several times their size, they would immediately charge without hesitation.

Aynor had anticipated the commotion outside the mansion, knowing that the Papacy would send people, but she hadn't expected so many to arrive so quickly.

Enor deliberately didn't go.

He wanted to see what his niece's classmate's purpose was in coming to Prone. His intuition told him that this was not a simple matter, so he decided to use disrespect to see what the person's intentions were.

Things were worse than he had imagined.

Lin Yuanran didn't show up, but stood quietly to the side. Woz looked very angry and his face was very bad. He directly cursed at the guards in front of the mansion.

"Get out of my way! Do you intend to defy the Holy See?!"

The soldiers guarding the gate were all among Aynor's most trusted confidants, so naturally they dared not let anyone pass. With so many Papal knights, even a fool would know that something big was about to happen, so the guards quickly went to report.

Woz launched into a tirade of insults, but he didn't actually intend to storm the government building. His purpose was simply to create a bigger commotion and attract the attention of the surrounding civilians.

In this era where information is mainly disseminated through newspapers, there are certainly many newspapers keeping an eye on the church and the royal residence. What is about to happen will dominate the headlines of various newspapers in the Kingdom of Delos for at least a month.

Upon hearing that the Papal cavalry intended to storm the mansion, Enor came running over as fast as he could. Seeing the heavily armored knights, he immediately realized that this was not a bluff. Could it be... that Claudia's classmate was really willing to interfere in the internal affairs of another country for her sake?

The fact that so many Papal cavalry could be mobilized, and even one of the nine archbishops, "Iron Hook" Woz, was like a powder keg, made him realize that something was very wrong.

It's not as simple as not praying.

Even if he goes, he'll find another reason to come knocking, sooner or later.

Upon seeing Enor leave, Woz immediately questioned, "Your Highness, you have always proclaimed yourself a devout follower of the Sun God, so why are you absent from the ceremony today?"

This is not a sign of piety.

Even knowing that the other party was deliberately provoking him, Ainol had no choice but to swallow his anger. The Holy See of Light was a behemoth, and he, a prince who was not even a king, could not possibly stop it.

"It was chilly last night, and I caught a cold. I felt really unwell, so I couldn't go."

Aino casually made up a reason that was obviously fake.

To Wozniak's surprise, he nodded, seemingly genuinely believing him.

However, it doesn't matter if he believed it or not.

“I think that’s a good reason, but I still need to ask the special envoy next to me.”

"Do you think his reasoning is valid?" Woz asked Lin Yuanran, turning to him with a serious expression.

Ainoer was filled with doubt.

Special envoy? Does the Vatican have such a position?

Even if he did, why would Woz, one of the nine archbishops, be so obsequious? He's not a high priest.

Enor was completely baffled when Lin Yuanran's sharp shout brought him back to reality.

"Why are you disrespecting the sun god?"

Lin Yuanran completely ignored his ridiculous reasoning and, in front of the onlookers, angrily rebuked him without giving him any face.

Ainor wanted to explain, "It's true, I am completely devoted to the Sun God!"

Lin Yuanran was just looking for trouble, fabricating charges against him. What good is your reason? Sorry, I represent the Holy See, and I am the reason.

If I kill you, you won't live either.

"Is that so?" Lin Yuanran suddenly sneered.

"The old king is also devoted to the sun god. You brothers are very close, why don't you go and join him?"

Enor was stunned. What was that all about?

Is he obviously trying to kill me?

But he glanced at the crowd of onlookers. There were whispers, but not questions; rather, they were astonished that their prince would be so disrespectful to the sun god, which had led to this disaster.

Before the Papacy, his so-called prestige was less than a mirage; the Papacy could fabricate any crime, and the common people would believe it without a doubt.