Rose Empire

Yig is the creator, the creator of mankind and all life, the master of all light and darkness, and the only God in this world.

These are all written in the Church's canon law.

The church and believers generally respectfully call Yig "Lord God".

Although mortals have almost no chance to see or hear God, and only those extremely devout saints in the church claim that they have heard the voice of God, it is a consensus among everyone in this world that God really exists.

All the warlocks who have embarked on the path of transcendence can vaguely feel that there is a great existence lying in wait at the end of this road. He is like the sky that covers this world. No matter how swift or strong a bird is, it can only fly under the dome.

Although the Lord God never descends to the secular world, His existence alone is enough to allow the church to maintain its transcendent status forever.

"What a coincidence, Archbishop. I am about to return to the Green Plains Principality, and I originally wanted to go to the church to say goodbye to you."

"Has Miss Mellefield finished her studies at Giant Banyan Academy?"

"It's over now."

"It seems that Miss Mellefield has learned something."

"Thank you for your praise, Archbishop," Charlotte said modestly. "I have lived in Platinum City for three years and have seldom been home. This time I want to bring some gifts to my family, especially my mother, who has always been a devout believer in the Lord..."

"Oh? So what gift do you want to bring to the Duchess?" Archbishop Contao smiled gently, like a devout preacher.

"I heard that the archbishop has a copy of the Holy Scriptures with his own annotations, which records your profound understanding of God's teachings. If you can receive that book, mother will be very happy." Charlotte said, looking at the old and frayed Holy Scriptures held in Archbishop Contao's right hand.

Archbishop Kong Tao also looked at the Holy Scripture in his hand, and said with embarrassment: "Giving Holy Scripture to believers is what we, the servants of God, should do, but this Holy Scripture was given to me by a priest when I just became an apprentice in the church. It has been with me for decades, and it is really hard to part with it."

"Actually, I have a pretty good relationship with your nephew. It's his birthday tomorrow, and I have prepared a box of gifts from the goblins for him." Charlotte chuckled, covering her mouth with her hands.

"So Miss Charlotte is Kimi's friend? I just found out about this," Archbishop Kongtao looked very surprised, and the smile of a devout preacher on his face turned into the amiable smile of an elder (harmonious). "Since she is Kimi's friend, she is also my junior. Miss Charlotte is about to go on a long journey, and as an elder, I should indeed prepare some gifts, but I am just a poor monk, and I can only hope that the merciful Lord Igdo will bless His child..."

Kong Tao handed Charlotte his old copy of the Bible.

There are three dioceses in the Orlan Empire, the Diocese of Luen, the Diocese of Campe, and the Diocese of Isis, and each diocese has an archbishop. In name, they are only responsible for spreading faith for the Lord God, but in fact, the status of each archbishop in the secular world is no less than that of the current Duke of Green Plain, Jose Melfield.

Logically speaking, it would be difficult for Charlotte to establish a friendship with Kong Tao just because of her identity as the daughter of a duke. But ever since she saw the archbishop grinning from ear to ear while holding a piece of emerald the size of his head that Charlotte had donated to the cathedral three years ago, Charlotte knew that this was not the case.

The archbishop is happy to treat any believer as an equal, as long as you have enough money to prove your devotion to God.

However, the church has a doctrine of "purification and asceticism", and the jade is donated to the church. The archbishop himself does not accept gifts.

So, Charlotte had to make friends with Kimi Kontao.

Maitland Kontao and Kimi Kontao claimed to be uncle and nephew. However, the nephew in the priest's mouth = illegitimate child, which is almost tacit common sense in the upper class.

No one knows how many illegitimate children some archbishops have hidden beneath their robes.

After three years and a continuous silver bullet offensive, Charlotte finally became Kimi Kontao's "good friend".

She had thought that three years of offerings in exchange for a tattered canon would be enough, but in the end she was blackmailed by the archbishop. Charlotte felt as sick as if she had eaten a fly.

Fairies are another kind of intelligent creatures in this world. They are small and have dreamy wings. They like shiny things just like dragons, but dragons prefer gems while fairies prefer gold. The gift from the fairies that Charlotte mentioned is a box of gold forged by fairies. Gold forged by fairies has unique magic power and is difficult for other races to imitate. It is a luxury item highly sought after by the nobles of Orlan.

Although she hated Maitland Contao's greed, Charlotte remained respectful on the surface. She took the old "Church Scripture" with both hands and thanked him devoutly: "Thank you, God's blessing is the best gift."

After bidding farewell to Kong Tao, Charlotte handed the "Church Scripture" to Renee behind her without changing her expression.

Renee put away the canon and the emblems together.

After entering the palace gate, two eunuchs led Charlotte to the Imperial Hall. The Imperial Hall was the most magnificent room in the Imperial Palace, and was usually only used to receive nobles. It was covered with red velvet carpets, and the walls were decorated with colorful colored glaze. All the furnishings were made of gold and silver. In the center of the hall, there was even a pure gold chair with a backrest over two meters high, inlaid with pearls, corals and various gems.

The Imperial Emperor, Leopold Holloway, sat on a throne made of pure gold, with Queen Mary Holloway on his right and his nephew Henry Holloway on his left.

This nephew is different from Kong Tao’s nephew. This nephew is really a nephew.

Leopold Holloway had no sons, only a daughter. When Henry Holloway was ten years old, Leopold Holloway raised him like a son. Although he had not yet been appointed as the crown prince, the nobles of the empire all knew that Leopold Holloway intended Henry Holloway to be his heir.

Further down on the right, there is a middle-aged man wearing a black dress embroidered with gold thread. He is the court cupbearer of the Oran Empire, Earl Wolfheart, Gilmore Butler.

The wine pourer, as the name suggests, is the person who pours wine for the emperor, but no one will underestimate this position, because it also controls the intelligence and espionage agency "Claw" of the Orlan Empire. This short, plain-looking, and even a little ugly man is undoubtedly the absolute confidant of His Majesty the Emperor.

"Greetings to His Majesty the Emperor and Her Majesty the Queen." Charlotte saluted in the middle of the hall.

"We haven't seen each other for many years, little Charlotte." Leopold Hollowen looked down at Charlotte and said, "I remember the last time I saw you, your father took you to a hunting meeting. At that time, you were not even as tall as a pony."

"Yes," Charlotte said, "but I also saw Your Majesty from afar during the Grace Day banquet this year, but I was not fortunate enough to be summoned by Your Majesty."

The Holy Grace Festival is equivalent to the New Year in this world. Every year on the Holy Grace Festival, the royal family will hold an astonishingly large banquet in the palace to entertain the nobles of the entire Platinum City. There are at least 8,000 nobles in Platinum City. If Charlotte's father was here, he would definitely be able to sit next to Leopold and dine with the emperor and chat, but Charlotte is only the daughter of the Duke. She can still come to eat, but she has no chance to talk to the emperor. Now it seems that the emperor didn't even notice her existence.

Leopold Holloway didn't seem embarrassed. He nodded and turned the page, then asked, "How is your father doing recently?"

"Father is fine, and the affairs of the principality are stable. But he wrote to me recently saying that he has been ill and not feeling well. He lamented that his friends who fought and hunted with him in his youth have long since scattered, and he himself is getting old."

Charlotte's father, the Duke of Greenfield, is only in his fifties. In this extraordinary world where the average noble is over a hundred years old, fifty-something is far from the age of "martyrs still full of ambition in their old age". Jose Melfeld has never written that kind of letter. Those words were all made up by Charlotte herself. She just wanted to gently test the emperor's reaction, and it didn't matter if she was exposed.

"Yes," a sigh came from the throne, "I once fought with your father against 300,000 Edessa people on the shores of the Ryūne Sea. Those days seem like they were just yesterday, but in the blink of an eye, more than 20 years have passed."

The test actually worked!

Charlotte's heart suddenly began to waver.

This kind of sigh does not really sound like something a middle-aged emperor should say to his ministers.

Over the years, there has been a rumor spreading secretly in Platinum City - His Majesty Emperor Leopold is in poor health and may not live long. However, every year, the emperor is rumored to die, but he never dies, so those who believe these rumors are very embarrassed.

Charlotte had always been skeptical about this rumor. On the one hand, she knew that Leopold Hollowen was also a superhuman, and was younger than her father, the Duke of Greenfield, so it was not so easy for him to die. On the other hand, the emperor had not had any children for many years, and his only daughter was born thirty years ago. It would be strange for an emperor not to work hard to have a son.

At this moment, Leopold Holloway's sigh, as if looking back on his life, undoubtedly made Charlotte's mind quickly lean towards believing the rumor.

An emperor certainly wouldn't have too many sad emotions, at least he wouldn't show them too much. Leopold just sighed and then talked about business: "I already know that Viscount Basilic has no heirs, but I am very confused. In terms of legal succession rights, your brothers have priority over you. Why is it your turn to inherit his title?"

"I have been close to Uncle Basilik since I was a child. I have been taking care of him on behalf of my father in Platinum City for the past few years. It is probably because of this that he wanted to give the title to me."

As Charlotte spoke, she took out the suicide note of the former Viscount Lanwan.

Standing nearby, Earl Wolfheart, Gilmour Butler, presented the suicide note to the emperor.

"Since this is Viscount Basilik's last wish, I will appoint you as the new Viscount Lanwan."

Emperor Leopold opened the will, glanced at it, and put it down. In fact, some of the procedures and credentials for Charlotte's succession to Viscount Lanwan had already been verified by officials and nobles. Charlotte's presentation of the will of the former Viscount Lanwan was just a formality.

The emperor stepped down from the throne, drew his sword and placed it on Charlotte's shoulder. Charlotte swore allegiance to the emperor and officially became Viscount Lanwan.

Charlotte stood up and Guillermo Butler brought a silk-padded tray containing the emperor's reward to the new vassal.

Charlotte was about to take the reward, but when she looked at the tray, she paused because something was missing from it.

According to the tradition of the Oran Empire, when the emperor conferred titles on his direct vassal, he would generally reward him with three things: a sword, a branch, and a feather.

The sword symbolizes force, indicating that the emperor allowed the nobles to build their own armies and appoint their own knights. The branches symbolize land, indicating that the emperor gave a piece of land to the nobles. The feathers symbolize the griffin. Like the giant eagle, the griffin is a species unique to the Eagle Continent, but it is four or five times larger than the giant eagle. The griffin knight has an overwhelming advantage over ground forces and even giant eagle knights. The number of griffin knights a country has on the Eagle Continent almost directly reflects the country's military strength.

In order to demonstrate the emperor's trust in the nobles and to get them to help raise troops, when each noble of the Orlan Empire accepted the title, the emperor would bestow a certain number of griffins based on the number and wealth of the knight territories under the noble's fiefdom.

For example, Viscount Lanwan governed 25 knight lords. According to convention, he could be granted 25 griffins at most, and at least five griffins. When Basilic Melefield was conferred the title, the emperor granted five feathers to symbolize five griffins. Viscount Lanwan's fiefdom was too poor, and it was very expensive to raise griffins. It was reasonable to reward according to the minimum standard.

However, there was not a single feather on the tray in front of Charlotte!

Charlotte raised her eyes slightly and first saw the back of His Majesty the Emperor as he walked back to the throne. Then she glanced at the Queen beside the throne. Her Majesty the Queen was smiling and there was nothing unusual about her. Finally, she looked at the Emperor's nephew on the other side of the throne.

Henry Holloway seemed to be waiting for this scene. He met Charlotte's gaze, raised his chin slightly, and did not hide his smugness.

Charlotte almost understood why she was treated so harshly.

Charlotte was observing others, and others were observing her. To confer a title without granting a griffin was both harsh and humiliating. When Wolfheart Earl Gilmore Butler and Queen Mary Holloway saw Charlotte stop, they both thought that Charlotte wanted to question or refuse the gift.

Queen Mary even thought about the tone she would use to explain the emperor's reasons for not bestowing the griffin.

However, the next moment Charlotte calmly accepted her reward and expressed her gratitude to the emperor, which surprised both the Queen and Guillermo Butler.

Volume 4: Chapter Chapter Farewell, but without Sheng and Xiao

Henry Holloway was three years older than Charlotte. The two had met when they were very young, but they had not met often and were not very familiar with each other. It was not until three years ago that Charlotte came to Platinum City to study at the Giant Banyan Academy. Henry Holloway, who was also studying at the Giant Banyan Academy, saw Charlotte again and was obsessed with her beauty. He began to pursue Charlotte, but Charlotte rejected him without hesitation.

Charlotte thought it was no big deal. Isn't it common for a young boy to pursue a girl and be rejected?

Moreover, Charlotte was only thirteen years old at the time. What kind of beastly person would have to be so upset about being rejected by a thirteen-year-old girl?

However, who could have imagined that Henry Holloway was so narrow-minded to such an incredible degree?

In the past three years, Henry Holloway had been trying every way to harass Charlotte. When harassment failed, he would exclude her, persecute her, and spread rumors and slander her. The nobles around the two of them also helped to persuade Charlotte, saying that Henry Holloway was destined to become the crown prince, and Charlotte would not lose out even if she was just Henry Holloway's lover.

If Charlotte was not the daughter of the Duke of Luyuan, she might have been secretly drugged.

Although she could easily deal with a group of little brats with her adult mentality and mature political skills, Charlotte was still annoyed, which was also one of the reasons why she wanted to leave Platinum City.

After leaving the palace and returning to the castle, Renee finally couldn't help but say, "That's too much. Even if he's just a baron, you can't not reward him with a griffin, right? Besides, the young lady was awarded the title of Viscount. Young lady, why didn't you say a word?"

The servants in the castle were busy. Everyone knew that the owner of the castle was about to leave, so they were packing their luggage.

“What can I say?” Charlotte took off her hair accessories and threw them to a maid who was packing her jewelry. Then she motioned to Leni to help her take off the dress that was making it difficult for her to breathe. She chuckled and said, “Even if I took the initiative to ask for the griffin, I would definitely only get an answer like ‘The Viscount Lanwan can’t afford to support a griffin.’”

The Empire attached great importance to griffins, and even the griffins of nobles would be inspected by officials every year. If the nobles failed to feed the griffins well, the Emperor had the right and the need to take them back. This was to ensure that the Empire could recruit enough griffin knights when it went to foreign wars.

"But if this happens, the Viscount Lanwan won't even have a griffin knight." Renee said worriedly as she helped Charlotte untie the complicated laces on her skirt.

A territory without Griffin Knights is like a castle without stone walls. This is common sense in this world.

At the peak of the Viscountry of Lanwan, it also owned more than ten griffins, but after Basilik inherited the title, he sold them all one after another - the Oran Empire prohibited the export of griffins, but did not prohibit the nobles from trading griffins with each other. Obviously, the richer nobles could afford more griffin feeding costs.

"If there's no one, then there's no one." After taking off the corset that was almost squeezing her ribs, Charlotte felt relaxed all over, and then she was about to take off her underwear. "If the emperor doesn't give it to us, we can just find a way to buy it ourselves."

"But we have no money either!" Renee held Charlotte's hand, interrupting her young lady's action of stripping herself naked, and took out a loose-fitting buttoned dress for Charlotte to change into.

"Uh……"

Charlotte's face froze at Renee's words.

She had no money, which was the second reason why Charlotte was eager to leave Platinum City. In the past three years, Charlotte had made friends with the rich and powerful in Platinum City, and had been generous and generous. She had become a well-known wealthy woman, and many people thought she was rich. But in fact, Charlotte did not have any income that could be called "big income". Her wealth came entirely from her biological mother's inheritance.

The mother that Charlotte and Kong Tao were talking about was not Charlotte's biological mother, but the second wife of the Duke of Greenfield and Charlotte's stepmother, Rosie Melefield. Charlotte's biological mother, Helen Melefield, died ten years ago.

Helen Mellorfield was originally a princess of the Kingdom of Cato.

When most ordinary people talk about the political map of the Oran Empire, they usually simply summarize it as "two kings, two dukes and one marquis". This refers to the five major nobles of the Oran Empire - the Kingdom of Koxin, the Kingdom of Gatu, the Duchy of Greenfield, the Duchy of Bonan, and the Marquis of Blackstone Castle.

It is difficult to judge which one is stronger, the Kingdom of Kosin or the Kingdom of Cato. It can only be said that both royal families are the first-class nobles of the empire outside the royal family. Born in the royal family of Cato, Helen Melefield naturally had a lot of dowry when she got married. A woman's dowry is her private property and can be disposed of by herself. It has nothing to do with her husband's family. When Helen Melefield died, she left all her property to Charlotte, which was worth at least five million fusos.

Fuso was the official currency issued by the Orlan Empire. A strong serf could be sold for ten to twenty fuso. One fuso was enough for a meal for a small noble family of low status, and two fuso could allow them to eat quite decently.

Therefore, an inheritance of five million francs must be a considerable sum.

The problem, however, is that Charlotte's expenses are also high.

Just the box of goblin-made gold objects presented to Archbishop Contao's nephew cost nearly 100,000 francs.

Three years ago, Charlotte spent more than 500,000 francs to buy the Lake View Manor for Basilic Melfield for his retirement outside Platinum City.

In the past ten years, there has been no income but only outflow, so even if Charlotte has a gold mountain, it is about to be hollowed out.

"How much money do we have left?" Charlotte asked.

"One hundred and seventy thousand francs." Renee said the balance of Charlotte's piggy bank without hesitation.

"Seventeen thousand fusos? I'm afraid this is not enough to even cover the start-up cost of building the territory." Charlotte had a headache. "It seems I have to extort some living expenses from my eldest brother..."

Hearing the young lady's undisguised words, Renee's mouth couldn't help but twitch twice.

Andre Melefeldt is Charlotte's full brother. He is twelve years older than Charlotte, but he has lived in the shadow of his sister since he was a child. He was bullied by his sister who has a pink and black face. He even once thought, "There is nothing worth staying in this world anymore, I might as well become a monk." He almost converted to the church and became a priest.

Now, Andre Melfield is about to get married, and it seems that Miss Charlotte still does not intend to let her brother go.

woohoo...

A strong sound of wind was heard from the direction of the tower.

A moment later, a servant announced: "Two knights are here."

Marion Durand and Hermann Green were both Charlotte's personal knights. The fathers of Marion Durand and Hermann Green had sworn allegiance to Helen Mellerfield. After Helen Mellerfield's death, according to her will, Marion Durand and Hermann Green, who inherited his father's knighthood, continued to be loyal to Charlotte.

The two knights who were waiting in the castle hall saw Charlotte walking down the stairs lightly with the short sword on her waist, which symbolized her being a noble. Their eyes moved slightly, and they led the four attendant knights behind them to kneel on one knee: "Greetings, Your Excellency the Viscount!"

Charlotte was almost startled by their excited voices. She looked down at the dagger on her waist—it was hung there by Renee. Then she took it off and threw it to Renee. “He’s just a viscount. Don’t take it too seriously. You should call me Miss Melfield from now on.”

But he is a Viscount...

These words sounded too Versailles to the two knights and four squires.

Knights are the lowest level of nobility in the empire. Above knights are barons, and barons are promoted to viscounts.

It was almost necessary for a commoner to undergo a species evolution to become a knight, but was it easy for a knight to be promoted? The mobility of the nobility was extremely poor. Ninety-nine percent of knights could never become a baron in their lifetime, and ninety-nine percent of barons could never become a viscount in their lifetime.

Therefore, they were so excited when facing Charlotte who was conferred the title of Viscount right from the start.

However, after calming down, the two knights also remembered Charlotte's identity - the daughter of the Duke of Green Plains, which was actually much more noble than a mere viscount. After realizing this, they even felt that the viscount was a bit low.