Nobles and the Church

Havent was a little slow to react to the answer.

"Vassals?"

"Yes, vassals."

Count Havent raised his wine glass and downed the Blackthorn Wine in one gulp, slamming the glass down on the table.

"They want to be lords?"

Hearing his son's words, Count Havent, who had just angrily slammed his glass on the table, slowly picked it up and turned his head away.

Seeing that his father had no intention of explaining, Havent turned to Count Mori.

Count Mori scratched his head and glanced at Havent in confusion. Had he misjudged?

"They don't want to be lords; they need people to believe in their gods. They need followers."

During his wandering days in his past life, he had slept in churches and had a good impression of the Christian ladies who hadn't driven him away.

Havent asked, puzzled, "Can't our vassals believe in gods? I saw some farmers setting up shrines to the Goddess of Harvest in the fields when I was wandering in the countryside."

"They can. We don't stop our vassals from believing in certain gods. Some nobles even highly revere certain deities.

But that doesn't include the church Aurelion and his kind belong to, nor the deity itself."

Havent recalled the golden sun emblem behind Aurelion when he left. He remembered seeing it in books, and it seemed to represent a deity that was...

"I remember the Sun God is a mainstream deity in the Imperial Pantheon. There's even the largest Sun God church in the Imperial Capital. Why is our Northern Territory so resistant?"

"Hehehehehe~

Little Vent, you're a bit too curious. Kevin, you tell him.

I need to rest now. Aurelion isn't someone easy to deal with."

With that, Count Mori leaned back in his chair ungracefully, propping his legs on the table and swinging his feet leisurely.

Seeing Count Havent remain silent, he picked up a piece of fruit from the table and threw it at him.

"He'll have to know sooner or later. Little Vent has proven he's not a child anymore; he's a suitable heir to the territory."

He then sized up the handsome young man.

"Hmm~ Perhaps the northern winds and sand will add some masculine charm to him."

At Count Mori's urging, Count Havent slowly began to speak.

"Our Northern Territory belongs to the Royalist Faction, so we refuse the dissemination of certain divine doctrines. Especially the Eternal Sun, which is absolutely not allowed in the Northern Territory."

"Teacher~

No, Father, I have a question."

Seeing Havent raise his right hand as if to ask a question, Count Havent nodded, signaling him to ask.

"Um, why do we refuse the Eternal Sun's broadcast in our territory? I read in books that some southern provinces have an Eternal Sun church in almost every noble's territory.

I heard that the monks of the Eternal Sun also provide free treatment to those who can't afford medical care.

Ah~ There should be two questions: What is the Royalist Faction?"

Hearing Havent mention the nobles of the southern provinces, Count Mori, sitting beside him, let out a contemptuous laugh.

"Those weaklings in the south, calling them nobles is an insult to nobility.

Those greedy rats, the parasites of the empire, only have money in their eyes. They should all be hanged."

Seeing his father's angry reaction, Havent was a bit bewildered. What was he talking about now?

He looked to Count Mori for help.

"Hahahaha~

Your father was disgusted by those spineless monkeys in the south. I'll tell you.

Kevin isn't a good storyteller."

Count Havent, having calmed down, raised his wine glass to his friend.

"Let me tell you about the Royalist Faction first.

Simply put, it's an alliance of nobles led by His Majesty the current Emperor, Frederick IV.

As His Majesty's faction, we uphold the integrity of the empire and, most importantly, ensure His Majesty's sole authority.

Therefore, under the Royalist Faction, we will do our best to avoid anything that could affect His Majesty's rule.

Of course, the specifics are not that simple; it involves many aspects. If you have time, you can look at your father's letters and some intelligence reports."

From Count Mori's words, Havent heard many keywords.

"Is the empire not whole now? And I remember that during the reign of Simony II, books recorded that the Eternal Fire repeatedly assisted the empire in resisting foreign enemies and internal strife."

Hesitating for a moment, Havent still asked the question in his heart.

"Hehehehehe~"

Theoretically, the empire is currently whole and unified.

Regarding the events during Simony II's reign, according to the empire's biography...

You're right, that's exactly how it is.

However, you should know that any help comes at a price.

And those who pay the price always suffer a terrible fate."

Count Mori fell silent for a moment, his eyes unfocused as he stared at the wooden ceiling, as if reminiscing about something.

"And what was the price the empire paid?"

Hearing Havent's question, Count Mori let out a long sigh, as if trying to expel all the pent-up frustration from his chest.

"Dignity, status, and most importantly, our noble rights."

"Huh? What do you mean? I don't quite understand. The books seem to say that during Simony II's reign, the empire entered a period of relative prosperity."

Hearing Havent's words, the two of them let out cold laughs.

"Of course, as for the publicly available books, those cowardly and spineless historians certainly wouldn't dare write about the specifics.

For example, the Church's attempts to control the succession of emperors, the appointment of nobles, the declaration of wars, and the lives and deaths of the people.

If it weren't for Simony II's sudden death and the Mad King's ascension to the throne.

The empire would have been finished long ago."

Listening to Count Mori's explanation, Havent was shocked. He hadn't expected the stories outside of books to be so thrilling. If only he had some melon seeds.

"Is that why there were the subsequent hundred years of religious wars?

Wait, no? If things were like that, why is the Eternal Fire still one of the empire's largest faiths?"

"The Hundred Years' Religious War is a separate matter, although this event also occurred during that century.

There are many stories here; you can learn about them slowly yourself later. Let's get back to our previous topic.

After experiencing some of Simony II's foolish decisions during his reign, the nobility was once on the brink of survival.

It wasn't until the reigns of the Mad King 'Huquis' and the Blood King 'Henherk' that the situation was reversed."

Havent recalled that the books seemed to have very little mention of these two.

"The 'Brief History of the Empire' seems to have very little description of these two majesties?

Since the situation was reversed, why does the... uh... Royalist Faction still exist now?"

"That's because Frederick II's father, the Sleeping King 'Keen', for his own ridiculous ideals, handed over some of the citizens' management rights to the Church."