I Became the illegitimate son of a duke

54 – The Holy Maiden’s Trouble (5)

“That… I told you…”

Jeanne, who said everything she knew, lowered her head and looked at Claude.

Of course. She was Jeanne because her own words were so unreliable that she herself thought.

Apart from being able to know a person’s life with the energy that radiates from their body, who the hell would believe this?

It hasn’t been long since I had this ability. Even if I told these things to myself in the past, I would not have believed them at all. What would other people be like?

Jeanne prays in her heart that the Holy Son will have mercy on her.

‘…Crazy.’

However, Jeanne’s troubles are put to shame, and Claude believes Jeanne’s words.

Because the things Jeanne said were full of things that others could never know.

[That… The saint and that demon… The woman is a man at all, so they’re not related…]

[How old are you? Uh… The saint is 23 years old, and those two are 21 and 19 respectively?]

Jeanne, who calmly said that I was a reincarnated person and that Chloe and Ines were related to me, continued her words as if reading the words written in her book.

At first, when she saw Jeanne saying such things for granted, she thought she had the confidence and megalomaniac characteristic of a madman. Have been lost No matter how delusional it may be, not all facts fit this tightly.

However, Jeanne couldn’t answer just one thing. She is a question about Chloe and Ines.

[Why are you so hostile towards Chloe and Ines?]

[That, that… That’s… That… Smells like that.]

[…Is done.]

It smells… D.

Looking at Jeanne’s words and actions that I’ve observed so far, she’s not lying.

I’m not sure what “Smelling” Means, but it’s probably Jeanne’s own unique language. This is a feature often seen in patients with schizophrenia.

‘…For now, the death penalty should be withheld.’

It is true that Jeanne can see something.

Of course, if it’s something that can only be seen by a psychopath, it must be hallucination, but my instinct after hearing what Jeanne said is screaming that it’s not like that.

“Jane, go back to your room first. Someone will come soon, so just follow him.”

“Oh no… I… I…!”

“I won’t kill you, so stay calm.”

“Yes, yes…”

Did she think she would be executed?

When I give her the order to leave, Jeanne shakes her body again and becomes restless, and when she assures me that I will not kill her, she finally calms down.

What to do with him… It’s a headache…

…………

I lived… I lived…

Since the witches covered the saint’s eyes and ears, he could have died, but fortunately he survived.

Yes… Yes… There is no way that the Holy Son would be possessed by such witches. I was worried for nothing.

“Hee, hee hee…”

“Shut up and walk.”

The soldier who was escorting Jeanne grimaced at the sound of her unpleasant laughter and said as if to shoot at her, but Jeanne did not pay any attention to her soldier.

Jeanne constantly reminisces about her meeting only with her saint, and she is just unfolding her happy imagination.

“Tsk…”

Realizing that the criminal doesn’t care about him at all, the soldier clicks his tongue and feels bad, but manages to bear it because the Duke has orders to keep Jeanne from getting hurt.

After she escorts her anyway, she won’t see her anymore, and the soldier who realizes that she’ll only lose herself if she dares to get angry about this, decides not to see Jeanne as her personality. For example, a wooden block in the shape of a person.

Thanks to her attitude of not hostile to Jeanne, the soldier is able to maintain her self without being baptized by angels.

…………

“… I heard, Your Highness, that she spared the witch.”

I had a meeting with Armand right after Jeanne was escorted back to prison.

No matter how deeply she immersed herself in the secular world, the essence of Armand is a priest, and of course, there is no way Jeanne, who pretends to be a saint, can be looked upon with kindness.

“Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t save you, I saved you.”

It is only one letter difference, but the meaning is heavenly and earthly.

There’s no way Armand doesn’t know this, but he’s probably lost a little bit of his temper due to anger.

“Do you have any information to glean from the witch? Is she perhaps interested in information on how she bewitched her lambs?”

“…?”

Armand.

Are you crazy?

“Ha ha ha ha…”

Only I, the secular lord, have the authority to dispose of the traitors.

This authority never changes, no matter how much the traitor uses his faith.

By the way… What is it? Are you questioning my disposition?

No matter how much a bishop is dispatched from the Seonghwangcheong, he has no authority to invade the domain of secular monarchs.

It would have been hundreds of years ago when the power of Canaanism was very strong, but now the authority of religion has lost a lot due to the corruption of the church and the strengthening of secular monarchs.

“…Your Highness, please establish upright faith.”

Not only me, but the atmosphere of Chloe and Ines by his side also became threatening, so Armand hesitated and changed his words.

However, he still doesn’t seem to be aware that he’s wrong.

It’s just that the monarch is angry, so he responds, and he seems to firmly believe that he did the right thing.

“Huh, that’s for sure.”

No matter how much you scold someone, you have to punish someone who knows even the slightest bit of their fault.

Did Young master say that those who do not have the slightest sense of guilt should not be disciplined and just ignore them? It’s just like that.

I take Armand’s words in a calm manner and give a rough answer.

“So, is that all the reason you had an audience with me?”

“…One more left.”

As I deliberately sarcastically asked, Armand took a deep breath and then got to the point. It’s as if he’s being careful not to offend my planting.

Until the early days of his accession, as an illegitimate child, he had to look out for the church, so Armand always maintained a confident attitude in front of me.

However, due to the victory in the war, the purging of the hostile nobles who will become rivals, the support of large nobles, and the performance in internal affairs, it is no longer possible. Well, after all, a person needs to have specifications to not be looked down upon.

“There are a lot of pagans rampaging in the Holy Empire these days, so please respond.”

“Heretic…”

I’ve heard it a few times.

As I kept saying, the Canaanite religion that prevails on this continent is in a bad state due to corruption.

Still, thanks to the glory of the past, they are still maintaining their church, but as seen from the many people who sympathized with Jeanne’s rebellion, those with soaring dissatisfaction are escaping the influence of the Central Church.

The Canaanites of the past said, “Kill them all, let God separate them!” He would have killed all believers outside the central church, but that is no longer possible due to the growing power of secular monarchs.

Because no monarch, no matter how pagan he may be, is willing to watch foreign powers kill his subjects in his domain.

‘But… Only the Holy Empire is different.’

However, the situation is different in the Holy Empire.

Excessive vassals lowered the emperor’s power, and eventually the vassals of the Holy Empire went beyond simple autonomy and enjoyed a position on the brink of independence. From the Emperor’s point of view, the vassals of the Holy Empire are not very different from foreign powers.

Above all, the Holy Empire, as its name suggests, is a country with a strong religious tinge.

In other words, no matter how corrupt the clergy are, it means that they exert enormous influence in the Holy Empire, which eventually led to the burden of the people and eventually brought about the spread of heresy.

The Emperor of the Holy Empire seems to be well aware of this fact, but since the emperor’s authority comes from Canaanism, the state religion, the corrupt priests cannot be severely punished.

In the end, there is only one option for the Emperor of the Holy Empire, the only option is to suppress the people and vassals who have become heretical because they can’t live, with military force.

The Holy Empire did not stand still while the Principality of Burgon fought against the Carolingian Kingdom for nothing. If we can’t suppress heresy in Korea after doing foreign activities for no reason, a catastrophe will happen.

“Okay, I’ll do my best to keep the heresy from entering the Burgon duchy.”

But that’s a matter of the Holy Empire, and I’m the Duke of Burgon, right? It’s a foreign country, so what does it matter?

To Armand’s request that he want to respond to heresy rampaging in the Holy Empire, he answers that he will do his best to prevent heresy from entering the Duchy of Burgon.

I think Armand’s request is to help the Holy Empire suppress heresy, but there’s no reason for me to do such a thing.

If the power of the Holy Empire weakens, it is a good thing for the Principality of Burgon, and for the Emperor of the Holy Empire, if I intervene, the forces to deal with will increase and it will become a headache.

“…Yes, thank you.”

Armand is satisfied with the answer that he will not allow heresy to enter the country and withdraws.

Armand seems to have known that his request would be rejected, and above all, since he is also from Dijon, he doesn’t seem to care much about being told that he would prioritize Bourgon.

Hmm… Looking at the situation, Armand probably had no choice but to tell me that because of an order from the Holy Office.

…Wait a minute.

“Bishop Armand, that request must have come down from the Holy Office, right?”

“Yes, it is.”

“Perhaps the request went to other monarchs as well as me?”

“It will be so. Seonghwangcheong, which has been raging over the spread of heresy, is seeking help from the monarchs of each country with the momentum to open a crusade.”

…Wow.

It seems that the political head is not working well in modern times. No, I like it because it’s like a faithful priest to pursue only faith without considering the political situation.

Armand’s words imply that the Holy Empire will soon turn into an arena for each country.

There is no way that all monarchs who believe in Canaanism will refuse to ask for help in suppressing heresy. Obviously, there will be many monarchs who intervene militarily in the Holy Empire.

It is clear that the Emperor of the Holy Empire would hate foreign intervention very much, but that doesn’t mean he can’t drive them out.

As I said before, the Emperor of the Holy Empire borrows authority from Canaanism, and the head of that religion created this situation.

I can put this to good use.