"... Poor duke. And poor female lead." He couldn"t help but pity the girl in his mind.In the end, that girl had to accept the crown princess" nomination. They must still be wis.h.i.+ng for divine intervention so fervently just so the ceremony would not take place.
Jiang Li raised his chin slightly as he looked into the distance. From his spot, he could see the palace and the spires piercing through the white clouds on the northern part. When he turned his head a bit to the left, he saw a chapel-like building where the Saintess should be staying. The whole amphitheater was very lively. He could see priests roaming around and holding prayer sessions.
The young man"s expression froze when he saw some holy knights busily hanging long strings of small flags on poles.
"A last-minute preparation? Did the crown prince forgot to handle the festival matters?"
Hearing his question, the Pope"s smile became stiff too and discontent flickered in his eyes.
The old man felt guilty because he didn"t interfere much after hearing the crown prince was the one a.s.signed to it. The preparation was his test. But the price of the result was that the important event was handled haphazardly.
What made him place his hope so much in that unreliable guy?
He must have lost a bit of his brain. Or became too busy with ensuring there would be no mishaps on the Saintess" part.
Hmmph! In the future, he would make sure the Church would only send the minimum support and courtesy to that prince. See if he would still dare neglect them.
He would also make sure to educate the Saintess on how to suppress Rome in the palace in a subtle manner. That way, the Church"s influence would also grow and take deeper root in politics.
The Pope was truly devoted to spreading the influence of religion. But if he knew the deity wors.h.i.+pped by his church was a powerless one put in a house arrest by the G.o.d of the heretical monks, just how would he react? Well, devotion was a good thing.
Speaking of the monks, Jiang Li spotted many of them in the crowd. He felt funny in his heart since there were quite many of them, all at one part of the amphitheater.
All of the bald men were disguised as House Lilac"s guards. They must be from their own holy land or the other cities he had not visited. On how they entered the capital, was there a need to mention it? If not for being familiar with the auras those guys possessed, he would have missed them in the large crowd.
Around thirty minutes pa.s.sed since then. One by one, the stars of the event appeared and greeted him. They of course, also greeted the Pope and the other high n.o.bles.
"The time has come, Your Excellency."
"Yeah."
Jiang Li signaled his valet to push him in the middle of the stage.
Silence immediately reigned when a large pillar of light suddenly descended from above. And no, it was not from the G.o.ddess. There was just a mechanism somewhere nearby manipulating the light from the sun using several tall mirrors. The whole scene reminded Jiang Li of a movie from the previous world featuring desert civilization who were adept in controlling mirror angles to give lumination to their underground bases.
In any case, the mechanism successfully made everyone"s eyes focus on the people upstage. The leads and the villainess were one of the scene-stealers, of course. So was the Pope.
Down below, amidst the silent crowd filled with excited people, the solemn expressions of the private soldiers from House Lilac were so out of place. Unfortunately, n.o.body else noticed them apart from the prophet who was up on the stage. The rest of those around them was simply too focused on the male lead and the Saintess. There was also the veiled "female lead" escorted by her father, Duke Bolden.
Jiang Li smiled as he took in the hostile glances. "Their gazes are quite fierce."
He knew those bald guys hated him since they were aware of everything he did outside the capital apart from the charity missions.
For now, though, he had to ignore them.
After all, the Pope was already giving him signals.
"Ladies and Gentleman, I thank you all for being willing witnesses for today"s events." He said as his opening remark. It was his valet who cast magic which would allow his voice to reach even those located farthest. Everyone"s eyes then went to the white-haired guy who was the only one seated up there.
A child below tugged on her mother"s hand and excitedly pointed up. "Mom, mom! It"s the prophet! The prophet is speaking!"
The peasant mother praised her daughter. "My Charline is so bright for knowing him correctly." Afterward, she hardened her face and said, "Now, now, let"s listen attentively, alright? It"s a very rare opportunity to hear from our prophet."
The little girl"s eyes were very bright as she nodded and turned again to the stage. Those close by smiled at the mother and daughter pair.
As all types of hustle and bustle took place among the audience, Jiang Li"s voice rang again.
"We are currently gathered here for several important reasons and one of those was to witness the crown prince"s union with his crown princess, the Saintess Su Luxi, and the Lady Royal, Rumina Bolden."
Some introduction about the involved people followed. Music accompaniment also started to fill the place.
After that, he obediently presided over the wedding. The vows were exchanged, but he did next was to announce the end of the wedding ceremony, ignoring the male lead"s hate-filled eyes when he didn"t say that he could kiss his brides. n.o.body dared to mention the "blunder" to him as his position was high enough not to be questioned for something like that.
The female lead, whose face and all part of the skin hidden, was relieved.
Su Luxi was still learning the customs of the world and this was the first time she witnessed and experienced attending a wedding. Due to this, she just a.s.sumed the lack of that step was the norm here. She was disappointed though. Yet she was also happy since the man she loved would not have to kiss another after her in front of the ma.s.ses.
As for Rome"s anger which persisted even after the exchange of vows and rings, Jiang Li scoffed. "I rushed the wedding for your sake, you fool. So you"ll at least be able to secure marriage in your lifetime."
Now that the leads and villainess were officially married, the next agenda would be the coronation. The emperor stood up from his seat at the back, and followed by his favorite eunuch, he strode forward. The old fat dude would only have to wait for the prophet to say some words again and then once the Pope came to him, he would surrender the crown and watch until it was put on top of Rome"s head.
It was when the Emperor was only several meters away from the front center that a change suddenly happened in the holy atmosphere enveloping the amphitheater.
All the knights hardened their faces as the smell of danger permeated the air.
When a loud explosion resounded right below the raised platform, everyone lowered their heads and screamed. Fright-filled voices filled the place.
"Aaahhhh!"