Chapter 71

According to royal tradition, a prince should be baptized by a cardinal at
the age of seven. Unfortunately, when Randes was seven, a fire broke out. After
surviving the blaze, there was a long period during which no one could approach
Randes, let alone a cardinal.

King Yarlin doted on this unfortunate son and allowed him great freedom.
Among all the princes, Randes was the only one who had never been baptized.
Now, at twenty-six, Randes still had no religious beliefs.

Randes disagreed with this characterization. How could anyone say he had no
beliefs? He believed in death, hatred, slaughter, betrayal… and occasionally,
brandy without ice.

Now, Randes returned to Kans Castle from Oss, deciding to clothe himself in
the guise of God’s new attire.

He chose the Chapel in Cheesburg. His scribe, Harlan, had corresponded
several times with Father Eugene on his behalf. Harlan complained bitterly to Randes,
“God, are all the clergy this hypocritical and nonsensical? Why can’t he
just tell me straightforwardly how much money he wants to get this done?”

Randes rebuked him, saying solemnly, “Harlan, watch your language. You
are corresponding with a dignified priest.”

Harlan blushed. It seemed his master was sincerely intent on adopting a new
faith.

As andes cleaned his hunting rifle, he leisurely continued, “And not a
whore with a set price.”

Harlan laughed heartily at their prince’s crudeness.

Compared to Harlan, Bill was much gentler and more dignified in his words
and actions. Smiling at the prince’s mockery of the priest, he said,
“Sincere communication will make things smoother, Your Highness. Show some
grace.”

Randes picked up his cane and stepped into the chapel, “My grace won’t
be more appealing to that priest than gold.”

Bill insisted, “That’s because you are too prejudiced and wary of the
clergy. I heard Father Eugene is as kind as an angel. Harun is overly sensitive
about money. Perhaps Father Eugene truly just wants to repair the chapel?”

Randes didn’t bother to respond and simply tapped a passing column with his
cane.

Well, the column looked very clean and bright, with no need for repairs.

The continent of Osten was divided into several countries over two hundred
years ago. Some countries still maintained a top-down belief system. In Lecy,
the power of such beliefs had weakened considerably. King Yarlin had once
lamented that the lack of faith on this continent allowed those so-called
revolutionaries to create endless turmoil. He hoped every royal family member
would uphold their faith, using their sincere love for the Lord to unite the
people.

Randes thought this idea was foolish. The reason people didn’t rally around
the royal family and instead listened to the revolutionaries’ nonsense wasn’t
due to a lack of strong faith, but because of the high taxes on their lands.

The taxes in Oss were reasonable, so there were no revolutionaries there.
Revolutionaries in Oss would be chased away by farmers with their tools to
avoid disturbing their peaceful and harmonious lives.

Randes walked slowly through the chapel.

The Kans Castle Chapel had existed for about as long as Lecy. It looked
elegant and charming. The ginkgo, poplar, and oak trees emitted their unique
scents, making the surrounding air pleasant and fragrant.

Randes’s mood gradually improved. He liked the natural aroma that dispelled
the stench of the church.

The morning service had just ended in the chapel. Two rows of white candles
flickered in the dim morning light.

Randes put down his cane and sat in the outermost seat. Bill reminded him,
“Your Highness.”

“Even if I were to meet God today, I would demand to sit,” Randes
said.

Bill, helpless against the prince’s whims, silently prayed that Father
Eugene was as reputed. Even the most uncouth people would be purified in the
presence of that priest. He prayed sincerely.

A man in a black robe entered through the side door and appeared before
them. Randes shook his head and let out a sound like teasing a hunting dog.
Bill disapprovingly looked over, and Randes mouthed, “Angel?”

Bill silently thanked God that at least the prince hadn’t shouted it out
like a commoner, which would have been a great offense to the priest.

However, the rumors were indeed exaggerated. This priest looked gentle and
kind, but to call him an angel was an overstatement. Perhaps the Church was
always this extravagant. Bill realized that he too was being disrespectful to
the Church like the prince, but what could he do? Oss didn’t even have a single
church.

The man in the black robe smiled at the two of them, seemingly unbothered by
Randes’ rudeness, and turned to open the heavy side door of the chapel.

Randes immediately realized that the man behind the door was the highly
praised Father Eugene that Bill had been extolling. He still had no intention
of standing up, his gaze brazen and scrutinizing.

Even during the day, the lighting in the chapel’s main hall was dim.
Although the stained glass windows behind the statues were beautiful, they did
little to illuminate the space. The white candlelight was barely sufficient.
Yet, as the man behind the door slowly entered, the entire main hall seemed to
brighten instantly—

Golden, dazzling hair fell softly on either side of his face, and a pair of
lake-green eyes sparkled. The priest, reputed to be blind, accurately
“looked” towards the lazily seated prince.

When Randes met those eyes, serene as a forest, he instinctively raised his
left hand. The prince, disfigured for many years, felt the urge to hide his
hideous half-face for the first time. As his fingers touched his scars, he
remembered that the other was blind. He nonchalantly lowered his hand, reaching
for the cane beside his seat. Somehow, he didn’t grasp it properly, and with a
clattering sound, the cane fell to the ground, echoing through the silent hall
like a gunshot.

His loyal servant quickly picked up the cane and handed it to the prince,
whispering, “Your Highness.”

Randes instinctively pressed his hand on the cane and almost lost his
balance again. He was a natural-born cripple, yet he had never been so
flustered as he was today.

Meanwhile, Mo Yin was equally astonished.

In fact, when the previous world collapsed, he sensed the greatest
anomaly—the energy source of that world was very similar to the previous one.

Entering this world, he brought more mental power and, except for being
blind, his body had no other defects. He could use his mental power to explore
the structure of this world more extensively.

Now, he felt a strong energy nearby, similar to the previous two worlds.

Incredible.

Could the collapsed energy be reassembled?

The main hall suddenly fell into a peculiar silence, which was rare for the
arrogant and ill-tempered prince. He always felt the urge to mock something.
Those cruel quips, like his facial scars, became weapons to keep others at bay.

“Prince of Oss?”

Mo Yin spoke first.

He couldn’t see, otherwise he would have wanted to see if this powerful
energy prince of Oss bore any resemblance to He Xuan or the Pei brothers in
appearance. But it was hard to say. He Xuan and the Pei brothers didn’t look
alike either. His appearance in the two worlds was also different. There wasn’t
much connection between energy and appearance.

Randes came back to his senses, reclaiming his arrogance. “Hello,
Father.”

His voice was elegant and magnetic, with that unique blend of nobility and
disdain, yet also unfamiliar.

“Good morning, Prince,” Mo Yin replied courteously. “The
journey from Oss to Kansburg is long. You must be weary.”

Randes felt the urge to mock the priest for his greed and hypocrisy. He
wasn’t someone who would pay for a beautiful shell. He stared at those
lake-green eyes. “I hear you’re blind, Father?”

Heavens, that was too rude!

Bill inwardly screamed.

Bunier frowned, tracing a cross over his chest, unsurprised by the prince’s
notoriously poor manners.

Mo Yin calmly replied, “Yes, I seek light in the darkness.”

Bunier immediately cast a reverent glance at Mo Yin. Even Bill couldn’t help
but inwardly applaud the priest’s ability to defuse the awkward situation. God
bless, their choice was right.

“Then I suppose you must have found it,” L

andes responded, still aggressively, “Look at these gold candlesticks,
how bright they are.”

“Those are offerings from the faithful to the Lord. Our souls are
candles in God’s hands,” Mo Yin continued politely. “Your Highness
must not have had breakfast yet, Bunier—”

Brother Bunier quickly said, “Father.”

“Take the prince to dine.”

The blonde priest made the sign of the cross on his chest and left.

The food at the church was worse than Randes had imagined, though not too
bad. The silverware, however, was quite beautiful and looked valuable. Brother
Bunier, who was hosting them, said that the silverware was also donated by the
faithful.

Randes remarked bluntly, “Do you need me to send you some silver
toilets?”

Bunier’s face turned green.

All the nobles who visited the church were pious and polite. Bunier had
never seen someone of such high status behave so crudely. Out of courtesy, he
didn’t show any reaction to the prince’s terrible appearance. In his heart, he
cursed, “What an ugly toad,” and then immediately prayed to God to
atone for his sinful thoughts.

After breakfast, Randes elegantly wiped his mouth and placed the napkin on
the table. “When can the baptism ceremony begin?”

“I don’t know,” Bunier replied coldly, having grown to dislike the
prince. “That depends on the Father’s decision and—” he glanced at Randes
with a look of reproach, “whether your faith is sincere.”

Randes smiled, his left cheek facing Bunier, the smile grim and terrifying.
“The Father will know how sincere my faith is.”

The chapel had a special building for the priests. After becoming a priest,
Eugene moved there from the communal dormitory for monks. Despite being blind,
he had been diligent from a young age, learning to write in the dark with
astonishing perseverance, an almost impossible feat. This was one of the
miracles that his fellow monks marveled at.

Eugene had corresponded with Randes a few times. His letters, written in the
elegant and convoluted script he had painstakingly learned, subtly hinted at
extortion.

Mo Yin took out Randes’s replies from a drawer.

The letters were read by Bunier. The wording was equally subtle, discreetly
negotiating terms with Eugene.

Now that Randes was here in person, Mo Yin realized that these letters
probably weren’t written by Randes himself. Randes wouldn’t be capable of such
eloquent words.

Despite the minor extortion, could this really be the source of the greatest
conflict between the protagonist and the antagonist?

Mo Yin found it laughable.

He felt a subtle sense of displeasure. Destroying the powerful energy and
watching the world collapse was his personal hobby, but it seemed the Alliance
had been using this hobby.

Undoubtedly, the Alliance had benefited from his actions, likely gaining the
precious energy they coveted.

The similarity of the energy in these small worlds indicated something.

Mo Yin made a bold conjecture—the energy in this world could regenerate, and
the energy released during each collapse was probably absorbed by the Alliance.

In the past, Mo Yin wouldn’t have cared if the Alliance profited from his
actions. He had never cared about anything. But after experiencing two worlds,
he had changed in some ways, though it was hard to pinpoint exactly how. He
certainly felt displeased with the Alliance’s actions.

He now disliked being used without his knowledge.

“Knock, knock—”

There was a knock on the door.

Mo Yin turned his face.

Randes felt a peculiar sensation.

The person in front of him was undoubtedly blind. Despite his astonishingly
beautiful eyes, which sparkled like lakes and gems, giving the impression of
watching, they were unfocused and reminiscent of a newborn bird.

“Prince?”

Randes asked, “How did you know it was me, Father?”

Mo Yin replied, “I heard the sound of your cane.”

Randes: “…”

The prince never hid his scars or disability when he was out. He seemed
proud of them, always holding his chin slightly up. The sound of his cane
hitting the ground was strong and rhythmic, like a diligent woodpecker.

No one dared to offend him, but the priest before him seemed unaware that he
had already offended him, sitting calmly at the table with a letter spread on
his lap, looking peaceful and serene. “Your Highness, have you truly
decided to embrace faith in God?”

Randes smiled sarcastically and lifted the crutches forward, the sound of
the crutches landing on the ground was more powerful than usual, as if
declaring war, he walked up to the priest, looked down at the priest’s golden
hair, and said coldly in his characteristic gorgeous voice: “God
witnesses, I have never believed in God. ”