Gospel of Blood

Chapter 394: Rumors

It turns out, the world continues on without anyone, and people’s adaptability is incredibly strong.

Ever since King Louis V initiated a thorough purge and harshly stripped many vassals of their titles, the capital had been in a state of panic. Nobles worried about getting caught in the crossfire, and commoners feared being mistaken for heretics by the rampant city guards and local judgment troops.

However, less than a week after the purge, all of Lutecia returned to its former tranquility, as if the recent purge and the city-wide scrutiny were just illusions.

The commoners’ reaction is understandable.

After all, Louis V minimized the impact on commoners during the purge, targeting only the Blood Demon Cult’s operatives in the slums.

But the nobles’ reaction surprised Charlotte.

She thought their discontent and resistance would last longer, possibly even unite against Louis V’s increasing pressure. But, in reality, once the King pacified them with a share of the confiscated noble wealth, they quickly calmed down.

They resumed their salons and banquets, continuing their festivities. Discussions about the purge remained common but had transformed into mere topics of idle conversation and complaints.

The Crescent nobles’ laziness and short-sightedness were even more outrageous than Charlotte had imagined.

Charlotte could guess the nobles’ thoughts: they believed the King’s efforts to centralize power faced immense challenges, and even stripping some nobles of their titles wouldn’t change the overall situation.

As long as the fire didn’t reach them and the King remembered to share the benefits with the nobles, many of them viewed the King’s centralization efforts as just another periodic assertion of power by the royal family.

The political tradition of the kingdom has always been that power fades with its holder’s death. Without a strong successor like Louis V, the nobles believed the current fear would pass, given the King’s age.

“Just endure until the new king ascends; it will be fine.” was a sentiment Charlotte had overheard.

However, Charlotte didn’t believe things would go as the nobles hoped.

Although Louis V was indeed old, his resolve to centralize power was firm. It wasn’t just for the royal family but also to prepare for the Divinity Descent Day.

The King, who could build such a lavish palace like the Crescent Palace, surely had more than just a fleeting interest in strengthening central power. He had thought it through thoroughly. If the nobles could think of it, Charlotte was sure the King could too.

Moreover, Charlotte believed he definitely had countermeasures.

But that had nothing to do with Charlotte.

Since she knew about the Divinity Descent Day, she should focus on strengthening her own forces and power. As for the Crescent Kingdom, there was no need to get involved.

Her Royal Covenant with Louis V and her declaration of celibacy would buy her enough time.

As for the future…

When the Gods truly descend, the old order will undoubtedly be shattered, and rising amidst the turbulent continental winds will depend on one’s abilities.

Charlotte’s visit to the Royal Library was for the same reason.

Knowledge is power. Some knowledge she might not need, but the Northlands do, and her followers do.

The carriage slowly stopped, and Charlotte put her thoughts away.

“Master, we have arrived.”

Sebastian’s respectful voice came from outside the window.

Charlotte nodded slightly, signaling the maid Sherry to open the door, then stepped out of the carriage.

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She looked up and saw a towering structure before her.

This tower, built of some black stone, faintly bore ancient, intricate magical runes, with weathered traces displaying the marks of time.

This was the Royal Library of the Crescent Kingdom.

The Royal Library was the oldest library in the Crescent Kingdom, tracing back to the Yunette Empire. Its predecessor was the library of the Yunette Royal Mage Tower.

After the Yunette Empire’s fall, the Valva family inherited the Royal Mage Tower, sealing part of the forbidden books and transforming the tower into a library.

The library’s collection reportedly exceeded two hundred thousand volumes, including extraordinary materials, various histories and biographies, and literature, art, and alchemical knowledge.

The most attractive among its collections are the extraordinary tomes treasured by noble families.

These volumes detail how to awaken bloodline power and develop extraordinary abilities.

This was Charlotte’s main goal, besides historical records.

Extraordinary power originates from bloodlines. Although the Castell family also possessed several extraordinary tomes, they weren’t of high quality and mainly suited the Castell bloodline, making them unsuitable for widespread use.

Since Charlotte planned to build her own force, developing extraordinary powers was imperative. Bestowing divine grace to followers was one method, but she couldn’t rely solely on divine grace to enhance her followers’ power. Providing various “manuals” to her followers was another approach.

Extraordinary advancement paths were controlled by nobles.

So, providing her followers with extraordinary advancement channels was also a form of “divine grace”, enabling more people to step onto the extraordinary path and strengthen the Northlands.

Charlotte didn’t have much time and couldn’t carefully select suitable followers to develop into clergy like the Holy Court.

The best approach was a broad one: enhance all her followers’ power as much as possible and, in turn, use their power increase to boost her own strength.

Gods are a group of “parasites”, and Charlotte was one too. Since she was a “parasite”, she needed more “hosts.”

Though the power gained from non-bloodborne followers might not be as pure as that from bloodborne followers, their large numbers made up for it, providing considerable divine power collectively.

As for whether the impure power from various sources would cause other problems…

Charlotte wasn’t too worried.

As the True Ancestor of Blood, devouring bloodline power was her ability. Regardless of her followers’ bloodline power origins, as long as the enhanced power was shared through the faith network, she could successfully absorb it.

That was her “mythological-level” cheat.

Taking a deep breath, Charlotte stepped toward the library.

The Royal Library was managed by the Royal Mage Corps. When the Castell family carriage stopped at the entrance, the library apprentices were alerted.

When Charlotte arrived at the library entrance, the Head Librarian, dressed in a mage’s robe, greeted her warmly.

“Welcome to the Royal Library, Countess Castell.”

This was the prestige of a grand noble.

Although the Castell family wasn’t a duke family, being the foremost below dukes was enough to make many nobles in the kingdom look up in admiration.

Even coming to the Royal Library, she was a distinguished guest.

Seeing the librarian, Charlotte smiled slightly and gestured for Sebastian to take out the VIP pass that Louis V had given her, saying,

“Greetings, Head Librarian. I am here today to borrow some extraordinary books.”

Upon seeing the VIP pass, the librarian became even more respectful.

“Countess, please follow me.”

Following the librarian, Charlotte entered the Royal Library.

The inside space was larger than it appeared from the outside, likely due to some spatial magic, and the number of books was enormous, arranged in a spiraling manner.

Many people were borrowing books, most of them dressed as nobles, while a few, not dressed as nobles, wore uniform attire. Charlotte recognized them as students of the Royal Magic Academy, the highest institution of learning in the Crescent Kingdom.

The Royal Library was only open to two kinds of people: nobles and students of the Magic Academy.

When Charlotte entered the library, she naturally attracted curious glances from everyone. Especially when people saw the librarian and the Royal Mage subordinates accompanying her warmly.

“Who is that? Even the Head Librarian is alarmed, and so many Royal Mages are accompanying her?”

“Not in uniform, not a student of the academy, judging by the clothes and demeanor, must be a high-ranking noble.”

“Could it be… a princess from another country?”

Some people recognized Charlotte’s identity.

“It’s Charlotte de Castell, the Pearl of the North, the Saintess of the Holy Court, the wealthiest and youngest countess of the Crescent Kingdom.”

“Gasp… Is she the one who reportedly bewitched the Third Prince at a glance, making him willing to start a war to get her?”

“Hush! What nonsense are you listening to from those taverns in the outer district!”

“But… she is indeed very beautiful. If it were me, I would probably be willing to start a war for her too.”

“I said, stop listening to those made-up stories from taverns!”

Charlotte: …

Although the talkers deliberately lowered their voices, Charlotte, with her bloodborne keen senses, heard everything clearly.

Thanks to the recent series of events, she was indeed quite a celebrity in the capital now. Gaze after gaze fell on her, curious, admiring, respectful, and… hostile?

Hostile?

Charlotte was somewhat surprised that even a visit to the library could draw hostile looks. When her senses extended, she was even more surprised. The hostile looks didn’t come from nobles but from some students in the uniform of the Royal Magic Academy.

“Is she the Northern Countess?”

“I heard she tyrannized many extraordinary people in the North, even forcing her subjects into rebellion, making the Third Prince start the war because of the internal chaos in the North.”

“What a sin. These nobles are all so self-serving, not caring at all about the lives of commoners!”

“She looks fragile but is a demon inside.”

“I also heard she refused the Saintess’ appointment…”

“Is she feeling guilty? The Church is rotten too.”

“What good is beauty? In the end, this world is about extraordinary power. Without power, even nobles can’t keep their positions. Such cruelty will lead to retribution.”

“You don’t know. Despite looking young and weak, she’s already a Silver Moon Mage.”

“Already Silver Moon? That’s worse! Poor people of the North.”

“Don’t be fooled by her purity. I heard her celibacy vow is just a cover for her scandalous private life.”

“Exactly, nobles… none of them are good!”

Charlotte: …

She had never expected to hear such ridiculous rumors.

It was impossible to please everyone. While Charlotte knew that as long as she continued to strengthen her rule over the North and develop her power, various rumors would never cease, and those with potential hostility would always exist. But she didn’t expect the rumors about the North to be this outrageous.

These rumors couldn’t just be dismissed as simple gossip. Charlotte didn’t believe they spread without someone fanning the flames from behind.

Sebastian gave those students a cold look. His gaze was calm, but when he glanced at the students, they felt a chilling sense of dread, a pressure that silenced them instinctively.

“Ahem, Sir Sebastian, this is the Royal Library.”

The librarian reminded with a light cough.

“Apologies, Head Librarian, but I can’t stand people spreading falsehoods about my master.”

Sebastian replied with a cold smile.

The librarian sighed.

“I’m sorry, but please don’t hold it against them. They’re just ordinary students, likely hearing those rumors from somewhere. You know, many Magic Academy students come from commoner backgrounds and inherently distrust nobles. They tend to believe the worst about anything concerning nobles, especially when there are rumors to support it.”

Sebastian nodded slightly.

“You’re right. It seems I should investigate who’s behind these rumors about my master. As a teacher at the Magic Academy, please also remind your students that noble honor should not be defamed.”

With that, he withdrew his gaze, and the students let out a sigh of relief. They exchanged glances, their expressions becoming even more hostile and resentful towards

Charlotte’s group, whispering cautiously among themselves.

“Let’s go. Don’t forget our purpose here.”

Charlotte said, shaking her head.

Although annoyed by these absurd rumors, she knew that these students, being manipulated, weren’t the real culprits.

Lashing out at them wouldn’t make these people, who already viewed her as a villain, reflect sincerely. It would only deepen their resentment and play into someone’s hands.

Handling rumors was Sebastian’s specialty, so she left it to him. However, hearing such overwhelmingly malicious words left her with complex feelings.

Charlotte didn’t consider herself a good person, but after going to the North, she genuinely cared about the commoners there and had implemented many policies to benefit them. She hadn’t expected to be slandered like this.

As Charlotte proceeded deeper into the library, she heard an angry voice behind her.

“Enough! Who is spreading these lies? Slander! It’s all slander!”

“I’m a student from the North! I’ve witnessed firsthand how the Countess dealt with those evil nobles! She’s a good lord. This past year, she’s punished the wicked, stabilized the land, built schools out of her own pocket, funded the poor, and expanded roads. How many nobles can do that?”

“The Countess has vowed to dedicate her life to her territory, which is why she swore never to marry. She’s a good lord, and you will not defame her!”

Hearing this, Charlotte paused and turned to see a few students in Magic Academy uniforms angrily confronting those who had been gossiping about her.

They were students from the North studying in the capital.

Seeing their angry expressions warmed Charlotte’s heart. Her previous irritation vanished in an instant.