Volume 4, Chapter 28 – The Young Master of the Valen Family

The Valen family.

The ostensibly greatest clan in the Divine Kingdom of the central continent.

The family where the current Pope of the Divine Faith resides.

As a clan that serves The Lord, the direct bloodline of the Valen family are all regarded as divine messengers possessing The Lord’s power.

The Divine Kingdom they protect is humanity’s final bastion against corruption.

And it is precisely because of the power of the Divine Faith and the Valen family that the forces of the Trinity of Malevolence have been blocked outside the Divine Kingdom.

Therefore, within the Divine Kingdom, every member of the Valen family is deeply respected.

Falco-Valen.

This Peak Divine Departure Realm powerhouse, who as the Pope’s eldest son is regarded as the papal heir, possesses an unimaginable status and receives worship and adoration from countless believers.

At this moment, in the Saint Siva Cathedral in the central area of the Divine Kingdom.

Tens of thousands of Divine Faith believers were devoutly kneeling inside and outside the hall, praying to the divine statue.

In this era where humanity’s living environment was increasingly being eroded, the existence of the Divine Faith could be said to be these people’s spiritual pillar.

It gave them hope and suppressed the fear in their hearts.

The monthly ritual day was the day when believers received divine blessings.

Moreover, there was even a chance to see that representative of The Lord in the mortal world.

Therefore, so many believers had gathered around the Saint Siva Cathedral.

As the prayers of the high priest beneath the divine statue ended, faint golden light quietly spread from the staff in the priest’s hands, enveloping the entire cathedral and all the believers within it.

A golden snowflake fell before almost every believer.

The old believers were already accustomed to this, calmly opening their arms in a welcoming posture.

The new believers, under the guidance of church messengers, awkwardly lowered their hands and raised their chests.

The next moment, the golden snow drifted into the believers’ chests, merging into their bodies without any sensation.

When the golden snow floated out from within the believers’ bodies, the original golden color had transformed into a somewhat unsettling dark red.

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These countless dark red snowflakes then, as if receiving a summons, rapidly gathered toward the high priest’s staff in the center.

Then, this handsome priest with white hair and blue eyes suddenly struck his staff against the ground.

“Clang~”—

Amid a loud crash and the rippling of pure white spiritual power, the gathered dark red snowflakes suddenly collapsed and dispersed without a trace.

After this, the high priest calmly looked toward the believers below.

“The purification is complete, everyone may return and rest.”

Upon these words, thunderous applause suddenly erupted in the hall, with grateful voices rising one after another.

“Thank you, Lord Falco!”

“So this is the purification of corruption within the body? It feels amazing!”

“Truly worthy of being The Lord’s representative, this feeling is so comfortable!”

“Lord Falco! I love you!”

“Thank you for your grace!”

And so, amid everyone’s grateful voices, the high priest waved in acknowledgment while slowly leaving the hall, departing from the believers’ sight.

Before long, the high priest who had just completed the ceremony arrived at a hidden yet luxurious room behind the cathedral.

The moment he entered the room, this handsome man who had maintained a gentle smile just seconds before directly restrained his smile at a visibly rapid pace and revealed thick disgust and revulsion.

“Quick! Give me the deodorant!”

While roughly tearing off the priestly robes on his body, the white-haired man glared irritably at the several attendants nearby.

To this, the attendants seemed accustomed, very obediently taking the torn clothing Falco had thrown and handing him an exquisite small bottle filled with rose-colored liquid.

After receiving the small bottle, this young master of the Valen family immediately opened the cap and sprayed himself frantically, as if trying to erase something.

“Those damned commoners, they smell so foul… damn ritual day.”

Falco continuously muttered with disgust.

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His dark golden pupils were full of contempt.

Clearly, Falco was quite dissatisfied with having to stay in the same space as a crowd of commoners for a full hour.

With his particularly sensitive sense of smell, he despised ordinary people, especially the odor from workers and farmers.

“Young master, this is unavoidable. As the next Pope, you must establish a perfect image before the believers. But don’t worry, once you become Pope, this work will be handed over to other priests, and you won’t need to worry about it.”

A certain middle-aged man standing nearby in a suit, speaking earnestly and respectfully.

“Tch.”

Falco coldly sneered with indifference.

“Who knows how long we’ll have to wait for that old fool to kick the bucket.”

After a few complaints to himself, Falco restrained the displeasure on his face and put on a serious expression full of authority.

“Rekt, speaking of which, why are you here? Did you come to collect the essence in place of the old man? Don’t worry, I’ve got it all ready.”

As he spoke, Falco casually waved his hand, and a gem emanating dark red light was thrown out.

The aura of this gem was identical to the dark red snowflakes that Falco was supposed to have purified earlier.

Clearly, a few minutes ago in the hall, Falco had not purified what was extracted from everyone’s bodies, but had collected it instead.

Catching the gem, Rekt smiled with satisfaction:

“The quality is quite good. His Holiness the Pope and everyone from House Solrog will surely be very satisfied.”

“That’s good then.”

“However, young master. This time I came, it wasn’t for this ‘blood source’.”

“Hm?”

Hearing this, Falco frowned and looked puzzledly at this aide who served the Pope.

“Then you came… don’t tell me?”

“Truly worthy of being the young master, you guessed it right away.”

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Rekt smiled and nodded.

“Yes, His Holiness wants to confirm – have you decided on a spouse? Which Divine-Graced Maiden is more to your liking?”

Hearing these words, Falco instinctively frowned.

As a family serving The Lord, the Valen family had a special tradition.

That is, every generation’s heir must marry a Divine-Graced Maiden.

And bear children who inherit divine power.

Their family were The Lord’s representatives in the mortal world, while Divine-Graced Maidens were The Lord’s servants. Therefore, their union with Divine-Graced Maidens was only natural.

His grandfather and his father were all like this.

Falco’s mother was the Divine-Graced Maiden of the former Maretide Kingdom, Ronafis.

As the family’s young master and next Pope, Falco naturally also needed to inherit this tradition.

It could even be said that marrying a Divine-Graced Maiden and bearing offspring was a prerequisite for him becoming Pope.

Seeing Falco fall into brief silence, Rekt spoke somewhat anxiously:

“Young master, you need to confirm this quickly. You’re not young anymore, it’s time to decide on a partner. The current Divine-Graced Maidens are all quite excellent. Nangong Wang of the Kingdom of Qingyun is proficient in music, chess, calligraphy and painting. Why don’t you consider her? Weren’t you quite interested in this type of classical beauty before?”

“Tch, Nangong Wang? Forget it, that old woman, I have no interest.”

Falco replied disdainfully.

“Then what about Lady Hilgena? I heard that great hero even expressed fondness for you before?”

“Hilgena?”

The moment that Divine-Graced Maiden of the Maretide Kingdom was mentioned, Falco’s expression changed slightly.

That Divine-Graced Maiden had good looks, appropriate age, and possessed unparalleled honor – she was indeed a good choice.

But… recalling his last meeting with Hilgena, a trace of something strange flashed in Falco’s eyes.

That woman always felt… somehow wrong…

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Like she was deliberately approaching me… Also, that black-haired maid behind her gave me a very uncomfortable feeling.

“Forget about her… I always feel something’s not right. Whether it’s her recent behavior or that matter of her slaying the Terran Malevolence. In any case, I want to stay away from that woman.”

“Lady Hilgena won’t work either? Then… you’re also unsatisfied with the other two…”

Rekt somewhat awkwardly raised his hand to rub his temples.

“Why don’t you just pick one to make do? Otherwise His Holiness will really get angry.”

“Rekt.”

Eyes narrowing slightly, Falco’s gaze took on a trace of unsettling coldness.

“Are you also pressuring me?”

“No, I wouldn’t dare.”

Rekt hurriedly knelt halfway down in panic.

“I’m just worried you’ll have a conflict with His Holiness over this.”

“Hehe, you can rest assured about that. There won’t be one. Because I already have a suitable candidate.”

“A suitable candidate?”

Rekt immediately showed a puzzled expression:

“Weren’t you unsatisfied with all those Divine-Graced Maidens?”

“Yes… but who said my choice is limited to them?”

“Eh?…”

In an instant, Rekt’s eyes suddenly contracted, and a look of sudden understanding appeared.

“You want to marry the young lady of House Lingyuan?”

“That’s right. There’s no one more suitable than her now.”