Gospel of Blood

Charlotte wasn’t surprised by the King’s summons.

Although she had played a minor role in the Central Meeting, the fact remained that the Castell territory had effectively declared independence from Borde.

As the wealthiest territory in the Borde Duchy, and with the royal family’s partnership in the Castell Mithril Mine, it was inevitable that Louis V would want to meet her.

Charlotte had a fair idea of the topics they would discuss.

After all, the root cause of the Borde-Castell War had included the tacit approval of the King. The only difference was that the final victor had been Charlotte.

Charlotte did not hesitate. She graciously accepted the royal decree from the Royal Knight and then, accompanied by Sebastian, boarded the carriage prepared by the Knight. In addition to the royal carriage, Charlotte also sent another carriage to follow behind.

“Countess, this…”

The Royal Knight looked puzzled at the bulging carriage.

“These are gifts for His Majesty, as well as some specialties from the North. If you’re concerned, you can inspect them.”

Charlotte smiled.

Bringing gifts when meeting the King was always better than coming empty-handed. Although she had no intention of getting too close to the Royal Family, at least they were not her enemies at the moment.

Louis V’s tacit approval of the war was essentially because she had initially “leaned” toward the church. After her victory, the King had not troubled her.

Hearing Charlotte’s explanation, the leading knight bowed and apologized, then ordered the other knights to inspect the carriage.

A moment later, the inspecting knight nodded, and the leader addressed Charlotte.

“Countess, everything is in order. We can proceed.”

“Then let us depart.”

Charlotte nodded slightly, closing the curtain of the carriage. The carriage moved slowly, carrying the young girl towards the royal palace.

…

The Crescent Kingdom’s Royal Palace was located in the very center of the capital, Lutecia. The Royal Plaza was right in front of it, facing the Central Council Hall and the Lutecia Cathedral.

As the political center of the Crescent Kingdom, the palace was grand and majestic. The main building, called Crescent Palace, was a typical structure of the kingdom, resembling Baroque architecture from Charlotte’s previous life.

The palace was built from massive stone materials, with intricate sculptures and decorations adorning its walls, and magnificent spires and luxurious domes crowning its roof. Instead of being surrounded by walls, the palace was embraced by vast gardens and lawns. The gardens were symmetrically designed, with trimmed hedges, colorful flower beds, and lush greenery, interspersed with decorative marble statues and colonnades.

What caught Charlotte’s eye the most was the enormous fountain in front of the main gate of Crescent Palace. She could see it from a distance.

It was the largest fountain Charlotte had ever seen, nearly thirty meters tall and about fifty meters wide.

At the center of the fountain was a massive marble sculpture depicting Louis V on horseback, leading the Crescent Order of Knights in the decisive battle of the Star-Moon War.

The sculpture was lifelike, almost a spitting image of Louis V himself. It was said to have been crafted personally by the most skilled half-elf artisans from the Luna Coast city-states and was considered a masterpiece.

In fact, as far as Charlotte knew, the entire Crescent Palace had been rebuilt by Louis V on the ruins of the old palace. The new palace was much larger and more luxurious than the old one, which had been burned down by the Starfall Army during the Star-Moon War.

Although the palace was not surrounded by walls, fully armed royal knights were visible everywhere. Charlotte sensed that these patrolling knights were exceptionally strong, even the weakest among them were at the Starry Sky tier, with most being Silver Moon and some even Blazing Sun.

These knights, while officially titled “Royal Knights”, were in fact mostly nobility with other titles. Many were direct descendants of the Crescent noble lords or even the lords themselves.

For the Crescent nobles, joining the Royal Knightly Order as a Royal Knight was an honor.

In addition to the patrolling knights, Charlotte could also faintly sense the flow of magical energy. Without showing any outward signs, she traced the source of the magic to various decorative patterns on the palace’s spires.

These were the runes forming magical arrays, likely for defense and surveillance.

Though Crescent Palace no longer had walls like the old castle-style palace, it maintained its security on a higher level.

Charlotte curiously observed the palace through the carriage window until the vehicle finally stopped at the main gate.

“Countess Castell, we have arrived.”

The respectful voice of the Royal Knight came from outside the carriage.

Charlotte nodded, then descended with Sebastian’s help.

She glanced at the luxurious and tall archway of Crescent Palace and entered under the escort of the Royal Knights.

Sebastian was stopped and not permitted to enter. The King’s summons was for Charlotte, not him, and without a royal decree, no one else had the right to enter the palace.

“Master, I’ll wait for you outside the palace and also handle the delivery of the gifts to His Majesty.”

Sebastian said.

Charlotte nodded in agreement.

Led by the Royal Knights, Charlotte entered Crescent Palace.

The interior was even more opulent, with the palace hall being resplendent. The architectural style of Yunette reached its peak here.

The ceiling of the hall was high, adorned with brilliant murals and exquisite chandeliers. The walls on either side were draped with luxurious tapestries and silks, displaying the Crescent Royal Family’s coat of arms. Every piece of furniture and decoration was incredibly luxurious and finely detailed, practically works of art in their own right.

Even the windows and curtains were quite luxurious. The curtains were made of exquisite Far Eastern silk and embroidery, vibrant in color yet grand, and the glass on the windows was intricately carved, reflecting the interior light and casting colorful patterns.

However, the most eye-catching place was the banquet hall.

When Charlotte passed by the hall on her way to the reception room, she found it very similar to the Hall of Mirrors in Versailles from her previous life, with large mirrors, intricate frescoes, lavish golden decorations, and brilliant large crystal chandeliers.

No, to go further, the entire Crescent Palace’s luxury reminded Charlotte strongly of Versailles.

The same opulence, the same magnificence, the same grandeur, the same vastness.

In fact, the Crescent Palace’s size was almost to the point of being somewhat deserted.

Considering the current state of the Valva family, which had dwindled in population, it was questionable if they could even gather thirty family members.

Such a massive palace wouldn’t just house thirty royals comfortably but probably could fit all the nobles of Lutecia with room to spare.

Subconsciously, Charlotte compared the Crescent Palace to her own Count’s estate, only to quickly realize that such a comparison was self-defeating.

Castell was wealthy.

But no matter how wealthy, it could not surpass the Crescent Royalty.

Especially the current king, who, since ascending to the throne, had subtly strengthened centralization. With many nobles dead or injured during the Star-Moon War, the Crescent Royal Family’s directly governed territories had far exceeded those before the war through annexation and inheritance.

To put it simply, some figures made the point clear.

As far as Charlotte knew, before the Star-Moon War, the Crescent Kingdom had over twenty duchies, but now only nine remained. The number of theocratic duchies had also reduced from five to three.

Though some duchies had expanded since the war, overall, the Crescent Royalty gained more land.

Across the kingdom, some duchies had been outright destroyed, leaving behind only scattered counts and barons.

The central council had over five hundred noble lords, and probably half were such minor nobles.

More direct territories meant higher income, not to mention the Crescent Royal Family dominated the kingdom’s extraordinary resources. While not monopolizing them, they controlled the majority.

Being able to build such a luxurious palace, which could be considered a “wonder”, showcased the wealth of the Valva family.

Louis V dared to confront the nobility collectively and openly implemented policies to strengthen centralization, based on the power of the royal family.

Seeing through the surface, appreciating the grandeur and luxury of the Crescent Palace, Charlotte gained a deeper understanding of the royal family’s strength and wealth.

Unconsciously, she had been led by the Royal Knight to the Crescent Palace’s reception room.

“Countess Castell, please wait here for a moment. His Majesty is washing up and will arrive shortly.”

The Royal Knight said respectfully.

Charlotte nodded slightly and smiled sweetly.

“Thank you.”

Seeing her smile, the young Royal Knight was momentarily stunned, lost in thought.

He quickly regained his composure, his cheeks slightly red, and hurriedly saluted and excused himself.

Charlotte withdrew her gaze and touched her soft, tender face.

She wondered if the blood divine power inherently had the effect of enhancing the body. After merging with the faceless statue, her already excessive beauty seemed to have taken another leap.

Her changes in temperament were particularly notable, making her even more perfect and charming in her every word and smile.

Shaking her head, Charlotte sat down in the reception room, and the royal maid soon respectfully brought her tea and snacks.

The tea was elven red tea, recently popular from the Far East, and the snacks were traditional Western Yunette pastries.

Charlotte was more interested in the tea set, made of porcelain, quite exquisite, likely a rare Far Eastern product, and probably very valuable.

She had a set in her Count’s estate, simpler than the one in the Royal Banquet Hall, and it was worth over fifty thousand gold tana.

This set in front of her would only be more expensive.

Charlotte curiously examined the porcelain, thinking how the Far Eastern of this world felt so familiar, with tea, porcelain, and silk, very much like her homeland from her previous life.

She heard it was also an elven kingdom, but so far away that few ever ventured there.

What kind of elves would they be?

While Charlotte was lost in thought, an elderly voice suddenly sounded behind her.

“This tea set is Royal Porcelain from the Sun Empire, said to be over two hundred years old. It is said that there are only two sets like this in all of Western Yunette, the other set is supposedly owned by the Coria Royal Family.”

“If Countess Castell likes it, you may take it with you later.”

Startled by the voice behind her, Charlotte quickly stood up, seeing King Louis V had entered unnoticed.

A Legendary truly lives up to their name.

When concealing his presence, Charlotte hadn’t noticed his approach at all!

Of course, this was also because Charlotte hadn’t used the blood divine power. Without using that power, even though she was considered a “God.” she was still a “pseudo-God.”

“Your Majesty, good day.”

Following her memory of etiquette, Charlotte picked up her skirt and curtsied to Louis V.

Today, Louis V was dressed casually in a loose, gorgeous noble robe, though he still wore the dark blue Crescent cloak adorned with golden crescent emblems.

He looked less stern than at the Central Council yesterday. Though still dignified, his expression was more approachable.

However, there were signs of fatigue in his eyes.

“No need to be formal, sit.”

Louis V said.

Charlotte curtseyed and sat down again.

Louis V also took his seat on the royal throne, picked up a glass of still wine from the maid’s tray, took a sip, and said warmly.

“This should be your first time at the Crescent Palace, Countess Castell. What do you think of my palace?”

Charlotte paused, not expecting Louis V to start with this topic.

Meeting the King’s seemingly expectant gaze, she thought for a moment and began to lavishly praise the palace according to her true feelings.

“Luxurious and majestic, dignified and imposing, it’s the most magnificent palace I’ve ever seen, perfectly showcasing Crescent’s glory, definitely a pinnacle of Myria court culture…”

“The architectural style and decoration art are breathtaking. It’s more like a wonder of art than a palace.”

“It not only reflects the majesty of the royal family but also their taste!”

Hearing Charlotte’s praise, Louis V laughed heartily, seemingly quite pleased.

His laughter was loud and hearty, bold and rough.

After laughing, he continued to ask.

“Is there anything else?”

This is… not just wanting to hear the good? Also wanting to hear the bad?

Charlotte’s mind stirred.

She thought for a moment, showing a hesitant expression.

Louis V glanced at her and said,

“Don’t hesitate, say whatever comes to mind. I just want to hear a comprehensive evaluation and won’t take offense.”

Charlotte paused, then said,

“Your Majesty, then I shall speak frankly.”

With that, she solemnly said,

“Majestic as it is, impressive as it is, building it must have been enormously expensive.”

“Not only that, the entire palace is too large, far exceeding what the royal family needs…”

She glanced at Louis V, surprised to see he wasn’t angry but rather nodded in agreement.

Noticing Charlotte’s gaze, Louis V paused and sighed.

“You’re right. Even for the royal family, creating such a grand palace was immensely costly, and maintaining it daily is a considerable expense.”

“In a sense, it is indeed too luxurious and too vast.”

Then, Louis V looked at Charlotte again.

The aging king smiled slightly and suddenly asked.

“Countess Castell, do you know why I built it so grand and luxurious?”

Charlotte’s mind stirred, having some guesses.

But she didn’t voice them and instead shook her head.

“I do not know.”

Louis V put away his smile.

His gaze fell on the map of the Crescent Kingdom’s fiefdoms in the reception room, his expression calm as he said,

“Because this palace was never built just for the royal family to live in.”