The Empror's Trap-Chapter 90: Ch - To The Holy Country II

The reason Kenji said this was partly because he genuinely believed that establishing an independent department would be better for handling this, and partly because...

The emperor didn’t seem particularly eager to hand over educational authority to him.

Understandable, considering that Kenji’s influence was already quite extensive. Military affairs, politics, food security, and more were all under his purview, and recently he had even been involved in imperial family matters (although temporarily, just to eliminate Yunis). Even now, the actual Director of family Affairs was still very angry with him.

If she were to let him freely control education as well, he would have to seriously question whether she as the emperor was thinking clearly.

Evidently, Pluvia understood this point, so she very decisively chose to entrust educational authority to others. From Kenji’s perspective, this wasn’t a bad thing either.

If possible, he didn’t want to be overwhelmed with responsibilities every day. He could completely let the Chancellor handle educational matters. But to say he would let them handle it completely independently was also impossible.

"I won’t directly participate, but I can recommend a few people, right? You should at least give me that courtesy."

Uncle Cui’s son would be quite suitable—wasn’t his name Alan? Although Uncle Cui had once been instructed by Pluvia to monitor him, that was merely unavoidable. Now Uncle Cui had returned to his hometown, and his son had been recommended to the central government. Reportedly, he had been doing well lately.

He would place him in charge. This child was quite sensible (although this child was actually older than him), and being familiar made communication easier. After the previous incident, Uncle Cui should be more loyal to him, and the situation of having his son monitor him at someone else’s request shouldn’t occur again.

Moreover, in the emperor’s eyes, Alan, as the son of Duke Anos’s manor spy, certainly had some value in being won over. After all, when Kenji recommended him to the central government, the spy hadn’t yet been exposed. Now that he had been exposed, the relationship between the two might not be good.

If someone recommended this person, Pluvia would most likely agree.

However, it couldn’t be Kenji himself making the recommendation, or Pluvia would certainly be suspicious.

Why not have the esteemed Remonstrance Officer make the recommendation? It would arouse less suspicion. The Remonstrance Officer was technically one of Kenji’s faction members, but his political leanings weren’t very obvious in court. Besides, Alan had indeed achieved some results in the central government, so it could be considered a worthy recommendation.

Of course, they couldn’t let Alan immediately become the head of the Education Department. He would still need to learn from the Chancellor and Kenji for a period, and once he was ready, they could consider handing the department over to him.

He couldn’t hand over everything completely. He needed to arrange for some senior officials, partly to temper his personality, and partly to reassure Pluvia with the presence of veteran ministers.

As for his own side, he would occasionally remind the man not to forget where his loyalties should lie.

Kenji was calculating his own small schemes, but this proposal was overall quite reliable. Regarding this, Pluvia indicated that it was acceptable, nodding: "Very well. At first, you and the Chancellor will be responsible for this matter. Once it stabilizes, we can establish a separate department, which will make management more convenient in the future."

"Your Majesty is wise."

Kenji said with a smile.

"Additionally, in some time, we may need to visit the Western Empire," Pluvia suddenly changed the subject. "The Western Empire has specifically sent an envoy with an invitation to me, hoping that I could visit the Western Empire, representing the friendly exchanges between our two empire."

"This is good news, Your Majesty." Continue reading at novelbuddy

"It is indeed. I plan to bring you along. What do you think?"

Pluvia asked.

"I would be most honored."

….

...

-Holy Country.

Believers streamed in continuously, gathering from all corners of the human world to the Holy Country today.

This was not uncommon in the Holy Country. In fact, every year there were several such occasions: Holy Lord’s Descent Day, the Pope’s Birthday, the Church Manifestation Day, and so on. These festivals brought considerable popularity to this relatively small country.

Recently, with the Pope’s birthday approaching, the Holy Country had sent invitations to various political figures, inviting all church-affiliated countries to come celebrate the Pope’s birthday together.

Undoubtedly, the Holy Church still wielded significant influence in this region. After the invitations were sent, many countries’ political figures arrived as requested. Whether to annoy Camelot, out of oversight, or for some other reason, the Holy Church had even sent an invitation hoping that the Emperor of the Camelot Central Empire would send representatives to attend this non-human banquet.

Clear-minded people knew this was merely a publicity stunt by the Holy Church. Although the stunt was indeed quite poor, and Pluvia had not responded regarding whether she would attend, the matter itself became a topic of much discussion.

Many were even speculating whether the Camelot Empire’s emperor would come to celebrate the Pope’s birthday.

If nothing else, the Holy Church had certainly succeeded in attracting attention.

The invitation had indeed reached Pluvia’s hands and had been carefully examined by her.

However, Pluvia’s comment on this was simply...

"Incomprehensible."

Yes, incomprehensible. From Camelot’s perspective, Camelot had never been part of the church countries’ camp, nor was it under church control. Why would they seek attention by inviting others to their Pope’s birthday celebration when they had nothing better to do?

So Pluvia didn’t even bother writing a reply herself, instead handing it to Chancellor Long for handling. After pondering for a long time, Chancellor Long fully utilized his abilities as a civil official, writing a lengthy, passive-aggressive essay full of sarcasm. After reading it, Pluvia felt as if her mind had been cleared by its sarcasm and decisively chose to send this essay as a diplomatic letter.

Meanwhile, in the Holy Country, people were crowding around His Holiness the Pope as he entered the grand cathedral. The current Pope was nearly ninety years old and quite frail, yet his face still revealed the elderly man’s vibrant spirit.

He warmly received each political official from the church countries, while also discussing recent international situations with these officials, and expressing sympathy for the people of many countries experiencing warfare.

To be honest, by elderly standards, the Pope’s physical condition was remarkably good. His mind remained sharp, and when facing different political figures, he always maintained control of the conversation, often actively raising topics through questions—something many found difficult to imagine.

Now, this elderly man was smiling as he listened to several small countries’ leaders complaining about recent trade route blockages, while glancing at the political figures seated below the pulpit.

Soon, the pulpit was prepared.

The Pope ascended the pulpit and began to preach the gospel of the Holy Lord.

Among the crowd below the pulpit were two peculiar guests.

One was a young woman wearing an elegant sky-blue dress and an adorable white straw hat. Her arms, like white jade, were exposed, and her soft body curves were in full bloom. Her eyes quietly watched the figure of the Pope preaching.

The man beside her appeared much more low-key. He was tall, wearing a well-fitted black formal attire, sitting nearby. His identity as the girl’s attendant or similar role was apparent, as his body often unconsciously leaned toward her.

"Your Majesty, you might be easily discovered this way."

Kenji said in a low voice.

"Discovered? It doesn’t matter if I’m discovered. That Pope is no fool. Besides, even if I did come to his territory, what of it? He would only hope, as always, that their Holy Lord forgives me, this ’heretic.’ Though I don’t need any forgiveness."

As she spoke, Pluvia gently touched the hat on her head.

It was a very cute straw hat that she had just found while walking on the street. In this place, the decorative value of straw hats far exceeded their practical value, so each hat was made with exquisite craftsmanship. Wearing this hat added a liveliness to her that was absent in her daily demeanor.

Actually, the Holy Country was not originally part of their travel itinerary. The main purpose of Pluvia and Kenji’s visit was the Western Empire; there was no need to visit the Holy Country.

According to the original plan, their convoy was to travel through the buffer plains between the western mountains and then detour southward.

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But this route brushed the edge of the Holy Country.

Since they were already here, under the pretext of observing local conditions (although these conditions weren’t Camelot’s concern at all), Pluvia, after careful consideration, finally decided to set foot on this land that was said to be blessed by the gods.

Of course, the two weren’t visiting officially this time, but rather as noble believers from an eastern island country.

To facilitate the privacy of their visits, successive emperors of Camelot had specialists create false identities for them—these identities, though indeed fake, would stand up to scrutiny if one were to investigate thoroughly.