Inside a luxurious horse-drawn carriage was a sullen young man, a cheerful and proud child, two girls still in a daze, and a blond man with an annoying smile on his face.

In fact, Yu should have been cheerful like Yurine instead of sulking, and he was. It was only because of the other person who was here that he was reluctant to show his joy and his discontent showed on his face.

“This guy wants me to fuck him, he can't be sticking to me for any other reason.”

After the announcement of the Cardinals of Libra and Virgo, there was a congratulatory ceremony and then people began to go home. The rest of the evening was dedicated to the baptism of the new cathedral members.

"What if he wants to shoot? Shit!"

After Yurine was made Cardinal of Virgo, Link Yachi Long announced that he too would be baptized in Virgo Cathedral.

Yu said they couldn't do it with different excuses, but when someone who couldn't refuse got involved, he had no choice but to accept Link as a member of the Virgo Cathedral.

“I'm sending Link with you to Virgo to help you,” the Pontifex said.

Disobeying the Pontifex could have cost him his tongue and perhaps his head, so he had to agree to take Link in. And if the price of gaining a city was keeping a man he disliked, it was worth it.

"You could try to love me a little more."

“We condemned you, and in return you latched onto us as soon as you came to city. How can I love you when I don't know what you're planning?”

Link grinned as he raised both hands and opened his palms to Yu. His yellow eyes shone.

“I try not to dwell on the past.”

After changing his world, his mindset had also started to change. Especially in recent days, Yu could see a change in the way he treated himself and the way he thought about others.

“Maybe I should try the same.”

Now, instead of completely ignoring people's words, he listened a little and tried to understand their feelings. The new personality he encountered was both unsettling and intriguing.

“I apologize,” he said. He didn't want to talk to Link anymore.

Would he like it if someone constantly expressed his displeasure with him? He knew the answer was no. So he decided to keep silent.

He was also afraid that if he was always grumpy and expressed his displeasure with the other person, it would have a negative impact on the opinion people around him had of him. He apologized for ending the conversation and shut up to think about more important matters.

“Are you all right?” Ana asked. Yu was about to start thinking about new things.

Ana tilted her head to the side and looked at Yu, as if she would understand what was happening if she looked at him from a different angle.

“I don't know what you mean? Is there something on my face?”

Yu put his hand to his face but he couldn't feel any difference, he was as handsome as ever.

“No, I just felt like you said something you wouldn't normally say.”

“I didn't think you were the kind of person who would apologize to me and shut up. It was surprising.”

He could continue to show his displeasure with Link, but it would be childish. He didn't want Yurine, Sivina and Ana to see him behaving in a childish way.

"You know I apologize from time to time."

And today he was in a rare mood of empathy, he would be upset if he was in a group where he was an outsider and someone was always making it clear in different ways that they didn't like him.

There was no way he could stop Link from being there for him after that. In fact, if he wanted to, he could find a few ways, but they would be exaggerated, he wasn't going to kill someone just because he didn't like him.

Finally, even if Link didn't like them, it was impossible for him to leave because he was here by order of the Pontifex. So they necessarily had to be side by side with each other.

He still disliked him and felt uncomfortable and suspicious that he had suddenly joined them, but he decided not to show it as much as before.

Apart from all that, he was in no mood to argue today. He just wanted silence and to go back to the cathedral. Then he could be baptized and finish the day and lie down and sleep.

“Yu, we have a city now!”

That's what he wanted to think about. It was also what he wanted to sleep to avoid thinking about. Suddenly having a city had made him take it much more seriously now.

“I always took it seriously, but...”

“It is the place of the Cardinal of Virgo, but unlike other cardinals, we are not the sole judges. It bothers me that we are controlled by s council, I feel like they won't let us do what we want to do.”

In his mind's eye, he envisioned a coven of rich and evil people who were blocking what he wanted to do. He felt as if the coven was going to be a burden and he wanted to stop thinking because of this feeling.

But he couldn't stop thinking, his mind was always working. That's exactly why he wanted to sleep, even if he wasn't sleepy, he needed his brain to shut up. He didn't believe he could come up with healthy ideas in his current emotional state.

“If I want to do something, it will be done! And they will learn that!”

“We'll teach them.”

When they spoke to Leoral dri Vermilia after the ceremony, they learned that it was he who had helped them take the city.

He couldn't understand how a duke who had lost his land had allowed them to take a city. Leoral had mentioned that he was friends with the Pontifex, but was friendship enough to hand over an entire city on a golden platter?

Maybe in this world it was normal to be given a city because someone had one of the Blessings created by Azer, but for Yu it was still strange.

"When you think about it, it's the same logic as giving people land for the blood they carry."

Yurine was given a city only because she was thought to carry the Blessing instead of blood.

Find this and other great novels on the author's preferred platform. Support original creators!

“We cannot thank Duke Vermilia enough. If he hadn't suggested appointing Yurine as governor of Virgo, we wouldn't have been in the spotlight,” Sivina said.

Yu looked at Sivina and smiled. Sivina must not have known a famous expression.

“It's true that I want to rise fast, but to suddenly become governor... I have a bad feeling. The horse that runs fast drops his shit fast.”

If he claimed that he was not happy about their appointment to the governorship, he would be lying, but if he said he was not worried, he would be telling a much bigger lie than the first one.

“Whenever something good happens, the world brings something bad in its wake. It has always been like this, it is always balanced and if the balance is disturbed, it is always disturbed in a bad way.”

When they arrived at Virgo Cathedral, they still had work to do. Duke Leoral was due to leave a little later and was probably on his way to Virgo Cathedral by now. He had come behind them to watch Yurine's first baptism and the servants were already preparing for his arrival.

There was no need to prepare a meal as it would be past dinner time by the time the Duke arrived, but it would have been nice to have some snacks ready for the guests.

There was no important work to be done in the area to be used for the baptism. They thought that the Duke would come in his own wheelchair, so they moved the chairs that were normally there to the back of the area so that people who had difficulty standing could sit down.

The cleanliness of the cathedral was second to none. The girls here worked hard all year round to keep the cathedral clean and tidy.

If there was nothing to do at the cathedral, it was time for personal preparations. He wanted to confirm one last time that Yurine was fit for the ceremony.

“You remember your words, don't you?”

“Yu, of course I remember. Great beings do not forget.”

“Your outfit.”

“That's okay too.”

She was going to wear the same outfit she wore when she was made Cardinal of Virgo. Seeing that she was not lacking, he went to the full-length mirror to check himself.

“Y-Yu...”

“Yes?”

Yu smoothed his hair and turned around. Yurine had opened her arms to him and was waiting for him to pick her up.

“Handsome as always.”

Yu smiled as he lifted her up and Yurine kissed him on the cheek.

“The young lady is always trying hard not to lose my heart to other girls.”

“Don't say such things!”

His older sisters had often told him to stay away from political and religious groups, as they would not benefit him and might even leave a bad mark on his career. Now he was about to become a formal member of a religious group with a political dimension.

When this thought came to his mind, he started to feel bad. He knew what he had to do, but he couldn't help feeling pangs of conscience because it would be the first time he had disobeyed his sisters. Nine months after their deaths, it would be the first time he would do something they had told him not to do.

“But this is a group led by me, so it shouldn't be a problem.”

He tried to ease his conscience, but even he found his efforts pathetic.

“Link was a knight?”

“I guess, why are you asking about him?”

“Sivina is also a knight, those two will be the first two Virgo Knights. Knights are important for cathedrals. I wish you were a knight too, Yu. I wish you were the first.”

“I don't want to be a knight. I'd be more useful in a position where I can command others than as a soldier.”

Aside from the idea that knightly clothes would look good on him, he had no eye for chivalry.

Knights were important to the cathedrals, and the cathedrals had very famous and powerful knights who were their public face. For example, the Lion Cathedral had Sir Alen, the Aqua Cathedral had Sir Rydel.

Yu didn't think that as a knight he could represent the Virgo Cathedral well. Instead, Sivina would have done the job much better.

Another reason why Yu was not interested in knighthood was that as a butler he could always be at Yurine's side, controlling the others and having easy access to the papers of the Virgo Cathedral. As a knight, it would be inappropriate for him to deal with paperwork, and if he did, there would be no point in being a knight.

Knights took orders and carried out the orders they received, that's the way they were. It was not their responsibility to take care of administrative affairs. Of course, some of them were given land, but these were exceptions.

“After Sivina, Link is the second of the Virgo Knights. I have seen his sword skills with my own eyes, but I still have my doubts about trusting him. His entry into our ranks was too sudden.”

That was the only reason for his distaste for Link. If he had been slower and gradual in getting closer to them, he might have been good friends with him, but the suddenness with which he had joined them had awakened Yu's defensive instincts.

“We are all ready, let's go to the parade ground and wait.”

***

“Welcome, Your Excellency.”

Leoral Dri Vermilia did not keep the people of the Virgo Cathedral waiting long, arriving at the cathedral ten minutes after they had started to wait. He arrived faster than they expected, Yu thought they would wait at least half an hour.

He was in his wheelchair and it was being pushed by the half-elf girl they had seen earlier. Yu hadn't seen her at the cardinal's ceremony and didn't think they would meet again, so he hadn't bothered to find out her name. Since he didn't know her name, he would call her the half-elf maid in his mind for now.

The Duke had brought eleven guards to protect him. The guards were dressed in gray armor and red cloaks, with a huge lion on their chests. The lion was the symbol of the Vermilia family.

But only ten of the guards with the duke wore this armor. The eleventh guard was an Andromeda Guardian, dressed in shining white armor and a golden cloak, a war mask covering his entire face. The Pontifex had sent him, perhaps to observe Yurine, perhaps to better protect Leoral.

When the half-elf maid pushed the wheelchair, Leoral passed Clara, who greeted him, and made his way across the ritual grounds to stand in front of Yurine. Yu bowed his head and greeted the duke.

“Thank you for waiting, Your Eminence. I wanted to follow you,” said Leoral.

“It's okay, the people with you were baptized, right?”

“Yes, your mother did. There were some people who didn't want to be baptized then, but you won't have to do any extra baptisms today.”

Here, changing sects was not compulsory, as forcing people to follow a particular sect could lead to civil war.

When there was silence between the Duke and Yurine, Yu decided that he should start the ceremony.

“Then let us take our seats and begin the baptism. The young lady was going to give me the honor of being baptized first.”

Until the day they rewind time, Yurine would take over the role of Virgo Cardinal from her mother, and she might have to baptize many people before then. Yu would naturally be the first to be baptized by the new Virgo Cardinal and no one had any objections.

The Virgo Cardinal went to the head of the hall, the place was already illuminated, but they had taken care to make it brighter where she was. Dozens of candles burned around Yurine.

On the right side of the hall were Leoral dri Vermilia, her half-elf maid, the Andromeda Guardian and other guards.

On the left side of the hall were the four servants of the cathedral. At the front of the servants was Bart, holding a silver bucket. Next to them were Sivina, Ana, Kigaro, Dimen and Link, waiting for their turn to be baptized.

Tobias was also here, but he had joined their group temporarily and would return to Libra tomorrow. This was not to be a baptism, just a spectator.

Yu, the first to be baptized, stood before Yurine and got down on both knees. Bart brought a silver bucket to Yurine. Inside was clean, cold water.

“Yu Valarfin.”

Yurine dipped her small hands into the bucket and filled her palms with some water, while Yu held out his own hands to Yurine.

“May the water of God cleanse your sin-stained hands.”

Yu's hands were washed by Virgo Cardinal Yurine as the water ran down to his knees.

“From now on, let not your hand touch sin, but work for our God, who loves us and watches over us.”

When she finished washing her hands, it was time to wash Yu's face. Yurine dipped her hands into the bucket again, and after she got some water out in her palm, she started washing Yu's face. She washed his face until it was completely clean, until there was not a single drop left on his face.

Not a drop was left on his face, but the water from his chin had spilled onto his clothes. He had to ignore it because it was part of the ritual.

“May your face never again be darkened by sin, but always shine with the light of good deeds.”

When Yu's hands and face were symbolically cleansed of sin, Yurine said her last sentence:

“May abundance and blessings accompany you as a member of the Cathedral of Virgo.”

Yu stood up and he said the phrases he had memorized to say:

“As a member of the Cathedral of Virgo, I will always seek good and avoid evil, I will strive to represent the Cathedral and the Cardinal in good works, and the Light of the Maiden of Virgo shall illuminate my path.”

Virgo was symbolized in the first world and in the parallel world of Yu by the image of an maiden holding wheat. All the cathedrals had their own unique phrases, like the one Yu said.

Baptism was short and easy. The reason it was so simple was that it was usually performed on children who had just turned seven years old.

Children could not remember a long ritual with complicated movements and too many words. It was therefore decided to keep the ritual short.

After Yu, it was Sivina Ecues' turn. She became the first of the Virgo Knights. Sivina was followed by Ana Rosegreen. Ana was not born with a surname and had taken it at Yu's suggestion before leaving Rolderhelm.

She was followed by Kigaro, then Dimen. Finally, Link Yachi Long, the second of the Virgo Knights, was baptized.

Thus the Virgo Cathedral has six new members, two of whom are knights.