When Tiran returned to the palace, he did not ride the same carriage he had arrived in. Brad had taken it when he ran away, and it was unnecessary to fetch another one from the palace.
So Heinrich specially arranged a carriage from within the church to take Tiran back to the palace.
Tiran didn't seem to care. After all, her legendary level of power was undeniable, and she wasn't afraid of Heinrich tricking her. The only thing that bothered her was...
"Why are you here too?" Tiran sat side by side with Aya in the carriage, staring strangely at the Archbishop who was sitting opposite with a smile on his face.
"Shouldn't it be acceptable for His Highness Tiran to be accompanied by the Archbishop on this rare visit to Temple Church and to be sent back to the palace as a hosting gesture?" Heinrich said, completely disregarding Tiran's bluntness.
"A hosting gesture?" Tiran repeated, suddenly laughing. "If I remember correctly, this is Gusteberd, the capital city of the Milanía Kingdom, not the holy city of Temple Church. And you are not a noble of the kingdom, just the Archbishop of the church. Do you have the right to claim this land as your own?"
A faintly uncomfortable smile appeared on Heinrich's face, and his gaze sharpened instantly.
In the sacred Milanía Kingdom's current laws, only the royal family, nobles, and the church had the right to own land. This didn't simply mean staying on this land, but it meant that everything on this land belonged to the lord. The lord had the ultimate power on their territory, and the religious tax and Holy Knights Order of the church were specific manifestations of this.
However, in the upcoming revised law that would be implemented after the New Year celebration, the church's power over land ownership would be abolished.
In other words, if the church wanted to continue operating its sanctuaries on Milanía's land, it would have to pay the kingdom to purchase the right to use the land, just like every merchant who leased a shop to make money. The religious tax couldn't be collected anymore, and the scale of the Holy Knights Order would also have to be dramatically reduced.
Temple Church had deeply rooted itself in the Milanía Kingdom, and there were sanctuaries of various sizes in almost every town of significance. Once the new law was enforced, the amount of money required for land purchase would definitely be a significant figure.
"So, Princess Tiran is also aware of this matter?" Heinrich asked.
"Of course I know. At the very least, I am a princess. Even if I don't want to know, my father would force me to know," Tiran sighed, calmly meeting Heinrich's gaze.
"In that case, may I ask how Princess views the new law?" Heinrich took a deep breath and asked after slightly suppressing his emotions.
The initial version of the new law had been shown to Heinrich by messengers from the palace a few days ago. Almost all the revisions in it were aimed at restricting and weakening the church's power within Milanía.
Of course, if it were just the modifications in the law, the church wouldn't mind. After all, it was a world-class organization on the same level as the Knights Association and the Magic Guild. As long as they could continue to develop the church's followers in Milanía, paying some price was not a big deal.
What Heinrich was more concerned about was the attitude of the royal family after these measures. If the entire royal family of Milanía was determined to suppress the church, the measures in the new law would only be the beginning, and their ultimate goal was probably to completely drive the influence of Temple Church out of the Milanía Kingdom.
Although it would be a lengthy process, once the decision was made, with the power of a first-class nation, the outcome was almost certain.
So, it was important to understand the stance of the second princess, who was likely to be announced as the next queen during the New Year celebration.
"The new law?" Tiran blinked innocently. "I don't have any opinion. It's just my father's decision. It has nothing to do with me."
"Does Her Highness really not care at all?" Heinrich tugged at the corner of his mouth, thinking that was hard to believe. "In that case, let me be more straightforward, Your Highness. What is your view on Temple Church?"
"The representative of the Goddess of the Light on earth, the guardian of the light, the promulgator of the miracles of the goddess... something like that," Tiran said, sticking out her tongue.
"... " Heinrich fell silent for a moment and then said with a wry smile, "Your Highness, you didn't tell the truth. Isn't summarizing a few paragraphs from the first chapter of the Scripture what you just did?"
"Nonsense." Tiran rolled her eyes and said bluntly, "If I were talking nonsense, who knows, you might label me a heretic and tie me up and burn me at the stake?"
"Uh..." Heinrich hesitated for a moment and explained awkwardly, "No, we don't burn heretics anymore. This is the civilized era, and besides, as the princess, Tiran, we wouldn't..."
Stare--
"Well, if that's the case, you can rest assured." Heinrich finally gave in and lit a faint holy light with his right hand, enveloping the entire carriage in an invisible barrier. "No one can hear us now, and I didn't bring any recording devices either."
As he spoke, Bishop Heinrich shook his robe. The style of this clergy robe was very plain, with almost no place to hide anything.
"I mean, is that all you want to know about my views on the Temple Church?" Tiran also became a little curious. Did this guy really have such a strong desire for gossip?
"Just consider it satisfying my personal curiosity." Heinrich said.
"Oh... idiot."
"Huh?" Heinrich was stunned, thinking he had misheard.
"Watch my lips, i-di-ot." Tiran repeated.
"Because..." Heinrich frowned slightly. Even if he was the Archbishop, any ordinary follower of the Goddess of the Light would probably not be able to resist the urge to roll up their sleeves and punch someone who said such things.
"Because it's the truth. Let me ask you a few questions, if you can answer them, then forget I said anything." Tiran sat up straight, "Farmers work hard, does the Goddess bless them with bountiful crops every year? Traders toil to sell their goods everywhere, does the Goddess bless them with thriving businesses? Dying people pray to the Goddess, does she appear to save them and give them life and health? Soldiers go to war... even the Holy Knights Order have suffered defeat while battling those demons before, right? Why didn't the Goddess bless them with invincibility? Aren't the Holy Knights supposed to be the warriors of the Goddess?"
"As for us," Tiran pointed to herself, "the Elysian Royal Family. Eighteen years ago, we experienced a rebellion, and almost all direct bloodline members of the royal family were killed. Has the Goddess ever appeared to uphold justice? Don't mention the Church's aid, we both know that was just a transaction. Maybe you think my father restricting your power is disrespectful to the Goddess, but that's what a good king should do."
"The most ridiculous thing about the Temple Church is the collection of religious taxes, which shouldn't have existed in the first place. The kingdom taxes its people, using the funds to maintain the army, build roads, and benefit the taxpaying citizens. Even if there are corrupt officials, the fundamental purpose of kingdom taxation is still good. But as for religious taxes... where do you use them?"
"Faith itself is elusive, and some people genuinely believe in the Goddess and are willing to sacrifice everything for the Church. I have no objection to that, and I even admire those who have a steadfast faith. But writing religious taxes into laws, making it illegal not to pay them, do you think any sane person would agree? Or do you think that everyone in the world is a fool?"
After saying all this, Heinrich remained silent for a long time, and then a hint of a smile suddenly appeared on his lips.
"Haha, hahaha!" Aya was startled by this sudden burst of frantic laughter and asked in a timid voice, "Hey, you didn't just say something that made him sound crazy, did you?"
"Impossible... I'm not Zhuge Villager, and besides, I didn't insult anyone..." Tiran also became a little anxious, "Could he be pretending to be crazy to get the Church to trouble us?"
"Don't worry, Your Highness Tiran, I'm fine." Heinrich suppressed his laughter and said calmly, "I just think that what you said, Your Highness, was very good."
"Very... very good?" Tiran was confused this time.
"Religion, you see, is meant to deceive people. The only difference is the level of deception." Heinrich still had a meaningful smile on his face.
At this time, the carriage also stopped, and the palace gate was in sight outside the window.
After Aya and Tiran got off the carriage, the church carriage slowly drove away.
"Did you come up with those words just now?" Aya grinned.
"Otherwise, what else?" Tiran yawned and walked towards the palace gate.
Instead of going directly back to his residence to rest, Tiran went to the study where Granzon often stayed.
"Oh, you're back?" Granzon looked up and greeted.
"Yes, I just wanted to remind you that the church may want to cause trouble during the New Year celebration."
"Has that old tortoise, Heinrich, finally lost his patience?" Granzon put down the feather pen in his hand and leaned back on the chair behind him, looking somewhat troubled. "Honestly, can't they just behave themselves? They're forcing me to take action. If things go wrong, it will turn into a war against the church."
"But you don't intend to back down, do you?" Tiran didn't feel much about the word "war," he just raised an eyebrow slightly. "You called back the Iron Wall Shield to warn those guys, right?"
"Of course, I have no intention of turning the Kingdom of Milanía into a holy nation." Granzon smiled.
"Holy nation? Do those guys from the church really plan to kill the Elysean royal family and create a country under the control of the Pope?" Tiran was taken aback.
"Probably? Haven't they always been doing that? When the Kingdom of Milanía was established, the church left a deep mark on this country. Although I barely pacified the rebellion in the war eighteen years ago, I had to make many concessions because of the agreement with the church. If we let them continue, it's not impossible for the sacred Kingdom Milanía to become the Saintdom Milanía."
Against his usual demeanor, a cold smile filled with killing intent appeared on Granzon's face. "However, it seems that they forgot I have been in the capital for over ten years, and my sword can no longer harm people."
