Jeremy tried to turn around, but he couldn't move as he felt a huge hand pressing on top of his head.
The hand wasn't using too much pressure…just enough so that he couldn't move his head.
"Uhm…excuse me…"
Jeremy spoke and was about to slap the hand out of his head.
But before he could do that, he heard a voice coming from the person pressing his head.
"May the love and blessing of Goddess Aurora be upon you."
After that statement was spoken, Jeremy felt his head being freed.
Then he saw a man in a white robe coming from behind him, then walking toward his father.
The man pressed his gloved hand on top of the duke's head before uttering the same statement Jeremy had heard earlier.
'Oh, he must be Pope Delvan…the only pope of this empire.'
Jeremy immediately identified the man as the man is wearing something only popes are allowed to wear.
And there is only one pope mentioned in the novel he is currently in.
"May the love and blessing of Goddess Aurora be upon you."
The pope one by one blessed all the family members and the servants of the Duchy of Thorne.
After being blessed, they all sat back down around the table.
The pope then turned toward the emperor to bless him.
"Your Majesty, may Goddess Aurora's blessing and love be upon you."
The emperor snorted before he spoke.
"No need to be formal Delvan…these people know you don't respect me anyway so just tell me why you're here."
Jeremy looked back and forth between the pope and the emperor.
'No, I don't know that the pope disrespects the emperor.'
Jeremy commented inside his head.
Besides…
'The novel didn't mention that the emperor and the pope are casual with each other!'
He then saw the pope openly snorting toward the emperor.
'Is this how their usual interaction goes?'
Jeremy wondered.
He looked around and noticed that all of the people in the garden seemed to be used to this kind of casualness between the emperor and the pope.
He then became curious…
'Aren't they enemies in the novel? Did the emperor and the pope start becoming at odds in later years after getting annoyed at each other's snorts?'
As he felt surprised by how the pope just snorted in response to the emperor…
He made eye contact with the pope.
Then he saw the pope quickly smiling at him benevolently.
'Shouldn't he smile like that to His Majesty as well?'
But regardless of what he thinks, he still smiled back toward the pope.
Seeing Jeremy's smile, the pope couldn't help but clasp his gloved hands in a prayerful manner.
'Oh! What a good child you have chosen, Goddess Aurora!'
As the pope had that thought, he opened his mouth to start a conversation with Jeremy.
But before he could utter a word, the emperor talked to him.
"So, Delvan… May I know what's your reason for coming here unannounced?"
At the emperor's question, everyone paid attention to the pope.
The pope…still clasping his hand, smiled happily at the emperor.
He is happy to answer the emperor's question.
"Your Majesty, I came here with a very important message from the Goddess!"
He excitedly said, ensuring that not only the emperor would hear.
The pope then slowly walked toward Jeremy who was now eating a mango pie.
He stood beside Jeremy's chair and talked again.
"Goddess Aurora sent a revelation to me and my fellow holy servants last night."
The emperor nodded his head to cue the pope to continue.
The duke and Jeremy's brothers also listened carefully to the pope.
Even Jude, Frederick, and the chamberlain attentively listened while standing meters away from their masters.
Seeing that everyone was paying attention, the pope turned toward the entrance of the gazebo and made a beckoning gesture.
It was just then that the people around the table noticed a few people standing quite a distance away from where they are.
The people standing quite far from them are wearing priest robes.
But one of them is wearing a bishop robe.
Noticing the pope's beckoning, the one in the bishop's robe moved toward them while the priests just stayed still in that area.
The duke raised his eyebrow upon seeing them.
'Did I become too relaxed? I didn't sense their presence earlier.'
He then glanced at the pope who was standing beside his youngest son.
He clenched his hands as he carefully changed his sitting posture to make it easier for him to move toward Jeremy if something happens.
The duke has an ominous feeling about this current play of events.
He was not the only one.
Darius also felt that something big is about to unfold any time right now.
He looked at Jeremy who was sitting beside the unusually excited pope.
The emperor was also feeling something right now.
He felt annoyed as his question had not been yet answered by the pope.
'The audacity of this old man to delay answering me!'
This is the only person in the entire empire who has a knack in annoying him.
He felt impatience growing inside him, so he spoke.
"Pope Delvan, what is the revelation of the Goddess Aurora that made you come here unannounced?"
Just in time, the man in the bishop robe entered the gazebo and greeted them with a bow.
He was embracing a rectangular thing that was carefully wrapped in a silk cloth.
Along with the bishop's entry, the pope opened his mouth to finally answer the emperor.
"Your Majesty, during our evening prayer last night…"
* * *
Last night…
Inside the church of Goddess Aurora…
"Bless the empire, Goddess…Bless your children, Goddess…"
When the clergy gathered together and were dutifully praying to the Goddess, a white light suddenly spread from the altar.
Glow!
The light shines radiantly for several seconds before it vanishes.
After the light disappeared, a book which was never there before appeared on top of the altar.
"Hmm? What is that?"
"Hey, don't touch it yet!"
"What an enormous scared energy!"
"This must be from the Goddess."
"Your Holiness, what should we do with this?"
The clergy encircled the altar and started discussing with one another, while some waited for the pope's decision.
The pope moved closer to the altar.
Following behind him, was a young bishop.
Both of them observed the book.
The book cover is pure white in color.
At the center of the cover was an engraving that no one among the clergy could understand.
Guidelines to Becoming a Saint.
It was written in English alphabets which the clergymen haven't encountered their whole life.
"What does it say?"
"Is there someone who understands it?"
"What language is that?"
The pope deliberated for a moment before he touched the book.
The book is quite hot to the touch as if it contains fire.
But the pope still flipped it open to the very first page.
Every member of the clergy attentively watched.
The pope and the young bishop then saw another engraving.
This time, they can read and understand the engravings.
It was written in runes, a set of alphabets that the whole empire and this world commonly use.
This book is dedicated to and should only be read by my chosen saint—Jeremiah de Thorne.
"This book is dedicated to my chosen saint—Jeremiah de Thorne."
The young bishop read aloud the written text.
The moment he finished reading it…
The church clergy went silent.
They are currently processing what they've just heard.
After a moment, buzzes of whispers began.
"Did I hear it right? A saint?"
"Wait…Jeremiah de Thorne?"
"Huh? Isn't he the duke's third son?"
"Did Goddess Aurora finally remember to choose a saint after all these years?"
The clergy members were surprised by this sudden revelation.
* * *
"That's what happened, Your Majesty!"
The pope excitedly finished his report.
The whole table went silent.
Jeremy almost choked on his muffin when he heard the pope's explanation.
'What the hell is this nonsense?'
As he had that thought, he saw his father looking at him with a bewildered look.
Not just his father, but everyone in the gazebo except the pope and the young bishop, was looking at him with confusion.
"Your Holiness, are you sure that it was my son that the Goddess Aurora has chosen to become a saint?"
The duke doubtfully asked.
The emperor also asked.
"Where is the book you mentioned that appeared last night?"
The pope looked at their disbelieving faces.
He then opened his mouth to speak.
"Of course, it was truly Sir Jeremy de Thorne that was chosen as a saint! It was stated by the Goddess in this book."
He then gestured to the young bishop behind him.
Then the young bishop carefully handed the thing wrapped in silk that he was carrying before toward Jeremy.
"Please open this, Sir."
The young bishop softly spoke to Jeremy.
"Huh? Oh, okay."
Jeremy accepted it and opened the silk cloth.
He then saw a pure white book with good quality engravings on it.
"Guidelines to Becoming a Saint?"
He read the title out loud.
Then, he heard a gasp of surprise coming from the young bishop.
The pope also chuckled slightly as he clasped his hands and muttered.
"Hohoho… Surely, Young Master Jeremiah is the chosen saint of the Goddess!"
He was sure of this after hearing the young man reading that indecipherable text.
The duke turned to Jeremy and asked.
"You can read it?"
Darius and Desmond also leaned in and furrowed their brows.
"What language is that?"
Desmond asked.
The emperor also moved toward Jeremy and leaned over.
"Hmm… I've never seen that text before. What is this, Jeremy?"
He asked his godson curiously.
He has seen countless texts before aside from runes but this is an exception.
"They are called English alphabets… I read it somewhere before."
Jeremy answered.
The emperor nodded his head.
'Yeah, my godson is obsessed with reading, so he must have learned it out of boredom.'
The duke and his two older sons also nodded in understanding.
'Hmm…Jeremy must have learned it during those times he suddenly disappears to somewhere we don't know.'
Jeremy's family are aware that Jeremy loves freedom and sometimes go somewhere without telling them just to relax.
Jude and Frederick also didn't question Jeremy's answer.
They have seen their youngest master sometimes being holed up inside their library or going out to collect books.
Especially Jude.
He has seen his young master read all kinds of things just to kill his boredom.
As Jeremy opened the book, they all saw a text that they could understand.
"It seems that you have really been chosen as a saint, li'l bro!"
Desmond muttered as he read the text.
Darius stared at the book then he commented.
"This book seems to be filled with divine energy."
He said as he felt a tremendous sacred energy oozing from the book.
The duke and the emperor nodded their heads in agreement as they also felt the energy from the book.
"Such thick sacred power!"
The duke muttered as he slowly moved away from the book.
He felt scalded by that energy just now.
"Yeah, no human in history has been able to release this kind of divine energy before."
The emperor also spoke while getting away from Jeremy.
That energy is the only evidence they need to believe that this book truly came from the Goddess Aurora.
"It was no doubt that this book came from the Goddess herself, Your Majesty!"
The pope said as he took off his gloves and showed them his reddened hands.
The hands were slightly burned due to holding the book for several minutes last night.
"The sacred energy that book contains can burn, so be careful."
The pope said.
Hearing that, all of the people in the gazebo except the bishop looked disapprovingly at the pope.
"Why haven't you said that before?"
The emperor grumbled while the duke tried to take the book from Jeremy.
He was planning to toss it away.
Noticing the worried looks from his loved ones, Jeremy immediately reassured them.
"Don't worry, Dad, my hand is fine."
The pope smiled and said.
"Of course, Young Master Jeremy won't get burned by that book… since that book is a gift to you from the Goddess."