The communication between Charlotte and Louis V was smooth.
Obviously, this monarch who wanted to strengthen centralization did not want to give the Northland a wavering choice. He was also determined to strengthen the royal power, and he did not intend to use any tricks.
This summons was both a threat and an inducement.
Charlotte had nothing to object to giving up her oath and being loyal to the Crescent King.
In a sense, this is actually the development she is happy to see happen.
Not to mention that Charlotte's promise to the Holy Royal Court was actually a blank check from the beginning, and her conflict of interest with the Holy Royal Court was much higher than that of Louis V at the moment.
Charlotte's desire to develop her own faith in the North is bound to cause friction with the church.
It would be fine if the power of the church in the Northland continues to decline. If it is because Charlotte is too close to the church and the church decides to strengthen its influence in the northland and send more priests to "assist", then there will be some problems. Trouble.
Charlotte is already a "demigod" and is ready to secretly spread her faith in the North. Once she starts to spread her faith on a large scale, it will inevitably harm the interests of the Holy Royal Court, and church interference is almost inevitable.
But it would be different if she turned to the royal family.
Yes, if she wants to preach in the North, she will indeed have a conflict of interest with the church, but the conflict and differences between the Crescent Royal Family and the church are currently greater than hers.
Even if Charlotte spreads her beliefs, she won't do it openly at this stage. As long as the Holy Court doesn't notice, she can do it in secret.
But Louis V's will to weaken religious authority and strengthen royal power is well known.
The Holy Royal Court is the largest religious force in the Miria continent. There are many high-level priests and legendary priests in the Holy Royal Court. However, the control of the Holy Royal Court over the countries of Miria is not imagined. So powerful.
Otherwise, there would not have been the Kingdom of Coria, which was secretly dominated by the Vampires with the acquiescence of the Holy Royal Court, nor would there have been "thorns" like Louis V who directly challenged the religious authority.
If you continue to embrace the Church, you will become a thorn in the side of the Crescent Royal Family, and the Church will most likely send more priests to the North in order to strengthen its influence on the Crescent or "support" itself.
But if you turn to the king...
In order to win her over, the royal family will not only provide many benefits, but also become her shield against the church.
Not to mention anything else, just the dispatch of a priest would probably make the royal family react more violently than Charlotte.
Charlotte probably didn't even have to take action, the royal family would have stepped in to block it.
This is very possible.
After all, Charlotte's character is that of a devout holy believer, and she even has the wild title of "saint".
Even if she had a disagreement with the church, the royal family would definitely be on guard against the possibility of the conflict being resolved if she stayed away from the church for too long.
You know, the royal family can win her over, and so can the church.
As for leaning towards the royal family, whether the hammer of centralized power will fall on her head in the future... Charlotte is not worried.
Louis V was indeed an ambitious monarch, and his control over the Crescent Kingdom was far greater than that of previous kings.
But compared to the "Sun King" who successfully centralized power in previous lives, he faced many more problems and difficulties.
A more powerful aristocratic force, a church with more real power, and...the real god behind the church.
These are all challenges that need to be faced.
Not to mention, the age of Louis V.
The Star-Moon War has been fought intermittently for more than eighty years, and more than ten years have passed since the last armistice.
This is more than a hundred years ago, and Louis V is already over seventy years old.
The life span of extraordinary beings in the Miria world is no different from that of ordinary people. No matter how powerful they are, they will still die when they reach old age.
Even if Louis V is a legend, even if he lives a long life, according to Miria's average age, he will not survive for many years.
More than ten years were enough to hold up the sky, but Charlotte didn't think that more than ten years would be enough for Louis V to keep all the nobles in captivity.
Nobles are not soft persimmons, they will resist if pressed hard.
Louis V wants to rely on his own strength to establish an "absolute monarchy" in the Crescent Kingdom. The possibility of success is still extremely low, but his future successor may be able to do it.
But that also requires his successor to continue to implement his policies and have the same ability as him.
But that's not Charlotte's concern.
In the final analysis, Charlotte was not really loyal to the king, and she was just trying to divert the pressure from the church and find a shield and scapegoat for herself.
In more than ten years... Charlotte estimated that she might truly become a god.
The meeting ended successfully and it was noon.
Louis V, who was in a good mood, invited Charlotte to stay at the Crescent Palace for lunch.
This is another big difference between Miria and the Blue Star Middle Ages. In Blue Star, in similar periods, nobles had two meals a day, while commoners even only had one meal a day. But here, three meals a day. Breakfast has become a standard for nobles.
Charlotte did not refuse Louis V's invitation.
The Crescent Royal Family's lunch was still very sumptuous, even more luxurious than the Castel family's.
The taste is also very good. After all, the chefs are selected from thousands of people throughout the kingdom, and the fresh ingredients are magically transmitted directly from various producing areas.
What's even more rare is that more than 80% of the ingredients are extraordinary materials, the meat is Warcraft meat, the vegetables are magic plants, and even the staple bread contains magic.
Charlotte also enjoyed the meal.
In addition to King Louis V, the Queen of the Crescent Kingdom was also dining together.
The queen was much younger than Louis V, and looked about forty years old. As far as Charlotte knew, she was Louis V's third wife and the only queen who had no children.
As for the second prince of the New Moon...it is said that he went to the Theocracy for exchange and study, so he did not attend.
"Humph, what a traitor! As a prince, he has no interest in running the country. Instead, he goes to the church every day! What a shame for Valva!"
After having lunch and serving refreshments, Louis V cursed and cursed while chatting with the two of them.
Charlotte was noncommittal.
Except for the eldest prince who died in the Star-Moon War and the third prince who was executed not long ago, Louis V now only has the second prince left.
But unfortunately, the second prince had no interest in political affairs and was obsessed with theology.
Many conservative nobles in the kingdom liked the second prince, but Louis V himself was not included among them.
Obviously, Louis V was not satisfied with his first heir.
"Francois is still young. When he gets older, he will understand your painstaking efforts."
The queen advised in a soft voice.
"Huh, young? He is already thirty-five! With this look, he is not qualified to inherit the throne!"
Louis V was dissatisfied.
Charlotte just listened and said nothing.
She was thinking, wondering what Louis V meant when he said this.
Louis V's dissatisfaction with the second prince was well known in the kingdom.
Some nobles believed that after the third prince lost power, even if the king was dissatisfied with the second prince, he could only let the second prince take the throne. But now it seems...it seems that Louis V does not think so.
Charlotte knew that Louis V's words seemed to be complaining, but in fact he was speaking to her.
Or to be more precise, it was told to the nobles through her.
Even if the third prince is executed, the second prince will not be appointed as his heir!
Could it be that...Louis V was determined to find an heir from a branch of the Valva family?
Charlotte mused.
At this moment, she thought of many possible candidates from the branches of the Valva family.
The Valva family's population is declining, even if you count the nearby branches that have branched off, the number of candidates you can think of is very limited.
For example, John de Angelo, Duke of Luna, who was the posthumous son of the previous king; another example is the nephews of Louis V who were entrusted with counts.
Most of these royal nobles are supporters of centralization, but I don't know who Louis V will prefer.
Obviously, Louis V wanted to tell the nobles not to rely on the second prince to share power.
But Charlotte was a little confused.
Louis V was so strong and attached so much importance to the strengthening of centralized power.
Hasn't he never thought carefully about how to cultivate a qualified heir to implement his will?
Charlotte felt that there was something slightly inconsistent after all.
…
After having lunch with the royal family, Charlotte took her leave and left the palace.
She did not mention the future succession of the Castel family after her declaration of celibacy, and Louis V did not ask about it.
It can be regarded as some kind of tacit understanding.
The Valva family is declining, but the Castel family has only Charlotte.
Other families that are married to the Castel family can be regarded as having claims to the North, but there are also explanations for the claims. The first generation is the strongest, the second generation will weaken, and the third generation will become even weaker. , and in many cases are no longer even recognized.
As for the fourth generation...that's completely ineffective.
Almost all of the Castel family's foreign marriages were from Grandpa Charlotte's generation. Her father's generation was also sparse, with only one aunt who married to Boulder.
In other words, although there are quite a few nobles who hold Castel claims, they are either already a lot older, or the claims are so weak that they can be ignored.
It just so happens that Charlotte is young.
As long as Charlotte lives long enough and survives those distant relatives who forcefully claim her, there will be no blood heirs in the Castel family.
Charlotte now became a vassal of the king. Once the Castel family became extinct and there were no other claimants, the royal family had the right to reclaim the title and fief.
And this is probably the biggest reason why Louis V can accept the Castel family.
As long as Charlotte remains single, the future of Northland will belong to the Valva family, and as long as all of the Castel family's marriage partners are not dead, the royal family will not only not kill Charlotte, but may even need to protect Charlotte. Safety.
Until...Charlotte also returns to the "Kingdom of God".
After leaving the palace, Charlotte met up with Sebastian, who had been waiting for a long time. After seeing Charlotte, the elf butler breathed a sigh of relief:
"Master, you are finally out."
"What? Are you still worried that I can't get out?"
Charlotte laughed.
Sebastian scratched his head:
"That's not the case, but the king is a legend after all, so he is a little worried after all..."
Charlotte smiled:
"Don't worry, everything is going smoothly, no, I should say it couldn't be smoother."
With that said, Charlotte briefly talked about her "agreement" with Louis V.
After hearing her words, Sebastian's eyes lit up:
"Comprehensive protection? Doesn't that mean... when the Ness clan attacks the Fallen Star Kingdom, we can directly intervene and refuse the entry of the church's armed forces without worrying about the pressure from the church?"
Charlotte nodded:
"This is natural. Let us leave the blame to our great King, His Majesty."
Charlotte has an alliance with the Ness clan, and will secretly support the Ness clan to regain control of the Falling Star Kingdom and expel the power of the church, in exchange for the title and territory of the Roman Principality.
This support is not only material support, but also political support, and it will definitely offend the church.
But it would be different if there was direct protection from Louis V.
As long as the church takes action against the count under the duke, as long as it is reasonable and reasonable, the king can only watch, and at most condemn it. After all, the vassal of my vassal is not my vassal.
But the vassals of the kingdom...
Given Louis V's attitude towards the church, he would probably be happy to step on this matter and take the blame for Charlotte.
Thinking of Louis V's power over the church, Charlotte's heart moved again:
"Sebas, how many legends are there in the Valva family? Is there any hidden power?"
Sebastian was stunned for a moment and thought:
"There shouldn't be, right? There should be only one legend, His Majesty the King, and I haven't heard of any other hidden powers."
"Strange, how did Louis V have the confidence to directly confront the church? There are three legendary clergymen in Lutecia alone."
"Master, to be more precise, His Majesty the King is fighting against the Crescent Parish. The Crescent Parish of the Holy Royal Court and the entire Holy Royal Court are two different things. This involves the internal division of the church."
"Oh? Tell me."
A flicker of interest appeared on Charlotte's face.
The church's classics never talked about the dark history of the church, and she admitted that she was really interested now.
Sebastian thought for a moment and replied:
"Master, this has been since the Holy Royal Court reformed the Holy Legion hundreds of years ago."
"When the Holy Royal Court was at its most glorious, the most powerful force was the Holy Legion that fought in the north and south. The invincible Holy Legion was directly controlled by the Theocratic State and defeated any enemy who dared to stand in front of the Royal Court. The Theocratic State It also conquered the continent, dominated the world, and divided many dioceses according to geographical location."
"However, as time went by, the cost of maintaining the Holy Legion became higher and higher, and the Legion became more and more degenerate. Finally, the Theocracy had to restructure and transform the Holy Legion into a local judicial force."
"Since then, it has been difficult for the Theocratic State to maintain its suppression of the major dioceses. Although the overall power of the Holy Royal Court is still strong, the distribution of power within the Royal Court has undergone earth-shaking changes. The dioceses have risen, and the ecclesiastical power has The country is in decline.”
"To this day, although the Theocratic State is still the leader of the Royal Court, the major dioceses have evolved into semi-independent theocratic princes..."
"It is also for this reason that His Majesty the King takes action against the Crescent Diocese. As long as it does not affect the core interests of the church, that is, 'faith,' the ecclesiastical state is happy to see the diocese weakened."
