Chapter 243

Chapter 30 The News on the Word Sheet

The Word Sheet…

It was only then that I remembered that since the residents of Rondal Street were either wealthy or influential, the Holy Church had specially dispatched monks or nuns to deliver the latest Word Sheets to their doors on time.

I hadn’t paid much attention to this before…

Since coming here, I basically hadn’t looked at the Church’s Word Sheets very often.

Not because I found them untrustworthy or anything, but just because I wasn’t particularly interested in them.

It seemed that it was only during my time in Santel Castle that sometimes, when I woke up early, I would see Father reading the Word Sheet at the dining table. At this time, Mother’s breakfast was usually still being prepared, and with nothing else to do and feeling quite hungry, I would peek over Father’s shoulder for a few moments.

Once breakfast was served, I would never pay any more attention to it.

Because I felt that… the so-called Word Sheets were actually what could be called the “official media” of the Holy Church by terms from my previous life. At the same time, it was almost the only legitimate channel through which ordinary people in this world, at least in West Continent, could get news about major events outside.

This channel was firmly controlled by the Church. Because apart from the Church’s Word Sheets, the Pope did not allow any other paper media to exist, and anyone found doing so would be considered a heretic spreading rumors and chaos, and would be subjected to burning at the stake.

I remember Carlos told me about this.

He told me that the Church distributed these Word Sheets as gifts to the people of some prosperous cities or regions, and those who wanted them could go to churches or other designated locations to collect them. There was even a collection point at the Grand Cathedral of Saint Zayere in the capital city.

Of course, for most people who had never left their hometowns throughout their lives, this was a very joyful thing. The content of the Word Sheets was always a topic they talked about with great interest.

But for me, compared to the Word Sheets, books and documents with rich content were more interesting.

But now, looking at those few pages of the Word Sheet stuffed haphazardly in the mailbox at home, I felt somewhat uncomfortable. I tilted my head, thought for a moment, put down the bag I was holding, took out the Word Sheet, and tucked it under my armpit, bringing it back to the manor.

Probably needed for starting a fire…

The sky gradually darkened.

The lawn of the manor looked grayish.

I quickly crossed the courtyard, stepped on the grass, and entered the inner part of the house, locking the door behind me. Then I ran to the kitchen, sorted the ingredients I bought, and put each one into the cabinets.

After finishing all of this, I clapped my hands, turned around, and looked at the stove and the oven made of stone, tilting my head to the right.

Want to eat Captain Gray… but don’t really feel like cooking it myself.

Because it feels a bit tiring if I do it alone…

…Forget it, I’ll deal with it tomorrow.

Anyway, I bought so many almond cakes; if I wait until tomorrow, they might not taste good anymore, so I’d better finish them off first.

So I carried the cake and held the newspaper back to the living room, walked to the sofa. I stared blankly at the empty plate on the tea table for a moment.

Too small…

I placed the cake and the Word Sheet on the tea table, took the plate back to the kitchen, brought back a wooden basin much larger than my face, and carried the bag to pour all the almond cakes into it… after pouring, it was exactly full to the brim.

Hugging the wooden basin, I curled up in the sofa, leaned forward to smell it… such a fragrant aroma!

Unable to hold back, I drooled, and I eagerly grabbed one and stuffed it into my mouth.

“Chew… chew…”

Delicious!

My eyes closed in happiness, like a cat.

I quickly grabbed another one, picked up a page of the Word Sheet from the tea table, took off my shoes, crossed my legs, and chewed the mouthful with effort, my gaze casually scanning the page.

The headline was huge: [The Deity Has Never Abandoned Order City, Great Miracles Will Be With Heroes].

In the upper right corner of the Word Sheet, it said the Gregorian date March 2, 1187. This was the day before yesterday… it should have announced the events that happened in the capital city.

I calmed down and read the content carefully. As I read, the speed at which I chewed slowed down.

Indeed.

I pursed my lips and threw the newspaper back onto the tea table, no longer wanting to read further.

Despite being mentally prepared for this and understanding that the Church’s actions were likely the best course, seeing the article still left me feeling dispirited, with a tumult of indescribable emotions welling up inside me.

They called Teresa a hero.

Why…

She was clearly the culprit. Killing so many people wasn’t enough; she wanted to kill even more… Why should she be called a hero…

In an instant, my good mood was completely ruined by the article. I curled up in the sofa, hugging the wooden basin filled with almond cakes tighter, stuffing cake into my mouth incessantly.

The more I thought about it, the sadder I felt.

Maybe I should distract myself…

With that thought, I picked up another newspaper from the tea table, my eyes half-closed, holding the paper in front of me absentmindedly.

[Issabella, the respected Empress, has gone to embrace the arms of the divine, and Queen Elizabeth solemnly bid farewell to her mother.]

Ah…

Why do these topics always have to be so heavy?

Was the Empress’s funeral already held?

I didn’t know… I had slept too soundly, and I wasn’t sure if Victoria had tried to wake me up.

… Forget it, I don’t really want to attend anyway.

But… Victoria must have been quite unhappy these past few days. No matter what, she is still her mother. With her mother gone, she still has to deal with so much, and the family’s troubles are bothering her…

Is she okay?

I swallowed the cake in my mouth and looked out the window.

The honey fruit trees, full of flowers, their outlines faintly visible in the hazy night, could only be seen as part of the trunks here.

I’ll water them later tonight…

Once they bear fruit, I’ll make her a honey fruit pie. Maybe that will cheer her up.

Gathering my thoughts, I casually flipped the newspaper to the other side.

[The Pope’s Knight who cannot ride? Miss Silvija’s unspeakable secret…]

“Cough!”

At the sight of this headline, I choked on a piece of cake.

This is so uncomfortable…

“Cough! Cough…”

It took a while before the intense coughing subsided. Once the discomfort in my chest eased, I blinked away the tears in my eyes and looked again at the large title of the newspaper, nearly jumping off the sofa in anger.

How outrageous!

Slam.

I slapped the newspaper onto the sofa, gritting my teeth, my chest heaving, feeling as though my lungs would burst from anger. I bit down hard on an almond cake, chewing quickly, my dark eyes glaring fiercely.

Is this newspaper specifically sent to upset me?!

I won’t let whoever wrote this get away!

Anger, anger, anger…

The more I thought about it, the more enraged and humiliated I became, my cheeks flushing oddly.

“Ahhh—”

Letting out a scream as if to vent, I angrily crumpled the newspaper into a ball, ready to throw it away when I suddenly noticed the word “Valen” on one side of the paper.

… Valen Empire!

I was startled, and I retracted my hand raised above my head, holding the cake in my mouth, quickly unfolding and smoothing out the paper ball, flipping it over to see some inconspicuous text in the lower left corner.

[Nobleman Oliver Nivere Valeier of the Valeier Family, the head of the western nobility, was assassinated]

[Baron Oliver, who holds the rights to the western territories of the empire, was assassinated by his servants late at night on March 3rd. The new city of Valeier fell into an uncontrollable grief. The people shouted the name of the emperor and burned the royal banner. Duke Scarlidge led over a thousand Suntel soldiers to the new city the next morning to participate in the mourning ceremony. This incident will further exacerbate internal conflicts within the royal family, and the Valen Empire may face war…]

I sat on the sofa, holding the newspaper motionless in front of me, as if frozen in place.