I just reached the maximum level, and you want me to be a puppet emperor?

Chapter 574 Unauthorized Use of Holy Light: A Crime? (Please Subscribe and Vote)
Under his younger brother's admiring gaze, Albert left the room.

This "small town" was his father's territory; he also had his own mansion in Holy Radiance City, a magnificent building made of white marble.

The garden was filled with moonflowers brought from the south, which were considered rare treasures in this country, and were guarded day and night by twelve fully armed knights.

As Albert's carriage rolled through the courtyard paved with gold dust, the old butler William was already waiting in the hall with the physician.

Seeing the dents on his master's armor, William's gray eyebrows furrowed: "Sir, should we inform the lady?"

“No need.” Albert’s movement of unfastening his shoulder armor aggravated the wound, and the dark red bloodstains had already soaked through the lining. “Just say I got a scrape on the training field.”

But Mariana still came. As she walked through the corridor, lifting her skirt, the ends of her spiraled pigtails were covered with morning dew, clearly indicating that she had just come from the prayer room.

The high-necked chiffon dress covered her completely, with only her wrists, which were dazzlingly white, occasionally peeking out from under the lace cuffs.

“By the Holy Light!” She sat beside her husband, her eyelashes casting trembling shadows on her cheeks.

When the golden particles of light remaining on the wound were discovered, the fingertips covered with ointment paused almost imperceptibly; these were traces of high-level divine magic from the Holy See.

Albert reached out and ruffled his wife's hair: "She got scratched by the newly trained monster."

This lie wasn't very clever; everyone in Holy Radiance City knew that a monster capable of harming "Iron Wall Albert" hadn't been born yet.

Mariana bent down to tie the bandage, her spiral curls falling down to obscure her expression.

She deliberately lingered on the healing spell a few more moments until her husband's muscles relaxed before softly asking, "Are we going on patrol to the North again tomorrow?"

"Hmm." Albert closed his eyes and leaned back on the cushion, letting his wife wipe the sweat from his forehead.

Mariana smiled and said, "Then you should get some rest tonight."

Albert was indeed tired and had no energy to do anything else. He was busy with work every day, so he went back to his room and fell into a deep sleep.

Seeing that her husband had fallen into a deep sleep against the soft couch, Mariana gently covered him with a silver fox fur blanket, and before closing the door, she took one last look at her husband's furrowed brow.

“William.” At the corner of the corridor, Marianne’s skirt bloomed like a night-blooming cereus. “Go and find out who the master met today.”

Twenty minutes later, the old butler knelt on one knee, holding the intelligence report: "The Third Young Master used holy light to cut Master's greatsword in half at the martial arts arena."

The crystal chandelier shattered into fragments in Marianne's eyes. She and her husband had a very deep relationship; they had both studied at the Papacy, met there, and pledged their lives to each other.

Now that her husband has been defeated by Alfred, who is usually the most useless person, she feels that her husband cannot accept this and will not be happy unless he gets his revenge.

"Prepare the car, we're going to Castro's old house." Mariana removed her apron like a swordsman removing his armor, the crystal hairpin in her hair jingling.

At this moment, Li Chen was studying the "Septet of Holy Light," a secret text that Xuan Ji had stolen from the forbidden book section of the Holy See.

As for how to get there, he would definitely do it openly and honestly. With Li Chen's status, he could go to any church he wanted; people would even kneel down and beg him to go.

The twisted ancient script on the parchment looked like gibberish to others, but Li Chen's photographic memory allowed him to easily decipher its secrets.

Once you learn these skills, it will be much easier to fool people in the future. Li Chen put in a lot of effort to give the Pope a surprise, but it wasn't difficult for him.

The holy light emanating from Li Chen is so genuine that even a cardinal cannot discern its authenticity. To be precise, even the cardinal himself might not be as authentic as Li Chen.

“Interesting.” Li Chen conjured a six-winged angel-shaped rune at his fingertips, a “divine word” that even cardinals might not be able to master.

Suddenly, a loud "boom" came from the courtyard, and two streams of holy light energy were clashing.

Okay, I will rewrite it strictly according to your requirements, ensuring that everyone who sees Li Chen must immediately kneel down and has no right to stand and argue.

The moment Li Chen appeared at the corner of the corridor, the entire courtyard fell into a deathly silence. "Bang!"

"boom!"

The sound of knees slamming into the ground rang out continuously, and everyone knelt down in unison like harvested ears of wheat.

Marianna's staff slipped from her hand and fell to the ground, Gwyneth's whip drooped limply, and even Alfred hurriedly knelt on the ground, his forehead hitting the bluestone slab heavily.

Li Chen walked slowly, the sound of his gilded boots hitting the stone slabs like the sound of a judgment hammer.

The holy light emanating from him naturally made everyone hold their breath, and no one dared to lift their heads.

"what's going on?"

As these four simple words fell, Alfred, who was kneeling at the front, trembled.

He was about to speak when Gwyneth beat him to it:
Her forehead pressed to the ground, her red hair spread out like blood: "My lord, please forgive me! This woman suddenly..."

The gist of it is that Marianne came to cause trouble for Alfred. After all, this is old Castro's house, and Alfred wouldn't dare to take action on his own. But his wife is a woman, so she would definitely dare to do something.

While Gwyneth was speaking, Marianna maintained her standard kneeling posture, her high-necked long dress remaining perfectly in place, only her slightly trembling eyelashes betraying her nervousness.

She felt a gaze, as if it were real, fall upon her.

After Gwyneth finished speaking, Li Chen pointed at Mariana and said, "You tell us what you think."

This is a fairly standard approach; everyone says it, and I'll make the judgment.

“Reporting to Your Excellency, my husband returned home today with injuries. It has been determined that he was injured by the Holy Light. According to Article 37 of the Vatican’s laws, it is forbidden for members of our clan to harm each other with the Holy Light.” Mariana’s voice was clear as water, each syllable carrying the unique rhythm of the Vatican.

She maintained perfect posture throughout her speech, her high collar rising and falling slightly with her breath, and her spiral curls hanging down her back without a single strand out of place.

This rule definitely exists, but it's not usually strictly enforced, as long as it's not a malicious brawl.

Li Chen turned his gaze to Alfred: "Is this true?"

The third young master's forehead was already beaded with cold sweat: "Reporting to Your Excellency, it was caused by my brother during a sparring match. There was no intention of a malicious fight."

After listening to both sides' statements, Li Chen lightly tapped the gilded armrest with his fingertips, and holy light flowed around him, creating majestic ripples.

“Since the Alfred brothers’ sparring was agreed upon beforehand, I will not pursue the matter.” His voice suddenly turned cold. “But it is you two who are in trouble.”

Li Chen's gaze, as if it were a physical force, pressed down on the backs of the two beautiful women: "You have arbitrarily activated the Holy Light without permission. Do you know your crime?"

Gwyneth's red hair instantly lost its luster, and Mariana's high-necked dress was soaked with cold sweat.

The two of them pressed their foreheads to the ground almost simultaneously, and a dull thud echoed from the marble floor.

"I know I'm guilty."

"This subordinate deserves to die."

Gwyneth and Li Chen have a good relationship, but she is still a little scared.

However, when Marianne first met Li Chen, she was terrified of the imposing papal guards. She also knew she had made a mistake and was willing to accept any punishment that came her way. Her only wish was not to implicate her husband.

(End of this chapter)