Warhammer: Should I also sit on the Golden Throne?

Chapter 107 Her name is Salish

"True beauty?" Jialan asked with a hint of curiosity.

"Yes, Simonetta's beauty was nothing but a lie, but my ancestors brought Simonetta to witness true beauty, and thus Simonetta became the vessel of beauty, truly walking among humans as the goddess of beauty."

"But Simonetta was jealous of true beauty, and the ugliness in her heart ultimately prevented her from becoming a vessel for beauty, so beauty did not truly descend upon Macurag."

"The Temple of the Goddess Simeneta would surely be very displeased to hear what you have to say," Jialan said with a smile as he listened to the story.

"This is an interesting theological discussion. Do you think the devotees of the Temple of Simeneta worshipped beauty itself or Simeneta, the ugly woman?"

"Simoneta isn't beautiful, so is she still the goddess of beauty?" Capio asked Jalan as he led him through the mansion, showing him the ancient artifacts.

"An interesting question: if the god of war abandoned war, then he would no longer be the god of war."

Jia Lan stroked his chin thoughtfully, feeling his mind racing.

In fact, it's not just today that things are going very fast. Ever since he got the crystal eagle head pendant, Jia Lan has felt that his thinking is becoming more and more flexible, and many things that he couldn't see clearly before have become clear.

For example, Jia Lan used to blindly follow Connor, but recently he has begun to feel that some of Connor's actions are not quite right.

The City Guards are too loyal to Connor, and Connor has also planted too many of his own people in the City Guards. Are these City Guards Macurag's soldiers or Connor's private army?

In the past, the Lord of War chose an adopted son as his successor, which was of course a political custom in Macragha. However, in the past, the selection was made from dozens of outstanding children. But Connor chose a child of unknown origin. Although Robert was excellent, this was somewhat contrary to the democratic tradition of Macragha.

Furthermore, Connor has placed himself in the position of Supreme Court Justice, yet he has never rejected any of the legal provisions proposed by Connor... Hasn't he become Connor's seal of authority? This doesn't quite align with the spirit of Macurag.

Jia Lan felt that Connor was now heading in a direction of dictatorship.

But Jalan still didn't think Connor had any bad intentions; he just felt that Connor had taken some inappropriate and outrageous actions for Macurag.

He felt he should find an opportunity to have an open conversation with Connor about these things.

These thoughts made Jalan feel quite good, and he grew to like the crystal eagle head more and more, carrying it with him at all times.

However, Jalan did not wear the crystal eagle head pendant in a conspicuous place—after all, the King of Wizardry was once the enemy of the King of War. Although the era of the King of Wizardry is a long history, it would still be inappropriate for Jalan to wear it in public.

So Jia Lan wore the crystal eagle head pendant inside his clothes, hiding it where no one could see it.

"Yes, a goddess of beauty who is not beautiful cannot be called a goddess of beauty."

"Everyone at the Temple of Simeneta understands that they worship beauty itself, not a vulgar, boring, or somewhat ugly woman."

Kepio said to Jalan, "The young priests all agree with my ideas. Five out of the six priests originally agreed, and recently even Tacitus has agreed."

"Tacitus? I've heard he's a favorite disciple of Tatius, and almost certainly the next high priest." Jalan looked at Capio in surprise, not expecting Capio to know so much about the interior of the Temple of Simeneta.

"Yes, but Tatius remains stubbornly ignorant. That's how it is when people get old; they can't adapt to new changes."

With a slightly helpless expression, Capio gestured for Jalan to go inside.

"But the old priest still has considerable prestige. You mentioned before that he was reluctant to give up the temple's function as a bank?" Jalan asked.

"Of course, most of the high priests of the temples are not happy about it." Capio shook his head somewhat helplessly. "They obviously believe that this will damage their prestige and affect their foundation as high priests."

"That's how old people are; they cling to the past and refuse to let go, and they're even less willing to admit their mistakes," Jia Lan sighed.

Of course, he also understood that if the banking function were stripped away, the high priests of the temples would inevitably resign.

However, if the policy is passed by the Senate and the Senate resists, the position of High Priest will be in jeopardy.

They did not want to give up their positions, and naturally they would resist the policy and have it passed in the Senate.

At this point, Jia Lan paused for a moment. He noticed that Kaipio did not lead him to sit down in the living room, but instead led him towards the stairwell.

"Ah, Lord Jalan, do you remember what I told you before that I hoped you would appreciate?" Capio pointed to the stairs leading to the basement. "It's right down here."

"Oh?" Jia Lan's expression showed interest. "Is it an artifact? Or a beautiful work of art?"

"It's beautiful." Capio's signature gentle smile still lingered on his lips, but for some reason, Jalan sensed a hint of fanaticism in it.

"Beauty is a very subjective thing," Jia Lan said.

"No, my lord, absolute beauty does exist." Capio led Jalan into the basement. "It's just that we can't understand her; we can only yearn to get infinitely closer to her."

"Do you think beauty has a gender?" Jialan noticed that Capio used an anthropomorphic, feminine "she" to describe beauty.

“Our love stems from beauty, so beauty is our lover,” Capio said. “And I’ve always been a staunch heterosexual, so in that respect, I’m an old man.”

"Oh? But I heard that you only have one illegitimate child, Lord Capio?" Jalan said with amusement. "Has it been so long since you've met a woman you love?"

The Nerva family, to which the Capio family belongs, also has a strange custom: all the heads of the family have been named Capio and have never married, but have only given birth to illegitimate children to inherit the position of head of the family.

"I once loved a woman and imagined her beautiful face, but I eventually discovered it was a lie," Capio whispered. "Later, I met the lover I had always imagined."

'

Capio suddenly stopped talking. He stood still and pointed to a door in the basement.

"What I want to show you is right after this." With that, Capio pushed open the door and gestured for Jalan to come in with him.

Jia Lan raised an eyebrow and stepped into the room.

The room was brightly lit and empty except for a marble display stand in the center, which was covered with reliefs of various snakes, bull heads, beauties and youths, each so lifelike that it seemed as if the reliefs were intertwining on the marble.

But on that marble display stand was not the artifact or collection that Jia Lan had imagined, but... a woman.

A petite woman, so petite as to be unbelievable, took Jia Lanhua a few seconds to understand why the woman was so petite.

It wasn't because it was hard to understand, but because the scene was so impactful.

It was a woman without limbs; all her limbs had been severed at the base, and the cuts were covered with delicate, patterned lace, concealing the ugly scars.

She lay on a soft cushion woven from red brocade, draped in a light veil, her beautiful figure partially obscured, like a fine exhibit.

At first, Jia Lan thought it was a specimen, but he soon realized that the woman's chest was still rising and falling slightly; she was a living, breathing person.

Furthermore, Jia Lan discovered that the woman's eye sockets were empty; she had no eyes.

Not only her eyes, but also her ears were pierced with iron spikes as thick as fingers, seemingly penetrating her eardrums.

The woman seemed to sense someone entering—who knows how someone without hearing or sight could sense it—but she looked at Jia Lan with empty eye sockets and slightly opened her mouth, revealing a tongueless oral cavity.

"This is what you wanted me to see?" Jia Lan took a deep breath. He was almost on the verge of collapse, but a chill emanated from the crystal eagle on his body, calming him down and preventing him from storming out. "This is the beauty you spoke of?"

"No, sir, she is merely a temporary vessel for beauty, containing only a tiny fraction of true beauty," Capio replied humbly.

Jia Lan had to admit that the woman without limbs did indeed possess a strange beauty, but—

"Is she your slave? Even if she is, how can you treat her like this?"

"No eyes, no hearing, no limbs, not even a tongue. It's so cruel. How much pain she must have been in."

My lord, suffering is good; suffering is the path to beauty and love.

"...Who's speaking?" Jia Lan stood there, stunned.

He had just heard a woman's voice in his ear.

My lord, I am right before you.

Jia Lan looked at the woman who had no limbs.

"My lord, please believe me. This girl is not my slave. She is the living idol of my faith on earth, a depiction of true beauty. She willingly sacrificed herself to become like this."

"By chance, I discovered her and her sister in the slave market. Both of them had the talent to become living idols, but only this child became one through her own will."

"She was absolutely willing; she could never have become a living idol if she hadn't done so willingly."

Jia Lan frowned. He was indeed beginning to feel more and more that the woman without limbs possessed a unique kind of beauty.

A person who cannot hear, see, run, move, take, or resist, stripped of most of the things she can do in the material world, possesses a beauty that transcends the material world, a quality that does not belong to this world... a purity, a cleanliness...

"My lord, come closer. She can help you see true beauty," Capio advised from the side.

Jia Lan couldn't help but take a few steps forward, gradually approaching the limbless woman, and at the same time, she couldn't help but ask, "What's her name?"

"Her former name has been abandoned, and even she herself has forgotten it."

"Her current identity is simply a living idol of true beauty on earth; the name of beauty is her name."

"You can call her that, by her own name, Mei."

"Salice".