The Hypocritical Holy Knight 105

He Yan awoke amidst a misty haze.

His back was pressed against the cold pool wall, his eyes met with steaming water, and looking down he could see his own naked body.

This must be a body used to being pampered, with delicate and tender white skin that seemed like it could be injured with a light pinch, and certain parts were also very pale and pinkish in color.

He should be bathing completely naked now...

Glancing around, the bathroom was very spacious with a unique style. The base color of the entire room was a pure, flawless white, with golden lines sketching out exquisite and grand paintings at the edges, telling of past, immortal glories belonging to God, full of a sacred and magnificent aura.

"Your Highness Cecil," a servant knocked on the door, his respectful tone unable to hide a trace of urgency, "It's almost time, do you need me to come in and help you dress?"

While quickly reading the plot appearing in his mind, He Yan used this body's characteristically cold voice to refuse the servant's suggestion, "No need, I'll be ready right away."

The world he transmigrated into this time was a continent jointly ruled by royal and divine powers, an era where humans and magical creatures coexisted.

The manifestation of royal power was the nominal ruler of this continent, the Delan Kingdom, while the manifestation of divine power was the Light Church that spanned the entire continent.

The Light Church took the Central Church in Syphir as its power center, with local churches scattered across the continent as nodes, forming a complete system.

Ever since the Light Goddess ascended to the throne of high gods in the God's Battlefield nine hundred years ago and established the first Light Church on this continent, the Light Church had been growing at a terrifying speed and had now formed a force not to be underestimated.

Even the royal family had to be wary of the Light Church.

The highest ruler of the Light Church was the Pope, who was the master of the Central Church and the only one on the entire continent who could directly receive orders from the Light Goddess.

Below him were the Cardinal Bishops, who were selected and appointed by the Pope and legally enjoyed the right to elect the Pope, and were also strong competitors for each Pope.

There were also Archbishops, Chief Bishops, and Purple Bishops of lower ranks... but they all belonged to local churches and were not included in the power center of the Central Church.

In addition to these bishops of many ranks, there was another special existence in the Light Church: the Holy Son.

In terms of status, the Holy Son was below the Pope but slightly more noble than the Cardinal Bishops, and also had the right to compete for the position of Pope like them. The Holy Son who failed the competition would automatically become a Cardinal Bishop and serve in the Central Church, obeying the orders of the new Pope.

When a new Pope took office, he would always follow the instructions given by the Light Goddess and select new children from the continent to be trained as the successors of the Church.

Because they were chosen according to the "will of the gods", the candidates for the Holy Son were not fixed. Sometimes they would be the heirs of royal or noble families, and sometimes they could be youths from the slums. However, one thing that remained constant about these chosen children was that their bodies had a very high affinity for light power and were naturally good at practicing light magic.

And the body he was wearing this time was Cecil, the Holy Son chosen by the Light Church this term, a youth from a declining noble family.

And today was the "Advent Day", the most important festival of the Light Church. As the Holy Son, he had to bathe and groom himself to attend the "Advent Day" celebration.

Nine hundred years ago today, the Light Goddess, who had just obtained the status of a high god, descended upon this continent and sowed the first seed of light here, which was the origin of "Advent Day".

Since then, the Light Church had held grand celebrations every year to convey the loyalty and love of the followers of light to the Light Goddess in the higher plane.

If lucky, the Light Goddess would even perform miracles on this day to show her love for the vast number of believers on this continent.

Unfortunately, for thirty whole years, the Light Goddess had not appeared at the Advent Day celebration.

"Splash--"

Relying on his powerful mental strength, He Yan roughly grasped the situation in a dozen seconds. He stood up from the pool, stepped up the steps, with fine water droplets meandering down his body, flowing along his toes and falling on the steps, wetting a large area at the edge of the pool, his wet hair sticking to his back.

He used a simple little spell to dry his hair, took a white towel from the towel rack next to the pool to wipe the water droplets from his body, then put on the white robe placed to the side according to the steps in Cecil's memory, before pushing open the bathroom door.

The servant waiting outside the door was a very delicate-looking youth. Seeing that he had finally come out, the expression on his face visibly relaxed and he quickly said, "Your Highness Cecil, please follow me and let us groom you again so that you can meet the Light Goddess in the most perfect condition."

He Yan, following Cecil's usual personality, nodded coldly at the servant and followed him into another room.

There were five or six servants waiting there for a long time. Seeing him enter, they gently pressed him into a chair and busied themselves in an orderly manner to groom him.

Someone bent over and skillfully braided his long hair, someone knelt on the ground and carefully smoothed out the creases at the hem of his clothes, someone held incense and busied around him...

He Yan moved his eyes slightly and examined his new body in the huge mirror in front of him.

This was a black-haired, black-eyed youth - on the Delan Continent, this appearance was very rare.

The Delan Continent was a continent with a very rich variety of creatures. In addition to humans, there were also various strange creatures such as elves, dwarves, and beastmen. Not to mention other races, just among humans, there were also very complex divisions. According to ancestral bloodlines, they were divided into many branches, and countless branches were born in the evolutionary history of thousands of years.

Like Cecil, having both pure black hair and eye color was a characteristic of a very ancient branch - the Double Black Clan. With the passage of time, the number of people of this branch became scarcer and scarcer, and could hardly be seen anymore. The only remaining lineage now was the declining noble family Cecil was born into.

The reason for the gradual decline of this bloodline is simple yet cruel. The Delan Continent is a place that respects strength, and countless years of examples have shown that the black-haired, black-eyed bloodline has the worst magical talent on the entire continent. Therefore, for the sake of their offspring's potential, almost no one would choose to combine with this ancient bloodline.

So when the Church announced eight years ago that Cecil, who was under ten years old, was elected as the Saint of this term, it caused quite a stir throughout the Empire, and many people questioned the Church's decision.

However, the Pope clearly stated that Cecil was the person indicated by the Goddess of Light in the oracle, and in the subsequent aptitude test, Cecil did indeed show an extremely high affinity for the power of light, so these questioning voices gradually disappeared.

In addition, during the eight years as the Saint, Cecil had always performed very well in various missions of the Light Church, and everyone believed that perhaps Cecil's bloodline had undergone some unknown mutation, or perhaps the black-haired, black-eyed race had finally received the favor of the gods. In any case, he indeed had the qualifications to assume the position of Saint.

The attendant who braided his hair let his long hair down, stood up to adjust it slightly, and the last step of grooming was completed.

He Yan got up from the chair, carefully checked his appearance through the mirror, and after confirming that there was nothing wrong, he was escorted out of the room by the attendants.

If nothing else, Cecil's appearance was indeed outstanding. He had a delicate face and a slender figure. Although his physique was a bit thin compared to the people of this continent due to his bloodline, his shape was extremely good and his proportions were close to perfection.

Although the family he was born into had declined, the accumulation of thousands of years of family heritage still allowed him to receive a proper and good aristocratic upbringing from a young age. After being selected as the Saint, he was influenced by the Church life for eight full years, and his temperament appeared cold and holy, which was particularly in line with the title of "Saint of Light" no matter how you looked at it.

Under the guidance of the attendants, he boarded the carriage with the emblem of the Light Church, and the demon beasts bred by the Light Church galloped all the way, taking him to the Light Square where the Advent Day celebration was held with great fanfare. Through the magic carriage, cheers from the pedestrians could be vaguely heard.

The Goddess of Light has an extremely large number of believers on the Delan Continent. Most of the citizens of the Delan Empire, including His Majesty the King himself, are believers of the Goddess of Light, so it can be said that "Advent Day" is a grand national holiday.

As the Saint of Light, Cecil's performance was particularly holy and benevolent, so he had a high favorability among the people. On such a special holiday, it was naturally difficult for the people to contain their excitement when they saw the Saint's carriage.

Before long, the carriage stopped at the Light Square.

An attendant lifted the curtain and respectfully welcomed him down from the carriage, guiding him to walk up the steps on the side to the viewing platform in the center of the square.

The Pope, wearing a white robe and white hat very similar to his, showed a trace of benevolence on his solemn and dignified face the moment he saw him.

He Yan performed a grand salute to him as an elder, "Happy Advent Day, Father."

The word "Pope" also means "father" in the ancient language. In addition, each Saint is nominally personally raised by the Pope, so in order to show intimacy, the Saint usually affectionately calls the Pope "Father".

It's just that they both knew in their hearts that their relationship was not as close and friendly as a real father and son connected by blood.

The Pope accepted his salute, a satisfied smile appeared on his face, and he replied steadily.

"Happy Advent Day, my child."

Controlling himself not to show any expression that he shouldn't have, He Yan moved his gaze away from the Pope, and his attention was drawn to a person walking towards here.

It was a tall adult man, wearing a set of white-gold knight's armor, with a perfect physique, blond hair and blue eyes, three-dimensional and deep facial features, and charming deep-set eyes. He was a typical Delan aristocrat, like a handsome god in mythology, exuding an elegant yet masculine hormonal aura that intoxicated noble ladies with every move.

This was the Commander of the Holy Knights of the Light Church, Ambrose Ace, born into a high-ranking aristocratic family, the man at the top of the Holy Knights, and also the dream lover of countless young ladies in the Delan Empire.

However, only He Yan, who had known Ambrose's true identity in advance, knew that this elegance and charm were all fake. Once the true face of this Commander of the Holy Knights was revealed, it would probably cause quite a shock to the entire Delan Empire.

"Your Holiness," this Commander of the Holy Knights, who was impeccably disguised, knelt on one knee in front of him and politely extended his right hand, saying politely, "Happy Advent Day."

Although he was not used to such intimate etiquette, in order not to reveal any flaws in front of the Pope, He Yan still followed the etiquette and placed his right hand in his palm.

Ambrose held this beautifully shaped, white hand that was a size smaller than his, and his bright red and soft lips gently fell on the back of his hand, but there was no warmth, which made He Yan involuntarily think of the metaphor in the mythology volume of the Delan Continent—the one about "the kiss of the viper."