Facts have proven that the world will continue to turn without anyone, and people's ability to adapt is extremely strong.
Ever since King Louis V launched the Great Purge and harshly deprived many vassal titles, the capital has been in a state of panic. The nobles are worried about being implicated, and the common people are worried about being treated as cultists by the wanton city guards and local judicial forces.
However, less than a week after the purge, the entire Lutetia had returned to its former tranquility, as if the previous purge and the city-wide review were all illusions.
The civilians’ reaction is understandable.
After all, Louis V tried his best to avoid the impact on civilians during the Great Purge, and only targeted the pawns of the Blood Cult in the slums.
However, the nobles' behavior was somewhat beyond Charlotte's expectations.
She had thought that the nobles' dissatisfaction and resistance to the king would last for a long time, and that they would even unite because of Louis V's relentless pressure. But the fact was that after Louis V took out part of the nobles' wealth that he had recovered to appease them, almost all the other nobles calmed down.
Salon banquets, singing and dancing continued, and although talk about the Great Purge was still common, it had become a topic of conversation and complaint after dinner.
The laziness and shortsightedness of the Crescent Nobles were even more outrageous than Charlotte had imagined.
Charlotte could probably guess what the nobles were thinking. They simply felt that it would be difficult for His Majesty the King to strengthen central power, and that even if some nobles were deprived of their titles, it would not affect the overall situation.
As long as the fire did not burn themselves, and as long as the king remembered to share the benefits with the nobles, many nobles believed that the king's centralization was nothing more than an intermittent strengthening of the royal family's power.
It has always been the political tradition of the kingdom that the death of a ruler leads to the end of the government. Louis V did not have an heir as strong as him. Perhaps they were frightened now, but considering Louis V's age, the nobles had more or less lost some of their worries.
"Just wait until the new king takes the throne. For now, just be patient."
This is a statement that even Charlotte has heard before.
However, Charlotte didn't think everything would go according to the nobles' wishes.
Louis V was indeed old, but he was determined to strengthen centralization, not only for the royal family, but also to prepare for the Day of Advent.
Louis V's belief in strengthening centralization was not a sudden impulse, as he was able to build a luxurious palace like the Crescent Palace. Instead, it was the result of long-term consideration. Charlotte believed that the nobles would think of the same thing.
And... Charlotte believed that the other party must have a way to deal with it.
But that has nothing to do with Charlotte.
Now that she knew about the Holy Day, she should shift her focus to strengthening her own power and strength. As for the Crescent Kingdom, there was no need for her to get involved.
Her royal contract with Louis V and her declaration of celibacy were enough to buy her enough time.
As for the future…
If the moment of the gods' advent really comes, the old order will definitely be broken, and how to rise in the turbulent continent will depend on one's own ability.
Charlotte chose to go to the Royal Library for the same reason.
Knowledge is also power. She may not need some knowledge, but the North needs it and the believers need it.
The carriage slowly stopped and Charlotte put away her thoughts.
"Master, we are here."
Sebastian's respectful voice came from outside the car window.
Charlotte nodded slightly, signaled the maid Shirley to open the door, and then got out of the carriage.
She looked up and saw a towering tower.
This tall tower is built of some kind of black huge stone, on which ancient and complex magical patterns can be vaguely seen, and the mottled traces show the vicissitudes of time.
This is the Royal Library of the Crescent Kingdom.
The Royal Library is the oldest library in the Crescent Kingdom, dating back to the Yunet Empire period. Its predecessor was the library of the Yunet Royal Mage Tower.
After the fall of the Yunet Empire, the Royal Mage Tower was inherited by the Valva Family, who banned some of the forbidden books and transformed the Mage Tower into a library.
The library's collection is said to contain more than 200,000 volumes, ranging from materials on the supernatural side, to various histories and biographies of the continent, to various literary, artistic, and alchemical knowledge.
The most attractive collection of books here is the various extraordinary books treasured by aristocratic families.
It is a book that records how to awaken the power of blood and how to develop extraordinary powers.
This is also the biggest purpose of Charlotte's trip besides historical materials.
Supernatural powers come from blood. Although the Castel family also possesses many supernatural books, their quality is not very high, and most of them are mainly adapted to the Castel bloodline and are not suitable for wide promotion.
Since Charlotte intends to build her own power, it is imperative for her to develop extraordinary powers. Giving believers divine grace is one aspect, but she cannot rely solely on divine grace to enhance the power of her followers. Providing various "secrets" to the pursuers is also one of the ways.
The channels for extraordinary promotion are controlled by the nobles, so... providing believers with channels for extraordinary promotion is also a kind of "divine grace", which is conducive to allowing more people to embark on the path of extraordinary and enhance the strength of the North.
Charlotte does not have that much time, nor can she carefully select believers who are adaptable to the divine power and develop them into priests like the Holy Royal Court does, so the best way is to develop in all aspects and enhance the power of all believers as much as possible, and then use the power enhancement of the believers to enhance her own power.
The gods are a group of "parasites", and Charlotte is actually one too. Since she is a "parasite", she might as well find more "hosts".
Perhaps the benefits of increased power for non-bloodline "host" believers are not as high as those for bloodline believers, but they have the advantage of being numerous, and a little bit of accumulated power can also be considerable divine power.
As for whether this pure power without blood power will cause other problems due to being too complicated...
Charlotte wasn't too worried.
As the True Ancestor of Blood, devouring blood power is her ability in itself. No matter who the source of her believers' blood power is, as long as the enhanced power is distributed by her through the network of faith, she can successfully absorb it.
This is also her plug-in at the "mythical level".
Thinking of this, Charlotte took a deep breath and walked towards the library.
The Royal Library is currently managed by the royal mage corps. When the Castel family's carriage stopped at the door, the mage apprentices who managed the library were alarmed.
When Charlotte arrived at the library gate, the library director in a wizard robe had already greeted her warmly:
"Lord Castel, welcome to the Royal Library."
This is the dignity of the great nobility.
Although the Castel family is not a duke, being the first person under the duke is enough to make many nobles in the kingdom look up to them.
Even if you come to the royal library, you are considered an honored guest.
Seeing the librarian, Charlotte smiled slightly. She motioned to Sebastian to take out the VIP pass of the library given to her by Louis V and said:
"Hello, Mr. Director. I came here today to borrow some books on the extraordinary side."
Seeing the VIP pass, the library director became even more respectful:
"My Lord, please follow me."
Following the librarian, Charlotte entered the Royal Library.
The space inside the library appears larger than the outside, as if some space magic was used. The collection of books is extremely huge and arranged in a spiral shape.
There were many people coming to the library to borrow books. Most of them were dressed as aristocrats, and the very few who were not aristocrats also wore uniforms.
Charlotte took a quick look and recognized that he was a student from the Royal School of Magic, the highest institution of learning in the Crescent Kingdom.
The royal library is only open to two types of people: nobles and students from the magic academy.
When Charlotte entered the library, she naturally attracted everyone's curious eyes.
Especially when everyone saw the library director and his subordinate Wang family magician following enthusiastically:
"Who is that? How could he have alarmed the director of the library? And were he accompanied by so many royal family mages?"
"He doesn't wear a uniform, so he's not a student of the academy. Judging from his clothes and temperament, he should be a noble of high status."
"Could it be... a princess from some country?"
However, some people recognized Charlotte's identity:
"She is Charlotte of Castel, the pearl of the North, the saint of the royal court, the richest and youngest countess in the Crescent Kingdom."
"Hiss... Is she the girl who was said to have captivated the Third Prince at first sight, and who he was willing to go to war to get?"
"Shut up! What a mess this is! Stop listening to the gossip from the pub in the outer city!"
"But... she's really beautiful. If it were me, I would probably be willing to go to war for her."
"I told you not to go to the tavern and listen to those made-up stories!"
Charlotte: …
Although the people talking deliberately lowered their voices, Charlotte could still hear everything clearly thanks to the vampires' superb spiritual perception.
Thanks to a series of recent events, she is now truly a celebrity in the royal capital.
All eyes fell on her, some with curiosity, some with admiration, some with awe, some with hostility...
Um
Hostility
Charlotte was a little surprised. She didn't expect that someone would be hostile to her just when she was visiting a library. But when her spiritual perception extended over there, she was suddenly surprised.
The hostile gaze towards her was not from the nobility.
Instead, they were some students wearing uniforms and belonging to the Royal School of Magic.
"She is the Earl of the North?"
"I heard that she committed atrocities in the North, persecuted many extraordinary people, and even forced the people to rebel. The Third Prince dared to start a war because the North was in chaos first."
"It's a sin. These nobles, for their own selfish desires, don't care about the lives of ordinary people at all!"
"He looks weak on the outside, but he's a devil on the inside."
"I heard that she declined the appointment as a saint..."
"You feel guilty, right? The church is rotten to the core."
"What's the use of being beautiful? In the end, this world still depends on extraordinary strength. Without power, even if you are a noble, you can't keep your status. Such cruelty will backfire in the future."
"You don't know this. Although she looks young and weak, she is said to be a Silver Moon Mage."
"It's already the Silver Moon? Isn't that even worse? The people in the North are so pitiful."
"Isn't it? Don't be fooled by her innocent appearance. I heard that she is quite corrupt in private. The so-called declaration of celibacy is said to be just a cover to cover up her private life."
"As expected, the nobles... are all bad!"
Charlotte: …
She never expected to hear so many outrageous rumors.
It is impossible for one person to satisfy everyone.
Although Charlotte knew that as long as she continued to strengthen her rule over the North and develop her own power, various rumors would not stop and those potential hostile people would always exist, she did not expect that the rumors about the North would be so outrageous.
This level of rumors can no longer be explained by simple "rumors". Charlotte doesn't believe it without anyone fanning the flames.
Sebastian glanced at the group of students indifferently.
His eyes were very calm, but the moment he looked at those students, the students of the magic academy felt a sense of horror that made their hair stand on end rising in their hearts. The pressure from the soul made them subconsciously stop talking.
"Ahem, Lord Sebastian, this is the Royal Library."
The library director coughed lightly and reminded.
"I'm sorry, Director. I hate rumors about other artificial masters the most."
Sebastian replied with a smile.
But that smile was a little cold.
The library director said helplessly:
"I'm really sorry, but please don't take it personally. They are just ordinary students. They must have heard some nonsense rumors from somewhere."
"You know, many students at the magic academy are from commoner backgrounds. They naturally distrust nobles and will think the worst of anything about them. If someone spreads rumors secretly at this time, it will be easy for them to agree with them."
After hearing what the library director said, Sebastian nodded slightly:
"You are right. I should investigate who is spreading rumors about the master and speaking ill of him. I heard that you are also a teacher at the magic academy. Please control the students in your academy. After all... the honor of the nobility cannot be offended."
After saying that, he withdrew his gaze, and the students in the distance also breathed a sigh of relief.
They looked at each other, and their gazes towards Charlotte and her group became increasingly hostile and disgusted, and they began to whisper cautiously.
"Let's go, don't forget why we are here."
Charlotte shook her head and said.
Although she was very unhappy about this inexplicable rumor, she also knew that these students who were used as pawns were not the real rumormongers. Attacking these people would not make these civilian students who believed that she was a bad person truly reflect on themselves, but would only make them more hostile and do what certain people wanted.
As for how to deal with rumors, just leave it to Sebastian, he is a professional in this area.
However, such one-sided malicious remarks made her feel complicated.
Charlotte felt that she was not a good person, but after going to the North, she felt that what she cared about most was the civilians in the territory, and she also formulated many policies to benefit the civilians.
But I didn't expect that the rumor mongers would spread it like this.
Charlotte took a step forward, leaving the library's lobby and entering the deeper inner hall.
However, just as she was about to step into the inner hall, she heard an angry voice coming from behind:
"That's enough! Who is this idiot who made up these rumors? Slander! It's all slander!"
"I am a student from the North! I witnessed with my own eyes how the Earl dealt with those evil nobles! The Earl is a good lord. Over the past year or so, he has punished evil and promoted good, stabilized the territory, and even paid out of his own pocket to build schools in the North, support the poor, and expand roads. How many nobles can do this?!"
"The Lord has decided to dedicate his life to the territory, and that is why he has vowed never to marry. The Lord is a good Lord, and you will not be allowed to blaspheme him!"
Hearing this, Charlotte paused.
She looked back and saw several students in magic academy uniforms angrily confronting those students who were talking about her behind her back.
They were students from the north who came to the capital to study.
Seeing the angry looks of those students, Charlotte felt a little warm in her heart.
At this moment, the unhappiness in her heart suddenly disappeared.