Chapter 527: 525 Chapman_1
 

“The Church?”

Colin squinted, puzzled, “What did the Chapman family do to offend the Church?”

As he asked, Colin was also speculating in his head about what Lady Grace’s aim could be in abruptly discussing this matter with him.

Lady Grace, however, did not answer Colin’s question. Instead, she asked again:

“Count Angler, do you happen to know how many Holy Knight families are there in The Glorious Empire?”

“Seven.”

“Which seven?”

“The Royal St. Lorenzo family, the Duke St. Hilde of the North Territory, the Duke St. Prowse of the Eastern Territory, the Duke St. Gregorian of the Westland, the Duke St. Rands of the South Border, and that damned St. Sean Family,” Colin paused as he recounted, realizing that there were only six Holy Knight Families, even if the despised St. Sean family, currently regarded as the Empire’s public enemy and forced into the shadows, was included.

However, it was common knowledge in history that the Glorious Empire was founded by seven powerful original Holy Knights, which had in turn given rise to seven Holy Knight families.

Currently, the Empire’s territories are divided amongst five Holy Knight families – the Royal family, and the Dukes of East, South, West, North Territories. The other two Holy Knight families had long since exited the Empire’s major play.

Of course, the St. Sean family was unwilling to withdraw and continued to stir up trouble behind the scenes.

But the seventh Holy Knight seemed to have genuinely withdrawn completely, not even leaving a name behind….

Wait a minute!

Colin suddenly realized something and blurted out, “Is Chapman family one of the seven Holy Knight families?”

“Yes,” Lady Grace confirmed.

Colin stood shocked.

Lady Grace smiled mockingly, “The once prestigious St. Chapman Family has fallen into obscurity now that most people haven’t even heard its name.”

Colin immediately asked, “So how did the St. Chapman family withdraw from the historical stage?”

“Count Angler, you should know how the St. Sean Family fell, don’t you?”

Colin nodded, “Yes, are you suggesting that the decline of St. Chapman family has something to do with this?”

“Indeed,” confirmed Lady Grace, ” as the guardian of North Territory, and the husband of Duke St. Hilde, you should be privy to the secret that the Glorious Church has been trying to conceal, right?”

Again, Colin nodded, “I know. The Lord of Glory no longer absorbs the power of faith collected by the Church. There are even rumors that the Lord of Glory has died.”

Lady Grace’s facial expression became extraordinarily complex, she said solemnly: “The fact that the Lord of Glory no longer absorbs the power of faith is true, however, the ‘Dark Emperor’ purely speculated His death for his own ulterior motives. Of course, the Dark Emperor paid a terrible price for his reckless and unguarded tongue. But, Count Angler, do you know why the Dark Emperor suddenly went mad and publicly declared the shocking statement that ‘our Lord has died’?”

“Why?” Colin asked.

Initially, he thought the Dark Emperor was trying to break free from the pressure the Church had on the imperial power, further planning to spread the Church’s concealed secrets to undermine its prestige and influence.

However, it now seems that the motives of the Dark Emperor may not be simple, and it’s probably related to the St. Chapman family.

“You must have guessed, the sudden outbreak of the Dark Emperor is actually related to the St. Chapman family.” Lady Grace said gloomily, revealing a piece of history deliberately concealed from Colin,

“The St. Chapman family is the only one among the seven holy knight families that does not have a fiefdom.

And because they don’t have fiefdoms, they can’t afford to maintain a family army, hence, they can be fully trusted by the royal family.

Therefore, the St. Chapman family also has the title of ‘the hand of the emperor.’

Each Duke St. Chapman, who was deeply trusted by the royal family, was granted the position of empire guardian, one could even say that this position was specifically created for Duke St. Chapman.

The empire guardian, whose power is even higher than the prime minister in the court, represents the emperor’s will and dignity.

But it was such a prestigious family that, over three hundred years ago, in the middle of the night, the Temple Knight Regiment brazenly invaded their manor, arrested all their members, and escorted them to the Holy Mountain for the Pope’s trial!

And the judgment, of course, was that the entire family was guilty.

Since then, the St. Chapman family has completely withdrew from the imperial political stage.

The church’s actions deeply provoked the royal family, which lead to the Dark Emperor’s crazy behaviour to tear off his face.”

Lady Grace talked lightly, but Colin was startled.

How could the church dismantle a holy knight family so easily?

And it was the St. Chapman family, who were the left hand and right arm of the royal family. This action was like a slap in the face of the royal family, no wonder the Dark Emperor got pissed off.

However, Colin immediately asked his most curious and most critical question:

“Why did the church take such drastic measures against the St. Chapman family? Aren’t they afraid that the imperial lords would feel threatened and unite to resist the church?”

“Of course they were worried.” Lady Grace’s face was serious, “But if they let it go, the consequences would be even more unbearable for the church.”

“What are the consequences? What did the St. Chapman family do?”

“The Guardian of the Empire at that time, Duke St. Chapman, demanded that the great lords of the empire send their people to copy the Holy Book of Glory to distribute to the subjects’ representatives and cooperate with the Church to preach the teachings in the Holy Book of Glory.”

Colin was stunned and confused: “Isn’t this helping the church spread their faith? Instead of killing Duke St. Chapman, the church should be rewarding him. Could it be that Duke St. Chapman had some ulterior motives in the preaching process of the Holy Book of Glory?”

Lady Grace shook her head, “No. Duke St. Chapman did not tamper with the Holy Book of Glory. In the process of organizing people to explain to the public, they strictly followed the interpretation of the church, even inviting the church to train the instructors and supervise the preaching process.”

Colin was even more puzzled, but he didn’t ask further, waiting patiently for Lady Grace’s explanation.

Lady Grace continued:

“Once a craze for understanding the Holy Book of Glory began among the people of the empire, Duke St. Chapman asked the Dark Emperor to publicly proclaim that the authority of the Holy Book of Glory is paramount. It is the only standard by which the Lord of Glory constrains humans, and is also the only route to salvation in faith!”

Upon hearing this, Colin finally sensed something amiss.

Duke St. Chapman seemed to be helping the Church spread its faith, but in fact, he was continuously elevating the status of the Holy Book of Glory.

While this behaviour appears to be completely consistent with the interests of the church at first glance, in reality, it harbours a hidden danger!