Chapter 495 (1): I Want to Go to Heaven. I Want to Meet the Anointed One. - Forest

“It’s too hard...”

Mikhael knocked on his head, sitting in a chair with a lost look on his face.

Reza conjured a long table without missing a beat so that Mikhael would have a surface to prop his elbow on when he facepalmed.

“Esteemed Holy Mother, how much do you remember about the Anointed One’s divine actions in youth?” Reza took a step forward and gave Silvia the hint. “It doesn’t have to be anything big. The smallest action would work. The divine is in the details, and only by being specific could something be universal.”

“That’s the only way to show the followers how great the Anointed One is, allowing them to see his noble character, extraordinary wisdom, compassion for life, and selflessness...”

“The Anointed One descended and brought redemption while taking on all sins, paying for humanity’s original sins...”

“Only then would the followers be inspired. Since the Anointed One was born human, what he can do is possible for all men.”

Reza gave a whole monologue consisting of lofty ideas with no real-life basis. Silvia listened in confusion. She understood what he was getting at, but how would she know about Wayne’s childhood? The first time she met Wayne was at a train station, and he had been in his twenties then.

“Esteemed Holy Mother, please think harder. These chapters are important. The more you say, the more chapters on the Holy Mother there will be in the Sacred Tome,” Reza said solemnly. “In the future, these chapters will be stored in Holy Mother Cathedrals with a standalone biography on the Holy Mother for further circulation and wider viewing among the followers.”

“Holy Mother Cathedrals?!” Silvia’s eyes lit up. That made her perk up.

“Yes, the Holy Mother Cathedrals.”

Reza painted the picture: she would be Saint Silvia, she would have her own statues, she would have biographies written about her, and she would have hundreds of millions of followers. The whole spiel left Silvia grinning widely.

Indeed, Wayne was her son, whom she had given birth to after ten months of pregnancy.

She felt eager, but she couldn’t easily put her thoughts into words. “Your Holiness, you may not—”

“Please, just call me Reza.” Reza bowed. “In your esteemed presence, a pontiff is merely a servant with a title.”

He’s too good at this!

“Alright...” Silvia blinked. It all felt surreal to her. The more respectful Reza was, the more surreal everything felt, and the more weighed down she was. She pursed her dry lips and said, “Reza, you may not believe it, but I only remember the ten months of pregnancy. When I realized it, Wayne was already an adult.”

She turned to Auston. “This is Wayne’s father. He has a better memory and remembers Wayne’s achievements during childhood better.”

Auston nodded. He had a good memory, for sure. He could tell all the stories about Wayne’s bullying behavior and lack of respect for the elderly without repeating himself.

“Esteemed Holy Mother, this man has no right to tell the stories about the Anointed One,” Mikhael said with his eyes closed.

“Why?”

“You are the Anointed One’s mother, while the Heavenly Father is his father. Although this man bears a striking resemblance to the Anointed One and has the honor of sharing the Anointed One’s surname, his existence does not decide the Anointed One’s. Do you understand?”

“...” x3

Silvia bit down a laugh and nodded seriously in understanding. Megan didn’t show any reaction. As a professional butler, she would not laugh no matter how funny the situation was.

Auston’s face darkened. Wayne’s mother was Silvia, while he was inconsequential? Where did the Heavenly Father come from? How did he become Wayne’s biological father?

If that part of the story was included in the Sacred Tome, wouldn’t he be laughed at wherever he went?

He would not tolerate that!

Auston slammed the table and shot to his feet. He wasn’t Wayne’s biological father, but Silvia wasn’t Wayne’s biological mother, either. Veronica was their child. The misunderstanding had to be corrected today.

Before he rose fully, though, he saw Silvia beaming like she was boasting her son’s excellence. He closed his mouth and sat back down.

Thinking of the Cathedral of Holy Mother Silvia and the new Sacred Tomes that would circulate in the world, he closed his eyes, silently apologizing to Veronica.

I’m sorry, child. You’ll be our daughter-in-law from now on.

“Please calm down, Mr. Auston. Allow me to explain. Viceroy Mikhael didn’t mean it that way.” Reza hurriedly mediated, explaining the relationship between the Holy Mother, Heavenly Father, and the Anointed One. It was a necessary part of the worldbuilding, so any details could be adjusted except that. If Auston felt the treatment unfair, they could decrease his presence in the Sacred Tome.

Then wouldn’t I be even more inconsequential?!

Auston could endure the treatment for his wife’s sake, but Reza’s ‘reassurance’ enraged him further.

Silvia chuckled, pleased to watch the bastard get a taste of his own medicine. She realized what the new Sacred Tome would be while listening to Mikhael and Reza.

It was fiction, pure fiction. It didn’t matter how much truth there was to the stories; what mattered were the trials and divinity.

“I remember now...” Silvia cleared her throat. “When Wayne was born, he was about this big, with a sickly complexion and a sunken face due to malnutrition. Back then, the Lando family faced threats from external forces and internal conflicts. There were family branches vying for power, while the royal family acted against us. To protect our newly born son from the different hostile factions, I raised him in an earthen house in suburban Londan—no, in a cowshed beside the earthen house...”

“Auston sent him away less than one month after his birth, adopting a girl named Veronica as our child...”

There had been many rumors and gossip about the Lando family. Silvia selected a few more believable ones and embellished them with angsty details to emphasize how difficult Wayne’s birth had been.

It was a stormy, thunderous night. The roof of the cowshed had even been lifted.

It was cliché, but Mikhael and Reza thought the story worked. They just had to edit it a little to complete the chapter on the Anointed One’s birth.

“Is it possible that when you gave birth to the Anointed One, you had only just gotten engaged to this man, so you were still a pure virgin?” Mikhael made a suggestion.

Bam!

Auston slammed the table and shot to his feet. They were going overboard!

“Mr. Auston, please sit down. Viceroy Mikhael meant no malice...” Reza attempted to mediate again, but it didn’t work. Auston couldn’t stand listening to them further. He stalked out of the room with Megan in tow.

He loved his wife so much that as long as Silvia wanted it, he would play the role of an honest pushover in the Sacred Tome.

Megan looked around every three steps, wanting to hear a little more. Unfortunately, Auston was walking so fast that she had to follow, albeit reluctantly. She looked forward to the publication of the new Sacred Tome. She would make sure to purchase it for study.

Without Auston around, Silvia immediately lost her inspiration. She provided a few more cliché stories, all vetoed by Mikhael.

What should I do? It’s not easy to be a mother!

She racked her brain. Then her eyes lit up. “My adoptive daughter, Veronica, may know a few secrets about Wayne’s childhood. She’s right next door. I’ll get her here.”

Soon enough, three blonde girls joined the group in the reception room—platinum blonde was blonde, too.

“What?!”

“Anointed One...”

“My first love is the Anointed One?”

The three girls gaped at the Pontiff and the angel who had an overlong string of titles in shock. They did know their man was talented, very much so, but thinking of Wayne sitting on the divine throne while many winged figures bowed to him made them worry for Heaven.

Heaven didn’t deserve such misfortune. Something had to be wrong.

However, Mikhael’s dignified presence and prideful demeanor didn’t seem like a lie. The Viceroy of Heaven couldn’t have descended to the mortal realm just to joke about Heaven’s honor. The three girls had to believe the truth no matter how far-fetched it seemed.

The bastard who would kick the door open and accuse Kristen of starting her own harem was the Anointed One. He had entered Heaven and become its second leader after the Heavenly Father.

“...” x3

“Impossible.”

“Inconceivable...”

“Inconsolable.”

The three girls introduced themselves as the Anointed One’s fiancée, girlfriend, and first love; their expressions remained shocked, making them look intellectually challenged.

“Why are all of you heretics? Is there no clergywoman from the Church among you?” Mikhael groused with a frown. Then he remembered that there was such a clergywoman, and his expression darkened further.

He’d rather that not be the case!

Hearing Silvia explain that Wayne would have a biography with all of them making appearances, they eagerly provided the writing materials.

“I’ll go first. Wayne and I started dating when he was six...”

Thwack!

Vera was so proactive in making up lies that she only settled down after getting a chop to the head.

Mikhael thought for a moment, then his eyes lit up. “The Anointed One is of the Lando blood, but to protect him, he could only live as the child of one of the family’s servants.”

“The adopted young lady was haughty and willful, often acting unreasonably. Seeing the lowly Anointed One receiving care, she became jealous and often cursed at and hit him...”

“Good. That’s how it should go.”

“Reza, remember to add a part about the young lady hanging the Anointed One up in a stable and whipping him on horseback...”

Mikhael felt inspired by the materials provided to him. He said in joy, “The Anointed One is pure. He doesn’t have a fiancée or a girlfriend. All the women surrounding him are apostles he has redeemed!”

“Viceroy Mikhael,” Reza praised while writing at the table, “Your wisdom is unrivaled. I’ve never met any sage who could match you in my years of ruling over the Papal State. As expected of He Who Is Like God. I always thought the title was about your raw power, but now I realize that it’s also about your wisdom. I was too short-sighted. My wisdom doesn’t even match a fraction of yours.”

“Shut up and don’t say anything irrelevant.” Mikhael glared at Reza, his lips curling into a ‘disapproving’ smile.

The Pontiff was truly something else. The Anointed One had a good eye for people. He agreed that all Cherubim should be like Reza.

When Reza flattered Wayne, Mikhael labeled him a vermin and lamented that Heaven would be doomed with all the vermin occupying it; now that Reza was flattering him, Mikhael labeled him as a talent and believed that the more angels like Reza there were in Heaven, the better.

Such was the real world!

“Wait, what do you mean by the adopted young lady?” Veronica raised her hand and asked. “Is that part of the Sacred Tome, too?”

Mikhael didn’t respond. Reza kindly explained that the other parts of the Sacred Tome might have been fabricated, but not the Anointed One’s birth. It was as the people of Londan believed and the Holy Mother had confirmed. It had to be the truth.

Veronica glared at the old hag. Learning that the Holy Mother enjoyed benefits like her own cathedrals, her own biographies, and custom-made statues, she rolled up her sleeves to fight her.

The old hag would even sell her daughter out for vanity! She would pay for this today!

Silvia didn’t end up paying since Kristen subdued Veronica by trapping her against her bosom. Vera turned away, her shoulders shaking. Truth be told, a young lady who looked down on everyone did suit Veronica. The Sacred Tome should describe her like that.

“Then there are these two, the young lady’s childhood friends. They were around every time the young lady bullied the Anointed One. They also ended up being redeemed by the Anointed One and became his apostles.” Mikhael was overflowing with inspiration, experiencing a writer’s high.

(눈_눈)

The three girls voiced their dissatisfaction, but the complaints fell on deaf ears. Mikhael was prideful by nature. He wasn’t the Pontiff and wouldn’t care about their feelings. He just wanted to portray the Anointed One’s divinity to emphasize Heaven’s eternal glory and great justice.

Reza wrote everything down on the side, filling sheet after sheet of paper.

After finishing the part about the Anointed One’s trials and torment at the Lando Estate, it was time to write about his experience of seeing the injustice in the world after leaving the estate for education, as well as how he had bestowed redemption.

Mikhael thought for a moment with the rough framework in mind. He asked Silvia with an impassive face, “Esteemed Holy Mother, does the Anointed One have a relationship with any other heretics in Londan?”

“He does. Which do you want to meet first?”

...I knew it!