### Chapter 30: News from the News Report
News Report…
It just hit me—since the residents of Longdoll Street are either fabulously wealthy or very important, the Holy Church actually sends priests or nuns to deliver the latest news report right to their door on a schedule.
I hadn’t even noticed this before…
Since I arrived here, I’ve hardly looked at the Church’s news reports at all. Not that I found them untrustworthy or anything; I simply had zero interest.
The only time I remember ever glancing at it was at Shanter Castle when sometimes I’d wake up early and see my father reading the news report at the dining table. At that time, mother would still be preparing breakfast, and with nothing to do and a rumbling stomach, I’d peep over his shoulder for a few looks.
Once breakfast was served, I wouldn’t bother with it anymore.
Because I figured… what’s called a “news report” is essentially, in terms of my previous life, the Holy Church’s “official media.” Meanwhile, it’s basically the only orthodox channel for the average folk on the Western Continent to get outside news.
This channel is firmly controlled by the Church. Besides their news reports, the Pope doesn’t allow any other publications, and if discovered, they’re deemed heretical rumors and subject to burning at the stake.
I remember Carlos mentioning this once.
He told me that the Church distributes these news reports as gifts to the residents of prosperous cities or regions. For those who want them, all they have to do is go to a church or designated place to collect them. The St. Zayeli Cathedral in the Royal City has a collection point.
Sure, for the vast majority of folks who’ve never left their hometown, it’s a delightful thing—the contents of the news report are always hot topics of conversation.
But for me, compared to news reports, those rich and diverse books are way more interesting.
Yet here I was, looking at those pages of news reports stuffed messily in my mailbox at home, feeling somewhat uneasy. I tilted my head and considered it, then bent down to gently set the bag I was holding down to pull out the news reports, tucking them under my arm and returning to the mansion.
Might as well use them for kindling…
As dusk began to settle in, the lawn of the mansion looked rather gray and dreary.
I hurried through the courtyard, stepping on the grass to enter the inner part of the mansion, locking the door behind me. Then I sprinted to the kitchen to sort out the ingredients I had bought, placing them neatly in the cupboard.
After everything was tidied up, I clapped my hands and turned to gaze at the stove and the rustic stone oven, tilting my head to the right.
I want to eat Captain Gray’s cooking… but I really don’t want to do it myself.
Because doing it alone feels a bit tiring…
…Forget it, I’ll think about it tomorrow.
After all, I bought so many almond cakes. If I leave them for tomorrow, they might not taste good, so I should deal with them now.
So I grabbed the cake and the newspaper, returning to the living room and heading to the sofa. I stared blankly at the empty plate on the tea table for a moment.
Too small…
I placed the cake and news reports on the tea table, took the plate back to the kitchen, and returned with a wooden bowl much larger than my face. I then dumped the entire almond cake into it… and it almost filled the bowl to the brim.
Cuddling the wooden bowl into the sofa, I leaned over and took a sniff… Ah, what a delightful scent!
Drooling involuntarily, I couldn’t wait to grab one and stuff it into my mouth.
“Chew… chew…”
So delicious!
My eyes narrowed happily like a cat.
I quickly grabbed another one, picked up a page of the news report from the tea table, kicked off my shoes, curled my legs up, and struggled to chew with a full mouth while glancing at the page.
The headline screamed out at me: [The Deity Has Never Abandoned Order Royal City; The Great Divine Miracle Will Be with the Heroes]
The top right corner of the report showed the date: March 2, 1187 of the Common Era; that was the day before yesterday… they must be reporting on what happened in the Royal City.
I settled down to carefully read the content. The more I read, the slower I chewed.
…As I thought.
I pouted and tossed the news report back onto the tea table, suddenly uninterested in it anymore.
Even though I had mentally prepared myself and understood that the Church considered this the most prudent approach, actually seeing the article left me feeling disheartened, churning with unspeakable complex emotions.
They called Teresa a hero.
Why…
She’s the one who caused all this. Killing so many people isn’t enough; she wants to k*ll more… why is she a hero…
Just like that, my good mood was completely crushed by this article. I curled up on the sofa, gripping the wooden bowl of almond cakes tighter, shoving them incessantly into my mouth.
The more I thought about it, the worse I felt.
I needed to distract myself…
With that thought in mind, I picked up another news report from the tea table, my mind wandering as I let my eyelids droop, lifting the report to my face.
[The Honorable Empress Returned to the Embrace of the Deity; Queen Elizabeth Officially Farewells Her Mother]
Ugh…
Why does this have to be so heavy?
Has the Empress’ funeral already taken place?
I didn’t even know… I must have slept too soundly, not aware of whether Victoria had come to call me.
…Oh well, I didn’t really feel like attending anyway.
But… Victoria must be going through a rough time these days. After all, it’s her mother. With her passing, she’s got so much to deal with, not to mention that ridiculous family bothering her…
I hope she’s okay…
Swallowing the cake in my mouth, I looked up toward the window.
The Honey Fruit Tree, blooming with flowers, was barely visible against the grayish night; I could only see part of its trunk.
I’ll water it later…
When it bears fruit, I’ll make her some Honey Fruit Pie; maybe that will cheer her up.
Snapping back to the present, I flipped the newspaper over.
[A Knight of the Pope Who Cannot Ride? Miss Silvya’s Secrets Revealed… ]
“Cough!”
The moment I saw that headline, a piece of cake got stuck in my throat.
So uncomfortable…
“Cough! Cough cough…”
After a fit of violent coughing that lasted a while, I managed to calm down. Once the discomfort in my chest subsided, I blinked my teary eyes and looked again at the huge headline of the news report, so angry I nearly sprang up from the sofa.
You’ve got to be kidding me!
Smack.
I slammed the newspaper down on the sofa, grinding my teeth, my small chest heaving with rage, feeling like my lungs would burst from anger. I bit down hard on another almond cake, chewing furiously, my dark eyes blazing.
Was this news report delivered just to ruin my mood?!
Just wait till I find out who wrote this!
Furious, furious, furious…
The more I thought about it, the more flustered I became, my cheeks reddening in an odd way.
“Ahhhhhhh—”
Letting out a shriek of frustration, I furiously crumpled up the report into a ball, ready to toss it out when I suddenly caught sight of the words “Valen Empire” peeking out from the crumpled paper.
…Valen Empire!
My heart skipped a beat, and I quickly retracted my hand that was raised over my head, holding the cake in my mouth, and swiftly flattened the paper back out to look at the other side, spotting some inconspicuous lines of text in the lower left corner.
[The Noble of Valen Empire’s West, Head of the Kaliye Family, Marquis Oliver Nibwohl Kaliye Assassinated]
[Marquis Oliver, who held rights to the territories in the West of the Empire, unfortunately succumbed to assassination by a servant in the late night of March 3rd. The New City of Kaliye is engulfed in unbearable grief, with the citizens calling out the Emperor’s name and burning the royal family’s flags. Duke Skarlij has already traveled with over a thousand Shanter Army to attend the mourning ceremony on the morning following the incident. This event will further intensify the internal conflicts within the royal family; the Valen Empire may be facing war…]
I sat there on the sofa, my hand holding the news report frozen in front of me, utterly motionless as if I had been turned to stone.
