'I'm tired.'
Jeremy thought as he flopped down on his bed.
After their tea time with the emperor, Jeremy and his family went back to their residence here in the empire's capital.
They arrived at the residence by noon.
But shortly after they had lunch together, the duke and Jeremy's brothers left one by one for work matters.
Jeremy was left alone along with the servants inside the mansion.
As Jeremy was lying down, he turned his head and looked at the book he placed on his bedside table.
It was the book given to him by the church and from the Goddess.
"Huuuuuuuuuu!"
He sighed.
Earlier today, before they parted ways with the pope, Jeremy politely declined the saint position offered to him by the church.
The pope seemed to not want to force him and just nodded his head at him.
Even though it was evident that the book truly came from the Goddess, Jeremy believes that he has the freedom to choose whether to accept the Goddess's offer or not.
And…
"I want to be a mage."
Jeremy muttered.
Knowing that his body has the ability to use mana, he is determined to learn magic.
He remembered that the mages from books are always free to do whatever they want.
They are the most carefree individuals in the stories he has read before.
Compared to that, saints or anything related to church are strict in whatever they do.
That's why…
"I don't want to be a saint."
As he said that, he remembered the young and quiet bishop he encountered earlier.
'That must be Bishop Nathaniel.'
He was pertaining to the bishop who was with the pope earlier.
He then recalled how that young bishop had been gazing at him the whole time during their conversation with the pope and the emperor.
He wondered if the bishop wanted to talk to him, but even when they parted ways, the bishop just kept looking at him.
As Jeremy was thinking about the young bishop, another matter came to his mind.
Before they parted with the emperor, the man told him something.
"Adonis… that son of mine truly changed during those years you haven't seen each other."
For some reason, he felt bothered by what the emperor told him.
'Is it perhaps my fault that the crown prince changed?'
As he questioned himself, he heard a knock on his door.
Still feeling tired, Jeremy continued laying down as he responded towards the person knocking.
"Come in!"
A second later, the door opened and Jude entered carrying a tray filled with snacks.
"Young Master, would you like some snacks?"
Jude asked as he carefully walked towards the door connecting to the balcony.
He then gracefully opened the door and carried the tray to the balcony area.
Jeremy slowly stood up and followed Jude.
As soon as he stepped on the balcony, he felt the fresh blow of the wind hitting his face.
Along with the wind, he smelled the tempting fragrance of the variety of snacks that Jude carefully placed on the table.
"Young Master, please have a seat."
Jude said as he gentlemanly pulled a chair for Jeremy.
As Jeremy sat down, he noticed that Jude was just standing behind him.
He looked at Jude and frowned.
"What are you doing? Sit down and eat with me."
He said as he pulled the chair beside him and gestured for Jude to sit there.
To some noble families, servants are strictly forbidden to eat together with their master.
But to the servants of the Thorne family, it was quite a common occurrence to be invited to dine with their masters.
Jude smiled shyly but didn't hesitate to sit down beside his young master.
He then said sincerely.
"It was such an honor to eat with you, Young Master."
Jeremy smiled at Jude before taking an eclair from the table.
He then put the eclair on his butler's plate.
"No, it was my honor to have an afternoon date with such a beauty like Jude."
Jeremy spoke as he gazed at Jude with a gentle smile on his face.
He meant it.
He truly felt honored right now to spend time with his angel-looking butler.
Hearing what his young master said, Jude felt his face burning hot.
He is used to people praising his looks, but for some reason, he feels embarrassed right now listening to his young master.
But strangely, despite blushing… he also felt good receiving a compliment from his young master.
Noticing his red face, Jeremy can't help but ask.
"Are you feeling unwell, Jude? Do you want to go and rest?"
He stretched his hand and placed his palm on his butler's forehead.
"You're hot… you should have told me you have a fever."
Jeremy nagged and was about to add another sentence when all of a sudden, Jude spoke.
"No, I don't have a fever, Young Master."
He then held Jeremy's hand that was placed on his forehead.
He softly explained.
"I was just embarrassed by your words just now."
"Why are you embarrassed? Has no one complimented you before?"
Jeremy curiously asked.
But he himself doubts the answer to his own question.
Jude paused for a second as he gazed at his young master's face.
His young master possessed such ethereal visuals that both men and women found it irresistible to stare at.
Jude felt shy being praised by such a man.
He then slowly opened his mouth to answer his young master's question.
"Young Master, being appreciated by you feels different than being appreciated by others… with Young Master's good looks, it is reasonable that I get embarrassed, right?"
Listening to the sincere explanation of his young butler, Jeremy fell silent.
He then slowly nodded his head as he grabbed a fork.
He carefully used the fork to take a bite-size of an eclair from his butler's plate and pushed the forked eclair near Jude's mouth.
"Rather than being shy because of a compliment from the same gender… just eat with me right now, alright?"
Jeremy said as he playfully moved the forked eclair and softly tapped it on Jude's lips.
Jude stiffened for a moment before he managed to open his mouth and shyly ate the eclair.
As he chewed on the sweet snack, he couldn't help but feel relieved that there are no other servants beside him in this area.
'They might kill me if they found out that the young master personally fed me.'
Even though he felt blissful being fed by his young lord, he also felt ashamed at the same time.
Noticing his young master trying to feed him again, he immediately said to Jeremy.
"Ah, Young Master… I can eat on my own."
Jeremy paused and slowly pulled back and guided the fork toward his own mouth.
"Hmm… this tastes so good."
He commented as he savored the sweetness inside his mouth.
Jude looked at his young master then at the fork that his young master used to eat.
'Young Master, that's the same fork you used to feed me a while ago.'
He internally cried while chewing on his own food.
. . .
At the border of the northern side of the empire, a desolate palace was located there.
Inside that palace, a handsome young man was standing on the rooftop.
His gaze is so distant that it makes it hard for anyone to know where he is looking.
The only thing anyone could see from the rooftop is the green grassland and half of the forest surrounding the palace.
As his gaze continued to go further, a man in full black clothes appeared behind him.
"Your Highness, there's a report saying that the duke's family visited the Imperial Palace."
The man in a full black outfit reported while kneeling with one knee on the ground.
The young man who was standing didn't respond immediately.
He didn't have any expression as well after hearing the report.
After a while of receiving no answer, the man in black clothes cautiously called out.
"Your Imperial Highness?"
He was calling out to his master, the Aurelian Empire's Crown Prince.
This time, the handsome young man slowly turned around and looked at the kneeling man.
This is one of his most loyal subordinates.
The crown prince slowly opened his mouth to reply to his subordinate's news.
"And?"
His tone was cold… it was devoid of any emotion.
His face, which is considered to be one of the most handsome faces in the empire, doesn't have a flicker of any of his feelings.
It was hard to read what is on the crown prince's mind right now.
The man in black clothes felt nervous but he still continued his report.
"Young Master Jeremiah de Thorne was confirmed to have spent some time inside the palace."
The man who was reporting was about to add another statement when he noticed his master frowning displeasedly at him.
He then heard the crown prince asking in a deep voice.
"Why is there no report about him going to the Imperial Palace? Or him being invited to go to the palace?"
The subordinate paused before cautiously speaking.
"Your Highness, I reported about that several days ago… And you confidently responded that Young Master Jeremiah won't go to the Imperial Palace this time."
The subordinate reminded the crown prince, whose face is now turning red out of annoyance.
After a while, he heard the crown prince speaking.
"Pack my things. We'll be going to the capital tonight."
"Yes sir."
The subordinate replied before disappearing.
After the subordinate left, the crown prince sighed and brushed his raven-black hair using his fingers.
He then softly muttered.
"Jeremy…"
. . .
Outside the church of Goddess Aurora, a young bishop is currently walking out from it.
"Good afternoon, Bishop Nathaniel."
"Hello, Bishop Nathaniel."
Greetings came to him from the priests and other clergy members he encountered.
Bishop Nathaniel nodded his head at them and then continued to walk out of the church.
A few seconds later, he stopped before a luxurious carriage parking outside the church.
A man in a military uniform saluted him before opening the carriage door.
Inside the carriage was a man who looked slightly older than the young bishop.
He was sitting inside the carriage while wearing a high-ranking military uniform and reading documents.
Bishop Nathaniel entered the carriage and sat opposite the man.
A second later, the carriage door closed and the carriage slowly drifted off from the church building.
As the carriage moved, the man spoke.
"Duke of Thorne's youngest son will be entering the Imperial Academy in a week."
At the mention of the unexpected person, the young bishop looked at his older brother.
Seeing him paying attention to the topic, the older brother smirked and continued speaking.
"I heard from some of the priests earlier that you and the pope went to see him but he declined being a saint?"
Bishop Nathaniel nodded his head in affirmation.
This response from him made his brother chuckle.
"I see. By the way, is he really as good-looking as the rumors say about him?"
The older brother asked.
Bishop Nathaniel hesitated for a while before opening his mouth.
"..."
He then closed his mouth back and looked away from his older brother.
Seeing him opening and closing his mouth without a word, his older brother continued prying.
"So, he's ugly?"
"..."
The young bishop ignored his older brother.
His older brother loves spending nights with beautiful men and women in his bed.
He knew what his brother would do if he ever finds out the appearance of the Goddess's chosen saint.
He is sure that this brother of his would try every trick to seduce the duke's youngest son.
'Oh, Goddess Aurora, please protect your chosen saint from this man's dirty desires… even though he rejected becoming your saint.'
Bishop Nathaniel closed his eyes and prayed for Jeremy.
. . .
As the sun began to set and seeing neither his father nor brother was back yet, Jeremy sat inside his bedroom and decided to read a book while waiting for them.
As he was pondering on what book to read, his eyes caught on the book given to him by the church earlier today.
Guidelines to Becoming a Saint.
Jeremy touched the engraving on the white cover of the book.
He then slowly opened the book.
This book is dedicated to and should only be read by my chosen saint—Jeremiah de Thorne.
Already finished reading this part, Jeremy flipped to the next page.
'Huh?'
Jeremy halted before going back to the first page.
The dedication message is written in runes, something he never studied in his previous world.
But…
'I can perfectly understand it.'
Amazed by the discovery of being able to understand a language from this world, Jeremy happily flipped the next page.
"Hmm?"
This time, Jeremy looked confused.
"Why is nothing written here?"
He commented as he stared at the empty page in front of him.
He then flipped to the next page.
Then to the next pages.
"What is this?"
He felt perplexed as all of the pages were empty.
He kept flipping until the last page of the book but he couldn't find a single content in them except on the book cover and the dedication page.
"Hmm?"
He tried putting light behind one of the pages but nothing happened.
As Jeremy stared at the empty pages of the book and began wondering what to do with it as he held it, a thought came to his mind.
'Did the church lie?'
The moment he thought that, he felt an intense sleepiness attacking him.
Seconds later, he fell asleep on his bed while holding the book which is now glowing a golden white light.
Jeremy opened his eyes and carefully surveyed his surroundings.
A lush green landscape with a beautiful sun spreading its warm rays to the whole area.
Jeremy heard the sounds of birds chirping and a sound of water flowing from a distance.
It was such a dream-like and peaceful environment.
"Where am I?"
He muttered as he looked around.
The bright sun and the environment is different from the place and time he was just a few moments ago.
He was in the ducal residence earlier.
"Welcome to my abode, my chosen saint."
An extremely beautiful woman spoke from behind Jeremy.
She was wearing a long white robe with flowers crowning over her long golden hair.
Her golden irises look at Jeremy affectionately.
Jeremy froze as he looked at the woman.
'Mom? Ah, she's not.'
For a moment, he thought that this woman was his mother.
But looking at the color of the hair and eyes, Jeremy knew this isn't his mother.
"Mom? You can call me that if you want… I give you my permission as my saint."
The woman spoke while smiling gently at Jeremy.
Jeremy carefully observed the woman who seemed to have just read his thoughts.
He then replied.
"Are you Goddess Aurora?"
"Yes, I am indeed Aurora, the Goddess of the Aurelian Empire and some parts of the world you're currently in. But you can call me Mom, my chosen saint."
The beautiful deity answered immediately.
This time, Jeremy also answered immediately, ignoring the last sentence of the deity.
"Goddess, I don't know the reason why you've chosen me as your saint but I would like to refuse becoming a saint."
"Why?"
The deity still smiled despite hearing the clear refusal from Jeremy.
"Because I want to be a mage."
Jeremy answered.
But the deity replied again, still smiling at him.
"You can be a mage even if you are my saint."
"I don't want to be used by the church and later become exhausted."
Jeremy reasoned again.
The deity replied dotingly.
"I'll tell them not to use you or tire you out, my chosen saint."
"Goddess, I just want to live a comfortable and peaceful life… free from all troubles."
Jeremy said, hoping that she would stop telling him to become a saint now.
The deity paused for a moment before speaking gently to him.
"Free from all troubles… that's something I am not sure if I can give it to you, Jeremy."
As Jeremy was about to reply and say he won't become a saint, the deity continued speaking.
"But becoming my saint is your only way to save Jeremiah de Thorne's loved ones… your loved ones."