Reincarnate as Prince: Change Magical World with Industry

23 Confession

"Yes, your holiness." Janus was full of fury in his heart but he had no choice.

"Then you shall confess."

Janus slowly knelt down at Caius Morellus's instruction. The Holy Father of the Church, the highest authority of the land, comparable to the King, cleansed Janus of his sins.

It was a long and elaborate confession wherein Janus had to repeat a lot of words and chants. The Holy Father guided him through the whole process, there were prayers that Janus strained to remember from the old Prince's memories but most of the time he got it wrong.

He couldn't persuade himself to believe the prayers. From the bottom of his heart, he kept questioning all the things happening around!

"Remember the Light, not Bright." 

"I'm sorry your Holiness... I must have forgotten."

"Start over."

This went on for another two hours. It felt like a punishment in school where he had to do lines, except with a powerful being staring down at your every move. Janus was kneeling the whole time.

When it was finished, the day had already fallen past noon. There was no blood circulating in Janus' knee. His lips were chapped and his throat was dry, and sweat had been pooling in his back.

"Rise now my boy. I am forgiving, but it is my duty to see to it that you learn from your mistakes. You will have to pay for your transgressions, lest you go astray again. All of your earthworm colonies will be destroyed and you are forbidden to use such means of magic to grow out your crops. My inquisitors are now doing their inspections as we speak."

The earthworm colonies, all of it destroyed. The field's yearly output would take a hit without fertilizer, but Janus wasn't too worried. It shouldn't be too much of a hit.

"In addition. Your manor will be required a greater sum of offerings for the next six months -- which I will discuss with the King. All of your goblin workers will be tithed 10% higher than that. I am saddened to put such punishment on you but I assure you, my son, it is better than the alternative of being excommunicated and burned at the stake. The crown cannot handle such shamefulness, it has suffered enough from you. You may go after you are finished reciting your prayers."

Janus found it difficult to walk back downstairs to the masses of people. By the end of his confession, he had memorized ten new prayers while understanding none of it. It all came like a haze. His vision was blurring, a hundred faces stared at him but they didn't seem real. Until he found a familiar one.

Sir Arthan was approaching him, he looked alarmed.

The manor, inquisitors are checking the manor as we speak. I need to be there. I need to go.

Everything went black.

Janus woke to the sound of the carriage, and the smell of a strong mint ointment circling his nose.

The Knight was beside him holding out a small can with his first aid kit splayed out in front of him. One of the carriage assistants was also inside, he was now recklessly fanning the Prince.

Janus came to his senses.

"Water, give me water."

"Your Highness, why did it take so long? Did anything bad happen? You collapsed as soon as I approached you. I had to carry you all the way to the carriage, with a lot of citizens to witness."

Janus drank from the wineskin that was handed to him recklessly.

"I don't care about the witnesses. The manor, I have to go to the manor right away."

"I'm afraid that's not possible your highness." Said the knight reluctantly.

"What? Why not?"

"Your father has called for a meeting tonight at dinner. Both of your brothers are in the capital right now."

Janus slumped to his chair. "That's just great."

Janus told the knight about everything that happened. Sir Arthan was surprised by the details, and he fell deep in thought by the time Janus finished.

"How come nobody told me? Are we really forbidden to grow earthworms, is it stated in Galedon law?"

The Knight was still staring at the window, the carriage boy answered.

"I've heard rumors about it, your highness, me Da and my Nan used to say that earthworms were catalysts for black magic. But none of the folk really took that too seriously. It was what they said to stop us from playing with dirt."

His name was Lann, an apprentice coachman, and former stableboy.

"Have you heard of anyone being punished for growing earthworms in their backyard?"

"Well no your highness, but why would anyone want to do that?"

Of course, having compost bins on your backyard farm was just a normal thing in Janus' world so he didn't think twice about it.

Then the Knight spoke.

"The Holy Father's word is absolute. I am sure that a law is being written right now that would forbid this practice. The Church upholds the law of the land just as much as the King. I'm sure you would know this by now your highness."

But Janus didn't really know, it was overshadowed by the fact that religious sects are separate from the government in his old world.

"This isn't right, I have the feeling that I am being singled out. I do one thing right and then they take it all away from me. It's not fair." Janus' voice was rising, he could feel his heart beating in his chest.

"No your highness. I'm afraid you have made a couple of mistakes yourself."

Janus was shocked, this was the first time that Arthan spoke to him in a direct way.

"You have been so focused on what you can do, and not looking around at the repercussions for your actions. At first, I was skeptical, I kept thinking that your changes in the manor would hit you back in the end. Like employing the overseers to do more work, or adapting goblins to your service."

The knight's eyes were striking. Janus and Lann held their breath.

"I did not speak back then, I admit I was waiting for you to blunder and get punished for your actions. I thought that what you were doing was just another scheme in order to get a good reputation before you revert back and take the throne. As a member of the Royal Guard, I am sworn to protect you, but if you were going get in trouble because of your own wrongdoing then I figured that would be convenient."

"But now I cannot stand by and just watch, I've seen you go through a remarkable change this past year. And I've seen the happiness and care that you have given the people working under you. At first, I thought I was seeing a different version of the Prince, but it looked like having your life in the brink of death really changed you."

"You have been careless Prince Janus, there is a bigger world around you. And there are people who would be happy to see you create your own demise. I admit I was one of those few people at first, but I have changed my mind about you. As I have seen you grow. But you must be careful, there are players around the court that would want to see you destroyed. Either directly or not, the fight for the throne is perilous, and King Gregorius is content to sit down and watch. He will see to it that the best person wins the throne. That for him is what's best for the Kingdom."

For the first time since meeting the Knight, Janus felt that he saw the real man in front of him.

"Forgive me, your highness, for speaking bluntly." Arthan reverted back to his stony demeanor. "It is not my place to lecture the Prince."

"Sir Arthan Kleinman."

The Knight bowed.

"Promise me you'll be as honest to me as you were just then. That's just the kind of advice I need. Unless you still want me to be punished for my attitude as the old prince."

"As you wish your highness. I had been debating on whether or not to advise you, as a part of me thinks that the old Prince should revert back to his evil self, but seeing you at such a weak state has prompted me to speak my mind."

"My evil self has died that day. Reverting back to him is not gonna happen. Your advice is always welcome, as long as you'll be there to tell me straight about it. And Lann, please don't speak of this to anyone."

The stableboy nodded profusely.

Janus was full of thoughts as he rode back to the castle. So this was the power of the Church in this society. No wonder the Cathedral square enjoyed a lot more eloquence and extravagance than the castle itself. Even the magic barriers around the Church were more elaborate, creating godly rays of light at every corner while regulating the temperature despite the hundreds of visitors. It was astonishing how much treasure the church had.

Janus decided that if he can help it. He'll avoid attracting their attention as much as possible.

Janus arrived at the castle to see a lot of carriages lining up outside. His brothers had arrived. He had enough of meetings today, but he had to fight on.