The previously noisy interior of the cathedral gradually quieted down as the Apostle of Asereto ascended to the altar. The atmosphere was even more concentrated and full of anticipation than when waiting for Cardinal de Mare’s sermon.

Contrary to Cardinal de Mare’s sermon in Latin, the sermon of the Apostle of Asereto was in EtruscanAsereto, the language commonly used by the people.

“He was born as a human.”

His sermon was provocative from the first word.

“Born in Isaac’s barn as a shepherd’s son, he laughed, lived, and learned as a human until he was thirty when he received the name of the Holy Spirit and became the Son of the Holy Spirit.”

People were holding their breath, focused on the Apostle of Asereto.

“It was only when the Holy Spirit chose him as his own son through the first sacrifice that he, who was born as a human, became the Holy Son, acquiring the same holiness as the Holy Spirit.”

Upon reaching this part, the audience’s reaction was dramatically divided. There were those who were fervently affirmative and those who looked uncomfortable.

‘So, Isaac’s lamb was not the son of the Holy Spirit from birth, but originally the son of a man?’

‘Isn’t that too radical?’

The sermon of the Apostle of Asereto elicited very different reactions from the people.

Among the poor and distressed, his sermon was explosively popular.

The story that even the most miserable person could be chosen as the Son of the Holy Spirit if they internalized, learned, mastered, and practiced the teachings of the Holy Spirit, and be elevated to the highest throne under heaven in the Millennial Kingdom was irresistibly attractive.

On the other hand, to the food and ruling class, the sermon of the Apostle of Asereto was inherently unstable.

The Apostle of Asereto’s sermon that ‘even the lowest can rise to the top’ was a significant threat to the nobility. The Pope and his subordinate cathedrals taught the believers this:

‘Noble souls are born into royalty or nobility to dispense good deeds, and humble souls are born into commoners to atone. If you do a lot of good deeds, you can be born as a noble in the next life, and the royalty or nobility are those who have proven to the Holy Spirit by their status that they have excellent qualities.’

Based on this teaching, the royalty and nobility could gain legitimacy for their rule. The notion that a commoner could directly become a son of God was a challenge to the existing social order.

To the clergy, the Apostle of Asereto posed an even more substantial problem.

The scriptures of the papacy consisted of the ‘meditations’ left by Isaac’s lamb and the ‘gospels’ left by the six disciples of Isaac’s lamb. While the gospels could be interpreted as they were written by humans, the meditations were considered the words given directly by the Son of God, and every punctuation mark, even typos, were given a sacred meaning.

The authority of the Papal Court often surfaced in ‘Meditations’. When the secular power acted against the Papal Court, it quoted a line from ‘Meditations’ to refute it. When combined with the Pope’s authority of excommunication, there was nothing it couldn’t overcome.

Years ago, when the Grand Duke of Asereto tried to displace his wife and marry sevenyearold Bianca of Taranto, Pope Ludovico, unable to withstand the ire of surrounding rulers including King Leo III who feared the inheritance of Taranto would pass to Asereto, pressed the Duke of Asereto with stern passages from ‘Meditations’.

“Respect your wife.” “Marriage is sacred.” “Let not the old lust after the young.”

When the divine authority of Meditations was acknowledged, those quoted passages were imperative.

One simply had to follow unconditionally. Conversely, if ‘Meditations’ was reduced to mere human language, written in the days when the Prophet Isaiah was human, room for interpretation was introduced.

“Respect your wife.”

If this wasn’t the word of God but mere human speech, couldn’t it not apply to a wife who was greedy and wicked, rather than a virtuous wife worthy of respect?

“Marriage is sacred.”

Marriage is sacred because it can produce an heir blessed within the arms of the Holy Spirit. But if a wife was sterile, should that marriage still be honored?

“Let not the old lust after the young.”

Wouldn’t it be acceptable if the young had a mature mentality? If a young person first fell in love with an older person, wouldn’t it be fair to exempt the above verse?

Grand Duke Asereto couldn’t withstand the threat of Pope Ludovico’s excommunication, based on the quoted passages from ‘Meditations’, and had to give up on Bianca of Taranto.

But after the failed attempt to take Bianca of Taranto, the Grand Duke of Asereto gave his full support to the Apostle of Asereto, who was simply called ‘Father Alejandro’ at the time.

He bestowed upon him, who was merely a parish priest, a cathedral to preach in, and detached funds from the Duke’s budget to feed and clothe the young priests who came to see the Apostle.

This was the result, just a few years later. Father Alejandro, now the Apostle of Asereto, was bearing the people on his back and threatening the clergy and nobility.

Ariadne, like a shadow in the back of the balcony on the left side of the grand hall, quietly rose from her seat behind Lucrezia, Isabella, and Arabella, without attracting attention.

Arabella glanced at the rising Ariadne, but Ariadne whispered softly to Arabella.

‘I need to use the restroom for a moment.’

Ariadne took off all the gold earrings that Lucrezia had given her and put them in her sleeve.

A perfect stage required a perfect outfit. Ariadne, holding her breath as if she were a mouse, descended to the first floor of the grand hall along the steep stairs, and hid behind the stair railing to wait for the critical moment.

The sermon of the Apostle of Asereto was reaching its climax.

“Isaiah was, after all, a son of man!”

When the deep baritone voice of a middleaged man filled the cathedral and the audience listened with complex emotions, a husky voice, unusually heavy for a girl, pierced through the space.

“Shouldn’t you be ashamed!”

It was Ariadne.