All the women in the continent were well aware of the meaning behind the red rose.
She lightened her footsteps and walked to Joshua's side, then bowed.
"Good day, Princess Elena." The boy smiled, his voice was as pleasant as spring water.
The Princess felt a bit of trepidation, after half a day, she tentatively opened: "The day after tomorrow is your 18th birthday as well as my son's full 100 days."
"Oh, Little Prince Anthony's full 100 days?" Zhou Yun Sheng soon realized the other's intentions and looked up at her with encouragement.
The Princess really did calm down, she slowly said, "So, I would like to ask you to give Anthony a blessing after your baptism."
According to the mainland's customs, newborns must have a highly respected elder bless them after their first 100 days, so people generally looked for the most powerful and honorable person they had access to, and the royal family would usually ask the country's Bishop.
"But you know, I'm not the Bishop of Saga Kingdom, I'm not qualified to bless Little Prince Anthony." Zhou Yun Sheng said frankly. If the other party was blessed by him, then he wouldn't be stingy with his power of light and would definitely create a few miracles for the small His Royal Highness. He would never let the Second Prince inherit Sagya Kingdom's throne.
"In my heart, no one is more qualified than you. Please, can you grant my request?" The Princess knelt down and folded her hands together.
Zhou Yun Sheng quickly stood up and helped her up, he smiled and said, "Since it is your wish, then I promise. May you and your little son be in good health."
"Thank you. This is very kind of you. Your decision is a salvation for me and Anthony, we will never forget this kindness!" The Princess teared up and repeatedly bowed before quietly retreating, she walked to an unmanned corner and lifted her sleeves.
Her maid, who was waiting for her in the distance, came to her side and saw several burnt black fingerprints on her arm, she whispered in dismay, "My God, is this something Priest Joshua did to you? But he looks so kind, not like this kind of cruel and insidious person. What reason does he have to hurt you, you've never offended him, right?"
"No, I didn't offend him, but I offended his admirer. This is the mark of divine fire from the Father. The Father doesn't permit others to touch Joshua, so this is his way of telling us to stay away from him." The Princess shook her head with a wry smile.
The maid gaped in surprise, staring at the fingerprints, her expression turned from anger to reverence, as if it was a matter of pride that her master was burnt by the Father's fire, it would be better if it left a scar.
The Princess pulled down her sleeves and gave a contented smile. She'd made the right bet. Because of the unstable living environment, no Kingdom on the mainland would take a less than one year old baby as Crown Prince. That risk was too great, not to mention, the King had a few bastards that were eyeing the throne.
But, as long as Anthony got Joshua's favor, it was equal to getting the Father's favor, then, no matter how young the heir, he could firmly secure the position of Crown Prince. From now on, no one would dare trample on this mother and son.
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Three days later, Joshua turned eighteen, after his baptism ceremony he would travel the continent. Because Boel had taken away his Bishop position, the temple had reduced the importance of his baptism ceremony and had only invited the clergy, not the elites of the Kingdom.
But, the day after Boel and the Pope were burnt by God fire, the King held an emergency meeting and demanded that Joshua's baptism be treated as the most important event in the continent, and that all the nobles in Gagor had to attend. He also discussed with the Elder Bishop to have Joshua be coronated as the new Bishop on the day of his baptism ceremony, but his idea was rejected by the Elder Bishop.
The two coronation ceremonies were too close together, it would look as if Joshua was just selected to clean up the mess. Because Boel lost his eligibility they turned to him, that was obviously an insult, it would be belittling to him. Joshua would never agree.
So, the Elder Bishop made a proposal to the King, wait for Joshua's return from his travels, then hold an unprecedentedly grand ceremony.
The King agreed after some contemplating. What about the Pope's opinion? The two men silently chose to ignore it. As the Pope, he should be the embodiment of the Father in the mortal world, but the Father personally sent down his Godly Fire to severely punish him, such an 'honor' for a Pope had never been seen before. Once the news spread out, he would not be qualified to stay on the Pope's throne.
On the day of the ceremony, except for the Second Prince who was under house arrest, all the nobles of Gagor gathered in the open space of the temple. Their expressions were solemn, and they dared not speak loudly. They now knew that Priest Joshua was the true Darling of God, and at the moment, the Father was likely looking upon him from heaven.
Zhou Yun Sheng knelt alone in the hall to pray, and when the sun rose to the middle of the sky, he walked along the long red carpet toward the holy pool outside the temple. Along the way, people constantly threw pure white roses in his path to show their blessings. The petals were repeatedly swept up by the breeze, then slowly fell back to the ground, the scene looked very ethereally beautiful.
Today, Zhou Yun Sheng's mental state was very good. Rational and Brainless Sheng lived and moved together in harmony. Today was Joshua's most important day, neither of them wanted to ruin it.
He walked to the holy pool. The Pope, clad in the robes of a common priest, reached out to take the boy's hand and lead him into the water. This was the Pope's duty at a baptism.
But Zhou Yun Sheng waved him away in refusal, his oblique glance implied contempt and disgust, as if to say 'you are not qualified to touch me'. The Pope's heart stirred in anger, but his face was still smiling. He didn't want to be disgraced in public, so he forcefully grabbed the boy's wrist and pulled him towards the holy pool.
Then everyone saw that as soon as the Pope's palm touched Joshua, it started emitting black smoke, followed by golden flames. This time, not only did it burn the Pope's soul, his flesh was also burnt, the strong stench of burning flesh filled the room.
The Pope finally couldn't maintain a dignified posture, he immediately let go of the boy's wrist and retreated to the side, his handsome face twisted and deformed, showing just how much pain he was suffering. Half a minute later, the flames went out by themself, but he felt so weak that he could no longer stand. He was helped out of the central temple by several holy officials and laid to rest.
After they laid him down, they hurried back, refusing to miss Priest Joshua's baptism. There was endless chatter questioning the Pope's authority.
"What did the Pope do to make the Father so disgusted? Look, he has been burnt by God twice. Is a man who has been severely punished by the Father twice still worthy of the Pope's position? If everyone in the Church is under such a dirty man's rule, the Father will abandon us in anger sooner or later, just like the other gods."
"Don't say that. The Father would not be so cruel. Besides, we have Priest Joshua, he is holy, noble, and loved by the Father. As long as he lives on this contentment, the Father will not abandon us."
"You're right. When I went back home after last time, my wife reminded me of what the red rose means in the flower language. I had no idea the High Father had such a romantic side. Maybe because the Pope touched Priest Joshua just now, he angered the Father. The Father was jealous."
The man seemed to realize that what he had just said could be treated as criticizing the Father, so he quickly covered his mouth and stopped talking, and the rest of the people also quieted down.
At the same time, Zhou Yun Sheng took off his robe and walked into the holy pool wearing a thin undershirt. The water dampened the fabric, making it transparent and sticky, it clung to the boy's slender, flawless body, even the two red cherries on his chest were clearly visible.
The scene was extremely beautiful and sexy.
The present elite only had a chance to glance at him before their eyes started stinging, then a golden light beam projected down from the Ninth Heaven, enveloping the holy pool.
Everyone's vision was cut off, and they bowed their heads, their expressions fearful.
Zhou Yun Sheng was in the center of the beam of light, his eyes were stabbed by the golden light, it was almost impossible to open them. He was about to stand up to try and figure out his situation, when suddenly, a warm, tall, and strong body embraced him from behind, a big palm gripped his jaw, pointed his face back and upwards, and a fiery hot tongue drilled into his mouth, stirring inside his mouth with frantic strength, exploring, tightly intertwining with his soft tongue.
Another big palm explored his clinging wet robe, gently rubbing his two pink points, then it slid down, pressing him up against a stiff place, while gently caressing.
Zhou Yun Sheng's heart pounded in incomparable horror, he quickly released the power in his body, intending to kill this random molester, when a thick, sexy voice suddenly appeared in his mind, "Baby, don't be afraid, it's me, Adounis."
[Adounis –亞度尼斯 – Yaduonisi- Adonis, not 阿多尼斯- Aduonisi – Adonis, aka the Greek god. If you goggle the first one you get pics of a clothing company. You google the other you get pics of Adonis the god and an anime or VN character with purple hair. It's weird so I added a u to avoid confusion.]
Adounis? What kind of demon is that? Zhou Yun Sheng glared in anger. Anyone who was inexplicably sexually harassed by a man, who also dared to speak to them with such a familiar tone, will be angry as a matter of course.
Adounis?! Aaaahhh!! That's the Father's true name! It's the Father! Brainless Sheng pushed himself to the front in a millisecond.
The boy's angry eyes of flame instantly extinguished into wet yearning and adoring. His stiff body relaxed, and he softened like warm honey in the Father's arms, stretching out as much as possible to facilitate the Father's caressing.
"Father, is that you? Are you loving me?" He panted, his curled eyelashes trembled as his neck was kissed and suckled. He wanted to see the Father's beautiful otherworldly face, but when he turned around the man once again covered his lips, biting and licking, the frantic force seemed like the person wanted to swallow him whole.
Is this really the gentle and loving Father?
The thought just entered his mind, when a sexy voice chuckled and said in an indulging tone, "My Joshua, my Little Believer, only I can treat you this way."
This sentence made Brainless Sheng completely lose any lingering resistance, he tightly gripped the Father's strong arms, and wrapped his legs around the Father's waist, clinging to him like a vine, opening himself up.
He was fiercely kissed, silver saliva slipped from between their locked lips and dripped into the water, and pulse racing moans occasionally sounded.
He tried to restrain his moans, berating himself with a sad expression. Tears were hanging in the corner of his eyes, refusing to fall, making him look very pitiful.
"Call out baby, no one will hear. From now on, you are mine, and you only belong to me." The Light God chuckled, he licked the silver off his mouth with a fascinated expression, as if tasting the world's most delicious nectar.
"Father, I'm yours, my everything is yours. Please take me, please enjoy me heartily. I've already promised myself to you." The boy arched his body and moaned with ecstasy, releasing his inhibitions.
As the fiery moans became louder and more high-pitched, the Light God's golden eyes turned completely black. He pressed the boy into his chest, trembling with him as they climbed the pinnacle of bliss. He has existed for hundreds of millions of years, but he finally realized what it was to be truly alive, what was true happiness.