Today was Monday, not a holiday, so the number of people entering the church for ‘Mass’ was not many, even a bit sparse.
However, although the quantity was not large, the quality was generally high; the coming and going believers, regardless of gender, were all impeccably dressed, fashionably attired, and most appeared to be living in good conditions.
This was not surprising; the church never refused any believer, and even for the lowest-class believers, the church would not close its doors to them.
But the stratification of believers was still very serious; no middle-class or aristocratic believers were willing to tolerate dirty paupers and perform the same rituals with them in the same enclosed space.
And obviously, the church recognized this situation, so they often provided relief to the poor on Saturdays or Sundays, giving out some food, artificially segmenting believers, so that impoverished believers would come to the church to pray at fixed times, thereby leaving other times for these relatively wealthy and respectable believers.
Gradually, everyone also agreed by convention, consciously coming to pray at a certain time, and it was clear that most of those who came to Saint Selena Cathedral today were of good background.
But even so, Aiven was exceptionally conspicuous among the believers.
This was not only because of Aiven's outstanding appearance but also because of his high-quality attire.
A slender tailcoat, a stiff-collared white shirt, a large bow tie, and brand-new leather boots, coupled with his dark hair and a handsome face that could grace a magazine cover, made Aiven an immediate focal point as soon as he entered the church.
Not to mention the exquisite cane inlaid with a large turquoise stone in his hand, and the intricately patterned and beautiful golden pocket watch worn on his chest; even the most uninitiated person could tell that these were the latest and most popular styles of the year, together worth at least 300 gold pounds.
Some beautifully dressed and fashionable young women's eyes lit up, eagerly asking their parents and those around them about Aiven's background, but apparently, they didn't find out anything, because Aiven did not often appear in the church; in the past, he would pray in a dedicated prayer room in his own villa, rarely coming to the church.
But this instead aroused the girls' keen interest, as it indicated Aiven's noble status, not of the same class as them, so their gazes towards Aiven became even more fervent, with a faint green glow even appearing in their eyes.
After all, in this era, many girls hoped to achieve class ascension through marriage, so these girls who came with their parents not only paid close attention to Aiven's movements but also subtly watched the movements of other girls, and their parents were obviously pleased with this.
However, fortunately, this was a church, and the preaching bishop was about to arrive, so everyone maintained the necessary decorum, but the entire church was ultimately not as serene as before.
Aiven was oblivious to the gazes cast from all directions, or rather, he was already accustomed to them; whether in his previous life or as the original body, from childhood to adulthood in school, there were always girls who wanted to be close to him, so he could be said to be accustomed to these situations, and instead, the internal situation of the church interested him more.
In his previous life, as a member of the Great Foodie Empire, Aiven was an atheist his entire life, knowing very little about church architecture, most of his knowledge coming from history textbooks.
His contact with religion was at most going to a church with classmates on December 25th, but mainly to watch the excitement, not participating in any religious ceremonies.
As for the original body, he disliked large group activities, and coupled with his brother's instruction to keep a low profile, he would pray in the prayer room at home if he had religious needs, and had never been to Saint Selena Cathedral.
From outside to inside, Aiven continuously surveyed the entire church; this church had a distinct Western Gothic architectural style from his previous life's Earth, with a tall, mottled bell tower on the front, located between red and blue checkered windows and massive central buttresses, soaring into the sky.
Stepping into the church, and walking along the aisle into the prayer hall, high windows inlaid with red and blue fine patterns along the way let in light stained with two colors, making the surroundings exceptionally dim.
Aiven found a nearby seat with not too many people around, sat down, placed his top hat and cane on the table, clenched his fists, and closed his eyes to rest, appearing like a devout believer, which also deterred others who wanted to approach him, fearing they might displease Aiven.
Not long after, the preaching bishop walked out.
The bishop was surprised by the slightly more disturbed church than before, and couldn't help but cough, after the entire church quieted down, the bishop looked around, and immediately spotted the eye-catching Aiven, not only because Aiven stood out in the crowd, but also because the bishop, with his excellent eyesight, noticed many young women were absentmindedly peeking towards where Aiven was sitting.
The bishop, also a man of experience, smiled lightly, said nothing more, and directly began today's sermon.
Behind the bishop, on the wall directly opposite the main door, there were more than twenty fist-sized round holes penetrating inside and out, allowing the sunlight from outside to stream in.
In the deep, Darkness prayer hall, it was like scattered stars twinkling in a black curtain, making the preaching bishop appear even more sacred, inspiring heartfelt submission and obedience, and even Aiven, who was from Earth, was immersed in this sacred atmosphere.
The bishop's preaching voice was not grand, but due to the special design of the church architecture, it spread throughout the entire hall, with echoes reverberating, each sound entering the ear, and Aiven's spirit felt as if it had been cleansed, allowing the various emotions that had been suppressed since his transmigration to be easily released; Aiven knew that Beyonder power might be involved behind this.
From Aiven's transmigration to now, only a mere five days had passed, and most of this time was under the surveillance of the Demoness ‘Helen’, engaged in a battle of wits with Mrs. Sharon, striving for trust.
These past few days, Aiven had been acting, living with a mask, dancing on a few eggs with shackles, with no time to attend to other matters, let alone truly examine his emotions, after all, for anyone, transmigration is a major life-changing event.
Even if not for the plan he was to implement, Aiven's participation in this Mass and sermon today was of immense benefit to Aiven, at least alleviating the complex and difficult extreme emotions in Aiven's heart.
Leaving aside other things, just facing a Beyonder of the Spectator Pathway, the various complex emotions suppressed within Aiven were a ticking time bomb that could be detonated, which could be fatal at a critical moment.
Half an hour later, the bishop concluded his sermon and preaching, and then guided the believers to start donating money.
Generally, if believers had no need for confession, they would leave the cathedral after donating money, but today many believers were reluctant to leave.
Seeing the queue for donations gradually thinning, Aiven put on his top hat, pulled two 10-pound and two 5-pound banknotes from his wallet, held them in his hand, and followed the increasingly sparse crowd of donors.
When the bishop saw that eye-catching young man putting large denomination banknotes into the donation box one by one, his already smiling face became even softer.
Normally, apart from active doorstep donations and post-mortem estate donations, the upper limit for donations received in the church’s donation box was only a few tens of pounds at most.
Tens of pounds was almost three months or half a year's income for some wealthy families, yet Aiven donated it all at once without hesitation, which indicated that Aiven was definitely not an ordinary rich person.
Of course, although the bishop remembered this generous and remarkably handsome young man, as a bishop, he would not lower himself to approach him and initiate a conversation.
Before the altar of the church, he represented the Black Night Church, representing the Evernight Goddess; under the Goddess's gaze, he could not show preferential treatment to anyone based on how much they donated.
And Aiven was the last donor; he had his own purpose in entering Saint Selena Cathedral, so after stuffing the banknotes in his hand into the donation box, he pointed four times clockwise on his chest and directly said to the bishop:
“Respected Bishop, I wish to confess!”
The bishop looked at Aiven with some surprise, because most of those who confessed in the church were middle-aged or elderly people, or young women and thieves who had done wrong, and some merchants whose consciences were not completely lost; it was very rare for a young man of Aiven's background to want to confess.
But the bishop was only slightly surprised; with his rich experience, he directly pointed to the confessional booth next to him and said with a smile:
“The Goddess is the best Listener; you can say whatever you wish.”
Aiven again pointed four times clockwise on his chest and walked towards the confessional booth, while simultaneously muttering to himself:
“If the Goddess were a ‘Listener’, then the True Creator really wouldn’t be able to go mad, after all, the Goddess is the Lord of Slumber and Silence, if she gets tired of listening, she can just make him shut up!”
‘Listener’ is Sequence 8 of the Secrets Supplicant Pathway, and the True Creator is the True God of the ‘Secrets Supplicant’ Pathway, having an extraordinary connection with Beyonders of this Pathway.
Stepping into the confessional booth, closing the Door behind him, Aiven had just sat down when a somewhat aged voice came from the partition on one side:
“Child, you can say whatever you want, don't be afraid, the Goddess watches over you with mercy, and will surely forgive you.”
Aiven had already prepared what he wanted to say, but hearing that the Evernight Goddess was watching him, his heart skipped a beat, and he almost forgot what to say, pausing for a moment before speaking the words he had prepared:
“Respected Bishop, my name is Aewen. Horn, I am the younger brother of Robert Horn, the councilor, residing in the Golden Banyan District, and I just graduated from Hoy University this year.
I am a mysticism enthusiast, so I have attended many mysticism exchange meetings and met many people.
Some of them displayed many supernatural abilities in front of me, hoping that I could join their small team; I couldn't resist the temptation of mysticism and joined a diviner's small mysticism circle.
But in subsequent interactions, I discovered that they were not a group of mysticism enthusiasts, but an organization promoting evil gods, and they even wanted to recruit me; they claimed that the deity they believed in was the True Creator, slandering and blaspheming many righteous gods, including the Goddess.
My heart was filled with indignation, but I did not argue with them; instead, I catered to their views, making them lower their guard against me and trust me more and more.
Please, you must represent the Goddess and forgive my helplessness; to gain the trust of the evil cultists, I could only feign compliance with them, and only today did I find an opportunity to come to the church to report to you; please be sure to find the police to catch these cultists who blaspheme the Goddess.”
Aiven finished speaking what he had prepared in one breath, and then eagerly waited for the old bishop next door to forgive him on behalf of the Goddess.
But the old bishop in the confessional was stunned, because with his rich experience, he did not believe that Aiven could deceive the cultists unscathed; he was more willing to believe that Aiven had already become a cultist whose mind and values had been twisted, and for a moment, the entire confessional fell silent.