She changed Europe

Page 14

“This is it, Your Highness.” Gisela was currently on the second floor of the church’s main hall, and from her vantage point, she could clearly see the worshippers sitting in chairs below, their hands clasped in prayer.

"Father, why is Saint Peter hung upside down on the cross?" Gisela asked a somewhat strange question, which the priest saw as a test of his knowledge from the young princess.

“Because he abandoned my Lord Jesus’ ‘flock’ (believers), he felt unworthy to die in the same way as the Lord. The Lord had told him, ‘I truly tell you, in your youth you can bind yourself up and go wherever you want; but in your old age you will stretch out your arms, and others will bind you up and send you to where you do not want to go.’ Because the Lord wanted St. Peter to be a martyr who died for Christ.” The priest earnestly answered Gisela’s question.

So Saint Peter in the painting is hanging upside down on the cross. Gisela seems to be beginning to understand the content of the painting. Since he is hanging upside down, his vision should also be upside down. So what should be upside down?

Gisela looked up and gazed around the church dome, trying to find more clues.

"Father, where in your church is the best view?"

"Your Highness, in terms of perspective, it is the bishop's lectern."

"Can we go up?"

"This..." The priest looked down at the crowd praying below. Indeed, it was not in accordance with doctrine to have a non-clergy member stand on the lectern. Even if she was of high status, it would still cause resentment among the believers below.

"What else?" Gisela didn't want to force him to do things he couldn't.

“That’s it.” The priest pointed to the beam in the dome.

"You!" Rita glared angrily at the priest before her, as if the idea of ​​climbing the beam was a deliberate attempt to mock them.

"Her Highness only asked me to tell her where the best view is. As for what Her Highness wants to do, that's beyond my comprehension and control." The priest looked up at the beam. He knew all too well that such foolish advice would offend the princess before him. But he was not on the same side as the princess. Everything in this church belonged to the bishop, and the bishop had a relationship with that person in the palace. So, within the limits of his authority, he naturally had to cooperate with his own faction and do some harmless little things.

“Then let’s give it a try.” Gisela had absolutely no interest in getting involved in any messy political infighting; her mind was completely focused on decryption at hand.

"Rita, I want to get up there, do you have a way?" There seemed to be no normal way to get up to that beam, so Gisela had no choice but to ask Rita for help. As a magical magic user, Rita was like an omnipotent blue robot cat in Gisela's eyes, capable of doing anything.

PS1: My family member is turning ninety today, and I'm going to celebrate his birthday.

Chapter 49 Princess Starting from Zero: The Eye of St. Peter (3)

“Of course, but Miss, you might need to cooperate a little.” Rita nodded and then handed her backpack to Rania.

"How do we cooperate?" Gisela tilted her head and blinked her clear sapphire eyes, asking with some confusion.

"Then Your Highness, Rita has been impolite." As soon as she finished speaking, Rita pulled the unsuspecting Gisela into her arms, supporting her princess's soft, pert bottom with her right hand and wrapping her left arm around Gisela's neck in a very proper princess carry.

Caught completely off guard by this sudden turn of events, Gisela's mind went blank for a moment.

After all, for Gisela, who considers himself a man, giving a girl a princess carry is something he looks forward to. After all, embracing a beautiful woman in his arms is the romance he envisions as a man.

Unfortunately, she never imagined that her position would change one day, and that she would be picked up by her own pretty maid, who looked exactly like her anime wife from her previous life, and who was called a "bad woman".

What made Gisela even more puzzled was that, for some reason, her already thin skin was even more "vulnerable" in her current body. This time, it wasn't just a simple blush creeping onto her cheeks; for the first time, her cheeks, while red, also revealed an uncontrollable "shyness."

"Please hold on tight to me." After saying this, Rita focused her attention, directing the magical energy in her body towards her legs. What she wanted to do was simply to use one of the most suitable techniques among the many uses of magical energy: to gain superhuman jumping ability by temporarily strengthening her leg muscles with magical energy.

So, as she pushed off the ground and bent her legs, she leaped out, and the two of them flew directly toward the church beam like cannonballs.

In a flash, the maid, who had perfect control over her body, successfully led Gisela to the designated spot. At this moment, Rita bent down slightly so that Gisela could find a better foothold on the beam.

Gisela thought standing on the beam would be easy, but perhaps due to her own carelessness, or perhaps because she was still not very skilled at wearing high heels, she couldn't stand steadily and almost fell. Luckily, Rita caught her in time. However, the hat she was wearing slipped off her head and fell to the floor.

And so her fluffy fox ears were exposed to the public eye, though the only people present were the three of them and the priest.

"What's that on your head..." The priest's shock at the pair of ears was fully expressed on her face. Although she could not be considered experienced, as a clergyman (a scholar), she knew the origin of these ears. This was a change in appearance that could only occur after an Eastern demon wielder awakened.

"Father, watch your mouth. Don't ask questions that are none of your business." The red-haired senior, Rania, squinted at the priest. At this moment, she was no longer the weakling she had been when Gisela bullied. When facing outsiders, she was like a true heir of the Brno family, cunning yet dangerous.

Sure enough, even huskies have half-wolf blood...

As staunch supporters of Queen Elizabeth, the Brno family had now used the previous incident to push Gisela forward.

Since the ruler has made new demands on them, their best option is to wholeheartedly assist him. Moreover, this is also a political signal, indicating that Queen Elizabeth is beginning to release political resources to her second daughter.

Once everything is settled, it's almost inevitable that Rania will become close to Gisela. Moreover, Rania has revealed to the patriarch of the Brno family, who is also her father, that Gisela is a magic user, making everything even more logical.

"Of course." The priest nodded quickly when he saw the dangerous look in Rania's eyes. Then he took out his handkerchief and wiped the sweat from Rania's head. This was the frail image he presented to others.

"Are you alright?" Rita asked Gisela with concern.

"I'm fine, my hat just fell off." Gisela's ears drooped as if sensing their owner's mood, looking a little disappointed.

"..." Rita looked at the princess with a pair of fox ears in front of her, and for some reason, she felt a momentary disorientation because of the aura she released. This was obviously due to her talent as a magic user.

Of course, as is well known, in Eastern legends, foxes are both auspicious symbols and adept at bewitching people.

"Ahem! This is on the beam, don't worry, no one else besides that priest should be able to see it. More importantly, your feet..."

After saying that, Rita took off Gisela's high heels and squatted down to check her ankles. Even though there was a layer of stockings between them, it felt very strange to have someone else touch her feet, and her chest was pounding inexplicably.

"Does it hurt here?" Rita examined him carefully.

"I'm fine, I just slipped, I didn't twist my ankle." Gisela shook her head. At this moment, she had to admit that after being carried in a princess carry and witnessing the action in front of her, she was indeed a little unsettled.

Just as she was getting close to Rita, she suddenly felt a strange sensation emanating from the surrounding magical energy. Gisela had been sensing this feeling since lunch earlier, but she couldn't quite put her finger on what was so strange about it.

"Very well then, Your Highness, what is your purpose in seeking a location with a good view from the church?"

Without immediately answering Rita, Gisela looked up into the distance and then spoke:

“I knew it.” Gisela rested her chin on her hand, thought for a moment, and then added:

"Do you see the cross on the base over there?"

“As long as we do this.” Gisela lifted her skirt in a very strange posture, looking down at the huge cross from between her legs.

“Your Highness! You shouldn’t do such an indecent thing.” Gisela didn’t heed Rita’s reminder, after all, she didn’t yet consider herself a girl.

“That would reverse the view, wouldn’t it? Let’s take another look at the layout below the church.” Rita saw that Gisela was seriously thinking about the problem, so she didn’t say anything more. Instead, she imitated Gisela by lifting the hem of her maid outfit and observing through the gap in the view.

“We can think of the layout below as a cross. The prayer platform is the head of the cross, the horizontal passageway below is the horizontal line of the cross, and the straight passageway from the prayer platform to the door is the vertical line.”

“That’s right, it really does look alike.” Rita nodded in agreement.

"Then if we turn it upside down again, isn't the perspective the same as when Saint Peter is upside down? In the painting, Saint Peter's gaze is slightly turned to one side, but it seems like he's squinting. Do you know why?"

"People have a habit before they die that their gaze will subconsciously look towards what they care about most. The reason he didn't open his eyes is because the painter deliberately increased the difficulty of deciphering the mystery, so that people couldn't see the answer directly from his eyes." Although there is no answer in the painting, the information contained in Saint Peter's action is already very clear.

"The thing is hidden by that pillar in front of the door, so let's hurry over there."

“Yes, Miss.” Rita naturally wouldn’t question Gisela’s judgment.

PS1: I almost forgot about the second update 0v0!

Chapter 50 Princess Starting from Zero: Capter 50 The Heart of St. Stephen (1)

"It really is here." After standing in front of the pillar and tapping for a while, Rita discovered a hollow area on the side of the pillar. With a little force, she could knock open a small space in the pillar.

The priest standing nearby stared in astonishment, for he had lived in this church for nearly forty years and had no idea that such a secret was hidden within it.

“This appears to be a fragment from a mural.” When Gisela picked up the newly found fragment and compared it with the previously obtained fragments, she discovered that the cracks in the two fragments could be perfectly matched. Therefore, she boldly asserted that it was probably a very small part of a huge mural.

Clearly, the information she needed could only be found at the latter two locations, but at least this showed that her investigation direction was not wrong.

“Rania, Rita, let’s go. We have to resolve these matters today,” Gisela urged the two to leave. At that moment, Rania picked up the hat from the ground and handed it to Gisela.

"Don't forget your hat..." Rania looked up and observed Gisela's adorable fox ears. If she could, she would really like to touch them and see how they felt, but she didn't dare to do such a presumptuous thing.

"Thank you, senior, let's go!"

"Then, Father, farewell. I hope you won't tell anyone about what happened today, otherwise it might not be a good thing for you." Gisela's words were a warning. As for whether he would keep quiet, that was up to him. Unless he was sure he wanted to offend her and his mother, but at least in Gisela's opinion, no one was stupid enough to make enemies of two magic users.

“Of course,” the priest replied calmly and softly.

As he watched the carriage disappear into the distance, the priest's kind expression vanished, replaced by disdain. He glanced coldly in the direction the princess had gone.

He turned and went back to the room deep inside the church, locked the door, took out a pen and a piece of paper, and began to record everything that had happened that day, especially the pair of ears on Princess Gisela's head. If that person could grasp this matter, it would undoubtedly help him completely bring down the proud Queen Elizabeth and her daughter.

How would that lord reward him? Wealth, fame, or status? He wanted it all. Compared to being an ordinary priest and a poor monk here, his ambition would not stop here. Thinking of this, the priest couldn't help but laugh out loud. What did it matter if he was a member of the royal family? At this moment, he was still just a pawn in a game.

"Knock, knock, knock," came the knocking at the door. The priest put down his work, opened the door, and poked his head out with a disgruntled expression. Standing outside was a person wearing a cloak that completely covered their body. Although he couldn't see their face, he could tell from their figure that it must be a woman.

"Is there something you need, sister?" The priest deliberately put away his previous arrogance and put on a kind expression as he asked.

As he spoke, the priest discreetly scanned the woman before him, her graceful figure still discernible even when partially obscured. A surge of desire rose within him; he was a mage, and if he could also use force…

Everyone says the priest only likes little boys, but he considers himself to be heterosexual. He secretly uses various methods to seduce women to satisfy the desires brought about by his asceticism. The priest undoubtedly believes that he can succeed in doing so today as well.

But the priest was met with silence, an unusual silence; the woman under the cloak did not answer his question.

"What exactly are you here for?" the priest asked, sounding somewhat annoyed, as he felt it was a waste of time.

"Time's up." The woman's words were devoid of emotion, even somewhat inexplicable, but the chill in her tone was quite evident.

"What time is it?" The priest asked, puzzled, a sense of unease beginning to creep into his heart.

"Your death is near." With that, the woman pulled a dagger from beneath her cloak and plunged it into the priest's heart. It all happened so suddenly that even the mage had no time to react…

"Ugh!" A sharp pain shot through the priest, who stared in astonishment at the dagger that had pierced his heart. His own blood was flowing down the dagger, but he felt nothing at all.

"Wait a minute! Who sent you? Why are you trying to kill me?" the priest demanded, while attempting to tear off the woman's mask with his right hand.

The woman seemed completely unconcerned by his actions, letting him pull off her mask.

"It's you! Weren't you just here?!" The priest's pupils dilated; it seemed that all he felt now was fear.

“Father, you must understand that the dead are always better at keeping secrets than the living.” The woman drew her dagger, and the priest fell straight to the ground like a puppet with a broken string.

Let's turn our attention to the other side—

"St. Stephen's Cathedral, I've finally arrived." Gisela looked at the magnificent building before her and couldn't help but feel a surge of emotions. If we were to rank them by size, not only this cathedral, but there were few in the entire German region that could compare to it.

Even Ulm Minster, which stands proudly at 161.6 meters tall in Europe, and Cologne Cathedral, which is the second tallest and more famous, have their own shortcomings and deficiencies. However, St. Stephen's Cathedral, with its moderate height and grand scale, is the most well-rounded.

In the Bible, people built the Tower of Babel to reach heaven. God punished these mortals who challenged Him by taking away their common language, creating division and conflict among them. Centuries later, when people rebuilt structures similar to the Tower of Babel, Abraham's followers expressed their reverence for God in this way.

Humanity's greatness lies in its creativity, turning things that didn't exist into reality. This power gained from eating the forbidden fruit is also a form of power gained by seizing the authority of God. What humanity should do is not be a servant of any god, and it is precisely the rebellion hidden in humility that is the reason why humanity can keep moving forward.

Humans are such fascinating creatures; even religious stories cannot obscure the brilliance of humanity.

“Rita…” Gisela called out the maid’s name again, but before she could finish speaking, Rita had already handed the painting to Gisela.

"Thank you." Gisela said this, but looking at Rita, she didn't know what else to say. She was concerned about the changes in the magical energy around her, but that wasn't enough to give her a reason to doubt Rita.

"Your Highness, please hurry up, the sun is about to set." The implication was that if they really couldn't find it, it would be best to turn back.

PS1: La la la la!

Chapter 51 Princess Starting from Zero: Capter 51 The Heart of St. Stephen (2)

"Saint Stephen the Preacher" depicts a scene from the early Christian history, depicting Saint Stephen, the first martyr besides Jesus, preaching in Jerusalem. Saint Stephen lived during a time when Christianity had not yet fully separated from Judaism. Jerusalem was then under Roman rule, and the empire's persecution of Jews was extremely severe. Christianity, in particular, was considered heretical to Judaism and suffered persecution from both sides.

Gisela could clearly see the figures in the picture, whose gazes toward Saint Stephen were filled with doubt and distrust, especially the person in the lower left corner of the picture who even summoned Roman soldiers.

No matter how dangerous the external environment may be, Saint Stephen in the painting has a very loving gaze. He raises his right hand to the sky and places his other hand on his chest, just like an Athenian philosopher in a debate.

"Sigh, I have to look for clues from above again..." Gisela sighed. From this morning until now, Gisela's brain has been working at high speed. The puzzle seems simple, but it is actually very time-consuming. If it weren't for the fact that she had brushed up on her knowledge of Catholicism during her university years in order to seriously play a magical game called "Crusader Kings", she would be completely clueless when faced with these puzzles.

"Tsk tsk! They even have their own double-headed eagle coat of arms on the roof of this church." Gisela looked up and saw the coat of arms made of roof bricks—it was as strange as suddenly seeing your family name on a building in a public place. Gisela couldn't understand why her Habsburg family had such a strong desire for self-expression, and she felt helpless. (After all, this roof used 23 glazed tiles; incredibly extravagant.)

St. Stephen's Cathedral was originally built in the 12th century, when Vienna was already the political and cultural center of the Duchy of Austria. In 1137, Leopold IV of the Babenberg dynasty, in consultation with the Bishop of Passau, agreed to move St. Peter's Cathedral from Passau to Vienna, building a new church on the site of the former 4th-century church of St. Rupert. Ten years later, the main structure of the Romanesque St. Stephen's Cathedral was completed.

Over the next 400 years, monarchs and bishops of different periods added decorations to St. Stephen's Cathedral in different styles. It wasn't until 1511 that it became the church we see today, with a very distinctive style.

Its most famous feature is its two towers, the north tower at 68.3 meters and the south tower at 136.4 meters. The two towers are quite asymmetrical, one tall and one short, yet they possess a unique beauty. Why is this? Because when the north tower was being built, the Turks invaded, and Gisela's entire fortune was used to fund the war, causing financial problems. As a result, there was no money to build the garden (crossed out) or the tower. In order to avoid being captured by the kind Ottoman Sultan, the designer at the time fled with the design plans and his sister-in-law.

Fortunately, the Christian world was relatively united this time, without a Hungarian traitor like Urban who built cannons for God to bombard the walls of his own fellow believers. (Referring to the Battle of Constantinople in 1453)

Of course, the Polish Winged Hussars were indispensable. At that time, they deserved to be called the most powerful in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and then they were given to the Ottoman Sultan. At that time, they were truly capable of suppressing the Ottoman Empire. As for why you can't see Poland and Lithuania on the current map (1868), that's another story...

There is an unwritten rule of the Habsburg family regarding this church: it exists as the family's royal mausoleum, and the hearts of deceased family members are placed in the Church of St. Augustine, the bones are placed in the Church of Capuzina, and the other internal organs are placed in this church with their coffins.

“Gisella, I think I understand the message in this painting!” Rania, who had been sitting idly by for a while, suddenly said something surprising.

Gisela and Rita, mistress and servant, frowned almost simultaneously, clearly finding her words hard to believe.

After all, in Gisela's opinion, if the people around her were ranked in terms of intelligence, Lania would definitely be at the bottom, just like Quincy in Kantai Collection 0v0?, someone who could be used as a silly mascot in the future.

Of course, this was Gisela's prejudice, since she really had no choice but to be a doormat when facing the princess.

"Tell me, what did you figure out?"

"The secret isn't inside the church, but right here in this open square!" Rania said, her head held high and her eyes shining brightly. She seemed very confident about what she was about to say.

"You mean that Saint Stephen in the painting would definitely choose a crowded place to preach, right?" Gisela nodded. Without a doubt, if she were Stephen, the place she would choose to preach would be a square or a crossroads, because only in these places would people easily gather and there would be so-called "exposure".

But you're spreading heresy. If you openly shout it in the street, you'd be stoned to death by Jews. Of course, Gisela couldn't possibly say that.

"So, could we boldly interpret this square as the square in the painting? If we consider the very center of the square as where Saint Stephen stands, his right hand pointing upwards towards the sky directly above him, and his left hand placed on his chest, precisely where his heart is, could we interpret this as 'My heart is closest to God.'"

“My heart is in the place closest to God…” Gisela repeated the sentence after Rania. There was nothing wrong with interpreting the sky as God, because God lives in heaven, and placing one’s hand on one’s chest can indeed be interpreted as one’s own heart. Her interpretation was undoubtedly very reasonable.

"So now a new question arises: where is the closest place to God?" With this thought, Gisela skillfully rested her chin on her right hand and fiddled with her golden hair with her left. Because it felt so comfortable, Gisela had unconsciously developed this strange habit.

"So do you have the answer?" Since Rania was able to decipher the message in the painting, Gisela had reason to believe that she should know some answer about this message.