"Miss Maria's parents are gone, if a certain Rosenthal nobleman is willing to adopt her, she can rightfully become a noble lady, and the Rosenthal family may not be unable to accept your union." Roland spoke his speculation.

"You guessed it, Madame Judy is going to adopt Maria, and if she becomes my stepmother's adopted daughter and becomes Princess Maria Rosenthal, we will be a good match, at least nominally." There was a hint of self-deprecation in Gropha's smile.

Roland scratched his head and said helplessly: "Doing so will hurt Maria's self-confidence, but ...... Given the customs and traditions of Canaan, and given your situation, there seems to be no better option. ”

"Maria is a kind girl, and she doesn't mind wronging herself for me, even if it's a vain surname for herself, but that's not enough."

"You mean...... Her beliefs? ”

Gropha nodded heavily. "Just before I left for Medes, our Cardinal Orlando offered a deal - Mary had to convert her, otherwise he would not be able to bless our wedding, and the Canaanite Church would refuse to recognize Mary as my lawful wife."

Roland's heart twitched violently. In a world where there is a true God and faith is about the fate of death and the salvation of souls, Mary, as a priest, may not mind changing her surname, but it is difficult to change her faith. How could Maria, who struggled to survive in the nightmare city of Akron and did not change her religious nature, distorted her heart in exchange for the approval of the church? The demands made by the Archbishop of Canaan were not only insulting to her faith, but also trampling on her personality.

But reconsidering the question from the bishop's point of view, is there a more merciful option for him?

In fact, the Archbishop of Orlando has been very tolerant.

"The Archbishop of Orlando promised me that if Maria wanted to, he would personally preside over the conversion ceremony for her at the Cathedral of Bethlehem, and of course, the conversion would make Mary lose the grace of the 'Queen of Cause and Effect' Timothy and transform into a mortal who could not perform divine magic, but fortunately, there was still a chance to remedy, and the Archbishop of Orlando could bless Mary." When the conversion ceremony is over, Mary will appear to the world in a new posture as Pastor Perro, and the Canaanite Church will warmly welcome and embrace this new sister, from resisting Mary to fully supporting her union with me. Colossa was as calm as he could be with the terms offered by the Archbishop of Orlando.

Roland listened silently, but he couldn't help but make waves in his heart. Admittedly, the Church's offer was tempting, but Mary could accept such a deal? At the end of the day, can faith be measured in terms of money or profit? If this notion is admitted, faith is nothing more than speculation, and what is there to be "piety"?

Mary's faith as a priest of Timothy is unquestionable, but her affection for Gerofa is equally pious and pure, and the dilemma that the Archbishop of Orlando gives her is like putting her faith and love on both sides, and I am afraid that even she herself cannot say which is more important. Roland felt very entangled as an outsider, not to mention Maria's inner pain and struggle.

With a long breath, Roland said frankly: "I don't know what choice Maria will make, but if I am facing the same predicament, I am afraid that I can only choose to escape for the time being, and delay one day at a time." ”

"Maria and I didn't know what to do, so we had to drag it out like this, hoping that there would be a turnaround in the future and that we wouldn't have to be forced to make difficult choices." Colossa smiled self-deprecatingly, "Fortunately, both my father and the archbishop were able to understand our plight and did not urge us to make a decision as soon as possible. ”

Roland pursed the corners of his lips and stopped talking. Corofa and Maria chose to get by, expecting time to help them get out of their predicament, and the Marquis of Joshua and the Archbishop of Orlando did not rush them, at first glance they seemed to be considerate of them, but in fact, it was not a psychological tactic?

When men and women in the world fall in love, they never doubt the success of each other's vows, but as they get along for a long time and the passion fades, how many people can maintain their original intentions? Perhaps in the eyes of old people like the Marquis of Joshua and the Archbishop of Orlando, the love between the young prince and "Cinderella" is just an impulse, and public opposition will only stimulate their rebellious psychology.

Both sides made the decision to delay due to different intentions, but in the end they still had to face a choice. Roland was not a cold-blooded man, and he certainly would love to see Corofer and Mary eventually marry, but statistically speaking, the probability of such a fairytale happy ending is very low.

Roland gazed at the endless river beneath his feet, sympathetic to the plight of Corophas and Maria. The future of the lovers is full of thorns, and they have to make great sacrifices for each other, compared to what their little romantic debt is.

After pondering for a long time, Roland finally made up his mind, and turned to look at Colossa, his eyes sincere and earnest.

"I can't think of a way to get the best of both worlds, but I would like to warn you to be careful, if one day you notice that Mary is behaving abnormally, don't take it seriously, everyone's endurance is limited, and if the string in her heart breaks, I'm afraid she will never be able to connect it again."

Grofa didn't seem to understand Roland's intentions, and nodded in a daze, "I'll remember your advice." ”

"Good luck to you." Roland tapped him the shoulder, and turned to walk towards the flowering gardens of the upper reaches of the stream.

……

Roland spent a week in Medes, wandering around with Coropha, riding a sandworm in the soft and warm golden sand when he was tired of walking around the city, or flying in the air on a flying horse. In contrast, Kun Tiliang and his colleagues in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not have such a good enjoyment, and they rubbed their tongues at the negotiating table with their Canaanite counterparts on the other side from morning to night, until the morning of December 11, when the two sides finally reached the following consensus:

1. Compensation for the aftermath of border conflicts

The border clashes caused a large number of casualties and property damage on the Far Eastern side, amounting to about 10 million quintals. For the sake of the face of the Zion royal family and the friendship between the two countries, this money cannot be paid in the name of reparations for the defeat, and neither side can even openly admit that such a war has occurred. After negotiations between the two sides, it was decided to define the conflict as a cooperation between the border guards of the two countries to suppress bandits, and to use the stolen money of the sand bandits as pensions for both sides participating in the war.