The Versatile Master Artist

(Thanks to Alstonke for the alliance leader. See the end for more details.)

Austria,

World Cultural Heritage, Melk Abbey.

The sky is still dim at this moment,

The morning drizzle seemed to float lightly over the valley town, as a couple, who flew in from Los Angeles yesterday, wait with excitement and nervousness at the café by the town edge.

Opposite them sits a business agent dressed in a gray suit.

”The wedding ceremony officially starts at 7:45 AM and ends at 8:15 AM. We’ve secured the use of the marble hall for thirty minutes, and there will be a priest from the monastery attending. No photos are allowed during the event...”

The business agent checks the schedule on his phone with excitement, his tone filled with pride.

Half an hour is somewhat too rushed for a wedding ceremony.

However,

this is Melk Abbey.

It is praised as one of the most magnificent churches in the world, currently Europe’s largest collection of medieval art and literature and the official monastery of the old Habsburg Dynasty’s Imperial Family.

Everything about Melk Abbey was built to palace standards.

Baroque-style grand decoration, amber-colored palace, gold foil carved wall inlays, twenty-four bronze angel statues, and Master Level art murals—hailed by fashion magazines as the most dreamy venue in the world for holding weddings.

Being able to book a wedding here, even with many rules and only a brief half-hour, is a testament to their wedding agency’s capability.

Rich bumpkins might casually throw money around to adorn their banquet with gold-plated dishes in a lavish manner.

But being able to vow marriage in Melk Abbey is a symbol of status.

The melodious organ sound outside the café caught the business agent’s attention.

But it’s not yet time for the wedding to start?

He loosened his Armani tie, turned his head, and looked towards the church behind him.

The heavy dark oak doors at the main entrance of the church had somehow already swung open.

The staff rolled out the thick red carpet from the church door slope all the way out to the marble plaza.

Children from the choir dressed in white vests and dark suspenders were lining up to the organ music.

”OMG, this part isn’t on the schedule, is this a surprise arranged by your agency?”

Seeing such a scene, the newlyweds were moved.

Initially, they were somewhat dissatisfied at having paid such a large sum to book merely half an hour at Melk Abbey.

But now, the entire setup looks so full of ceremony.

”No... this isn’t our arrangement, this is... some important person is coming.”

The business representative muttered, taking off his glasses and wiping them vigorously with the hem of his suit.

”Wait, that is...” he couldn’t believe what he saw.

At the monastery’s gate, a chubby old man resembling a Santa Claus wearing a small round hat appeared at the foot of the steps in front of the monastery doors.

He seemed unimpressive yet wore a Roman purple robe, with a pure gold cross the size of an adult’s palm on his chest shining like molten gold under the sunlight.

Purple has always been one of the most noble colors in European culture.

Among the millions of clergy worldwide and billions of believers, those qualified to wear purple robes are, without exception, the most noble high-tier priests of the Church Court.

This is an archbishop!

The wedding agency could only arrange for an ordinary priest to officiate.

Archbishop?

Don’t be ridiculous,

if it were the Middle Ages, an archbishop would even be entitled to participate in the voting for Electors, deciding the fate of the Empire’s ruler.

Even in modern times, within the entire Roman Church, there are only a few more prestigious than an archbishop—the cardinal and the Pope himself.

The business agent took out his phone to check the news.

He was puzzled, wondering if today Austria had some state visit, perhaps the prime minister was coming, otherwise why would the director of Melk Abbey personally greet someone at the door.

Suddenly, he heard heavy engine noises approaching from afar,

A convoy of two dark Mercedes GLS SUVs and one Rolls-Royce stopped at the monastery entrance.

The man looking like a butler directed attendants to retrieve a wheelchair from the trunk of the front vehicle and helped the VIP alight from the middle luxury car’s swinging door.

The business representative could only vaguely see the VIP’s side profile, seemingly a young girl.

A princess from a European royal family?

...

”Anna, welcome to your visit.”

The director of Melk Abbey walked to the step below, bowed politely and embraced Anna on the wheelchair.

”I received your call yesterday. Honestly, I was quite surprised. According to the Ilyena family tradition, I thought the next time I would see you would be at your wedding.”

The archbishop said with a smile.

Many old noble families in Europe have their own traditional culture.

For example, the old German princely Welf family is very Eastern in style, traditionally liking to place a pair of stone lions in front of their family estate, and the Duke Hunter family, which has a habit of eating quail before male members join the service...

The Ilyena family is an artistic nobility.

The family tradition is also artfully inspired—every time a family member is born and baptized, falls in love and marries, stops breathing and lays to rest, or needs to make a major decision, they come to Melk Abbey.