Chapter Fifty-Four. The Clergy and the Archbishop Will Be Received
Lev Milanovich was the son of a nobleman. His noble status can be traced back to his grandfather, who was a captain of the Janissary Guards.
Later, his grandfather died in a foreign war, but his grandfather gave birth to two sons. The eldest son left Russia in his twenties and has been missing since then.
The younger son was his father, who also ran away from home when he was 19 years old, and later fell in love with an actress from a theater troupe. Although his father inherited his grandfather's title, he was already in embarrassment.
He tried every means to seduce this beautiful girl whose family was rich, and later gave birth to him.
When he was eight years old, his father suffered from a brain tumor and died at the age of 36.
The 30-year-old mother had to return to her old career to raise her three sons and two daughters. Fortunately, her mother quickly became famous and was invited to perform at the Saxony State Opera for a period of time.
Then, my mother became the mistress of a Duke of Saxony.
Because of his weak health as a child, Lev Milanovich was fostered by his mother in a priest's home.
Although the priest was only 26 years old at the time, he was knowledgeable and enthusiastic. His father was a shoemaker and his mother was a tailor. If he had not been favored by an archbishop, he would not have been able to transform from a citizen to a priest.
The priest also has a sister.
Lev Milanovich swore that it was this girl who seduced him first and the two got together.
Then Lev Milanovich grew up slowly, and he learned many skills, including the shoe repair skills of his father, a priest, and the tailoring skills of his mother.
The most important thing is that the priest has been patiently teaching him religious knowledge.
One day, the priest's sister fell ill and kept screaming inexplicably. Everyone thought she was infected with evil spirits, so the priest began to exorcise his sister.
Unfortunately, the exorcism failed.
So the priest's family invited a very famous exorcist in the diocese who also held the position of priest. This priest was tall, handsome and elegant. It was said that all the women who were exorcised by him were not bad.
Sure enough, after the priest's exorcism, his lover recovered.
But Lev Milanovich secretly witnessed how the priest performed the exorcism, and how his lover shamelessly had a disgusting relationship with a person he had just met.
From then on, Lev Milanovich broke off relations with this lady with aristocratic elegance, and determined to be a priest who surpassed this priest.
Compared with the priest who lives in this house, it is easier for him to become a priest.
Because his father is a noble.
So he began to study all kinds of knowledge assiduously and never missed any opportunity to follow the priest in preaching.
Finally, he was 22 years old and accomplished something in his studies.
He considered various dioceses and settled on the diocese of Rostov Archbishop Arsenis Metzjevich.
The climate here is pleasant, the area is prosperous, and it has good development prospects.
Under the supervision of Archbishop Metzjevich, there were also many serfs.
As we all know, the number of serfs is a measure of whether a person is wealthy.
Thanks to the priest's great love for him, Lev Milanovich received a letter of recommendation from the bishop who favored the priest.
He first made a long journey to Rostov, but to his surprise the archbishop was not here, but in Moscow.
Moscow, where his grandfather served the imperial family.
So Lev Milanovich rushed to Moscow without stopping.
He hoped to be ordained at the top of the parish in Metzjevich and serve in this parish.
If everything goes well, he hopes to obtain the fourth degree of priesthood and become a preacher.
Finally, after a long journey, Lev Milanovich came to Moscow for the first time.
He met the archbishop, the old man Mezyjevich, for the first time.
Bishops could get married, but Bishop Mezyjevich was a widow.
Lev Milanovich met the old man not in a church, but in a mansion.
Although this old man is 65 years old, he has great spiritual vitality. He is obviously very rich and has such a gorgeous mansion in Moscow.
He lived a comfortable life here, drank fine wine, and even mingled with some upper-class ladies, solving their problems.
But unfortunately, the archbishop suffered from gout and lost all his teeth.
Even so, it did not stop this old man from becoming a gourmet.
Perhaps to avoid being seen in his ugly eating state, he always ate alone.
But Lev Milanovich made the old man admire him with his violent eating style without any aristocratic manners.
Because when it comes to eating, no one can be uglier than him.
The relationship between Lev Milanovich and the archbishop suddenly became close.
After a few days like this, Lev Milanovich heard from the Archbishop that the Privy Council had established a Notre Dame Cathedral, with Ivanovich, the director of the mysterious office, as deputy dean.
The two of them didn't take it seriously and continued to go about their comfortable daily lives, each having their own needs.
Mecijevich hoped to see someone uglier than himself when eating, while Lev Milanovich hoped to please the archbishop and get a good position.
And during such interactions, Lev Milanovich learned more about the archbishop.
Although the bishop was old, he still fell in love with a girl named Ymel, the daughter of a theater actress who lived opposite his mansion.
Strictly speaking, the old man bought this place just to see this girl.
You can see the girl's window directly from here.
Sometimes the actress would come to visit with her daughter, but Ymel refused to show any intimacy to the old man.
This often annoyed the Archbishop, who then had to discuss philosophy and pious beliefs with him to maintain peace of mind.
Lev Milanovich asked curiously:
"Your Majesty, why don't you provide her with a guaranteed source of income?"
Mecijevich shook his head and sighed:
"Even for a crown studded with jewels, she would not commit such a capital crime."
Lev Milanovich felt deep pity for the poor old man who seemed to be really in love. He said:
"Then you can either possess her quickly or drive her away!"
Mecijevich sighed:
"I'm too old to do this or that. I don't have the strength either physically or morally."
Lev Milanovich could only say: "I'm really sorry for you."
Since this conversation, Lev Milanovich has become even closer to the Archbishop, and he is convinced that this relationship will bring him unimaginable benefits.