Chapter 33
Then, as if being delivered somewhere, the letter vanished in a scattering of powder.
Lekia, the High Priest of the Temple of Ephina.
He dared to think about it. No, not ‘dared’—it was now a definite, undeniable thought he could have.
“Kehahaha!”
That he was the true power on this continent.
As rotten as it was from within, everyone on the continent had witnessed the power of the concentrated holy water that brought down the Beakin Empire.
No kingdom dared to touch Archion, which possessed that holy water.
So, the only ones who could stand above him were the Archion imperial family and the Pope.
But the Archion imperial family?
“Hmph.”
They were too busy trying to get on his good side.
If he, the source of the holy water, suddenly cut off the supply, what would they do?
Of course, they couldn’t afford to hold their heads high, despite being ‘imperial.’
Whenever he attended an imperial event, he received treatment surpassing that of foreign royalty.
Then, what about the Pope?
Lekia smirked and retrieved a box from a secret space hidden behind a curtain in a corner of the room.
Carefully opening the box, inside lay two mirrors, packaged side by side like precious metals.
His gaze shifted from the new-looking mirror, free of any cloudiness, to the one with a design that was at least over a decade old, which he picked up.
It was a mirror clearly reflecting his own face.
He smirked.
“There’s no way the Pope could defy me.”
If he had, this mirror would have clouded over immediately.
The imprint carved into the Pope’s heart in his childhood was of that nature.
But the mirror was not clouded in the slightest; it was perfectly clear.
Of course, he didn’t stare at the mirror all day, so he couldn’t know if it stayed clear 24/7, but it was certainly different from when the Pope was young.
‘Let this go…!’
Back when the brainwashing magic hadn’t fully taken hold—perhaps because the boy still harbored murderous intent towards him—the mirror would become so severely clouded that nothing was visible.
But now was different.
It meant the brainwashing had worked perfectly, to the point where the Pope completely followed his will.
It never even occurred to him that Ian might have found a way to bypass the imprint and scheme otherwise.
“The concentration of the holy water has also increased recently.”
That’s why his trading partners were clamoring for him to supply even more holy water.
Everyone from the Archion imperial family to foreign royals and nobles, and anyone with enough money, was essentially his client.
Especially since the fall of Beakin, demand had skyrocketed so much that his stock was nearly depleted.
“They all want to hoard it as their lifeline, it seems.”
The corners of his mouth stretched into a wide grin.
He was meeting the demand for now, but he planned to gradually reduce the supply later, to hold his clients by the throat.
For that, it was crucial that the Pope’s brainwashing remained intact.
“Perfectly clear.”
Seeing the state of the mirror, it seemed there was nothing to worry about.
During the war with Beakin, the concentration of the holy water had dropped, causing some trouble, but lately, it had been hitting record highs, again and again.
That was probably because…
“It seems the Pope is properly captivated by the princess.”
The timing matched perfectly.
Seeing the holy water concentration surge not long after the princess arrived, it seemed the princess spreading her legs was quite to the Pope’s liking.
“Has the Pope ever taken the princess himself?”
It doesn’t seem so? He participated in the training, but that was all… Aha.
“So that’s why he was so eager for the training.”
The princess’s beauty was enchanting enough to bewitch anyone.
“Hmm.”
The thought of the princess, with her emerald-green hair damp and disheveled, naturally stirred him below.
“If the training alone yields such a high concentration of holy water, what would it be like after he takes her himself?”
Of course, it seemed he should offer a little relief to his own straining lower half first.
With a pleased smile, Lekia left the secret chamber.
Then, he summoned his chief priest.
“Bring the princess. I have something to teach her.”
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