For Sale: Male Lead, Obsession Included - Chapter 43

“Then, dear worshiper, I will guide you. Please follow me this way.”

Among the many reasons people donate to the temple, the most obvious one is to secure a ticket to heaven. The temple teaches that the more you donate, the closer you can get to the angel Natasia.

Secondly, the more you donate, the more blessings from the priests you can receive, such as healing power. In other words, the poor, who can’t afford to donate, are left without any help.

And thirdly, with your donation, you place yourself under the protection of the temple. For example, they help you avoid paying location fees to corrupt guilds or guarantee your status just by traveling with a priest.

It was for this third benefit that I had decided to donate.

Because of such benefits, people do whatever they can to donate more money to the temple.

You might ask, ‘What is the government doing about this?’ What is the emperor doing while the temple engages in open corruption?

Unfortunately, in this country, where religious authority surpasses imperial authority, it’s an unavoidable cycle. The emperor has been appointed by the pope for generations, so that says it all.

This is a country where it’s not strange that the temple handles state affairs.

After more than a hundred years of this, we’ve arrived at this miserable state of affairs.

The temple has become a merchant’s house, earning money in the name of God, and the priests have degenerated into salesmen who view the worshippers’ donations as their own wallets.

‘The temple is bound to meet its end.’

In the original story, Declan joined forces with the crown prince to initiate temple reforms and entrusted the temple to Saintess Rozemian, the female lead, who was more devout and possessed greater divine power than anyone else.

During that process, the villainous mastermind who had sold his soul for money and power, the then-pope, was removed by Declan…

That man’s name was Kyte, and he is the one standing before me right now.

‘Why is he suddenly here…?’

As the future pope, Kyte, who shouldn’t yet have assumed his position, suddenly blocked my path.

“Miss Estira?”

With milk-white hair that flowed down to his chest, white eyelashes, and skin so pale it was almost translucent, he looked more like a vampire than a priest. His cool appearance made me instinctively catch my breath for a moment.

Because of his unusual appearance and dangerous aura, I immediately recognized him as Kyte, even though this was my first time seeing him.

The corrupt priest, who had been trembling and bowing upon seeing Kyte appear so abruptly, twitched his cheeks in a nervous greeting. I noticed that the tips of his ears had turned red.

“Th-This is Kyte, the future pope. Please greet him properly…”

“It’s fine, Priest Dregon. I’ll guide the worshiper myself, so please go attend to your duties.”

‘Oh, so this is VIP treatment. I throw down 1,000 gold, and the future pope himself shows up.’

As expected of a corrupt temple, it seemed that the treatment you received depended on how much you donated.

The priest, startled by Kyte’s cold gaze, quickly ran off, leaving only Kyte and me in the long corridor.

‘I’ve already met one too many of the major characters from the novel with Declan, yet now…’

Suppressing my discomfort, I began walking in step with Kyte through the arched corridor, bathed in sunlight. The ceiling of the corridor, carved from white marble, was adorned with a painting depicting the angel Natasia’s first descent into the human world.

It was an old story about how she descended in human form to seal a powerful demon.

As I slowly gazed at the fantastical scene, Kyte suddenly spoke.

“I heard you wish to draw closer to the angel Natasia.”

Translated, this meant, ‘I hear you paid a hefty sum to buy a ticket to heaven?’

I resisted the urge to let out a sneer and glanced up at him. Kyte’s white eyelashes shimmered in the sunlight, as if they were translucent.

He was a man so clean and pure it was almost mystical. But knowing the vile nature hidden behind that noble façade, I had no desire to be mesmerized by his looks, as others might be.

I briefly glanced up at him before turning my gaze away again and responding shortly.

“Yes. I’m planning to travel.”

“So you needed a priest to accompany you.”

Hiring a novice priest, who was officially registered with the temple, to accompany you on your travels wasn’t anything out of the ordinary, since the priest would verify your status.

After hearing my response, Kyte gave his characteristic faint smile and led me to a door.

The heavy stone door looked difficult to enter or exit. Once it silently swung open, I saw novice priests, all clad in gray robes, kneeling and praying in unison.

It seemed to be the prayer room for novice priests.

Dozens of people were wearing the same clothes and praying with their hands clasped, not moving an inch. A scene like this would have moved any devout follower, but to someone like me, who had no faith, it just felt unsettling.

Thud.

The door to the prayer room closed, and the murmuring voices inside instantly ceased, as if it had all been a lie.