Not a Confession, but a Declaration - Chapter 5

“It’s true. This came from a novice serving Abel in the annex.”

A novice serving Abel…

Those unfamiliar might think they were merely servants doing menial tasks, but the novices closest to Abel held significant influence and strong authority.

Though Abel did not personally choose them, they were carefully selected through the interests of the pope and the chancellor, and came from prestigious backgrounds or possessed exceptional divine power.

What’s more, if someone could manage to leave a lasting impression on Abel himself, their rise to power was virtually guaranteed. Not that it had ever actually happened before.

In any case, it was only natural that the clergy who served close to Abel had become special figures within the temple.

And now, for such words to come directly from one of them…

“Who is Sir Felix? Wait, if he’s a Sir—?”

“That’s right. He’s a paladin.”

“No way…”

At the other person’s strong reaction, the cleric who had started the conversation nodded with satisfaction.

“It seems Lord Abel was angered by the other knights’ disrespect toward Sir Felix.”

“Then it’s true… someone has finally caught Lord Abel’s eye.”

The other let out a breath — half sigh, half awe. But the cleric quickly waved a hand.

“It’s too early to be surprised.”

“What could possibly be more shocking than this?”

“Sir Felix is none other than the infamous ‘Father’s Grace.’”

“You mean that man — ‘blessed by the Father’s grace’ for his looks alone?”

The Father’s Grace.

At first glance, the nickname might sound like praise, but in reality, it was laced with sarcasm.

He had neither noteworthy divine power nor support from a noble family, and yet he had become a paladin serving near Abel purely because of his good looks.

If he had at least been a minor noble from an obscure family, he might not have been saddled with such a disparaging nickname.

After all, the man truly had the kind of appearance that seemed to belong to some far-off, celestial realm not to this mortal world. And people would not have rejected someone so beautiful without reason.

The problem was his background. He was the illegitimate child of a duchess who had an affair. And the man she had that affair with? None other than the youngest imperial prince, a notorious rake who was once publicly declared by the emperor himself as “a disgrace to the imperial family.”

When the duke and the emperor found out about the affair, they tried to hush it up as quietly as possible, but the rumors couldn’t be contained.

It didn’t help that the duchess herself had gone to the newspapers to announce her pregnancy and demand a divorce — nor that the youngest prince, when asked, responded that he had no interest in marriage. That response made front-page news in another paper, and things only spiraled from there.

A string of headline-making scandals followed, so infamous that people still talk about them, even twenty years later. In the end, the duke publicly forgave his wife and chose not to divorce her, while the youngest prince was exiled to the edge of the empire.

Of course, by taking back his wife, the duke also ended up accepting the child born of the affair. That child was Felix.

Though the youngest prince has long since been banished from the capital, his legacy endures in Felix’s face — a face so breathtakingly beautiful, it invites admiration and resentment in equal measure. Naturally, someone like that was bound to be scorned in the duke’s household.

The duke, to his credit, had at least tried to accept Felix by giving him the family name, but the duchess couldn’t stand him. He reminded her too much of the man who had abandoned her. And the duke’s legitimate heir? He despised Felix as nothing more than a living stain on the family’s honor.

So it wasn’t all that surprising when Felix, upon showing even the faintest trace of divine power, chose to enter the temple.

But even in the temple, Felix’s background stood out like a sore thumb. And when he was selected — thanks to his looks, people said — to serve as Abel’s knight, the side-eyed glances only intensified.

They called him “the Father’s Grace” with a smile that didn’t quite reach their eyes.

Lately, though, the whispers had started to quiet down. Felix had proven surprisingly unremarkable, at least in the scandalous sense.

Far from being ambitious or entitled, he kept to himself, helped others without complaint, took on the dirtiest tasks without hesitation, and smiled even when insulted. Bit by bit, there were those who had come to see him in a better light.

But now, Felix was about to become famous for an entirely different reason.

“So that’s what it takes to catch Lord Abel’s eye, huh?”

“I thought Sir Felix was the quiet, harmless type but he’s been scheming all along.”

“Cunning, isn’t he? I wonder how far he’ll climb with that face.”

“Well, even His Highness the prince made good use of his looks, didn’t he?”

But in the middle of their breathless gossip, the two chatterers suddenly noticed Felix standing not far from them. Gasp–! They fell silent at once.