Chapter 71
“If it had been certain that Gregory would become Pope…”
Gregory had been the Pope’s designated successor. And there was the family that had supported him every step of the way until he reached that position.
The picture came together easily.
“Once he’d reached that point, he probably no longer needed the family that had been doing all the dirty, troublesome work for him.”
Abel could even guess how Gregory had made use of the Duchess. What could a priest like Gregory offer her?
‘Healing. Or perhaps an extended lifespan.’
He severed ties with his own family while simultaneously placing the Emperor in his debt.
In doing so, he neatly laid the foundation for becoming the head of the Temple.
But a flaw appeared in what had seemed like a perfect plan.
“The problem was that I appeared.”
Abel, the Herald of God, had emerged not long after Gregory became Pope.
As a result, the Temple’s authority which should have been concentrated entirely in the Pope was split into two.
To Gregory, that must have been intolerable.
He needed to get rid of Abel before Abel could establish a power base of his own.
But Gregory had already buried his own family with his own hands.
One of the factions that could have actively supported him was gone.
More importantly, even the Emperor, his ally, was too preoccupied dealing with a far fiercer backlash from the noble faction than expected.
As a result…
Gregory failed to drive Abel out before it was too late, and was forced to accept the Temple’s current dual power structure.
No. More than that, he had to be the one to publicly advocate for it.
Abel had manifested such overwhelming divine power that even Gregory could not deny it.
In the end, Gregory had gained nothing.
If anything, he had lost even more of the authority he already possessed.
“If what the Commander said is true, Felix, then perhaps you never should have come here.”
Abel and Felix.
Together, they were the symbol of the Pope’s first failure.
Resting his chin on one hand, Abel looked at Felix.
Felix frowned.
“Doesn’t any of this bother you, Lord Abel?”
“What do you mean?”
“Doesn’t this mean you’ve taken on the hostility that should have been directed at me as well?”
There had been only one reason the Commander had gone on at such length, recounting such an elaborate, tedious, and rather far-fetched conspiracy theory.
He wanted to warn Abel that by taking Felix under his wing, he had provoked Gregory, and that, because of it, the two of them were now in far greater danger.
The truth was, Felix had originally been insignificant.
Gregory probably would not have paid him much attention.
At most, Felix would have been a minor irritation, no more troublesome than a hangnail.
But what if Abel—who was, at that very moment, threatening Gregory’s position—started tearing at that hangnail while claiming him as his own?
If they left a hangnail to tear on its own, it would bleed profusely. In the worst case, the skin beside the nail could become infected.
More importantly, it might only be a minor injury now, but if left alone, it could develop into something far more serious.
What if Felix came to harbor resentment and asked Abel to punish Gregory, the man responsible for all his misfortune?
Even if that never happened, the more Abel acted for Felix’s sake, the narrower Gregory’s position would inevitably become.
So Gregory had likely already marked Abel as an enemy.
And that was precisely why Felix was worried about him.
“Felix.”
Even if it wasn’t worry this time but simply surprise, that was fine.
Whatever it was, all Abel had to do was reassure him.
“Come here.”
When Felix failed to respond, Abel urged him again.
“Hurry.”
Unable to hide his discomfort, Felix walked over to Abel’s side.
Watching him approach, Abel swung the letter opener without hesitation.
Before the dull blade could tear into its intended target, however, someone seized his wrist.
“What are you doing?”
Abel looked at the hand gripping his wrist so tightly and couldn’t help but marvel.
“Felix, you’re faster than I expected.”
Perhaps he had expressed his surprise a little too openly.
Felix fixed him with a terrifying glare.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
At the sound of Felix grinding his teeth, Abel promptly set the letter opener back down.
“I was just going to show you a little secret.”
It would have been much easier to understand if he could have seen it with his own eyes.
“Felix.”
Judging by the murderous look Felix was giving him, however, that was clearly no longer an option.
In that case, he would simply have to explain it.
“I won’t die even if my head is cut off.”
It had happened when he was a child, but he spoke from experience. The assassin back then had most likely been sent by Gregory.
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