Chapter 121
“The Emperor won’t stay quiet. He swallowed his pride to come here, only to suffer humiliation and leave empty-handed—he won’t accept that. He’ll try to strike back at us somehow.”
“If word of this spreads, it will damage the Temple’s authority.”
The Pope and the renowned priests had all intervened, yet achieved no results. This was a matter directly tied to the Temple’s honor.
“In the end, there’s only one way left.”
The Pope, who had been hesitating, shook his head. They weren’t completely without a plan. Ever since learning the Emperor’s purpose for visiting, they had prepared for even this worst-case scenario. But he hadn’t truly expected it would come to this.
A tense atmosphere settled over the priests’ expressions.
“Will this be alright?”
“Even if she enjoys the Emperor’s favor, she’s still just a slave. No matter how infatuated the Emperor may be with women, would he really turn against us over a mere slave?”
The Pope responded with deliberate firmness. It was a logically sound argument, so the priests nodded in agreement.
No matter how much their influence had waned, the Temple was still the Temple. With countless followers across the continent, their standing was not something even the Emperor could recklessly defy. Even the Emperor wouldn’t want a direct confrontation with the Temple.
Having steeled his resolve, the Pope issued a command in a grave voice:
“Summon the Holy Knights.”
The tightly shut door opened. The Emperor, who had been idly staring at his untouched tea, rose from his seat—only to spot Jaha, bound by ropes and being dragged in.
The Pope, flanked by the Holy Knights, made a solemn declaration:
“Your Majesty, our investigation has confirmed this woman to be a witch. In the name of the Paltian Creed, we refuse her healing and demand her custody be transferred to the Temple.”
A witch—a woman who lay with demons to gain unclean power—was a target of the Temple’s exorcism. In other words, the Pope had just publicly announced his intent to kill Jaha.
The Emperor, silently observing them, leaned back in his chair, resting his upper body against the backrest, and crossed his long legs.
“I find this hard to understand. That woman was a blank canvas. The only one who painted upon her was me—from beginning to end, I filled her with nothing but my own colors.”
The blatant remark made some of the priests flush red.
The Pope inwardly clicked his tongue. Even in a situation he couldn’t have anticipated, the Emperor showed not a flicker of panic—just unshaken composure. He’d known the man wasn’t easily handled, but this level of self-control was almost tiresome.
“Surely you don’t mean to call me a demon?”
The Emperor asked with a perfunctory smile, as if responding to a bad joke.
“Of course not. Her purity must have been restored by a demon’s deceitful sorcery. That witch undoubtedly appeared under the devil’s orders to beguile Your Majesty.”
“I’ve never sensed any deceitful energy from her. Not once, day or night, in all the time I’ve kept her close.”
“That only proves how cunning and wicked this witch truly is.”
“If she’s so cunning and wicked that the Temple recognized it immediately, while I—for so long—was fooled by a demon’s trickery… Can you take responsibility for that statement?”
The Pope’s eyelids twitched slightly. After all, the Emperor was one of the most powerful mages on the continent. One wrong word, and it could imply the Temple was belittling all mages’ abilities. The Emperor was deliberately steering the situation into a confrontation between mages and priests. But the Pope was no less skilled in such maneuvering.
“Everyone knows Your Majesty is an exceptional mage. But when it comes to the deceit of demons, surely you’ll admit that we priests—who have studied them for millennia—hold deeper expertise?”
The Pope threw the challenge right back. To deny this would be to openly reject the Temple’s authority. He was certain the Emperor wouldn’t take such a risk just to protect a mere slave.
After a silence, the Emperor spoke again.
“Your proof that she’s a witch?”
“We sensed something amiss and conducted an examination—the sacred relic reacted. If Your Majesty wishes, we can demonstrate it again. You, bring the relic.”
The Pope immediately ordered a holy knight. Though classified, the truth was that the relic’s reaction could easily be manipulated with divine power. Under the pretense of letting the Emperor verify it, they could brand Jaha a witch before everyone’s eyes. Even the most formidable Emperor wouldn’t be able to dispute it then.
Confident of victory, the Pope and the priests wore triumphant smiles.
“No need to trouble yourselves with a demonstration. It must be stored in the record crystal—I’ll check it myself.”
The Emperor’s calm reply shattered their smiles.
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