Chapter 48
That was no sacred relic.
One of his ancestors had discovered a crystal that reacted to divine power and glowed, then donated it to the temple.
The temple had stuck the crystal on an old tree branch, disguised it as an ancient relic, and lured people in with the tale that even touching it would bring fortune.
Eager to bask in the light of fortune, people flocked to open their wallets and make offerings to the temple.
Since a portion of those profits was handed over to House Johannes, the dukes of Johannes had obediently imbued the crystal with divine power for generations.
Swindlers.
Like most religions, the Church of Depria hadn’t been this corrupt from the very start.
Its original creed was equality and freedom.
Everyone should be able to enjoy pleasure without discrimination—that had been its doctrine.
Of course, it came with the caveat: as long as it didn’t infringe upon another’s freedom.
But when the Church of Depria became the state religion and the temple gained power, that caveat—“do not infringe upon another’s freedom”—remained only as empty words in scripture.
As they forcibly drew in more followers, even the “without discrimination” part of the doctrine was gradually omitted.
Now, all that remained of the Depria faith was the pursuit of endless pleasure. Nothing more.
The temple, too, devoted itself solely to extracting donations.
It was also the only legal operator of a casino in the empire.
Yulian couldn’t suppress a sneer as he watched the ever-expanding waistlines of the popes across generations.
Priests and monks were chosen solely for their looks, tailored to the pope’s tastes.
No wonder foreign nations mocked the Church of Depria as “the pope’s harem.”
That such a shameless temple could survive as the empire’s state religion was due to the existence of fanatics and the weight of centuries-old custom.
Faith that had permeated the empire for so long could not be overturned overnight.
There had always been those enraged by the temple’s unreasonable practices.
And yet, even they willingly attended the goddess Depria’s birth festival or the carnivals hosted by the temple.
Under the name of tradition, the Church of Depria had been bound to the Rotandus Empire all along.
Yulian knew well how deeply rooted the thing he sought to topple truly was.
There’s no need to rush.
He would wait until people themselves realized that the roots were rotten.
Recalling his plans, Yulian smiled faintly.
“Then I shall take my leave. Croa, have the carriage prepared.”
At Yulian’s order, Croa bowed and hurried out. He, too, didn’t want to linger here any longer.
The pope, who had been unable to take his eyes off Leo, finally looked at Yulian when he spoke.
“You’ve come after so long. Why not stay a little longer?”
Desracino’s tone dripped with regret—though it wasn’t Yulian he regretted parting with, but Leo.
Sensing it, Leo tactfully went to stand by the door.
With a sigh of resignation, Desracino opened the door and escorted Yulian and Leo to the entrance.
“By the way, when do you plan on marrying? The younger you are, the better it is to produce heirs.”
So, he brought it up today after all.
Yulian waved the words away, as if brushing off a routine sermon.
“Leave heirs to yourself, Your Holiness. How many wives do you have, and yet no children?”
“Why, you—”
Desracino’s retort was drowned out by the clamor of the faithful.
“Ohhh! O Lord, thank you!”
“No, impossible!”
Cheers and screams of despair blended together from every direction.
The dice that foretold one’s daily fortune rolled endlessly with rattling sounds.
Anyone could throw the dice if they gave a set offering.
The higher the number, the better their luck for the day.
Most of those rolling dice were people who planned to head straight into the temple’s connected casino.
They tossed money into the offering box again and again until they rolled the highest number. Bloodshot eyes gleamed with obsession—eyes entirely out of place in the temple’s white, “holy” interior.
Though it was a familiar sight, Yulian frowned with disgust. No matter how many times he saw it, this place always sickened him.
Just as his party reached the entrance, a priest came rushing toward them.
He whispered something into Desracino’s ear—so quietly Yulian could not hear.
Desracino’s face split into a beaming grin, and without another word, he hurriedly saw Leo off and rushed back inside the temple.
It wasn’t that Yulian couldn’t hear.
He called out to Leo inwardly.
Leo scratched his ear with a hind leg, sounding annoyed.
“They say Rebecca might be a saint.”
“Then, we shall present the relic.”
Rebecca stared quietly at the priest carefully bringing out the relic.
It was a pendant: a transparent crystal set into a finely carved lump of gold.
At a glance, it exuded an aura of holiness.
The gathered servants widened their eyes in awe.
The ritual to confirm a saintess was simpler than one might expect. All it took was touching the relic—and if it glowed, that was proof.
It wasn’t particularly rare for someone to be a vessel for divine power.
Every month or two, someone born with innate divine power would appear.
But to be formally installed as a saintess of the temple was another matter entirely.
First, the candidate had to want to become one. Second, she had to possess remarkable beauty. Finally, she needed the blessing of the messenger of God.
And of course, the hardest part—even if the first two conditions were met—was winning over the messenger of God, Leo.
Besides, once someone became a saintess or saint, they had to serve as the temple’s official mascot. The role came with endless duties and was virtually unpaid, an honorific title most people did not welcome.
Still, the certificate proving divine power was valuable.
Owning such a certificate gave great advantage when seeking employment with noble houses or in the marriage market.
So merely being qualified as a vessel of God was indeed an honor.
No wonder the maids had been so eager to bathe her from morning. Yet, even that didn’t wash away the foul stench that always seeped from her skin.
It seemed Octavio had sneaked the priest in while Zeppelin was out inspecting the vineyards.
If he found out, all hell would break loose. But Octavio watched the priest with a pleased expression.
Rebecca couldn’t fathom why he would go this far.
She shot him a questioning look.
Sensing it, Octavio walked over slowly, leaned toward her ear as she sat in the chair, and whispered:
“If you become a saintess, you can leave this place. That’s why you spread the rumor, didn’t you? To help you escape, I’ll lend my hand.”
“…!”
On the surface, it sounded like he was acting for her sake.
But Rebecca instantly saw through the sly intent hidden behind his gentle smile.
Her eyes widened, filling with a surge of realization.
With those words, memories of her past life overlapped with the present, leading her to an unexpected conclusion.
Ah. So that was why…
To Octavio, Rebecca had always been a thorn in the side.
He wanted to manipulate Zeppelin freely, but she always stood in his way.
Rebecca hadn’t actively done anything.
But her very existence was an obstacle.
Whenever Rebecca was involved, Zeppelin would often reverse his stance, no matter how willingly he had been listening to Octavio before.
So naturally, Octavio would want her gone.
Come to think of it, in her past life, when she had fled the count’s estate, things had gone suspiciously smoothly.
At the time, she thought it was because Alicia had helped her. But Alicia was also under surveillance.
How could two women dare betray their master with no hounds intervening?
Moreover, her flight to the Liberta orphanage had been so predictable—yet she had never been caught.
Even after she left the orphanage, she had lived in a nearby village, right under their noses.
Back then, she was too busy struggling to survive to act cautiously.
If the hounds had tried, they could have found her anytime.
But they hadn’t.
Because Octavio didn’t want her to return.
Later, Zeppelin had eventually discovered her, but that must have been because Alicia tipped him off.
Ha!
Rebecca found the irony almost laughable.
Though their intentions accidentally aligned, she had no intention of obediently becoming a saintess as Octavio wished.
She would no longer run away.
“This… this light…!”
The pendant suddenly burst into dazzling brilliance, radiating immense divine power.
The priest dropped instantly to his knees before her feet.
“Saintess!”
Gasps erupted from the watching servants.
Rebecca—she truly was a saintess!
For a moment, she faltered at the radiant light. But seeing Octavio grinning ear to ear, she understood immediately.
It’s rigged.
Whether he truly had the power to tamper with a relic, she didn’t know.
But Rebecca realized his abilities were no ordinary thing.
If he was Zeppelin’s right hand, it meant his skills were formidable.
“What is the meaning of this?”
Zeppelin’s furious voice cut through the crowd.
Octavio furrowed his brow briefly at the tone, but quickly plastered on his gentle smile again.
Zeppelin looked between the shining relic and the kneeling priest, then grabbed Octavio by the collar.
“Octavio! I told you not to pull useless stunts!”
“I sent word to the temple asking them not to come, but perhaps it arrived too late. Since the priest came in person, we couldn’t exactly turn him away…”
Octavio smiled serenely, as though unmoved by Zeppelin’s threats.
Zeppelin glared for a long moment, then released him.
Straightening his rumpled collar, Octavio added smoothly:
“But look. It was not in vain. Witness the relic’s radiance! Lady Rebecca truly is a saintess.”
“Lies. Impossible. Say it straight—Rebecca, a saintess?”
Zeppelin drew his sword and pressed it to the priest’s throat.
Gasps of horror rippled among the servants.
Even Zeppelin could not point a weapon at a priest without committing blatant blasphemy.
The priest trembled, but his voice remained resolute.
“It is the truth. The relic shone with a brilliance beyond compare. The Countess is, without question, a vessel most worthy of God.”
