Chapter 99
"Damn it...! They're mocking me!"
Watching Clael and Reina walk down the hallway... the young bishop Bellamy Walls stomped the floor in frustration.
Even though Walls had called out to her, Reina didn't show the slightest interest. She acted as if he were no more than a stone on the roadside.
Clael, who was being led by the hand by Reina, only gave Walls a glance. The faintly sympathetic look on his face only served to aggravate Walls even more.
"Mocked... not just by the Saint, but even by that dull man...!"
Gritting his teeth, Walls punched the wall.
It was a violent act unfitting of a priest, but he was the only one present.
Walls was the son of the archbishop. Thanks to his father's influence, he had risen to the rank of bishop while still in his twenties.
Since childhood, Walls had always gotten everything he wanted.
Beautiful gems. Lovely women. Everything had gone exactly as he wished.
(And yet... I can't have her! That woman is the only one I can't even lay a finger on!)
That woman referred to the Saint, Reina.
Ever since Reina had arrived at the Grand Shrine, Walls had been trying to approach her.
He invited her to meals, casually supported her work, and tried to promote himself... but Reina never showed the slightest interest.
Even flashing his wealth, jewels, or his father's authority made no difference.
He even tried to engineer situations where they'd be alone together... but somehow, it never worked out.
As always, someone would interfere, and he could never create a romantic atmosphere.
(That man... acting so close with the Saint... even though it was just dumb luck! He just happened to be assigned to the town where the Saint was born...!)
The way Reina looked at Clael clearly showed affection.
A mere rural priest was receiving the Saint's trust and affection. His appearance was average, his family background modest, and he couldn't even inherit the family estate as the fifth son.
(And on top of that, recognized as a Saint...! That guy is going to surpass me, a bishop?!)
If Clael had been an older priest, it might not have bothered him so much.
But the fact that a man around his own age had been chosen by the Saint, recognized as a Saint, and was on his way to surpassing him enraged him.
For Walls, whose pride was massive, it was unbearable.
(I have to drag that man down somehow... The one most suited for the Saint is me, the youngest bishop...! The position of Saint and the Saint herself must belong to someone chosen—someone like me. That's how it should be...!)
A pride rigid as stone.
For Walls, born the son of an archbishop and speeding down the elite path, this was simply common sense.
No one should be better than him. At least... not in this shrine, not in this generation.
Therefore, any existence that defied that logic had to be erased.
Anyone who stood in the way of him obtaining the Saint, anyone who blocked his path to advancement, must be eliminated—as it was the absolute justice aligned with the will of god.
(If that damn cardinal is backing him, it'll be hard to crush him politically. Then what? Have one of the sisters poison him? Hire some thug to attack him...? No, maybe I don't need to go that far. I could just frame him for a crime. Have a sister seduce him and claim he tried to assault her...)
"Kuma..."
"Hm?"
As he muttered to himself while walking down the hallway, he sensed a presence behind him.
He turned around, but no one was there.
For a moment, he thought he saw a small shadow flit past the window... maybe it was just a bird?
"Hmph..."
Snorting arrogantly, Walls walked off without concern.
No matter the time, the Lord is always watching.
Yet Walls, though a priest, had completely forgotten that fact.