Seeing Lumiana silent, Lathel knew⦠his chance had come.
He smiled and said, "Pope, with all due respect, I have a solution to the current problem."
"Not only will it help you get out of your current predicament, it will even help you gain more followers. Besides, you... also want to be financially independent, right?"
Lumiana immediately frowned upon hearing this, her gaze towards Lathel carrying a hint of murderous intent: "You⦠seem to understand the Church very well."
Lathel was not afraid; he shrugged and said: "Itâs just some information; after all, the Church is so big; of course there will be many people who want to sell information about you."
Lumiana frowned, her gaze becoming even sharper. Even though her face was covered by a thin silk veil, Lathel could tell that she was very angry.
"You donât need to be angry; Iâm just telling the truth." Lathel sighed and said, "Like I said, if you really want to find a way out of this current situation, I can help you."
"If you decide to keep that trash Holy Son, then you can keep him; I donât want to kill him either; that would dirty my hands."
"Youâ¦" Ikarys was about to shout, but Catheryneâs gaze immediately frightened him.
It was an extremely terrifying gaze, and Ikarys was afraid that if he made any sound, she would burn him to ashes.
Ikarys clenched his fists, trying to suppress his anger: âDamn it! Catheryne, Lathel⦠todayâs hatred, in the future, I will repay you a hundredfold.â
Anyway, since coming to this world, Ikarys has done everything very smoothly, without encountering any difficulties.
Besides, with the support system, he knew he was definitely the main character of this world.
However, since meeting Lathel, he has failed in everything he did, encountered countless misfortunes, and now, he has even fallen into this miserable situation.
Although angry, Ikarys had to restrain himself. Now, he was like a fish on a chopping board as his life was no longer his to decide.
While Lumiana was thinking, Lathel silently gave orders to the system in her heart.
"System, use âtrustâ card."
[Ding! You successfully used the âfaithâ card, within 30 minutes, the trust of the person you choose will increase.]
Lathel smiled upon hearing this. Recently, the system had given him a lot of things. Although they werenât magic or any overly powerful skills, cards like these could still be extremely useful.
As Lumiana was thinking, suddenly, she felt that Lathelâs words were extremely reasonable.
If she tried to protect Ikarys now, it would cause discontent within the Church. After all, Ikarys had done something that was difficult to accept.
Would the Holy Maiden even accept him?
The answer is no.
Even though Lumiana tried to ease the conflict between them, their already bad relationship would only get worse.
On the contrary, Arine seemed to like that young man named Lathel; if he had a method to solve the current situation, then that would be great.
Arine would definitely accept Lathel more easily than Ikarys, and even if the surrounding troubles werenât resolved, they might at least be eased a bit.@@novelbin@@
As for Ikarys, although he has great potential, his personality is cunning and selfish; even if he becomes Pope, he cannot lead the Church on the right path.
Lumiana thought for a moment, then sighed and said, "I want to hear your ideas first."
"Pope!" Ikarys heard this and quickly spoke up: "Donât trust him; heâs just a piece of trash. Heâ¦"
BAM!
A burst of air pressure sent Ikarys flying back more than ten meters; he landed on the stairs, then rolled down before stopping.
His body was already covered in bruises, and now it was even more miserable. Many of his bones were broken, and his face was so battered that no one could recognise him as Ikarys.
Catheryne frowned and said, "No one can scold my son⦠no, I mean⦠no one can scold the hero of this Empire."
Lumiana spoke up now: "Lathel, I want to hear your plan more carefully. If you can satisfy me, Ikarys will be yours."
Lathel shuddered; he felt that Lumianaâs way of speaking could be easily misunderstood.
He smiled and said: "Of course, there are many people here anyway, so I canât say too much here."
Catheryne frowned when she saw this, as jealousy shrouded her heart: âDid Lumiana talking to him privately make him so happy?â
âHuh! My son, you trust that woman so easily? Not good; I have to protect my son.â
"You two get out." Catheryne immediately ordered, "Lathel and Lumiana, come with me to the private room."
Lathel felt a little worried when he heard that; he didnât even understand why he was worried.
âStrange, is something strange about to happen? But this feeling... feels a bit familiar.â
Yes, Lathel found this feeling very familiar, as if he had felt it many times before.
He shook his head, trying to forget that strange feeling. Right now, the most important thing was to gain Lumianaâs trust, then kill Ikarys.
Even if he couldnât kill Ikarys, he had to at least make Ikarys lose his identity as the Holy Son.
â¦
After Ikarys was imprisoned, Lumiana and Lathel went to Catheryneâs study.
At this moment, Catheryne sat on a chair in a half-sitting, half-lying position, looking a bit lazy.
Below, Lathel and Lumiana sat on an extremely soft cushion; however, it was a bit strange that he and Lumiana were sitting on the same level as each other.
He must know that his status and Lumianaâs are not the same; at least, he must sit behind her.
Catheryne seemed to realise the question in Lathelâs heart and indifferently said: "You are the hero of the Empire; you deserve to be treated like the Pope."
Lathel heard that and looked towards Lumiana.
Lumiana shook her head and said, "I donât care about these things. Before the love of God, all creatures are equal. I just want to hear Lathelâs plan."
Catheryne heard this and propped her chin up, her expression as if she was about to fall asleep: "Speak, Lathel, what are your plans? Remember, you are the hero of this Empire; no one will be able to harm you."
Lathel heard that and nodded, softly saying: "Thank you, Your Majestyâ¦"
"Hm?!"
"Ah! No, I mean... Thank you, Catheryneâ¦"
"Uhm!" Cathryne nodded in satisfaction.
Lathel took a deep breath; he knew this was the decisive moment of the battle between him and the male lead, Ikarys.
If he lost his identity as the Holy Son, Lathel could win more easily.
If Ikarys still kept his identity as Holy Son after today, the battle between him and Ikarys would be even more difficult. Thereâs even a high chance that Lathel will lose.
After all, the Holy Sonâs status is very formidable, able to use the Churchâs army and many other resources.
Thatâs why Lathel was determined to succeed this time.
Luckily the âfaithâ card was still active; he immediately began his performance.
Lathel took out a small box from his space bag and placed it on the table.
"As everyone knows, whether it is this Empire or the Church, in order to survive, something extremely important is needed."
"Pope, do you know what that is?"
Lumiana heard that and looked at Lathel, immediately replying: "Faith in God and Godâs mission."
"Noâ¦" Lathel shook her head: "Pope, if your followers donât have enough food to eat, can they be loyal to you?"
"Thatâ¦" Lumiana frowned and said, "You mean food?"
"No!" Lathel shook his head again; only now did he realise the terrible influence of the âcultivatingâ culture in this world.
People seem to focus only on increasing strength and ignore a lot of things, including the basics.
In reality, only a large number of people with magical talent would encounter this situation. As for ordinary people who struggled with daily life, their thinking was completely different.
Lumiana may have lived a long life, but she only focused on the churchâs doctrine and increasing her power.
She may be smart, but that doesnât mean sheâs omnipotent.
He laughed and said, "Thatâs economics. Pope, there are many people in your Church who are gradually becoming spies without you knowing it."
"What?!" Lumiana frowned, uncomfortably saying: "Donât say such nonsense. The followers of the Church are extremely loyal; they would definitely never do such things."
"Ah! Then tell me, why do I know so much information about the Church?" Lathel said with a laugh.
Lumiana gritted her teeth, feeling annoyed, but she still refuted what Lathel had said: "There may be a few traitors, but most of the believers are very loyal."
"Thatâs right, but have you thought about the day when no one will give anything to the Church anymore?" Lathel said.
Lumiana frowned upon hearing this, her eyes becoming sharp as knives: "Are you threatening me? The Church possesses an elite army that is even more elite than this empire. Do you think I will fail against any plot?"
"Hahahahaâ¦" Lathel laughed loudly: "Pope, you should know that from ancient times until now, kings who used violence to rule all had the same ending, which was⦠being assassinated."
"But it was a fight to defend justice," Lumiana countered.
"Pope⦠when war breaks out, there is no justice or injustice." Lathel sighed, shaking his head; he added: "There are only winners and losers."
"Your army may be very strong; however, you also need a lot of resources to maintain and develop your army, right?"
"Where do you think⦠those things come from when your followers only pray and cultivate every day?"
Lumiana was silent, not knowing how to respond because Lathel was right.
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