Escalion strode across the wide garden.

He wanted nothing more than to go straight to the Pope’s office and grab him by the collar.

He thought that even if he accidentally killed the Pope today, he could quickly contact the Emperor to take care of the aftermath.

“……”

At that moment, someone appeared from behind a pillar not far from the papal cathedral.

Escalion, upon recognizing who it was, abruptly stopped his fierce stride.

From behind the large pillar, Belladonna emerged awkwardly and looked at him.

“…Bella?”

Escalion asked with a furrowed brow, as if he couldn’t believe it.

He found it strange that she was discovered so unexpectedly in such an unexpected place.

But as he looked at her hesitating as if she had something to say to him, those thoughts quickly disappeared.

Escalion rushed towards Belladonna in one stride.

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

Approaching her closely, he grabbed her delicate shoulders firmly and quickly turned his head to examine her thoroughly from head to toe.

Fortunately, there were no visible major injuries or wounds.

Realizing this fact, relief surged through him rapidly.

To Escalion’s urgent question, Belladonna forced a smile and answered.

“I’m fine.”

He looked down at her somewhat uncomfortable face and opened his mouth.

“Where is the Pope?”

“He’s in his office. Scarlet is still safe for now.”

“Lead me to the Pope.”

Instead of answering, Belladonna frowned. Feeling a strange sense of discomfort from her, Escalion spoke again.

“What did the Pope do to you this time?”

“The Pope didn’t do anything to me.”

“Then why do you look like that? Don’t tell me that bastard hit you again……”

“It’s not like that, so please calm down.”

“Then why.”

Escalion narrowed his eyes and looked down at Belladonna.

It was an action to check if she was hiding something from him.

Belladonna unconsciously avoided his gaze.

In front of him, she had no idea how to act.

How can I tell him to give up on me…? How can I tell him… to leave me here and go back?

Pain and despair overwhelmed her simultaneously.

“……”

She just wanted to tell him everything and go kill the Pope right now.

That she was actually being threatened with Scarlet as a hostage, that she was told Scarlet would be killed if she didn’t break up with him.

So before he really kills Scarlet, let’s go and kill the Pope first, let’s end it with our own hands – these words were on the tip of her tongue.

‘But what after that?’

Belladonna squeezed her eyes shut.

If we could get rid of the Pope, then what?

Even if they were lucky enough to take him down before he harmed Scarlet, the papal state was now full of knights from the imperial court.

There was a high chance that Escalion would be arrested by the imperial court and executed for treason as soon as the Pope died.

‘…So let’s think calmly.’

Belladonna swallowed hard and racked her brain.

Was there a way to rescue Scarlet without harming the Pope?

“……”

After a brief deliberation, Belladonna hung her head with a desperate look.

It doesn’t seem like there’s such a way…

The cunning Pope didn’t tell Belladonna where Scarlet’s confinement room was located.

Because her vision was blocked and she was taken on a roundabout route both when going and coming back, she had no way of knowing where in this vast papal state Scarlet was imprisoned.

The papal state was full of hidden corridors and underground facilities that she knew nothing about.

‘It seems they left the remaining knights outside the papal state and only let Escalion in, but just the two of us can’t search the entire place.’

Moreover, if they didn’t do it properly, there was no telling what the Pope, upon noticing, might do to Scarlet.

Scarlet, whose identity as Escalion’s sister was not yet known to the public, was just a powerless commoner, and for the Pope, getting rid of one such commoner without a trace wasn’t a particularly difficult task.

“Bella?”

When no answer came from Belladonna, Escalion called her name again.

Belladonna swallowed hard, relaxed her expression, and opened her mouth.

“First, it seems there was a communication problem between the two of you. Since the Pope expressed his wish to talk to you first, Escalion should also be willing to compromise to some extent. Coming like this with knights all of a sudden might seem too threatening……”

Before she could finish speaking, Escalion reached into his inner pocket and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper.

What’s that…? Belladonna, who had stopped mid-sentence, looked at it.

Escalion unfolded the crumpled paper in front of her eyes.

“It’s a document Fabion brought. He said he finished decoding the documents you gave him.”

The documents I gave…?

If it was written by Fabion, it seemed to be referring to the interpretation of the ancient documents written by the Saint herself, which they had found in the chapel.

Had he finally finished decoding it?

Belladonna opened her mouth with a puzzled expression.

“But why are you suddenly… What’s the content?”

“It contains the terrible atrocities the Pope has been committing against the powerless people of the Elineros Empire.”

“Atrocities?”

There were so many things the Pope had done that she couldn’t tell which atrocities he was referring to.

Escalion hesitated for a moment, facing her with wide eyes, then slowly opened his mouth.

“He forcibly conducted secret and cruel human experiments under the pretext of drawing out the latent holy power in people. Based on the fact that parts of the body are exchanged for holy power, he forcibly injected drugs or committed violence, focusing on people without relatives.”

“Hu-human experiments?”

What is this…? It was hard to understand.

So… he experimented on people to forcibly create saints…?

Unable to believe such words, Belladonna raised one hand to cover her mouth.

“Is that really what’s written there?”

“According to that old wizard, yes.”

“But… But holy power doesn’t emerge like that. Of course, the exact mechanism or conditions haven’t been revealed, but it’s solely dependent on God’s will!”

“So you understand how insane what the Pope did is? He’s not God’s representative. He’s just a terrible criminal possessed by the mad idea that he’s really God, blinded by the Pope’s power!”

Belladonna received the paper from Escalion with trembling hands.

Lowering her head to read the letters Fabion had decoded one by one, she found it filled with the names of unknown drugs and the methods and results of injecting them into people using special syringes.

Unable to read to the end due to the horrific results, Belladonna raised her head.

“Wh-what happened to the people listed here?”

“Most of them died. It seems those still alive are being managed separately. Of course, not a single person developed holy power among those the Pope touched.”

There’s no way holy power would manifest through such methods…!

She had known he was crazy all along, but she didn’t know he was such a cruel person.

Belladonna exhaled a thin breath.

Judging by the way his eyes flashed wildly every time he committed violence against her, she knew he had a cruel nature, but she never dreamed he would do such things to innocent people.

How could the so-called master of Astanya, the Pope…

Belladonna, furrowing her brow, looked at the Saint’s handwriting.

Did the Saint know that he had been secretly conducting such experiments?

“Where is the Pope? I’ll use this as evidence to pull him down from the Pope’s position. I’ve sent a separate message to His Majesty the Emperor, so there should be word from the Imperial Knights soon.”

At Escalion’s words, Belladonna blurted out with surprised eyes.

“But this wasn’t written by me, it was by the Saint. Even if we take this as evidence, they can just deny it as false information. It’s not enough solid evidence to bring down the Pope.”

“It might be insufficient, but at least it can start an investigation into the truth.”

At his words, Belladonna shook her head slightly.

It would be great if they could catch Pope Prononce with this evidence, but it wasn’t enough.

Moreover, he had the key to the room where Scarlet was imprisoned.

If they provoked him without a thorough plan, there was no telling what would happen to Scarlet’s life.

And Escalion…

Belladonna looked up at him, already very angry.

Although he was pretending to be calm on the outside, he was in a very enraged state right now.

If she let him meet the Pope like this, he might throw punches first like last time or end up hurting Scarlet.

“For now… give this to me. I’ll go to the Pope first and try to have a conversation.”

“You? No. You need to stay by my side.”

Escalion said firmly. His golden eyes focused clearly on her.

“I can’t lose you to the Pope again.”

“Th-that’s not it……”

“Guide me to the Pope. There must be a reason why he only let me in.”

Belladonna bit her lower lip with a troubled face.

The reason the Pope had only let Escalion into the papal state was not to face him directly, but to make sure she finalized the divorce and secured alimony.

‘What should I do?’

Belladonna lowered her head to look down again.

The paper, crumpled and torn from passing through many hands, was densely filled with traces of Fabion decoding the ancient language.

Could I take this and negotiate with the Pope? I don’t know at all how the Saint came to know about this fact…

She also felt afraid that she might end up getting strangled or threatened again for nothing.

As she was lost in her thoughts alone, Escalion raised one hand and grabbed both of her cheeks at once.

Huh…?

He applied force to his hand holding her face, lifting her head.

Belladonna, her lips protruding due to the pressure from his large hands, met his eyes.

“What are you thinking about alone with that tiny head of yours?”