"Living a life that goes against the will of God after being born with His blessing – truly, something is greatly wrong here."
"Agreed! He who should be grateful for God's blessing and even more faithful instead enjoys women, distances himself from the temple, is dissolute and arrogant…"
"He hasn't attended temple worship since he was ten years old. Is this acceptable?"
"Even being deprived of the crown prince title was because he coveted the emperor's throne, they say. While the emperor having an affair with a woman other than his wife is problematic, Prince Carlyle's sins are difficult to wash away."
Voices grew slightly louder for a moment.
Gabriel, observing the executives' anger towards Prince Carlyle, spoke after their voices subsided somewhat.
"There's no time to list all his sins here. In any case, he seems beyond improvement, and we will help Her Majesty the Empress and Prince Matthias to rectify all that is wrong."
Eyes of everyone started to sparkle at Gabriel's words.
Once considered a mere fanciful notion, the ultimate goal of the Brotherhood, "founding the Holy Empire," was now within reach thanks to Gabriel's actions.
Holy Empire.
What a heart-thumping word.
A country where all laws align with the scriptures, and while nobles and royalty exist, faithful servants of God are more respected.
A country where God reigns supreme over all.
Everyone in the Brotherhood considered such a country "normal."
"Both of us also share the same goal of founding the Holy Empire, and Prince Matthias has said he will appoint me as his advisor the moment he becomes crown prince…"
Everyone gazed at Gabriel with eyes filled with excitement and reverence.
"We must absolutely stop Prince Carlyle and help Prince Matthias succeed to the throne."
"Of course!"
"We are prepared."
Everyone seemed ready to jump into a fiery pit at that very moment. Gabriel nodded with a warm smile.
"The most pressing issue is Prince Carlyle's popularity. Both nobles and commoners, there are those who idolize Prince Carlyle. It's a grave sin to consider a human as a god."
Every time he shook his head as if sorry, his beautiful silver hair flowed down over his shoulders.
Then someone cautiously raised an objection.
"However, it is true that Prince Carlyle stopped the provocations of southern small countries and fended off attacks from dangerous monsters. It's understandable for the people saved by Prince Carlyle to consider him as a god."
At the seemingly supportive statement for Carlyle, Gabriel's eyes turned momentarily cold, but he skillfully hid his expression.
"That's why there's the title of 'hero.' No matter how outstanding, a human can never become a god."
"That, that's right. My intention was…!"
"Of course I understand what you are saying, High Priest Joachim. It may seem like I am just fixating on words."
"No! I was the foolish one."
The priest called Joachim quickly bowed his head.
The Golden Bough Brotherhood had to accept the words of the scriptures without human interpretation. He apologized profusely, as if he had made a big mistake as an executive.
Then another priest next to him rebuked Joachim.
"Once we become the Holy Empire, there will be no more conflicts with small countries or the appearance of demons. Because God will bless us."
"The appearance of demons is also because humans do not live according to God's will. If you look at Chapter 2 of the Mareha Book…!"
As one of them began to recite the 'punishment of God' section of the scripture, the brotherhood executives, who had a hobby of reciting the scripture fluently, began to add their own words.
They believed that if this land became the kingdom of God, all such disasters would disappear because they believed literally in the phrases of the scripture that could be symbolic metaphors.
As the conference room, which had been quiet, became noisy, Gabriel stepped forward.
"Now, now, everyone calm down. These are all things that will disappear once we establish the Holy Empire and dedicate this country to Libato."
At Gabriel's words, the executives nodded their heads with a determined expression again.
"From now on, we need to create public opinion that supports His Highness Matthias while eliminating public opinion that is favorable to His Highness Carlyle. What would be the best way to do this?"
The executives vied to give their opinions.
"We should emphasize the fact that His Highness Matthias is the only son between His Majesty the Emperor and Her Majesty the Empress, and that he is a much more faithful person than His Highness Carlyle."
"We should also actively consider ways to further highlight His Highness Carlyle's flaws. In fact, there are more than a few of them."
"He is the one who was deprived of the position of crown prince for coveting his father's woman. What more is there to say?"
"Just hearing the rumors about his womanizing makes me want to wash my ears."
The rumor that Carlyle was a womanizer had been famous for a long time.
The prejudice that Carlyle was such a great beauty that women would never stop coming to him, even if he had never been unfaithful, also contributed to the rumor becoming a fact.
And over time, the rumors about his womanizing became more and more like myths.
It was said that he called twelve women into his bedroom in one night, that there was at least one woman in every province he went to who had his child, and that nine out of ten of the maids who were suddenly sent to his territory were pregnant with Carlyle's child....
'If he would do such a filthy kiss even at the wedding ceremony, which should be solemn, then there must be nothing to see in private.'
Gabriel shook his head, recalling Carlyle, who had greedily devoured the bride's lips even though there were so many eyes watching.
"Ah, and we should also say that His Highness Carlyle has committed so many massacres that he is cursed by the dead. He didn't even perform the purification ritual when he entered the palace."
At someone's remark, another round of condemnation followed.
"I heard that too. The priest who was supposed to do the purification ritual was killed by a sudden illness…"
"I also heard that story. The priest who was supposed to preside over the purification rituals was my direct junior. They say he didn't even get off his horse until he reached the Iron Gate."
"Ah! I heard that too. They say he rode his horse over people's heads? How could he do such a thing as the Crown Prince…?"
"It's not just about rules and norms, is it? It's an act that disregards the Emperor, his own father, and even the gods! I couldn't believe it even after hearing it."
A story about Carlyle was being created, to be spread among the believers. Gabriel fueled the fire.
"I heard that His Highness Mattias handled the Crown Prince's duties instead of His Highness Carlyle, who had been absent for a long time due to the war."
"Is that true?"
"Of course it is."
Gabriel thought briefly about the scripture passage that says "Do not lie for your own gain," but soon smiled and excused himself.
'It's okay because it's not for my own gain.'
Thinking that he was only serving the great cause of founding the Holy Empire, he added more white lies.
Reaching the climax of the rising atmosphere, Gabriel, as a priest of Elahe, even told a lie that he shouldn't have.
"And there is talk that His Highness Carlyle is a servant of the demon Karakash."
"Yes?"
All the members of the Brotherhood opened their eyes wide in surprise and asked back.
"But wasn't there an oracle that His Highness Carlyle was born with the blessing of Aguila? How can someone who was blessed by God become a servant of the devil?"
The oracle that Carlyle received was very famous.
[The blessing of Aguiles, the god of war and victory, will be born into the House of Evaristo.]
Shortly before he was born, three saints who received the oracle cried out at the same time, and Carlyle was born in the imperial family.
As if to prove the oracle, he was good at tactics, martial arts, and swordsmanship from a young age, and he won a great victory in the first war he participated in at the age of just fifteen.
So no one doubted the oracle. If he was born with God's blessing, as the oracle said, he would have been born with anti-demonic powers.
However, Gabriel shook his head and said.
"That oracle is true. The problem is that His Highness Carlyle has lived on the battlefield for too long and has committed too much massacres."
As he said this, he looked around the round table as if to focus everyone's attention.
All of the Golden Bough Brotherhood members who filled the meeting room were very sincere, upright, and noble.
Thanks to that, it was very easy to deceive them.
"You all know the 4th chapter of the Book of Hamak, the Karakash Redemption, right?"
At his words, the faces of the Brotherhood officials were filled with doubt and then fell into shock.
"He who can call Karakash is the one who has taken the lives of a hundred, set fire to ten temples, and has no god to serve over his head."
"I, the one who can call upon Karakesh, am the one who has taken a hundred lives, set fire to ten temples, and served no god above my head"
"Gasp"
The verse that Gabriel recited was what the demon Karakash said to the first evil person who summoned him.
"The rumor that His Highness Carlyle is a servant of Karakash is not accurate, of course. But you all know that His Highness Carlyle has killed more than a hundred people and does not serve any god, right?"
And there was a high possibility that he had burned down more than ten temples due to the wars he fought. In other words, it meant there was a very high chance that he met all the conditions to call Karakash.
"Oh my…"
"This is the real reason why we must stop His Highness Carlyle. If he becomes Emperor, this country could fall into the hands of the demons."
Even though they already intended to expel Carlyle, the members of the Brotherhood trembled with fear and anger at Gabriel's story.