"The high priest you recommended is quite good. He seems to be more devout than the previous priest, and he is also very good at performing the ceremonies."
The emperor, who had seen a satisfactory prayer for the first time, was in a generous mood and congratulated Beatrice.
"Isn't that right? He is the most popular high priest right now. I had a hard time inviting him for Your Majesty."
"You are the only one who can give me that."
So the emperor was not reluctant to let the empress recommend several priests to be appointed to the imperial administration.
At first, he thought that it would be better for the priests to manage the prayer room in the palace or to do the final check on the emperor's food.
Later, he thought that it would be okay for the priests to manage the palace buildings or the servants.
In this way, the number of positions occupied by priests gradually increased.
The emperor was not the only one who was comfortable with the appointment of priests. The nobles brought up the subject whenever they met.
"This time, the high priest Elbator Dimoni of the 4th Temple was brought in as the emperor's chamberlain."
"The chamberlain is a fairly high-ranking position among the eunuchs, isn't it? You are appointing a priest to such an important position?"
"They say that he will give the emperor the blessing of God every time he goes to sleep and wakes up."
"No, we have been doing well without such a thing until now. Why are you doing this all of a sudden?"
It was very rare for a current priest, not someone who had been a priest and returned to secular life, to enter the palace.
The current situation, in which the temple was deeply involved in the imperial family, caused a sense of crisis among the nobles.
After all, the way the emperor ruled would change depending on the inclinations of those around him.
"Historically, there has never been a good outcome when religion has interfered with politics. What on earth is His Majesty thinking...."
"I heard that Her Majesty the Empress recommended him. It seems that Her Majesty the Empress is trying to do something through the temple, since Her Majesty the Empress's social control power is so high."
Everyone thought that it was the empress's plan to show favor to the temple and raise Matthias's support base among the believers.
It was not that the method was wrong, but the nobles did not welcome the priests who threatened their position.
However, even though those who felt uncomfortable with this situation expressed their concerns, the emperor ignored them.
"There is no law that says that a priest cannot become an imperial official. They are all clean and upright people, so they are better than those who fight for power."
However, the emperor was displeased with the empress's proposal to make the 'Martyr's Day', a major event in the Elahe religion, a national holiday.
"Isn't 'Makaba Festival' already a national holiday? The Martyr's Day is an event for Elahe believers, and making it a national holiday is...."
'Makaba Festival', which celebrates the day when God descended on earth, was the biggest event in the Elahe religion and a national holiday.
However, unlike the Makaba Festival, which is a day for God, the Martyr's Day is a day to honor 'humans'. The emperor thought it was a bit too much to make such a day a national holiday.
However, Gabriel, who had come with Beatrice, calmly persuaded him, but in a way that stimulated the emperor's vanity.
"In fact, we are making this proposal for the sake of the Evaristo Imperial Family."
"For the sake of the imperial family?"
"Your Majesty, the proposal is to designate the previous emperors who died in battle against the barbarians as martyrs and have the believers commemorate them. And Your Majesty will be remembered in history as the one who declared this day a national holiday."
The emperor's furrowed brows slowly relaxed.
As he listened carefully, he began to see the sense in it.
'That's right. We need a way to commemorate the previous emperors who fought and died against the pagan barbarian invasion. It's long overdue, but the country should step up and do something…!'
As he was thinking this, Gabriel lowered his eyebrows and smiled weakly.
"Please feel free to refuse if you don't like the idea. I didn't mean to offend Your Majesty."
Then he turned to Beatrice, who was standing next to him, and spoke quietly.
"I guess we'll have to cancel the mural…"
It was a small voice, but not so small that the emperor couldn't hear it.
"Mural?"
"Ah.... We were planning to commemorate the scene of Your Majesty proclaiming the Day of Martyrs a national holiday with a mural. The martyrs would be looking down on Your Majesty and the people of the empire from behind, and Your Majesty would be proclaiming the national holiday in front of a large crowd…"
As Gabriel listened to the explanation, he could vividly picture the mural in his mind.
And since it was going to be painted on a large wall of the First Temple of Elahe, it would be a painting that would last for a very long time.
"…Are they going to paint a golden halo behind my head?"
"Of course. Your Majesty will be revered as a saint of Elaheism, so it is only natural to paint a halo, a holy light, surrounding Your Majesty."
The words 'saint' and 'revere' changed the emperor's mind.
"Ahem! The high priest does have a point…"
He said he would think about it some more, but only three days later he told Gabriel that he would designate the Day of Martyrs a national holiday.
* * *
Having won the emperor's favor, Gabriel began to work in earnest to make Matthias the crown prince.
"We have already placed our brothers around His Majesty, so let's wait and see how things develop there for now. From now on, we need to move the hearts of the believers."
At his words, the Golden Bough Brotherhood priests jumped up like children eager to be praised, each boasting of their accomplishments so far.
"Since the last meeting, I have been subtly supporting His Highness Matthias' legitimacy to the noble ladies I am in charge of."
"I have been saying that His Highness Carlyle made a very wrong choice this time. There were quite a few believers who agreed with me."
"I focused on emphasizing the fact that Her Majesty the Empress comes from the House of Labine, to the devout believers. Everyone knows that the House of Labine produces many priests."
Gabriel simply nodded at the members who were beaming with excitement, without saying a word.
Then, after they all exchanged glances and lowered their voices, Gabriel finally spoke.
He was a man who knew how to capture everyone's attention.
"I think y'all have done a good job of setting the mood so far. But from now on, we need to be more aggressive."
"If we're going to be aggressive, in what way…?"
"First, I think we need to emphasize His Highness Matthias's presence more. No matter how much we emphasize His Highness Carlyle's unfairness, Matthias's presence is so weak that people only remember Carlyle."
The disadvantage of Matthias was precisely that.
Carlyle had been famous since birth.
Promised of receiving the blessing of Aguiles, born to a dead mother and immediately faced with a stepmother, having to deal with a strict upbringing by the former Count Gould, his arrogant yet fitting abilities, handsome appearance, eloquence that never faltered…
He was a perfect crown prince as if someone had intentionally made him to be an emperor.
So Matthias couldn't help but fall behind.
"In fact, there are many disadvantages. His Highness Matthias is the son of the Empress, but His Highness Carlyle is the first child of the imperial family and lost his mother right away. There are sympathetic elements."
"Yes, and he never lost on the battlefield despite going through so much. Is that even human…?"
"Leaving all that aside, there's the divine selection. There's nothing more appealing to the believers than that. If the gods chose him, what narrative can surpass that?"
It was easier to curse Carlyle. There was so much to say about Carlyle.
But it was truly difficult to find stories that would elevate Matthias himself.
With a small sigh, Gabriel looked at the priests who were quietly whispering.
"As I mentioned before, to defeat Carlyle, we need 'leverage' as well."
The word 'leverage' made the priests pause.
Although they had thoughts of violating the teachings of the scriptures by thinking that Carlyle was a minion of the devil and that they should prevent him from becoming the crown prince, it was not an easy task.
"Oh, well, I… I might have slightly embellished His Highness Matthias's stories. It's not a complete lie, but I did add some non-existent facts."
"I did the same. I may have spread some stories about His Highness Carlyle, but…"
Even as they spoke, they had a guilty and ashamed look on their faces.
Gabriel clenched his teeth while looking at the easily manipulable but equally stubborn members of the Golden Bough Brotherhood.
'Annoying fellows. Do they expect me to spoon-feed them everything?'
He felt like sighing but refrained from doing so.
Everyone wanting to excel as much as he did was just greedy.
"Everyone. From now on, I'll personally send letters to the believers with the stories to spread. You just have to repeat what I say."
"Yes? What kind of stories are you going to send?"
"Just the stories I've acquired about His Highness Matthias. And you don't have to worry about whether they're true or not. Even if they're lies, it's not your fault."
As expected, everyone welcomed Gabriel's proposal.
'What's wrong with spreading the words the delegate told us? As long as I'm not lying.'
A sense of relief that they didn't have to break the rules themselves was evident in everyone's eyes.
Gabriel blamed himself for not using this method sooner.