Carlyle glanced at Gabriel.
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Would anyone notice that his face was a little paler than before?
"The incarnation of an angel...."
"Your Highness Carlyle! Please break free from the devil's control! The path you are taking is leading you away from God!"
Carlyle saw Gabriel's appeal as a last gasp.
If it hadn't been for Asha, he would have had quite a bit of trouble dealing with this great actor.
The night before, as he was wondering how to prove that Gabriel was a black magician, Carlyle had brought up the subject of divine punishment in a discussion with his aides.
[You mean you receive divine punishment?]
[From what I hear, yes. But the way it manifests itself is different for everyone.]
[Then how do you know if it's divine punishment or not?]
[It's commonly said to be related to darkness or blackness.]
[Yes?]
[It's commonly said to be related to darkness or blackness.]
He didn't think he would ever use what he had learned in the temple as a child, but Carlyle tried hard to remember.
But Asha, who had been listening quietly, opened her mouth with a serious face.
[Blackness…if that's the case, there is also on the High Priest's body.]
[What? You mean there's blackness on his body?]
[Do you remember when you got angry because I prepared the High Priest's bath water?]
It was a shameful memory of being jealous of Gabriel, but he couldn't forget it.
[I remember.]
[I suggested a bath for him because I saw him suffering from excruciating pain.]
Asha furrowed her brows slightly as if she were trying to remember that day.
[He was holding his side, so I asked to see the affected area....]
[There must have been something wrong with his body.]
[Yes. The part I saw wasn't big, but all of his skin was black.]
It was testimony that no one had expected. The body of Gabriel, who seemed to be spotless, was actually dyed black as punishment for using black magic.
If it were any other priest, they would have thought to take off his priestly robes, but since Gabriel seemed to be one with his robes, no one had thought of it.
[I'm sorry I didn't tell you. At the time, I just thought it was a birthmark or a disease....]
Asha apologized in a complicated voice.
Carlyle realized that she was wallowing in vain regret. She must have been thinking that if she had known Gabriel was a black magician then, Hector and Luka would still be alive.
So Carlyle became angrier with Gabriel.
[It's perfectly reasonable to keep secrets about someone else's body. What was unreasonable was that bastard Gabriel.]
And that unreasonable human continued to behave unreasonably thereafter.
Carlyle glanced up and down at Gabriel and said.
"I heard that the divine punishment is carved with horrifying clarity on the High Priest Gabriel's body. Isn't that right, High Priest?"
"Are you trying to insult the Elahe Church by slandering me now?"
"If anyone hears you, they'll think you're going to strip naked in the middle of the square."
Carlyle snickered and pointed his fingers, picking out a few people.
"For the sake of the High Priest's great pride and honor, I, Matthias, Archbishop Radrell, High Chamberlain Lifenter, Count Perno, and Count Erez. Let's just confirm with these much. Do you have any objections?"
The conference room briefly stirred, but it seemed that most of them thought Carlyle's suggestion was reasonable.
It made no sense for the current emperor to be included in such a verification process, but everyone was considering Beatrice as the de facto emperor, so they more or less accepted it.
Except for Gabriel.
"This cannot be! To follow the words of a traitor and look at the High Priest's body…!"
"Taking off your clothes to find out the black magician doesn't go against any of the Elahe laws. So shut your noisy mouth!"
Carlyle's eyes turned fierce.
Because of him, a huge number of people died in Pervaz, and he was annoyed that he was whining about taking off his clothes. Of course, the moment he took off his clothes, Gabriel Knox's life would be as good as over.
"Please do it in a way that preserves the High Priest's honor as much as possible. And if there is nothing, then I will excommunicate His Majesty for the crime of mocking and insulting the temple."
"Whatever."
Carlyle snorted and responded to Archbishop Radrell, who whispered among themselves and accepted the offer while mixing in a bit of threat.
And in the conference room, a makeshift changing tent prepared by Carlyle's side was set up.
Gabriel, with a pale face, fidgeted and looked around for someone to help him.
However, he, who could no longer use black magic, could not control the minds of others, blow up this conference room, or kill the knights standing around him.
Carlyle fixed his gaze on the changing room and said.
"The fear and despair you feel now are nothing compared to what the people of Pervaz had to go through. Really, it doesn't even come close."
As soon as he finished speaking, Carlyle stood up and nodded to Lionel. Then, two knights grabbed Gabriel and dragged him behind Carlyle into the changing room.
"Let go of me! You filthy human slaughterers dare to lay your dirty hands on a servant of God! Let go of me, I said!"
While Beatrice and the nobles and priests on her side were surprised by Gabriel's outburst, Carlyle's side didn't even bat an eye.
And when Gabriel's cassock was slightly lifted inside the changing room, the expression of Radrell, who had been calling him an angel until now, was distorted the most.
"That, that is…!"
"It seems that you can recognize it at a glance, even though you're an archbishop. Of course, it doesn't look like an ordinary stain to anyone."
Perhaps because he had grown the black magic circle more than when he was in Pervaz, the divine punishment left on Gabriel's body was even uglier than Asha remembered.
It should be called soot or charcoal rather than a stain. The surface was cracked and cracked as if black powder would fall off if it was even slightly touched.
"Oh, God…!"
Radrell hurriedly held the pendant of the Tree of Wisdom in his hand and muttered a prayer, and the rest of the onlookers looked at Gabriel's side with disbelief.
Then the high-ranking Chamberlain, who had been covering his mouth in surprise, muttered.
"I didn't see it wrong then…!"
It was a small voice, but Carlyle didn't miss it.
"What did you see, Grand Chamberlain?"
"Ah, th, that…"
He rolled his eyes in embarrassment and, under the subtle pressure of the people around him, he had no choice but to confess.
"His Majesty the Emperor refused to announce the revision of the Imperial Law, but the High Priest put his hand on His Majesty's head. And black smoke spread from the High Priest's hand… ."
Even without hearing the rest, it was enough to deduce.
The most surprised by his words was Matthias himself.
"You used black magic on me too? You crazy…!"
He took a step back and rubbed his head where Gabriel's hand had touched. Then he stopped as if something had come to mind.
"Wait… then all the escort priests you assigned to me were black magicians?"
Matthias's face turned pale at the thought that a black magician who uses human life force as a source of power was by his side.
Gabriel clenched his teeth at the sight of Matthias, who had been alive thanks to his protection until now.
"They have been protecting His Majesty until now! It's more than enough not to know the favor…!"
"But it's strange. Those people, they all disappeared yesterday. Where did they all go?"
Carlyle shook his head at Matthias's bewildered question. His younger brother was getting worse by the day.
"It's fortunate if they are still alive."
Matthias's complexion worsened at Carlyle's words.
'He's a guy who lives a life that is already dead, and he cherishes his life terribly.'
Carlyle sighed and looked around the still-stunned crowd, shrugging his shoulders.
"Well, shall we go back to the conference room and finish talking?"
At those words, the people on Beatrice's side, who had suddenly come to their senses, hurriedly left the dressing room and ran straight to Beatrice.
While exchanging serious words beside her, Carlyle glanced at Beatrice's expression and spoke to Gabriel.
"The Empress is going to discard you. It seems like it wasn't much of a godly relationship to begin with."
"..."
"It seems like you already know."
Gabriel, once adorned with glorious epithets like the embodiment of angels, the guardian of silver, and the pure representative of God, was no longer there.
With disheveled hair, a corpse-like pale face, sinister eyes, and the betrayer Gabriel Knox tainted by the devil, he remained only pitifully.
And as Carlyle expected, Beatrice seemed momentarily taken aback but quickly made up her mind.
"How could this happen! Using my trust all this time to covet high positions in the imperial court and deceive me and the Emperor! It's unforgivable!"
She began to act as if she had been deeply wounded by Gabriel's actions.
Finding her behavior disgusting, Carlyle sneered.
"Enough. After all, it was because of this man that you easily killed Father, wasn't it?"
"Absurd! How dare you slander me with such wicked accusations!"
"The day Father passed away was a Monday. But who was the priest presiding over Monday praying? Who insisted on changing the Monday praying priest?"
The room fell silent in that moment.