CHAPTER 152: MARIA AND HER FATHER (1)

The sunset enshrouded the Pope and Maria, as Maria raised her head to meet an indifferent gaze.

"And I bid you pardon," the former Pope bowed. "Maria Sableheart."

He raised his head, meeting a smile that didn’t reach her eyes.

Maria tilted her head, chuckling. "One would think you a brute, even after joining the cult."

Joseph’s ankle propped on the table, chortling. "One would consider you a romantic, seeing how you interact with your friends."

"Oh, but forgive my manners." Maria’s palm pressed her chest, and her voice was sincere. "Thank you for respecting our privacy."

"Hehe... no need..."

His mustache curled into a grin. "To see two witches who smashed the Cult apart so easily with the Saintess herself?"

Then, his tone turned menacing, laced with threat as his eyes curved.

"It is my honour, my daughter."

The Former Pope knew Maria well, and Maria knew her Father well.

She has purposely invited the two Witches to his retired tavern; a warning for the former Pope not to be careless with his... little pranks.

"The honour shall be returned to you, full front."

Maria’s tone, similarly, was laced with danger.

"I am genuinely surprised you turned into the Cult’s Leader overnight, my Father."

Both Father and Daughter were born too alike in shrewdness and sharp tongues.

All the same, except for their purposes.

Joseph frowned, his knees folding yet his posture remained stiff.

One word from Maria, and he will be ground to dust.

The only reason he’s alive is because of his ’Crystal Scheme’, the aftermath deemed... not impossible, but ’troublesome’ for Maria.

Especially when she inevitably needed Mel Sakura’s help to calm the ensuing mass panic.

"It was an invitation that I accepted with... reluctance."

He scoffed. "Just like the other Corrupted Church Officials and the Archbishop you purged, Maria."

His fingers clasped together as he planted a regretful gaze on his Daughter.

"In the end, corrupted they may be, they’re not incompetent. After Nyrel’s fall, they established their authority rather quickly."

The Great Purge, an incident Five Years Ago, was after Maria seized and exiled all the corrupted archbishops, and some documents were dug up regarding their cooperation with the Nobles.

It was sudden, yet calculated and hidden so well that even the Pope was unprepared for the impending disasters that followed.

The result? The exiled were all cast away, still power-hungry enough for Nyrel to lure them into the Cult.

And with Nyrel gone, they were now wrestling for the rights to control the Cult with him, the newly appointed Leader.

His index finger tugged out and pointed at Maria. "All thanks to you, Saintess."

"Oh, thank you."

Maria bowed again. "But that was a lie, wasn’t it?"

Her eyes narrowed as she scanned her Father, his gestures and expressions almost too relaxed for a leader whose influence was wrestled with by others.

"Indeed." He shrugged. "You and I know bugs were too far below us... or, more to me myself."

The Former Pope sighed. "To you, the struggle of a mortal man must have seemed too... unsightly."

"Enough, Father."

Maria’s face, for a moment, fell with gentleness.

"Father." She pleaded. "Please surrender."

Joseph scowled. "I will not."

"But you were never the type to like Power itself, Father."

She held out her hand, palm facing upward.

"You were the one to teach me not to abuse Power itself, but manipulate it for the betterment of mankind."

Maria’s hand glittered with an orb of light hovering above; a sign of her Seven Virtues.

"Please consider your fate."

Then, Maria’s lips fell into a frown.

"Or who you’ll be facing were the Powers of two Witches and a Saintess, Father."

Joeseh froze a little, not at Maria’s threat, but with... sentiment.

"Child."

He chortled again in disbelief. "I never taught you to be so... glib-tongued."

In his mind, the Saintess was illiterate, a deliberate arrangement from the Pope, and he was afraid of Maria amassing too much power than she already had.

"But stop that stubborn act." He growled. "It’s a humiliation that you think I’m old enough to fall for it."

"...is that so?"

Then, Maria’s face reined back.

An indifferent smile, jaded with grace.

Her hands folded back to her lap, as she advised. "But my offer still stood."

Joseph paused, his hesitation brewing in.

"...only if you answer one question, Maria."

He glared into the eyes of Maria, the eyes he deemed more scary than even the distant Goddess herself.

"The Seven Virtues."

He muttered.

"Chastity, temperance, charity, diligence, patience, kindness, and humility."

A breath hitched in him as Maria chuckled out, before he continued with bated words.

"Just as the Prophecy... your own Prophecy and that of the Elf dictated, your Virtues needed temperance before they could.... fully unleash their mights."

Like the Witches, Maria was born as a child with powers yet to be unlocked.

Same as the mechanisms of the Witches, Maria’s Powers needed a specific stimulus to be...fully awakened.

"So why?"

He asked. "Why did all of a sudden, was the restraint unlocked in your Childhood?"

His memory drifted to that fateful night.

Maria broke her toys, boredly, and suddenly had brown eyes tainted with pure gold.

Since then? She... changed.

She has tried to hide it from others, but the subtle changes remained in mannerisms, gestures, and figures of speech.

Especially apparent to Joseph, her own Father.

"And...Were you always prepared to cast everyone aside?" He choked out, his blank expression containing a silent rage.

"Including your own Father?"

Maria was truly virtuous in the Great Purge.

Joseph may disagree with her intense... method, but the pure intent remained.

Yet he was cast aside, even after everything he had done to consolidate the Church’s Will.

Yet... Maria committed the worst sins of all.

"Including your own Goddess?"

Maria squinted at her Father, sensing a slight tremble in his argument.

Her finger then tapped the table thoughtfully, before her face beamed with innocence.

"The Goddess... I’m not so sure."

Maria’s opinion regarding the Goddess was... mixed.

She has loosened up the requirement for the Holy Knights to praise the Goddess in their every greeting, yes.

However, for personal reasons, not even Mel was aware of it, Maria felt...conflicted about the Goddess.

"For you, however..."

For her Father, though, her feeling was crystal clear.

"I despise you."

She laid out her true feelings, which she had repressed since returning.

"I truly, utterly despise you."

A flash of betrayal crossed Maria’s eyes.

The Silence barrier is their only witness, a respect paid by Maria’s only and trusted Partner.