I’m a Villain, but I Want to Live a Long Life - Chapter 166

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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“I didn’t expect all three of you to welcome me together.”

Michael, sitting politely in the drawing room, showed a good-natured smile.

Rosette immediately trembled in her seat.

“Th-then! If it makes you uncomfortable, should I ex-excuse myself?!”

“No, you don’t need to do that.”

Michael looked at me and then turned his eyes kindly toward Rosette.

And he said.

“You’re here because you already know the situation, aren’t you?”

Estelin and Rosette closed their mouths in bewilderment.

“I know that Lady Grimaldi has been steadily investigating my past activities.”

“Y-yes…?”

“The fact that I haven’t been invited to the Grand Mass – that’s also something Lady Grimaldi investigated, isn’t it?”

“Uh, yes, that’s…!”

Rosette stammered.

As Michael said, Rosette had been steadily investigating his activities for the past few months.

Which services he appeared at, which temples and shrines he went to offer prayers.

It was to investigate how much Cardinal Michael knew about what the religious order was hiding.

“I wasn’t trying to investigate Your Eminence behind your back. Actually…!”

“I know. That you did it to understand the religious order’s movements. Also, you must have been curious whether I had been completely ostracized by them.”

Rosette, who had been stiff as a wooden doll, blushed and nodded her head.

Michael smiled as if there was nothing to worry about, then looked at Estelin.

“I heard Lady Laurent contacted temples on the outskirts of the estate.”

“Ah… Yes. I had something I wanted to ask about…”

“So, did you find all the answers to your questions?”

Estelin looked at me with a troubled expression.

After taking a short breath, I looked directly at Cardinal Michael.

“Yes. I found them.”

He looked at me with a still smiling face.

“And I believe Your Eminence has also found those answers.”

“Hahaha.”

Michael shook his head as if he couldn’t help it.

Then he took a sip of the warm herbal tea placed in front of him.

“Yes, I found them. That’s why I’m here now.”

Michael stood up from his seat. Then he approached the door.

We all watched him with surprised faces.

Michael, who had reached the door, raised one hand.

Then he began to emit divine power along the edges of the doorframe and walls.

“I did the same thing when I met Chairman Oscar at the Imperial Palace. It would be troublesome if the stories we’re about to share leaked out.”

“Is it a barrier?”

“That’s right. There’s no better device to prevent sounds from inside from flowing outside.”

When Estelin hesitated, Michael looked back at her and kindly added.

“It’s not because I don’t trust the people of Laurent Estate. It’s to prepare for any possible danger.”

“…”

“My life isn’t worth much, but yours are different, aren’t they? I feel at ease when the three of you are safe.”

Michael sat back down.

Though nothing seemed different on the surface, I could definitely feel the air in the room had become heavier.

It felt exactly like invisible sound-absorbing material had been placed around the walls.

Michael opened his mouth.

“First, here’s what I heard from Chairman Oscar.”

“…”

“Lady Tigris is currently using two sacred relics from the temple.”

I agreed with a calm face.

“That’s right. To be precise, it’s not the sacred relics themselves but the gems embedded in them that function.”

“Gems… I see.”

Michael nodded and continued.

“When I was at the Grand Cathedral, the purpose of the sacred relics was simple. The priests understood the effects of the sacred relics like this.”

“…”

“Sacred relics are objects that can completely nullify the constraints that come with the highest-level abilities just by possessing them.”

I nodded.

Father Mayer, who had brainwashed Selene from the original story under the guise of education.

He too had offset the constraints that came with his ability using the effect of the sacred relic Michael mentioned.

Thanks to that, he could brainwash Selene without any medium and move her as he pleased.

“Originally, the pendant is kept by His Holiness the Pope. He only took it out to use in very rare situations when purifying contaminated land or when many people needed to receive blessings.”

I tilted my head.

“But I obtained the pendant from Father Mayer. Why did he have the sacred relic?”

“I don’t know by what circumstances the pendant came into High Priest Mayer’s hands. However.”

“…”

“On the day of Her Majesty the Empress’s coronation ceremony, I understand that His Holiness the Pope bestowed the sacred relic upon Duke Belmart.”

I froze in my seat with a start.

“…Duke Belmart, you said?”

“That’s right.”

The brainwashing that Mayer had placed on Selene was to hate Father Aleon and Estelin.

When I learned that fact, the first person I suspected as the mastermind was Cardinal Paul.

‘But the person who had the sacred relic at that time wasn’t Paul?’

Who would have thought that the person the Pope gave the sacred relic to was Duke Belmart.

Moreover, if it was the Empress’s coronation ceremony, that was almost ten years ago.

‘If the sacred relic was in Duke Belmart’s hands at that time…’

I couldn’t figure out by what route Mayer came to possess the sacred relic afterward.

‘Isn’t Duke Belmart also Mayer’s backer?’

Since Duke Belmart was the one who had the sacred relic before Mayer, he might really have been the mastermind.

Come to think of it, Duke Belmart already considered our family a thorn in his side.

Moreover, recalling the original story’s plot gave even more weight to this claim.

In the original, the Tigris family was utterly destroyed.

Because Selene poisoned Eria.

Afterward, Duke Laurent spent agonizing time buried in grief and anger.

How much compensation he received from Tigris, how much power was transferred – none of that mattered.

He had already lost his precious youngest daughter.

‘Then, there was only one side that benefited from that incident.’

Duke Haren stayed only in the Academy Jurisdiction anyway, so he was out of the question from the start.

Among the Four Dukes, only one remained: the Belmart family.

They would receive some of the power transferred from the destroyed Tigris and thereby solidify their position within the Empire even more.

The Duke, who already had strong influence as the Empress’s relative, would surely have been able to rise to even higher positions.

“Lady Tigris.”

I quickly raised my head at Michael’s call.

“I know what you’re contemplating. I’d like to help, but I feel guilty that I don’t know anything about ‘that matter.'”

‘That matter’ seemed to refer to when I was brainwashed by Mayer.

I quickly shook my head.

“No, I was just thinking about something else for a moment.”

“It’s fine. We have plenty of time.”

Michael smiled as if to say not to worry.

Then he pulled out thick books and various documents from his embrace.

“These are what I showed Chairman Oscar as well. Most of them are materials about Phluma, who are called heretics.”

Rosette and Estelin glanced at me with surprise.

I nodded with a calm expression.

“I know. According to Oscar’s report, you found all these documents in the underground library of the Grand Cathedral.”

“That’s correct. And it was difficult, in a restricted area. I was in a completely unfamiliar space that I had never seen before.”

“Then how did you manage to get to such a place…”

“I changed my appearance to look like Cardinal Paul, so the guard let me pass.”

Watching Michael laugh helplessly, I nodded inwardly.

The restricted area of the underground library that only one cardinal was permitted to access.

It was clear that the Temple had intentionally excluded Michael.

“While investigating why the Sacred Sprites follow Lady so well, I discovered this and at first…”

“…”

“I was puzzled. It was also confusing.”

Michael smiled awkwardly.

“It’s embarrassing to say, but the position of cardinal is not light. It’s like the lungs of The Order that assist His Holiness from both sides.”

“…”

“So naturally, I had this thought. Why did His Holiness hide this from me?”

“…”

“Why didn’t he tell me anything, only me…”

Michael’s green eyes sank calmly.

“Looking back, everything was strange. When the re-verification of Diermant was to be conducted, Cardinal Paul reacted particularly sensitively to that matter. He acted as if the re-verification absolutely must not happen.”

“…”

“Like someone who already knew that Diermant were actually Sacred Sprites.”

I nodded.

“It was to the point where voices were raised against the Emperor, so how much more so.”

“You’re right. I don’t know why I didn’t notice it then…”

Michael raised his gaze to look at me.

“However, after meeting Chairman Oscar yesterday and coming here to see Lady today, I realized.”

“What did you realize?”

“His Holiness hid it because I am this kind of person.”

Michael’s expression held some indescribable reason.

“I don’t know how I appear in Lady’s eyes. But I know. I know who I am.”

“…”

“The Frater Order fundamentally does not value human life. Generally, they divide people into ranks and determine the nobility or baseness of life accordingly.”

“…”

“There were countless times when I had to turn away while children died of starvation, while the sick writhed in pain.”

His face looked anguished.

“But I could endure it. Because I thought it was God’s will. According to the revelation, The Man was omnipotent, foresaw everything, and harbored great intentions… He was such an absolute being.”

Michael’s voice trembled slightly.

“But the documents I discovered referred to The Man differently. As a shell that killed the absolute being who desired true peace and took his place…”

“…”

“And an undoubtable demon.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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