Several centuries ago, the Holy See was the ruler of the world.
Crowns rested upon the heads of secular monarchs, but the hands that gave those crowns their meaning had always been the Pope's.
To kneel on cold marble floors, to press one's lips to the back of an old man's hand upon his throne, to receive the seal declaring that one ruled beneath the will of Heaven — this was the price of legitimacy.
Not even the Emperor was exempt.
No matter how mighty the Empire's armies, the moment the Church's representative pronounced excommunication, the Empire was as good as dying.
Even those proud emperors, with all their imperial grandeur, trembled at the threat of rebellion without the Pope's recognition.
The people feared God, and the words of one who claimed to speak for God were the verdicts of Heaven itself.
But times had changed.
The Holy See — the Sanctum City-State — was no longer the world's shepherd.
People had begun to forget how to kneel.
The awakening of reason was the culprit.
Telescopes split open the sky, and plague was no longer defined as a curse but as the proliferation of germs.
As people began to question the very reason for God's existence, the Holy See's influence waned with each passing day.
A world where treatises earned more trust than prayers, where experiments commanded more faith than holy water.
The young Cardinal, Teo, thought about this.
If people no longer believed in God.
If the Church were to lose its power because of it.
— Then we simply need to make them believe again.
His thinking was remarkably simple, and that was precisely what made it dangerous.
The essence of power has always begun somewhere simple.
The question was how to make them believe.
Frankly, it would be wonderful if God simply appeared out of thin air — but that was never going to happen.
God was silent, and silence bred doubt.
Cardinal Teo pondered at length, conducted a few modest 'experiments,' and found his answer.
The basement beneath the prayer room. The old archive. The sealed laboratory wing.
He combed through forbidden texts and dragged back into the light the names that had been burned as heretics.
"Let us create an angel."
"An angel?"
Several months earlier. The Sanctum City-State.
The most sacred place within the Holy See.
Golden mosaics gleamed on the ceiling, and the red carpet was worn faintly thin from the countless knees it had received over the years.
The aged Pope, Leo X, expressed his doubt.
His wrinkled hands trembled gently, and his eyes were half-closed — yet his instinct for power remained very much alive.
Pope Leo X and Cardinal Teo were distant relatives. Sharing the same bloodline, they understood each other, and above all, they shared the conviction that the Holy See must be made great again.
"I discovered a rather interesting record. A mad scientist from the Eastern heretics, a hundred years ago — he conducted an experiment in which he extracted a human soul and fashioned a monster from it."
Teo spoke with perfect composure.
He used the word 'mad,' yet his eyes held not contempt but fascination.
"And?"
"We try it ourselves. I ran an experiment a month ago, Your Holiness. It works."
Cardinal Teo's eyes gleamed with a slick, polished light.
"The idea being — we use this to create an angel?"
"Yes."
"You…"
Pope Leo X rubbed his face with both hands and bowed his head.
He fell briefly into silence. One could almost hear the slow, labored beats of an aging heart.
And then —
"What a magnificent idea…!"
He beamed and clapped Cardinal Teo heartily on the shoulder.
"An angel. If the Lord's messengers were to manifest in this world, no one could help but believe! Of course. Why didn't I think of that."
In the world of religion, the standing of 'angels' was immense.
Bearers of God's gospel, servants who carried out His commands — spiritual beings.
This would be proof that God truly and genuinely existed.
"…But can we actually create an angel?"
Pope Leo X suddenly returned to earth.
Miracles were easy to speak of, but realization was another matter entirely.
If they could be realized so easily, would they still be miracles?
"Your Holiness worries a great deal."
Cardinal Teo smiled a clean, practiced smile and produced a Bible, reading aloud from a passage.
"'And they saw and heard, behold, he had six wings of fire, and he flew through the midst of heaven, and his wings and all about him were full of eyes. And those eyes rested not, but watched day and night, and the flames rose from the tips of his wings, and smoke and radiance arose together. And when that angel swept his blazing wings, fire flowed forth like a river and reached the earth, and those who stood before him could not stand. And the murderer and the adulterer and the idolater and the false swearer and all who defiled the name of the Lord God by opposing Him were laid bare before that fire, and the fire consumed them, leaving only ash, and the smoke rose upward….'"
It was the angel described in the final book of the Bible.
One who attends at God's side in the closest proximity and judges humanity on the last day. The most sacred and powerful of angels. To make people believe, an angel of this magnitude was necessary.
"I know that passage. But that is…"
"Yes. Vague."
Cardinal Teo closed the Bible as he spoke.
The scriptures recorded angels, yes — but offered no concrete description.
No color. No height. No voice.
Nothing but symbols and metaphor.
"Which is precisely why it suits us."
The corners of his eyes curved with a faintly sadistic pleasure.
"Why does that suit you?"
"There are no portraits. No proper descriptions. Which means — if we make one however we like, there is no one who can find fault with it."
"Remarkable…!"
Pope Leo X was filled with admiration.
Cardinal Teo's genius never failed to astonish him. Everything the man undertook succeeded. Without Cardinal Teo, the Holy See would have sunk even lower than it had. Pope Leo X trusted him completely.
"Above all else."
Cardinal Teo continued.
"It does not matter if we create a mindless monster."
"True enough. For that angel burns sinners."
"Yes. We need only create a monster that burns people well and has six wings attached. And who in this world is without sin?"
"Have you found a candidate? Someone to serve as the vessel for the angel. Is it something that can be done with just anyone?"
"No. The soul must be fit to become the angel's subject. According to the texts, the result varies depending on the soul. A wicked soul produces nothing but a repulsive monster, while a virtuous soul yields a comparatively docile one. So we must search. For the purest soul — white without a single speck of dust — to be made into an angel…."
"…Does such a soul even exist?"
"Finding one is no problem."
In response to Pope Leo X's words, Cardinal Teo toyed with a necklace set with a hazy, milky bead.
It was a sacred relic called the Eye of Johan — one that could see through to the color of a person's soul.
It could distinguish whether a person was good or evil.
"As it happens, she was right beside me all along."
He closed his eyes, then slowly opened them.
A girl with beautiful green eyes.
Eyes that had not yet truly come to know the filth of the world.
A color that could smile sincerely even at another's lie.
The corner of Teo's mouth slowly rose.
"A soul of astonishing purity."
* * *
Matyos came face to face with Cardinal Teo.
The moment they stood before each other, Matyos felt his spine straighten on instinct.
Cardinal Teo was tall.
Not simply large — his frame drew the eye naturally upward, like a pillar stretching toward the sky.
His shoulders were composed, his back straight without a trace of excess.
His face was radiant as the sun. That was no exaggeration — he was genuinely bright.
When he smiled, the corners of his eyes curved softly and opened toward the person before him.
A face that showed no hesitation in extending goodwill to others.
The red vestment he wore was one only a Cardinal could don.
A Cardinal.
The highest-ranking clergyman, ordained by the Pope himself.
One who stood as mediator between God and man.
The most powerful person Matyos had ever met.
At least on the surface.
"A pleasure to meet you, Brother Matyos."
Cardinal Teo offered a smooth, easy smile.
"What a joy it is to meet you like this. I hope your journey here was comfortable."
His words settled gently at the end. A cadence that put people at ease.
"Yeah, sure."
Matyos answered briefly.
"That we should meet — it must be the Lord's grace."
Cardinal Teo extended his hand.
Matyos took it and shook.
Firm.
Stronger than expected.
Despite the gentle smile, his grip was solid. He applied brief pressure as if testing the other person, then released.
Cardinal Teo drew Matyos in and embraced him lightly.
A scent brushed past him. A faint fragrance of holy oil. The kind of smell one could only find inside a church.
Then he naturally opened his arms toward Tiana as well.
"And Tiana — ah, should I call you Sister here?"
"Oh, Cardinal."
Tiana laughed brightly and stepped into the embrace.
Her expression held no suspicion. She was completely open.
"Please, come inside. I was just about to begin the service."
Cardinal Teo led Matyos and Tiana into the chapel.
When the doors opened, a vast golden hall was revealed.
The ceiling soared high.
Rounded arches layered one after another. At the far end, an enormous stained glass window — red and blue and gold intermingled, drinking in the light.
Sunlight poured through the gaps and wrapped around the cross at the center.
The light passed through the cross and scattered color across the floor. As though an invisible hand had laid a filter of holiness over everything.
Even an atheist would have held their breath for a moment.
When Cardinal Teo appeared, the congregation inside the chapel brightened and gathered around him.
"Good morning, Cardinal!"
"Cardinal, I made these pastries — would you like to try one?"
"My daughter is very ill… Cardinal. Please, could you offer a prayer for her…?"
People gathered like clouds.
Some took his hand; others brushed the hem of his vestment.
"Do not worry, Sister. I will carry your prayer before God."
He met each person's eyes as he answered them.
His voice, low and gentle.
He placed a hand on each shoulder, tilted his head, and listened. It looked like kindness worn into the body itself.
"Oh…! Thank you. Thank you so much!"
Before long, Teo was being revered like a sage from scripture.
He smiled and attended to everyone. No sign of weariness. No trace of irritation.
Watching this, Tiana leaned close and whispered.
"So? Now that you've seen him in person — the Cardinal is a good person, isn't he?"
Her eyes sparkled.
Like someone introducing their own family.
But.
"I don't know."
"…Hm? You don't know?"
"I've known him for less than a day. I can't tell whether he's good or bad."
"Really? That's a shame…"
Tiana pushed her lips out slightly.
"Do you like him, Tiana?"
"Yeah, at first I was the same as you. I didn't even know what a Cardinal was. But he's been kind to me, and he even helped me study for exams. He really is a wonderful person."
"That could all be an act."
Tiana's expression stiffened.
"It's not an act. He's sincere. He genuinely believes in God and follows Him."
"Tiana. You're too pure. People are more cunning than you think. Especially people like him."
Matyos tilted his chin toward the man smiling below the dais.
"You don't actually know anything about him yet. What if the Cardinal is someone whose outside and inside don't match?"
At his distinctly unfavorable attitude, Tiana straightened her expression and said,
"…Why do you look at him so poorly, Mati?"
"…Just a bad feeling."
"Mine is just a feeling too. I felt it instinctively — that he's a child of God, the same as me."
"…"
Matyos felt a suffocating frustration.
He knew Cardinal Teo was openly a villain. He knew the man would harm Tiana.
But he couldn't say so without evidence. He'd be treated like a madman.
"Mati… it's not just that you don't believe in God — you actually dislike believing, don't you?"
Tiana's voice dropped low as she turned on him.
She liked Matyos. That was precisely why she was more upset.
"Be honest with me. You just find Cardinal Teo irritating. You only just met him too. So try to see him in a better light. Okay?"
"That's not what I—"
"I apologize for keeping you waiting."
Cardinal Teo appeared, cutting through Matyos's words.
"Ha, I'm afraid I got caught up talking with the congregation and couldn't look after you both. Now then, please, sit wherever you're comfortable."
"Of course!"
Tiana's face lit up again.
A single word from him, and the atmosphere dissolved in an instant.
Matyos watched Cardinal Teo with cold eyes. Cardinal Teo looked back at Matyos.
Their gazes crossed. Cardinal Teo smiled faintly. Whether it felt like a smirk was Matyos's imagination — or perhaps not. Cardinal Teo gave a small shrug and let Matyos's stare pass over him.
Matyos and Tiana took seats in the very front row.
Cardinal Teo ascended the dais and opened his Bible. The red vestment spread slowly and draped over the pulpit.
"Let us begin with a prayer to God, and then the service."
The prayer began.
"Our Father in Heaven, the sole Creator, the wondrous One who exists of Himself….."
"Our Father in Heaven, the sole Creator, the wondrous One who exists of Himself…."
The entire hall filled with a low, resonant hum.
Dozens of voices flowed in a single direction, and the air vibrated with a subtle tremor.
Matyos glanced sideways at Tiana.
She was reciting the prayer with reverence, a cross clasped in her hands.
Her lashes fell long and low, and her lips moved in quiet murmur. Faith was suffused through her entire face.
"…Hah."
He exhaled.
His chest felt heavy.
This vast space. This light. This chorus. This atmosphere.
And the hypocrite standing on the dais above it all.
He had no idea what to do.