Chapter 240
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“Pope Dustin, it is a pleasure to see you again.” I said and sat down right next to him on a bench in one of the noble parks. It was a rather calm day with the sun shining through gaps in the clouds. There were even a few servants out, going on a walk with their master´s dogs and a few young couples.

“Your holiness.” He said quietly and made me draw my hat deeper. Quite a few nobles knew my face at this point, and I seriously didn´t want to talk to them right now. “You wanted to speak to me?”

“Certainly … you wouldn’t hide anything from me, would you?” I asked, surprising him quite a bit.

“… I wouldn’t dare.” He said, serving a lie like it was nothing.

“I will fall into a coma of some sort in around two months.” I stated and looked into his eyes.

“… I must admit I have rudimentary knowledge about this fact. Should we go for a little walk?” Slowly, I closed my eyes and then nodded. I stood up, opened my eyes once more and strode through the thick snow through the park.

“Can you tell me more?” I asked after we made a few steps.

“I fear not. The scriptures are very vague.” At least he wasn’t lying this time. I really wished he was though. I was planning for something I had no idea about, and that made everything I was doing possibly pointless.

“Hmm … I see. Have the gods ever spoken to you?” I asked and tilted my head.

“No. This honour has not been given to me yet.” He declared and interlocked his finger in front of his belly.

“What if I told you the gods want me to go on a journey?” I asked a bitterness in my voice I rarely used as Lucy White.

“You would be very well versed in following their advice…” As always, he was quite faithful. So faithful in fact that he didn´t question anything I uttered as long as I claimed it was from the gods.

“I fear the current situation will spiral out of control.” I stated and stopped as a young couple strolled past us arm in arm.

“You think these murders were only the beginning?” Murders? No, these murders were a thing of the past. Ironically, even he couldn’t see behind the ugly façade ‘The Crown’ built up to hide our real intentions.

“There is no reason not to … something will happen, and the gods do not wish for me to interfere.” I stated with a saddened voice.

“The ways of the gods are unfathomable.” Surely, they were, but so were mine, apparently. The gods had nothing to do with my actions after all. Everything was orchestrated by me, and me alone.

“They want change … and I won´t stand in their way, even if it means more and more deaths. And I won´t even be capable of picking up the shards afterwards.” I stated, pressing a few tears out of my eyes.

“Allow us to assist, your holiness.” He said, stopped and gave me a white handkerchief. Smiling a bit, I took it and dried my cheeks with it. It only took a little while for me to ‘calm down’ though.

“Do whatever it takes to keep casualties low, but do not interfere in whatever happens otherwise. I do not wish for anything else.” I said quietly.

“Your wish is my command.” He said and went on his right knee. I never expected a Pope to swear loyalty to me, but in his eyes, I was truly the ideal saint. Knowledgeable about the ugly side of humanity, but still striving to improve the lives of the majority. He wasn’t a bad man, he was just a bit too focused on his own ambitions and didn´t care to throw others out of the window if it meant making the world a better place.

“Pope Dustin, I was told someone died at your hands, is that correct?” I asked and knelt down in front of him.

“… I fear it is.” He said, his hands still interlocked in front of him.

“Are you repenting for what you have done?” I asked and placed my palms around his hands.

“Every single day.” He stated. This Pope was truly an interesting fellow. He murdered, knew that his goddess would condemn his actions and proceeded to torture himself.

“Are you regretting what you have done?” I asked and looked into his eyes. He was crying, even though he possibly didn´t even realize it himself.

“No …” He said, his voice filled with sadness.

“Have you done it for a good cause?” I asked and used his handkerchief to dry his tears.

“I did what I believed was the best for humanity.” He said, looking at me as if I was some kind of saviour … well, I probably was one, but I didn´t want to.

“Irminsul has forgiven you.” I said with a slight smile on my lips and leaned forwards. My lips touched his forehead lightly, making me feel his warmth. “I have forgiven you, so let´s make this world a better place, together, and with all the other churches.”

“Gladly.” He said. Luckily, I had found such a great follower in him, which was probably the only positive side effect of that mess. I only needed one respectable pope on my side, for a reason he didn´t even know yet. And it was certainly not to unify all the churches or help a few peasants.

“Thank you. We will see each other in four weeks when everything is over.”

“We will wait for you, no matter how long it takes.”

“I have nothing but a selfish request left. Could you take over the orphanage? I fear I won´t be able to help these kids out in the future.”

“I … we will do everything in our might.”

“Farewell, my saviour.” I curtsied and extended my arm, the palm of my hand directed towards the floor. He bent downwards and kissed my thick gloves slightly, bowed after that and smiled brightly as I turned around to get back towards my carriage, happy that everything worked out so well.

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