1-1.

Mishael. A 29-year-old cardinal who was appointed to the grand temple of Lycius three years ago. He became a priest immediately upon being ordained at the age of 24 due to his innate holy power, was promoted to high priest two years later, and was dispatched to the Lycius archdiocese in recognition of his devout faith, upright and noble character, strategic and political acumen.

His true worth became apparent after he arrived in Lycius. Lycius was a politically unstable region of conflict with no designated successor. Naturally, various nobles formed factions and vied for power, and with the royal heirs fighting among themselves, the royal authority had long been undermined. It was then that the dispatched high priest took it upon himself to be the judge of the corrupt nobility, quelling the chaos within noble society.

Not only that. His beauty, enough to naturally lead one to praise the Lord, his polite and kind nature to everyone, his elegant tone, and his high level of education that seemed to flow naturally from him. The nobles of Lycius, who suddenly appeared to stir up their shameful secrets, came to worship him as an apostle of the Lord before they could even envy him, naturally increasing the authority of the church in Lycius.

As a result, last year, the Pope appointed him as the Cardinal of Lycius, a position that had been vacant for some time.

If there was one flaw in him, it was only the young lady of the Marquis of Parma who mocked and despised him as a whipping boy in his youth. Now that she too disappeared from social circles along with the extinction of the house of Parma, he was now an utterly perfect Cardinal.

“Now, if there are no more comments.”

The meeting room where all the priests of the grand temple of Lycius had gathered. The heated discussion on the royal succession issue in Lycius and strategies for activities as supporters of the third princess continued throughout the morning. The Cardinal’s assistant priest who acted as the moderator looked around the room before catching the Cardinal’s eye for a momentary conclusion.

His prominent brow bones leading down to his straight nose, the sharp tip of his nose, lips solemnly closed. In secular terms, his deep-set eyes and well-shaped lips would be described as sensual, but to the priests who revered the holy power he represented, he was the strict apostle of God himself.

The third princess’s dog. In some circles, called so for strictly rooting out corruption and depravity in Lycian noble society with divine wrath as sharp as his gaze. With no one daring to meet his gaze, he nodded slightly towards his assistant priest.

“Yes. Then, let’s conclude here.”

“Thank you for your hard work.”

Ding! Ding! As soon as the assistant priest rang the bell to announce the end of the meeting, the Cardinal rose from his seat.

“I’ll go ahead.”

“Thank you for your hard work.”

“Please go ahead.”

“Rest well, Your Eminence.”

Today too, behind the Cardinal who left first so that his subordinates in the meeting room could freely continue their discussions, the priests much senior in age sent him respectful greetings.

“Goodbye, Your Eminence.”

“Goodbye.”

“Are you heading to your residence? Rest well.”

“Rest well too, sister.”

Throughout his walk to his residence located behind the grand temple where his private office and living quarters were situated, not a single wrinkle disturbed the Cardinal’s composed face. Even as he strode forward with long steps, members of the grand temple passing by sent him admiring glances.

The noble and beautiful Cardinal loved by all in the church.

“Will you go straight in?”

“Yes. I’m a bit tired.”

“Understood. I will organize the content of today’s meeting separately so you can see it when you come to the office tomorrow. Rest well.”

“You always work hard.”

“It’s my pleasure.”

At the entrance of the residence. After receiving a respectful greeting from the assistant priest who always felt honored to serve him closely, the Cardinal parted ways with him and went up the stairs. Unlike the first floor where his office and audience room were located, the second floor was entirely his personal space. As soon as he reached the top of the stairs, he briskly crossed the reception area towards his bedroom. Neither his study, where he usually spent time, nor his private chapel could catch his attention even for a moment.

As he opened the bedroom door, which was sealed with a divine barrier preventing anyone from entering, a darkened interior that hadn’t seen a ray of sunlight for days appeared. Thick curtains hung down to the floor on each window, and a candle that must have been burning continuously for ventilation was emitting its last smoke.

When he closed the door behind him, even the light seeping in from the reception area disappeared, leaving only faint daylight filtering through gaps in the curtains as the sole source of light.

The Cardinal picked up a candle dripping with wax and lit a lamp. As soon as the room brightened faintly, he roughly pulled back the multi-layered opaque canopy.

On a bed luxurious enough to rival that of any noble mansion lay a figure. Farthest from him, in a corner, crouched a woman. Wearing nothing but a coarse tunic like a dress, one of her ankles was chained to a bedpost.

Next to her on a bedside table was a bowl of stew with its surface covered in congealed oil from cooling down, untouched, as evidenced by the spotless spoon next to it. The jug filled with water hadn’t been touched at all, either.

“…Oh dear. You haven’t eaten anything again.”

The Cardinal uttered without a hint of pity as he slowly surveyed the scene inside the bed. The woman suddenly raised her head and glared at him through her disheveled hair. Her green eyes sparkled fiercely like those of a cat.

Impassively receiving her furious gaze, the Cardinal chuckled through his nose and began to pull back another side of the canopy.

“Will this make you eat?”

As he pulled back the canopy on her side and sat down next to her…

Ptui!

His eyes slightly distorted. Though the action was akin to spitting, since she hadn’t eaten or drunk anything all day, nothing came out. With nothing to wipe, he simply snickered without even pretending to rub his face.

“Ah. Is this how you protest from thirst?”

The moment one corner of his mouth twisted upwards.

“……Grhg!”

His hand quickly grasped the woman’s neck. Because her throat and mouth were dry, she couldn’t even cough properly and just choked. When her face turned red as her airway was blocked.

“……”

Cardinal Mishael chuckled and let go of her neck like he was pushing it away. It was natural for her to collapse since a healthy adult man had thrown her down, especially since she hadn’t eaten properly before or after being brought into this room.

“Miss Lily.”

Lionella’s face twisted with confusion. The thirst that had dried her mouth and the hunger that made her dizzy had all disappeared.

Cardinal Mishael, through his holy power, had healed her.

Seeing that she had grasped the situation, Mishael’s eyebrows drooped with a look of pity. His handsome lips curved into a slight smile.

“I’m truly sorry… As I’ve said repeatedly, harming yourself like this poses no threat to me.”

With that, he gently narrowed his eyes and smiled beautifully. The lustful smile that no one in the church had ever seen before made Lionella’s face crumple.

Pleased, Mishael chuckled briefly and stood up.

“Well, then.”

He began unbuttoning the collar that half-covered his neck.

“Shall we proceed with today’s task?”

Then he touched the shackles on her ankles, and a halo of light appeared, clicking open the lock and dropping them off. As soon as that happened, Lionella curled up defensively, glaring at him. Even though her legs were freed, she had neither the strength nor the means to run away but showed her will to defend herself as much as possible.

Mishael’s eyes gleamed ominously as he looked down at her. A murky light that no one who praised him could imagine.

“What would people think if they knew you were such a bastard!”

“No one knows but you, so it doesn’t matter, Miss.”

“I’ll kill myself!”

Left with nothing but screams of frustration, Lionella clenched her eyes shut and struggled, but Mishael simply twisted his lips into a smirk.

“Didn’t I just tell you.”

“……Humph!”

“Threats of self-harm don’t work.”

He soaked a linen cloth in a jug filled with water, wrung it out inadequately, and stuffed it into Lionella’s mouth as a gag. The water she refused to drink moistened her mouth and trickled down her throat involuntarily. Lionella glared at Mishael with undiminished hatred in her eyes.

“You can do anything except die.”

He grabbed both of Lionella’s wrists in one hand and fastened them with the shackles that had been on her. They tightened snugly around her wrists in response to his holy power.

Click, click. Following that, the sound of metal clashed while his pants bulged with his already stiff dark-red c*ck.

“Do you know how much effort I put into bringing you here…”

“Hmph…!”

He rubbed the tip of it, spreading the prec*m over the gl*ns before spreading her slender legs one by one and kneeling between them. Because she wore no undergarments beneath her tunic, her legs spreading caused the hem to roll up, exposing her p*ssy directly to the air. He then thrust his c*ck straight into the trembling insides of her unmoistened p*ssy.

Ah! The size of his fleshy shaft piercing through made Lionella cry out from her mouth gagged with linen. She turned her head away without looking at Mishael even from the corner of her eye and fixated her gaze far away.

“Hah…”

Regardless of her reaction, Mishael closed his eyes, indulging in the sensation of her dry inner walls clinging stickily to the surface of his c*ck. Though it wasn’t their first time, he always remembered it being tighter than expected because he inserted it abruptly every time.

F*ck… A sigh of pleasure mixed with self-mockery echoed.

Mishael spread Lionella’s legs wider, holding onto her calves and pulled them back before thrusting in again with a thud! The recoil made Lionella’s pupils dilate. Because she wasn’t aroused, it felt like a blunt impact, almost numbing, as if her walls were being struck hard enough to sting.

The bedroom’s master showed no mercy. He repeatedly thrust his thick p*nis in and out as if telling her to adapt to the repetitive pain on her own. He thrust as deep as possible even though there was still a lot left uninserted at the base of his p*nis.

“Do you remember.”

Thud! Mishael thrust his hips long once.

“The royal palace banquet two years ago.”

Thud! He thrust in again at full speed.

“The day you ran into Lord Aleph.”

Thud! Once more.