Chapter 54: The Androgyne

Kayden Metternich, the Cardinal of the Empire, and the nominal head of the Church, had been feeling increasingly weary lately.
He paused from reviewing the documents in his hand, his gaze focusing on a letter.

“Ophelia…”

He looked at the gilded sacred seal on the envelope and fell into deep thought.

Of course, it wasn’t due to any loyalty to the empire or faith in the Holy God…

Perhaps, when it came to faith in the Holy God, no one in the entire empire could surpass the Saintess.

The thought of that golden-haired, golden-eyed woman made Kayden feel a sense of dread, even though he was far superior to her in both age and experience.

The selection of the Saintess was not decided by him. The Saintess would become the Saintess “no matter what.” For the empire, the existence of a Saintess was a rare occurrence that happened once every few hundred years.

The Saintess bore the mark of the Holy God, the [Blessing of the Holy God], which was granted to only one person in an era.

Ophelia, the beloved daughter of the Holy God, often looked at him with scrutinizing eyes, as if she wanted to see through his disguise and expose the shadows deep within his heart.

“You don’t believe in God at all. How could you become the greatest person in the church?”

He remembered that day, his first encounter with this girl. She was covered in thorns, like a thorny rose.

Dressed in ordinary coarse cloth, she had come to the church alone. The moment she entered, countless holy artifacts inexplicably played a symphony, and the dome of the church emitted a dazzling light.

Such a sacred aura had never been recorded in the history of the empire.

He smiled and led Ophelia into the church:

“What are you saying? As the Cardinal, I am naturally a devout believer.” Kayden’s face was wreathed in a smile. He hoped to win over this Saintess to serve as a cornerstone for him to further grasp power.

In fact, the empire had many believers, especially for the Saintess, the messenger of the Holy God. Believers called her an “angel,” believing her to be a messenger from heaven.

Kayden was by no means a kind person. At first, he was just an obscure little priest in a border city. Perhaps heaven took pity on him, letting him meet the benefactor of his life—the previous Cardinal.

In fact, Kayden was a homosexual, or perhaps it was more accurate to say he had a preference for feminine men.

In the empire, love between women was praised, while men were persecuted. Once the fact of “homosexuality” was discovered, they would be subjected to an inquisition.

Of course, many nobles might have various strange preferences, but they all managed their relationship with the local church well.

And Kayden, being within the system, intended to climb to the top of the system to change the entire world.

“Only female homosexuality is recognized, not male homosexuality. This world is too strange.”

“I, I want to change this world!”

That day, his self-talk was overheard by the passing Cardinal. He recognized Kayden’s talent and brought Kayden from the border to the center of the empire, and appointed Kayden as his successor.

Naturally, after many struggles for blood and power, he was the final victor.

He had held great power in the church for more than a decade, and could even challenge the Duke of Hohenzollern who controlled the central region. Unexpectedly, the moment Ophelia appeared, many people turned to her.

“Your eyes… are not the eyes of a believer.” Ophelia said lightly, her words like the tip of a knife piercing his heart.

Having been immersed in the mortal world for more than a decade, how could he still speak of faith?

“…”

“And I don’t want to work with someone with such a dirty heart. This is what ‘my Holy God’ told me.” The moment Ophelia turned her head away, it was destined that he could not coexist peacefully with her.

Kayden was surprised by the girl’s pure faith. He really wanted to see her expression after her faith collapsed. It would surely be a delicious experience. Unfortunately, the girl’s decades-long faith shattered his prejudice.

Kayden tapped on the table, freeing himself from his past thoughts. He picked up the letter. It was a letter delivered urgently by a land dragon. The contents of the letter made him fall into deep thought.

He had already received the news of Ophelia’s disappearance. According to his observations, this disappearance was different from the previous ones. The entire Saintess faction had fallen into an inexplicable panic—perhaps something unexpected had happened.

He knew that Ophelia was secretly conducting experiments on demonic beasts. Taking advantage of her disappearance, he sent people to secretly release the demonic beasts into the forest, planning to reveal later that they were the Saintess’s pets.

As long as the demonic beast had indeed “killed people,” and Ophelia was not present, he could refrain from sending a subjugation team.

“In this way, even the Saintess’s prestige will be damaged.”

In the struggle for power, any small mistake would be fatal.

For example, the various secret human research projects he had funded throughout the empire…

“Although Ophelia has been investigating me, I have always hidden it well.”

“But, she suddenly appeared at the hidden experimental site…”

“And she chose to ignore it even when she clearly noticed?!”

The news was so incredible that he didn’t know how to think for a moment.

“Perhaps, as the letter says, she simply doesn’t care.”

How could that be?! A rare opportunity to strike at his power, and even to overthrow him, and she just ignored it?

Kayden paced around the room anxiously, thinking carefully. After much thought, he could only think of two possibilities.

“There are two possibilities.”

“First, she has broken through to the extraordinary realm.” Reaching the extraordinary realm meant having the strength to sweep away everything.

He shook his head, dispelling the thought. Even if Ophelia was talented, to break through to the extraordinary realm, she first had to have a “fortuitous encounter.” In this world, the number of “fortuitous encounters” was pitifully small.

“Second, she has found a backer… or an ally.”

Knock, knock.

A knock sounded on the door.

He quickly burned the letter on the table and stood up.

“Your Eminence, there is a guest requesting an audience.” The priest bowed slightly, revealing the person behind him—he had an impression of that person. In the past, he had met him several times when he paid a visit to the Duke of Hohenzollern. What was his purpose in coming here?

“Your Eminence, on this trip, I have something to offer, and also a request.” He looked at the priest with his eyes. The man clapped his hands, and two attendants carried in a woman with a beautiful face.

“A woman?” Kayden frowned. Was this to cater to his preferences or to insult his sexual orientation? He temporarily suppressed the anger in his heart and looked at the messenger with a questioning gaze.

“No, Your Eminence, this person is definitely a top-quality… top-quality for you. If you don’t believe me, you can check for yourself.”

Kayden was skeptical. He walked up and touched the woman’s nether region—there was nothing.

“!” His eyes widened. If his imagination was correct… this might be!

An androgyne, a race said to have gone extinct two thousand years ago. Because they possessed neither male nor female sexual characteristics, they quickly went extinct.

“This is really…” He smiled and clapped his hands. There was no gift more precious than this. “What is your request on this trip?”

“We want to fight against Ophelia’s alliance,” he paused, “Please form an alliance with us!”