“Everything will go according to our plan.”
Bishop Bevich muttered with confidence.
The accusation of using black magic was a serious matter.
Even the Cardinal of the Archdiocese of Yesak, a leading candidate for the next Pope, performed pagan sacrifices in his own home with the help of a Moorish witch.
The Etruscan kingdom, especially San Carlo, which was commercially prosperous and had a large Moorish population, was relatively tolerant of pagan practices such as divination.
It could have been passed off as just something for women to do to pass the time.
However, in countries where heresy trials were rampant, such as the Kingdom of Salamanta or the Kingdom of Gredo, or countries where faith held an absolute position, such as the Northern Sea Union Kingdoms, it would have been an incident where they should have been dragged away, crucified, and burned at the stake.
Even a normal person would have done it. But a candidate for the papacy? That was an absurd disqualification.
And the conclave was a voting assembly of Cardinals from not only the Etruscan kingdom but the entire Catholic world.
If Cardinal de Mare is removed, the cardinalate of the Archdiocese of San Carlo will belong to Bishop Ciriani himself.
“Hehehe, hehehe.”
Of course, even if Cardinal de Mare became the Pope, the Archdiocese of San Carlo would naturally remain vacant, but Bishop Bevich did not want that to happen. Bevich gritted his teeth and declared:
“de Mare is a man who should not become the Pope.”
Cardinal de Mare, a pragmatist, did not promote Bishop Bevich, who liked to gather power and show off.
Not only did he not write much, but Bishop Bevich read contempt in Cardinal de Mare's eyes as he looked at him.
“How dare you, Bevich! You are such a fool!”
In Bishop Bevich's view, Cardinal de Mare was a man who wasted every opportunity that came his way by pretending to be noble on his own.
At present, Leo III's court is devoid of nobles worthy of being ministers. It has been like this for the past ten years. It is not because there is absolutely no talent.
The King's capriciousness changed with each change of season, so the upright people fled to the local fiefdoms, and there was no one left to serve the King with devotion, and so it came to this.
Usually, when there was a vacancy in the secular nobility, a high-ranking clergyman who was a self-made man would take the place.
If Bishop Bevich were to become Leo III's Minister of the Household, the power he would wield would be enormous. The amount of money he could embezzle and the wealth he could embezzle would be limitless.
“If that stupid de Mare had just filled that empty space, he would be living a happy life now, pretending to be neutral and holding his head up high, and he’s so great...!”
Of course, he was saying this without knowing the details.
Bishop Bevich himself would not have tried to influence the King, let alone hold out until his son-in-law succeeded to the throne, if his own daughter had been secretly married to the kingdom's only Prince.
But Bishop Bevich had no children of his own and was unaware of this situation.
He was simply embarrassed and fearful of the accession of Cardinal de Mare, who was not friendly to him, to the papal throne.
He had recently stabbed the former Pope in the back for drug trafficking by the Cardinal's son.
The story was that cigarettes laced with wax powder were being distributed to San Carlo, creating drug addicts.
Pope Louis seemed to be listening intently, but soon returned to joking around with de Mare.
'That means... there's no way the dead Pope didn't tell de Mare about the stabbing I did.'
Bishop Bevich most feared that Cardinal de Mare would promote someone other than himself to be in charge of the Archdiocese of San Carlo.
Then he will have to end his life as a bishop of a small diocese forever.
"Hey."
Ippolito suddenly spoke to Bishop Bevich, who was lost in thought. Bishop Bevich looked at the gloomy child with gloomy eyes.
Even though he wasn't his biological father, Ippolito was the guy who didn't even blink an eye when he cursed at his father, who raised him. He didn't give off a good impression.
As expected, the level of questions was also miserable.
“When this is over, you’ll treat me to a meal, right?”
Bishop Bevich laughed inwardly at Ippolito's stupidity. He was so stupid that he felt sorry for de Mare for raising such a child.
'There's no way you'll be of any use after de Mare is removed!'
If this were successful, Ippolito's only supporter, his father, the Cardinal, would be overthrown. That wasn't the only problem.
If Cardinal de Mare's accusation of using black magic is accepted and the Cardinal fails to ascend to the papacy, Ippolito will become the son of a devil and a witch who uses black magic.
The witch's child is a young devil. On the day that de Mare fell from power, that guy was also sent to the stake.
'You should be grateful that they don't just throw you into the Tiber River and kill you...'
But instead of hitting Ippolito on the back of the head, Bishop Bevich just smiled broadly.
“That’s true.”
The only reason he wasn't thrown straight into the river was because the conclave closed without de Mare's overthrow being confirmed.
If by any chance he ever needs evidence for his claims later on, he will need Ippolito.
Even this idiot didn't hand over the original evidence to Bishop Bevich, saying he was using his brain.
If he had given it all to Bishop Bevich, Cardinal de Mare would have been taken to the Inquisitor before the conclave closed, and there would now have been only twenty-six Cardinals, but Ippolito chose the troublesome path.
Bishop Bevich had no choice.
“If Cardinal de Mare loses the votes due to his black magic and someone else becomes the Pope, the new Pope will have no choice but to look to ‘us.’”
Bishop Bevich wanted to say 'I', but in an attempt to fool Ippolito, he used the word 'we', which made the rhythm of the sentence subtly creaky.
If someone were to defeat the current frontrunner, Cardinal de Mare, Bishop Bevich had no doubt that Cardinal de Mare would lose, the new Pope, emerging from the conclave voting booth, would seek to eliminate his greatest enemy.
The easiest way was the heresy trial.
Send out the Inquisitor to torture Cardinal de Mare, and in the meantime, find Bishop Bevich, get him to give you concrete evidence of black magic, hold a public trial, and then burn him at the stake, and everything will be fine.
It's the perfect rival purge.
Bishop Bevich smiled broadly as he thought about who the new Pope would be, who would come to deal with him.
'Arcandelle? Vittelbausen?'
Each will present different benefits depending on their style. He thought long and hard about how to present what he wanted.
Until then, if he keeps this piece of de Mare well, it's okay to throw it away after that.
Bishop Bevich spoke to Ippolito in a friendly voice.
“Don’t worry, just hide well in the shelter I prepared for you. Don’t get caught by that vicious friend who’s chasing you.”
What did the dock say? He was truly a strange person whose face he would never see. If he had just studied quietly at home, he would have been someone he would never have met.
Bishop Bevich could not understand at all how the son of a successful Cardinal could incur the resentment of such a man.
Bishop Bevich said to Ippolito, thinking that blood that resembles one's mother cannot hide anything.
“Don’t wander around outside. Stay low for the time being.”
If this guy gets caught by some weird guy and gets busted before the results come out, it's going to be a big problem.
“The results will be made public to the world without me having to contact you separately.”
It was a happy dilemma to see who would be the Pope.
Alfonso's prediction that his father-in-law would emerge as Pope in three days was wrong.
Even after a week, which is the length of time a normal conclave should take, let alone three days, the College of Cardinals did not come out.
Ten days, eleven days, twelve days... Eighteen days, eighteenth days...
From the balcony behind the chapel, only black smoke rose, signaling the end of today's meeting.
Then, on the afternoon of the twenty-first day after the Conclave's doors closed, noises were finally heard from within.
“Look over there, there’s white smoke on the balcony!”
Someone's jubilant voice tore through the square. White smoke rising from the conclave was a sign that a new Pope had been elected.
People flocked from all over San Carlo to the square in front of the Basilica of Saint Ercole to witness the birth of a new pope.
The men clenched their fists in excitement and waited for the results, and the women bowed their heads and prayed while counting the beads on their rosary necklaces; all of them agreed.
May a new Pope be elected and lead us, the poor and needy, to a better place.
Ariadne, who came out to the square every morning and afternoon to stamp her work ticket at the time when elections were held inside, was the first to notice the white smoke rising from the signal fire.
Despite Giuseppe's warning that it was dangerous, she wanted to be right there at the scene.
Ariadne, her face brightening, followed the crowd to the front row.
It was to secure a place where one could be the first to see the face of the new Pope, the face of his father.
The white marble balconies of the Basilica of Saint Ercole soared toward the sky.
White smoke was coming from here. There seemed to be some noise inside the balcony.
Soon, someone came out onto the balcony. It was Cardinal Fraverti, the youngest of the College of Cardinals.
“Dear brothers and sisters, a new Pope has been elected!”
The square was filled with the sound of swallowing. The young Cardinal shouted at the top of his lungs.
“The new pope is... His Holiness Justinian VIII!”
Bishop Bevich muttered with confidence.
The accusation of using black magic was a serious matter.
Even the Cardinal of the Archdiocese of Yesak, a leading candidate for the next Pope, performed pagan sacrifices in his own home with the help of a Moorish witch.
The Etruscan kingdom, especially San Carlo, which was commercially prosperous and had a large Moorish population, was relatively tolerant of pagan practices such as divination.
It could have been passed off as just something for women to do to pass the time.
However, in countries where heresy trials were rampant, such as the Kingdom of Salamanta or the Kingdom of Gredo, or countries where faith held an absolute position, such as the Northern Sea Union Kingdoms, it would have been an incident where they should have been dragged away, crucified, and burned at the stake.
Even a normal person would have done it. But a candidate for the papacy? That was an absurd disqualification.
And the conclave was a voting assembly of Cardinals from not only the Etruscan kingdom but the entire Catholic world.
If Cardinal de Mare is removed, the cardinalate of the Archdiocese of San Carlo will belong to Bishop Ciriani himself.
“Hehehe, hehehe.”
Of course, even if Cardinal de Mare became the Pope, the Archdiocese of San Carlo would naturally remain vacant, but Bishop Bevich did not want that to happen. Bevich gritted his teeth and declared:
“de Mare is a man who should not become the Pope.”
Cardinal de Mare, a pragmatist, did not promote Bishop Bevich, who liked to gather power and show off.
Not only did he not write much, but Bishop Bevich read contempt in Cardinal de Mare's eyes as he looked at him.
“How dare you, Bevich! You are such a fool!”
In Bishop Bevich's view, Cardinal de Mare was a man who wasted every opportunity that came his way by pretending to be noble on his own.
At present, Leo III's court is devoid of nobles worthy of being ministers. It has been like this for the past ten years. It is not because there is absolutely no talent.
The King's capriciousness changed with each change of season, so the upright people fled to the local fiefdoms, and there was no one left to serve the King with devotion, and so it came to this.
Usually, when there was a vacancy in the secular nobility, a high-ranking clergyman who was a self-made man would take the place.
If Bishop Bevich were to become Leo III's Minister of the Household, the power he would wield would be enormous. The amount of money he could embezzle and the wealth he could embezzle would be limitless.
“If that stupid de Mare had just filled that empty space, he would be living a happy life now, pretending to be neutral and holding his head up high, and he’s so great...!”
Of course, he was saying this without knowing the details.
Bishop Bevich himself would not have tried to influence the King, let alone hold out until his son-in-law succeeded to the throne, if his own daughter had been secretly married to the kingdom's only Prince.
But Bishop Bevich had no children of his own and was unaware of this situation.
He was simply embarrassed and fearful of the accession of Cardinal de Mare, who was not friendly to him, to the papal throne.
He had recently stabbed the former Pope in the back for drug trafficking by the Cardinal's son.
The story was that cigarettes laced with wax powder were being distributed to San Carlo, creating drug addicts.
Pope Louis seemed to be listening intently, but soon returned to joking around with de Mare.
'That means... there's no way the dead Pope didn't tell de Mare about the stabbing I did.'
Bishop Bevich most feared that Cardinal de Mare would promote someone other than himself to be in charge of the Archdiocese of San Carlo.
Then he will have to end his life as a bishop of a small diocese forever.
"Hey."
Ippolito suddenly spoke to Bishop Bevich, who was lost in thought. Bishop Bevich looked at the gloomy child with gloomy eyes.
Even though he wasn't his biological father, Ippolito was the guy who didn't even blink an eye when he cursed at his father, who raised him. He didn't give off a good impression.
As expected, the level of questions was also miserable.
“When this is over, you’ll treat me to a meal, right?”
Bishop Bevich laughed inwardly at Ippolito's stupidity. He was so stupid that he felt sorry for de Mare for raising such a child.
'There's no way you'll be of any use after de Mare is removed!'
If this were successful, Ippolito's only supporter, his father, the Cardinal, would be overthrown. That wasn't the only problem.
If Cardinal de Mare's accusation of using black magic is accepted and the Cardinal fails to ascend to the papacy, Ippolito will become the son of a devil and a witch who uses black magic.
The witch's child is a young devil. On the day that de Mare fell from power, that guy was also sent to the stake.
'You should be grateful that they don't just throw you into the Tiber River and kill you...'
But instead of hitting Ippolito on the back of the head, Bishop Bevich just smiled broadly.
“That’s true.”
The only reason he wasn't thrown straight into the river was because the conclave closed without de Mare's overthrow being confirmed.
If by any chance he ever needs evidence for his claims later on, he will need Ippolito.
Even this idiot didn't hand over the original evidence to Bishop Bevich, saying he was using his brain.
If he had given it all to Bishop Bevich, Cardinal de Mare would have been taken to the Inquisitor before the conclave closed, and there would now have been only twenty-six Cardinals, but Ippolito chose the troublesome path.
Bishop Bevich had no choice.
“If Cardinal de Mare loses the votes due to his black magic and someone else becomes the Pope, the new Pope will have no choice but to look to ‘us.’”
Bishop Bevich wanted to say 'I', but in an attempt to fool Ippolito, he used the word 'we', which made the rhythm of the sentence subtly creaky.
If someone were to defeat the current frontrunner, Cardinal de Mare, Bishop Bevich had no doubt that Cardinal de Mare would lose, the new Pope, emerging from the conclave voting booth, would seek to eliminate his greatest enemy.
The easiest way was the heresy trial.
Send out the Inquisitor to torture Cardinal de Mare, and in the meantime, find Bishop Bevich, get him to give you concrete evidence of black magic, hold a public trial, and then burn him at the stake, and everything will be fine.
It's the perfect rival purge.
Bishop Bevich smiled broadly as he thought about who the new Pope would be, who would come to deal with him.
'Arcandelle? Vittelbausen?'
Each will present different benefits depending on their style. He thought long and hard about how to present what he wanted.
Until then, if he keeps this piece of de Mare well, it's okay to throw it away after that.
Bishop Bevich spoke to Ippolito in a friendly voice.
“Don’t worry, just hide well in the shelter I prepared for you. Don’t get caught by that vicious friend who’s chasing you.”
What did the dock say? He was truly a strange person whose face he would never see. If he had just studied quietly at home, he would have been someone he would never have met.
Bishop Bevich could not understand at all how the son of a successful Cardinal could incur the resentment of such a man.
Bishop Bevich said to Ippolito, thinking that blood that resembles one's mother cannot hide anything.
“Don’t wander around outside. Stay low for the time being.”
If this guy gets caught by some weird guy and gets busted before the results come out, it's going to be a big problem.
“The results will be made public to the world without me having to contact you separately.”
It was a happy dilemma to see who would be the Pope.
***
Alfonso's prediction that his father-in-law would emerge as Pope in three days was wrong.
Even after a week, which is the length of time a normal conclave should take, let alone three days, the College of Cardinals did not come out.
Ten days, eleven days, twelve days... Eighteen days, eighteenth days...
From the balcony behind the chapel, only black smoke rose, signaling the end of today's meeting.
Then, on the afternoon of the twenty-first day after the Conclave's doors closed, noises were finally heard from within.
“Look over there, there’s white smoke on the balcony!”
Someone's jubilant voice tore through the square. White smoke rising from the conclave was a sign that a new Pope had been elected.
People flocked from all over San Carlo to the square in front of the Basilica of Saint Ercole to witness the birth of a new pope.
The men clenched their fists in excitement and waited for the results, and the women bowed their heads and prayed while counting the beads on their rosary necklaces; all of them agreed.
May a new Pope be elected and lead us, the poor and needy, to a better place.
Ariadne, who came out to the square every morning and afternoon to stamp her work ticket at the time when elections were held inside, was the first to notice the white smoke rising from the signal fire.
Despite Giuseppe's warning that it was dangerous, she wanted to be right there at the scene.
Ariadne, her face brightening, followed the crowd to the front row.
It was to secure a place where one could be the first to see the face of the new Pope, the face of his father.
The white marble balconies of the Basilica of Saint Ercole soared toward the sky.
White smoke was coming from here. There seemed to be some noise inside the balcony.
Soon, someone came out onto the balcony. It was Cardinal Fraverti, the youngest of the College of Cardinals.
“Dear brothers and sisters, a new Pope has been elected!”
The square was filled with the sound of swallowing. The young Cardinal shouted at the top of his lungs.
“The new pope is... His Holiness Justinian VIII!”
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