First of all, I couldn't believe the Pope of the Seventy-Two Churches had really gone out of his way to protect this irredeemable idiot; yet again, the Pope was quite old, and it was said that a child born late in life was especially precious. Clearly, Hellstar had grown into this because of the environment he was raised in.0

If Hellstar had been ten years younger, perhaps I wouldn't have gone as far as smashing his face. No. I still would have.3

In fact, there was no need to involve the Iron-Blooded Lord. There were countless ways I could manipulate this idiot. Setting aside the fact that he was the Pope's son, I could have sought help from Glenn, a member of the imperial family, or even raised the issue publicly during my upcoming audience with the emperor. It would have been a breach of etiquette, but this wasn't a problem to dismiss lightly. I doubted I would face severe punishment.0

I didn't want any of that, though. I didn't want Glenn's help or the emperor's, and I certainly didn't want the Iron-Blooded Lord inv...0