The realisation hit him like a physical blow. It was a surprise he hadn't prepared for, and the look on his face betrayed a deep-seated shock.
He had never expected to find other traitors hiding in plain sight among his own people. He had believed—entirely incorrectly—that the angels fully trusted his capabilities and had granted him total autonomy.
He didn't understand the nature of the beings he served. He didn't know how treacherous and meticulously cruel those angels truly were.
They never trusted anyone; it was a fundamental truth I had learned through blood and fire from dealing with them since the start of this nightmare. To an angel, an ally is just a tool that hasn't broken yet.
However, once he realised he now had a stable source of income and access to a hoard of other treasures, he finally stopped his incessant nagging. The greed for resources was a powerful sedative.
