Chapter 33
As the evening went on, every influential figure mingled with the others, whether for political or personal reasons. Everyone knew that an event like this might never happen again.
Unsurprisingly, the star of the evening was Adam. Standing at the center of the room, he was surrounded by guests engaged in cheerful conversation and laughter. At his side was Elara, who followed him quietly like a little kitten.
"Your Holiness, tonight's invitation truly caught us by surprise. And despite all the rumors surrounding your daughter, how did our beloved Saint come to have a child?" one of the guests asked calmly. Her voice was filled with sincerity, without the slightest trace of malice.
Her gaze drifted toward the little girl with violet hair standing beside Adam, who immediately lowered her eyes.
"My sincerest apologies," Adam replied with his usual gentle smile. "The Church's affairs occupy nearly all of my time, leaving me very little opportunity to receive guests."
Once again, he apologized for his busy schedule while gracefully avoiding the second half of the woman's question.
The two exchanged warm smiles, as though they had known each other for years. One smiled with open honesty, the other with flawless politeness and careful distance.
"So what he's really saying is, " i'm the head of the Church, therefore I owe you no explanation, isn't that right... my dear Saint?" the woman thought sarcastically, inwardly amused by the man before her.
That woman was none other than the presumed "Clara." Yet any keen observer would immediately notice something strange about her.
Unlike the Church's devoted believers, there was no fanaticism in her eyes.
Only calculation.
And suspicion.
"The Saint suddenly had a child with an unknown woman, yet she wasn't revealed to the public until she was six years old, after the last years with some rumors... There are only two likely explanations."
"The first is that she spent her entire life hidden from the world's eyes."
"The second is that she lived with her mother, or someone else, before coming here."
"I'm leaning toward the second possibility, but..."
While the conversation continued, "Clara" continued analyzing Elara's identity. If she could uncover the truth behind the girl's past, it would become an invaluable piece in her future plans.
Feeling someone's gaze resting upon her, she scanned the room before lowering her eyes toward the little girl.
With long, elegant strides, she approached Elara before crouching down to meet her eye level.
Her ruby-red eyes carefully examined the child.
A moment later, her brows furrowed in confusion.
Suddenly, a warm voice sounded from behind her.
"Miss Erina, if you get too close, you might frighten the little one."
The voice belonged to none other than Adam, who had been quietly watching her.
"She must be wondering about Elara's appearance. After all, she inherited far more from her mother than from me."
Adam observed Erina's puzzled expression with calm amusement.
However, his words shocked someone else entirely.
"Ah!"
Though quiet, Elara's startled gasp was loud enough for several nearby guests to hear.
She immediately covered her mouth with both hands, realizing such a reaction wasn't appropriate, but the information she had just heard was simply too surprising.
After letting out what sounded like a slightly exasperated sigh, Adam explained,
"Elara, the lady standing before you is Erina, Clara's older sister. Do you remember Clara, the woman we met the other day?"
Upon learning that the two women were sisters, Elara's shock quickly faded.
"That makes sense... So this lady isn't trying to steal Father away."
Erina let out a soft laugh, covering her mouth with one hand as amusement sparkled in her narrowed eyes.
At the same time, she couldn't help wondering whether the two truly were related.
"Your Holiness, you truly have an adorable daughter. Honestly, if I could, I'd be tempted to kidnap her."
She said it teasingly.
Elara's eyes widened, and she instinctively took a step backward.
Adam didn't react to the joke directed at his daughter.
Instead, he gently encouraged Elara to go introduce herself to the other children in the room.
Since word had spread that the Saint would be bringing his daughter tonight, whether to improve her public image or for some other purpose, many of the guests had brought their own children as well.
After a few seconds of hesitation, Elara finally walked away from her father.
Contrary to what she expected, however, it wasn't she who approached the others.
The children came running toward her instead.
Their enthusiasm left her bewildered.
Although many had clearly been instructed by their parents to greet her, they were still children.
In the end, their innocence and curiosity outweighed any orders they had received.
One after another, they gathered around her.
"So then, Lady Erina," Adam said once they were alone, "what is it that you wanted?"
Rather than answering directly, Erina offered him an elegant smile.
"Would you honor me with a dance, Your Great Holiness?"
It sounded like an ordinary invitation.
But Adam easily detected the sarcasm hidden beneath her words.
"Erina... one of the descendants of the noble families who, through sheer intelligence, managed to rebuild almsot the wealth they had lost. Even so, under the current laws, they'll never regain the influence they once possessed."
"More importantly... she's a member of the Anti-Sun."
"A group that rejects the teachings of both the Church and the Sun God."
"To them, the Sun God is nothing more than a fabrication, and the Church itself is evil."
"The driving force behind their movement is what I did six years ago... when I purged the nobility."
After a brief moment of thought, Adam politely declined.
"My sincerest apologies, but as a representative of both the Church and God, I cannot allow myself such intimate contact with another."
Once he finished speaking, he carefully observed Erina's face.
For only a brief instant, he noticed the faint twitch of one of her eyebrows.
Then she smiled calmly.
"Oh, not at all, Your Holiness. As God's representative, engaging in something as intimate as dancing would indeed be inappropriate."
Despite her polite words, there wasn't a trace of regret in her eyes.
Instead, her gaze drifted toward a certain little girl.
"Hmph. Flaunting his title as God's representative while having a child... What a hypocrite this man is."
"But..."
"I will never kneel before you."
"Neither before you... nor before your god."
Her jaw clenched.
If anyone could hear those thoughts, so blasphemous and heretical, imprisonment would have been her only possible fate.
Although Adam had never personally established such a law, the people treated it as an unspoken rule accepted by everyone.
It demonstrated not only the overwhelming political influence Adam held over the people, but also the ideological control he exercised.
That was precisely one of the reasons Erina, and the Anti-Sun movement, despised both Adam and the cult of personality surrounding him.
"He doesn't seek citizens."
"He doesn't even seek human beings."
"He seeks puppets."
It was the belief shared by everyone who opposed Adam and his theocratic regime.