The New Pope

Jules nodded. "I know."

Lina looked somewhat confused.

Her gaze swept over the intricate, delicate mechanical structures on Jules's face, yet she could not guess what this man was thinking.

"You're just going to surrender without a fight?"

"How could I?" Jules chuckled. "Of course I'll resist to the death. I'll send out every army of the Holy See and fight the prince's forces to the bitter end."

"Knowing you can't win, you're still going to send them to their deaths?"

"Why not? I was planning to take revenge on the Candlelight Society anyway. Now that the Holy See is being destroyed, I'm quite happy." Jules spoke unhurriedly.

Lina's eyes flickered.

She knew about Jules's background—he and Isaac had both originally been Investigators, only to be discarded by the Holy See. Though the Candlelight Society had kept the matter under wraps, they could not hide it from her.

It made perfect sense for Jules to take revenge on the Candlelight Society and bury it in one fell swoop.

Yet Lina still felt that something was off.

She stared at the man before her. Jules wore a bored expression as he removed the triple crown from his head and set it on the table. With a flick of his finger, he sent it spinning.

Like a childish, bored little boy.

But this was the man who had endured in silence for years before toppling the entire Candlelight Society in one stroke. He had secretly manipulated his own niece into becoming Pope, and now he had personally put on the crown. For all she knew, he might have killed all those Secret Keepers himself.

Could someone like that truly be so free of desire?

Lina's voice carried a hint of probing. "You seem more human to me. Those mechanical priests of the