CHAPTER 1035: CHAPTER 1035: CLARIFYING AND ALIGNING MOTIVES

For Pope Elsevier, it was also out of duty and a sense of responsibility.

She already knew the Pope had a great sense of responsibility, and this further emphasized it. And he was right indeed.

There was a great power imbalance between humans and the long-lived races who had powerful abilities.

One would indeed not be too careless to offend them or speak their mind openly when faced with beings with extraordinary abilities and skills like them. It was understandable why other mates would have been scared to honestly spill their thoughts.

Without knowing the truth about Ferdinand in her past life, Arabella was already too afraid to speak her mind honestly, what more if she learned the truth of his identity without going through a second life?

She may have chosen differently, like the others did.

She only had the courage to make this choice because of experiencing a life she had heavily regretted and getting the chance to know Ferdinand’s real feelings.

If not, she may be among the other mates who needed the help of Pope Elsevier to get out of her relationship.

"As for what they suspect of me, I never intentionally tried to break apart a relationship that was working well.

They simply did not notice that the other party kept their fears until an option was presented to them.

Again, all I do is offer an option.

The same is true as to why I wanted to speak with you alone.

If you are having second thoughts or wondering if you have another option, then I am the right person to speak with about it.

As I said in Medius, I am your greatest ally when it comes to matters about your relationship with the long-lived races.

Whether you decide to go to Estrella or escape from them, I will support you.

This is why I’m checking in on you again, to know if you still haven’t changed your mind about your former decision,’ Pope Elsevier explained.

"I see... I am honored and grateful for your support, Your Holiness.

However, as the protector of humans, are you not against the long-lived races increasing in number the more offspring they have?

I mean, what if once their population has stabilized, they decide to conquer and rule humanity like they did in the past?" Arabella asked to get more answers for the worries of Ferdinand and the others.

She also needed to know the Pope’s thoughts about this, since, as Ferdinand’s mate, she would give birth to their children. How would the Pope deal with children of mixed races?

"Ah, is this one of their concerns?" Pope Elsevier immediately caught on.

’Oops. Honestly, can he read minds?’ Arabella looked away in embarrassment at her motives getting noticed immediately, and the Pope chuckled.

"It’s alright. I understand why they have their worries.

It’s instinct to protect one’s kind after all. Especially the young ones.

Rest assured, there’s no cause for concern.

I have lived with long-lived races in the past.

I have seen them freely walking on the streets and having homes here and there.

I mingled with a lot of them and understood they have emotions, worries, strengths, and weaknesses like we humans do.

I know they are just like us, except they have different forms, have more inclination toward magic, and live so much longer.

Like us humans, some of them are nice and kind, while some may be ruthless and evil.

We are just the same - existences created by the Gods to live in this world. Thus, we equally have the right to live and reproduce.

I also had a lot of friends among them, but all of them are dead now because of my inventions.

If you or they are worried I might be up to something to sabotage their current repopulation scheme, well, I am not.

The gods themselves have created this system to help the long-lived races recover, and I have no right to stop it when I was partly to blame for all of this happening.

The increase of their population is not something I am against as long as they follow the rules the gods have established after the Great War.

I would prefer that they recover because, as I said, I am partly to blame for their current predicament.

I will only interfere if humans are being forced against their will to head to Estrella or become mates,’’ the Pope clarified. "Did they tell you to ask this?"

"No, it was my own curiosity. I wanted to understand the reason behind all this and your Holiness’ perspective on this matter,’’ Arabella replied honestly.

She was relieved that all the Popes’ replies were true. She could hear his thoughts, and he was not spouting lies.

’’I see. It’s good that you are trying to understand both sides. I do hope your husband and long-lived races are truthful with not wanting another Great War,’’ Pope Elsevier said.

This time, it was the Pope trying to get truthful answers from her about the long-lived races’ real motives.

The Pope believed that since Arabella herself is human and had a human family and friends, she would care enough to tell him the truth about this matter.

’’Yes, Your Holiness. They are not into another Great War.

After Ferdinand told me the truth, this was among the first questions I asked.

I am human, so of course, I had to ensure I am not with someone who would someday dispose of me and kill the rest of humanity.

I chose to stay with him because I am sure he and the long-lived races had no plans to eradicate humanity completely as revenge for the past Great War.

They find no meaning in it either.

They have already lost too many people to even consider losing more.

Everyone I have met among them so far has only wanted to live peacefully and focus on improving themselves simply for the satisfaction of achieving what they wanted to do.

Ferdinand and the others do like fighting, but only in duels or small fights to practice their abilities, not in unnecessary wars that only brought more headaches and paperwork later,’’ Arabella assured the Pope.

There are rumors of Ferdinand being a literal warfreak, but it was not out of the pleasure of being in the battlefield.