The Pathway Of Wisdom-Chapter 28: Conspiracy Master Alex. Part-1.

By the time Alex and Ethan finished their chit-chat, the breakfast was ready, and Alex had to leave the library with Ethan, as he couldn’t possibly eat breakfast inside the library.

The church was not doing well financially, so the breakfast was not luxurious or anything, but it was decent enough to fill the stomach.

"Oh~ these sandwiches are nice~"

Seeing Alex smile so happily after eating those sandwiches, Sister Melissa, who was a middle-aged lady, smiled happily.

"Lord Saint, you must be joking; in front of those royal palace chefs, my cooking skills are that of an amateur!"

Alex shook his head at Sister Melissa’s words and replied with a smile,

"Only when we have tasted hardships do we learn how fortunate it is to be able to eat even this one slice of bread..."

"Compared to the dry jerky I had to eat and the bland soup Ethan made... this sandwich can be considered heavenly!"

Ethan, who was also eating sandwiches, couldn’t help but give a wry smile at those words.

Even he knew his cooking skills were very bad; they were, in fact, so bad that his wife would rather not ask for his help and would tell him to stay a few dozen feet away from the kitchen lest he mess it all up.

The weird, bland soup he made for Alex was the best dish he knew!

Most of the time he was surviving while eating jerky or rations packed by his wife for him!

"Haha, Sir Ethan’s wife is a very hardworking woman; if not for her... he would have still been eating uncooked stuff even now..."

Hearing Sister Melissa’s words, Alex leaned his back against the tree as he took another bite of the sandwich.

The fresh morning breeze hit his face as he felt very comfortable sitting under the shade of the tree.

"So, you and little Ethan grew up together, Sister Melissa?"

Sister Melissa who was sitting on the left side of picnic mat smiled and explained,

"Your holiness, we were both orphans of war; our hometown was destroyed by monsters and we drifted from one place to another before we were taken in by the previous pope of the church..."

"I still remember that Sir Ethan used to be a big crybaby before he became a full-fledged paladin!"

"Sometimes I find it hard to believe that the same cry-baby is now a fearless warrior who can shatter boulders with bare hands and slay beasts with a single strike..."

Ethan whose dark past was being exposed felt awkward and embarrassed as he complained in an embarrassed tone,

"Sister Melissa, please don’t expose my shameful past to the Saint like that.... Er..."

Alex smirked at those words of Ethan and said,

"Hehe, little Ethan, I didn’t expect you to be like that before; you have really worked hard to reach your current level of strength..."

"That’s some dedication..."

Alex looked at the massive garden of the church and spoke.

"The scenery here is really nice; this is the perfect kind of place to stay and study all kinds of things..."

"I regret I didn’t get to come here before..."

Perhaps if the original Alex had grown up in the church of the god of wisdom and not in the royal palace, he might have been a much better person and more mature in general.

Children born in war, poverty, and troubled times mature the fastest, and they learn the cruel nature of the world from the very beginning compared to those who have only seen peace and abundance all their lives.

"Truthfully speaking, I am quite surprised that your holiness was able to adapt to his life as a saint so easily..."

"This place must be very backward compared to the royal capital and the royal palace-"

Before Sister Melissa could finish her words, Alex spoke up in a calm voice.

"Sister Melissa, no matter how sparkling and luxurious a cage is, the bird still dreams of flying in the sky freely..."

"To me, leaving that sparkling life behind was a catalyst for growth; only when facing hardships can I grow as an individual..."

Alex’s eyes narrowed as he said,

"A person without dream and ambitions is just an empty husk; without any dreams and ambitions, you can never achieve anything in life..."

"I will have to walk on my own ’Path’ one day or another; the journey had already started when I left the royal palace..."

Ethan’s eyes widened in shock after hearing those words from Alex’s mouth.

Up until now, Ethan was confused why Alex, who seemed quite immature when he was in the royal palace and refused to leave, had become so mature.

But only now did Ethan understand that Alex, who didn’t even know what a ’Path’ was before today, was already starting to walk on his ’Path’ of life the moment he was forced to leave the palace.

As they encountered difficulty in their way and survived, and as they met people in the town and helped them, Alex also grew up as he walked forward on his ’Path’ unknowingly.

Although that was just Ethan’s speculation, it seemed to be the most fitting reason for his sudden changes and his confidence and determination.

’If I was not a paladin... I would have already pledged my loyalty to you, Prince Alexander...’

This was the first time Ethan considered Alex to be not just the saint; this time he was impressed enough to consider Alex as the ’Prince’ of the nation!

"Phew~ the breakfast was amazing Sister Melissa, but now we have to take our leave..."

"Ethan, let’s go... We have work to do now..."

Ethan was confused about what work Alex was talking about, but he didn’t question it, got up, and followed behind him.

"Where shall we go next, Lord Saint?"

Hearing the question, Alex smiled and replied.

"Don’t question anything; just follow me silently. It’s an order of your saint and unless you want to be an obstacle in the rise of our great church, don’t question me..."

At Alex’s words, Ethan shut up and didn’t ask a single question after that as he followed his saint silently.

...

Sister Melissa watched Alex and Ethan leave for a long while before taking a long sigh of relaxation.

She got up, tidied the place, and went back to the kitchen with a relaxed smile on her face.

"Sister Melissa, how did your meeting with Lord Saint go?"

"What was he like? Is he really a spoiled, immature person, as the rumors say?"

The moment she entered the kitchen, several sisters and others working there asked her the same question and looked at her with curiosity.

Hearing the question, Sister Melissa shook her head and replied in her usual calm voice,

"The rumors are false. Who even spread these rumors? They are complete nonsense!"

"He’s won the trust of Sir Ethan, and you all know that Sir Ethan is a good judge of character, so you don’t have to worry about those false rumors!"

"From now onwards, respect him the same way we respect the pope himself! Anyone who disobeys will be punished!"

Hearing Sister Melissa’s words, everyone was surprised and finally heaved a sigh of relief.

Dealing with a spoiled brat with immense power and influence is a really dangerous task; everyone loved their life and didn’t want to get in trouble.

It was only human to be cautious of danger; there was nothing wrong with them worrying about Alex’s personality.

What they all didn’t know was that letting them weaken their guard was the real motive of Alex in the first place.