I Became The Mafia Boss Inside The Novel

After scheduling a fight with Ragna for tomorrow, Elias didn't delay anymore and went directly to the nearby chapel where Celestia wanted to meet him.

Hajin and Ragna didn't go with him as they had their own plans. And he didn't want them around anyway when he was settling some private matters. 

Thus, he went on ahead and directly stopped in front of the chapel alone.

Elias observed the chapel in front of him.

The silent chapel, stuck in immutable ataraxy had the symbol of a female deity harnessing a holy shield on its top.

The female deity was graceful, indifferent, and headstrong as she faced the sun above.

She was Cassia, the Hallowed Mercy.

At this moment, several students wearing white robes exited the chapel and saw him. They immediately went towards him.

"Are you Sir. Elias, by chance?"

"...Yes."

Feeling confused, Elias nodded while looking at them casually. From their appearances, they seem to be part of the Followers of the Holy Orthodox Church.

The followers suddenly smiled.

"The Saintess is waiting for you inside."

"Oh... alright,"

Hearing that, Elias nodded slowly. The followers made way for him. Then, he went inside the chapel without a second thought.

Creak...

As soon as he stepped inside, he immediately saw a beautiful white-haired woman kneeling in the middle of the chapel.

The woman had her hands clasped into a prayer as she stood up slowly.

When Celestia rose to her feet, she had grace and beauty in her every movement. There was a pervasive sensation of divine allure. It was an inexplicable mystery that couldn't be explained with words, only felt.

Under the dim light of the chapel, her pale white skin and sapphire blue eyes shone with merciful light as she turned around to look at him. Her pupils as bottomless as the sea, showed no emotions and feelings.

She was as ephemeral and divine as a goddess. Indifferent and cold as a deity. Her appearance was striking and mesmerizing to the soul and mind.

For a moment, Elias was frozen in place.

"Like what you see?"

Celestia chuckled teasingly.

Elias immediately recovered from his daze. Hearing the amusement in her voice, he pursed his lips and clicked his tongue in annoyance.

"Has anyone ever told you that you would be more attractive if you didn't speak?"

"Haha, that's a funny way to deflect your embarrassment."

Celestia smiled and shook her head. She walked to one of the seats in the chapel and sat on it. She patted the other side, signaling for Elias to sit beside her.

Elias paused for a moment. He looked at Celestia calmly before nodding slowly. Without a trace of emotion, he went up and sat beside her.

It would be an outright lie if he said he didn't find Celestia beautiful and attractive right now. But that was an unavoidable feeling—he was like any other other man that lusted over beautiful things.

The difference was he knew how to tone it down and hide his attraction when necessary. In his previous life, he had no room for such emotions as love and trust, thus he learned to hide his feelings when talking with other people.

His previous life was all about survival, money - and betrayals.

There was no room for feelings of trust and romance in his past life. The time he did trust someone, he was betrayed afterward and left to darkness.

Elias shook his head calmly, shoving those thoughts to the back of his mind. He looked at the front, where a large statue of Cassia, the Hallowed Mercy was situated before opening his mouth to speak.

"So what did you want to talk about?"

"What's with the hurry? Don't you want to spend more time like this alone? I can even guide you on how to pray the Holy Cassia. That would be magnificent, don't you think? I would love to experience that,"

"Spare me, my time is limited Saintess. Besides, I don't believe in any god, but myself. So let's get to talking, shall we?"

"Boring as always, Elias Corleone. But I suppose you would say that,"

Celestia chuckled at his reply. Although that comment was a bit out of hand, she seemingly took no offense from it. She shook her head calmly and turned her gaze up front.

Looking at the symbol of Cassia, Celestia twirled her white hair with her fingertips playfully. Her smile remained as empty and distant as ever. 

"First, how was the demon?"

"So you knew afterall,"

"What? Did you think I would fall for your lies again? Fufufu, I had already sensed the demon but the signal suddenly disappeared, thus I suspect it had either escaped or hidden itself. When you wanted to be left alone, I already connected some of the dots,"

"Then why didn't you do anything?"

Elias tilted his head, slightly confused.

Celestia suddenly turned around and looked at him with a smile. She raised her hands and slowly put her fingers on his face. 

Elias wanted to dodge, but he had no more space left to pull away. If he moved back, he might fall over from the chair.

Celestia merely smirked at his amusing reaction. She touched his chin with her pale fingers, slowly tracing it towards his forehead playfully as though she was caressing a fragile toy to be treasured.

"Because it would be more interesting that way, don't you think?"

Elias fell silent for a moment. After a while, he opened his mouth and spoke with a dry tone.

"...You're messed up in the head. I shouldn't have expected much from you."

"Hearing those words from you makes my heart bloom. It means I'm one step closer to understanding evil. You make my heart flutter, fufufu~"

"...You're crazy. Downright insane, Liliana."

Celestia chuckled but didn't reply. She put her fingers back to his chin, tracing towards his face once more.

Then, she raised Elias' chin and looked straight into his eyes, confronting his abyssal dark pupils with her own empty blue eyes.

It would've been a romantic scene if it didn't feel so... off.

Celestia let out a chuckle.

"Fufufufu, we're the same type of people, are we not? I can see it in your eyes. The eyes are the window to the soul. They tell your story."

"They only tell a part of it. Not the whole. I'm not as crazy as you,"

"You can deny it, but the truth is always there. Everyone has their own evil inside them, but yours is the most fascinating I've ever seen. It looks so fragile, and soft. It only needs one push... and crack, it breaks. I'm definitely expecting that day to come,"

Elias suddenly fell silent, pushing away Celestia's fingers. Maybe what she was saying was true. Maybe he was also crazy. Maybe he was also downright insane.

But... it didn't matter. It never mattered.

He was not the type to care about anyone's opinion about him. He only cared about living first, and freedom second, and his goals third.

Everything else came last.

Elias would continue to operate like this: uncaring of others, self-destructive, and completely detached from his reality.

How else could he survive in this world?

It doesn't matter if he was destroyed and broken at the end of his path, or if he was left all alone, he only cared about the results. Perhaps that was his insanity. His complete detachment to anyone, and almost anything but his goals.

'I care about no one, but myself. is that the case? Who knows? I don't even know myself...'

Elias sighed and shook his head. He shoved such thoughts to the back of his mind for the moment. He realized ever since he came to this world, he was prone to self-reflection. He also felt like it was unavoidable.

"...Alright. Let's move on. I want to get down to business."

"Are you referring to the matter you asked beforehand?"

Celestia's eyes flickered a soft light. Elias gave a short nod. He did tell her about one of his plans during the examination before he sent them away to the academy. 

"That's right. I want to start my own club, I hope you can extend your support towards it."