It was all coming together so nicely, this deception of his. Behind his blank facemask, his smile was of predatory glee as he observed the orphan’s interactions with the mighty Gold Saints. Without even having to order it or suggest it they were letting her into their lives, letting her worm her way into their hearts and earning their affections. Even his volatile Cancer Saint was grudgingly opening up to her.

Yes, it would be no surprise for them when he revealed her to be their Goddess made flesh given the way the little girl was unintentionally wrapping them around her little finger. All he needed to do was watch and wait until the perfect moment to make the grand announcement. Of course in this time he shall in raise up in the girl unwavering loyalty to him, to Sanctuary. It wouldn’t be hard at all – given her status as an orphan, her lack of family – with her desperate need of affection and acceptance.

The chords of Lyra Orphée’s lyre mingled with the child’s untrained voice and the Silver Saint smiled down at her benignly. From where he stood, the false Pope could clearly see the little girl sitting in the lap of the peasant girl Eurydice that the Saint was engaged to marry. With the fact both the young woman and little girl had blonde hair and were garbed in white, they almost appeared like a family, a pair of doting young parents with their precious child.

Saga frowned behind his mask, his disposition turning sour.

Orphée would do anything for his beloved Eurydice, including betray the Sanctuary if she asked him to. With his impressive abilities, his fantastically powerful Cosmos, he could become a threat to the Gemini Saint’s plans. And given the fact that Eurydice would often appear to mother the girl, draw the three of them in like a family unit, it could mean many things and most of them were not favorable along with Saga’s plans. The girl had to be orphaned, she had to keep that emotional dependency on him most of all, as she grew to make her loyal without question to him, to the Sanctuary.

He would have to investigate the matter further then take action. Because after all he had done and all he had sacrificed, it would not do for his deception to be discovered now, not when everything was falling into place so nicely.

In only a couple days he found his suspicions confirmed and that Eurydice had been looking for Athena’s Nurse, the woman he had killed right after Pope Shion when she tried to block his way into the Holy Nursery. She had been a local and the friend of Eurydice’s aunt, so her ‘disappearance’ hadn’t gone as unnoticed as he had previously believed.

In the guise of a servant of Gemini Temple, he had followed her discreetly, with his hair died brown and his garb plain to blend in with the surrounding people. He stalked her as she entered that field of flowers where she and the Lyra Saint would meet.

‘That’s right, it’s almost time for Orphée bring Angie for one of her singing lessons,’ the False Pope recalled. He smiled -- a cruel, feral expression -- that twisted his handsome features; how fitting that she’d be found by them, in this place of tranquility and fond memories.

She was a mere civilian so she had no way to even fight back against his Demon Emperor Fist, didn’t even have time to fight back as the technique consumed her mind. Like a sleepwalker she moved through the field and her foot came down on the venomous serpent she clearly would have seen and avoided in other circumstances. The Demon Fist unraveled as the snake struck and she cried out in pain as she collapsed near the large flat stone Orphée would sit on and play for her and the future Messenger.

Turning away, the False Pope’s smile was equally vicious as it was victorious. He was out of their sight, his Cosmos suppressed when he heard Orphée’s anguished voice and Angie’s confused cries for her Mama Eurydice to awaken went unanswered.