The Gaze

“Amore, if you plead guilty now, you still have a chance to reform. The Holy State will treat every devout believer with kindness.”

The Presiding Judge's voice was majestic and vast, sounding as if it came directly from Heaven. Her figure grew blurred and faint, rendering her face obscured.

She had used the transcendent creation in her hand known as the “Hammer of God.” From this moment on, the trial would proceed under the Lord's watchful gaze.

【You shall not show partiality, nor favor the high or low, nor fear any face, for judgment belongs to the Lord.】

The spectators in the gallery turned their heads in astonishment, among them many knowledgeable high nobles who immediately recognized the Presiding Judge's current state.

Such an occasion was exceedingly rare. If Amore stubbornly refused to plead guilty, perhaps they would be fortunate enough to witness the Lord Himself hand down judgment.

When that time came, not even the Tribunal would have the right to interfere with the outcome.

Does God pervert justice? Does the Almighty pervert righteousness?

Yet the girl clenched her fists tightly. Even as the vast, overwhelming pressure pressed down on her, she did not waver in the slightest.

“I am innocent.”

This was the third time she had uttered those words.

Even facing the gaze of the Lord, even with her future fate resting entirely upon Him, Amore did not utter a single additional word in her defense.

She had already said everything there was to say countless times. Yet even so, they still insisted on putting her on trial. In their eyes, she was guilty regardless, and whatever fate befell her was deserved.

She was simply unwilling to accept it. The candle the youth had once lit in her heart had now turned into a roaring inferno.

Amore raised her head high, revealing her fair, slender neck. Her gaze seemed to pierce through the dome of the Tribunal, through the vault of heaven, to lock eyes with that exalted existence on high.

She said, “When I was as insignificant as an ant, You never took notice of me. So now, You have no right to pass judgment on my life either!”

As the girl's words echoed, everyone present paled in shock. Even the Presiding Judge, her hand gripping her gavel, couldn't help but tremble slightly.

Everyone knew that “God loves all people,” yet the Lord's gaze would never favor anyone. For the girl before them to be bold enough to practically accuse Him was unthinkable.

Yet what caught everyone even further off guard was that, as if responding to the girl's accusation, a sacred and majestic voice echoed from the void.

It said, “Then let one who is qualified judge.”

The moment those words fell, all divine phenomena settled back into quiet. The Presiding Judge's body solidified once more, her stern expression returning.

Yet no one understood the meaning behind those words—even Amore herself stood dazed.

The Presiding Judge looked at Amore with an increasingly solemn expression. If even the Lord acknowledged that He was not qualified to judge Amore, who else could? Was this trial destined to end in such a rushed, inconclusive manner?

No! Since the Lord had spoken—“Then let one who is qualified judge”—it meant that the person qualified to judge Amore's crimes was surely on their way and would arrive soon.

“Open the doors!” The Presiding Judge took a deep breath and shouted to the knights guarding the Tribunal.

In the next moment, the grand doors swung wide open. Sunlight poured over the aisle between the seating sections on both sides, like a golden carpet laid out to welcome an impending guest.

Everyone turned their eyes toward the entrance, including Amore, who was kneeling on the floor. If even the Lord possessed no right to judge her, she did not believe anyone else could.

Then, under the watchful gaze of the crowd, the slender figure of a youth appeared amidst the brilliant sunlight.

Wearing a crown and draped in holy robes, he stepped onto the golden carpet, walking inside step by step. The image of the youth walking bathed in light burned itself deeply into everyone's hearts. The scene felt both sacred and natural, every gaze following him forward, forward, and forward again, until he stood at the very center of the Tribunal.

“Your Holiness!”

“The Holy See!”

“Your Holiness!”

Exclamations broke out across the room. None of them had expected that the judge spoken of by the Lord would be this young Pope. A sinner whom even the Lord had no right to judge, yet His Holiness possessed that very right!

In that instant, while everyone marveled that he was the one who had come, Amore felt a painful tightness in her chest.

She stared blankly at the youth, knowing in her heart that if it was him, he truly was qualified to judge her crimes.

Because even God had never cast His gaze upon her; only this youth had once looked down at her, bestowing his gentleness.

Lu Li had arrived in a hurry and did not yet know what had transpired inside the Tribunal, but since the trial was not over, it meant he had arrived just in time.

“In that case, I shall preside over the trial from here on. Does anyone object?” Lu Li said, turning his gaze toward the Presiding Judge seated at the magistrate's bench.

He had thought seizing control of the trial from the Presiding Judge would be a rather troublesome process, but to his surprise, the moment he spoke, she immediately agreed.

“Since Your Holiness has arrived, the remaining verdict shall be decided by Your Holiness!”

The Presiding Judge yielded readily. Having already been at a total loss for how to resolve the situation, she now felt a sense of relief.

Setting down her gavel, she rose and stepped down from the bench, quickly making her way to the gallery and taking a seat at random.

Lu Li breathed a quiet sigh of relief. Without glancing at Amore, who was kneeling to the side, he strode up to the judge's bench.

As the youth sat down at the judge's bench, everyone's eyes followed him there.

Every single person present felt utterly fortunate to have come today. Had they missed such a thrilling trial, they wouldn't have known how long they would regret it.

This was Lu Li's first time sitting at the judge's bench. He had no experience presiding over a trial, but that didn't matter—he had experience judging sinners.

Finally, Lu Li's gaze fell upon the girl kneeling on the ground. She lowered her head without a word, her silver-white hair falling over her shoulders and her fists clenched tight. She looked as though she had suffered immense grievance, appearing somewhat pitiful.

Strictly speaking, this was not the first time Lu Li had observed Amore from such a close distance—he had even been much closer in the past. However, this was his first time meeting the girl face-to-face since integrating his memories.

Why did this feel like meeting an online friend in real life...?

“Raise your head,” Lu Li spoke.

Wearing his crown and holy robes, he possessed a natural air of authority sitting at the bench. Even though his face still retained a touch of youthfulness, no one dared to underestimate him.

At his words, Amore clenched her fists even tighter. Biting her lower lip, she slowly raised her head.

For a brief moment, she truly wished she could die right then and there. If she died, he wouldn't have to see her in such a humiliating state, right?

Lu Li looked at her. The girl's features could not be called exquisitely refined, but they were remarkably pure and clear. With clear eyes, a neat straight nose, and long silver-white hair falling over her shoulders, she possessed a distinct charm of her own.

“Amore, do you know your fault?” Lu Li asked slowly.

Here, he used “do you know your fault” rather than “do you plead guilty”—a single word's difference made a world of disparity.

Lu Li had originally expected the girl to defend herself, or at the very least pour out her grievances to him so that he could naturally clear her of her charges.

He never imagined that Amore's tears would fall the moment he spoke, nor did he expect her to plead guilty directly.

“I... am guilty,” the girl choked out, tears surging uncontrollably from her eyes.