Terzo knew that his time would soon come to an end. He could tell, simply from the way the Ministry was almost forcing Cardinal Copia down people’s throats. And he could see it, that his era, his beautifully crafted regime, it was all fading away, in a flicker of glitter, and the fading of applause.

But what could possibly be next? There was a muttering within the Ministry, that the old Papas would be all killed en masse, at least, that was the current gossip. Terzo couldn’t pretend that he wasn’t scared of that idea; he knew that just because maybe he wasn’t taking in fans anymore, at the rate he had on his arrival, that surely it didn’t make him a failure, right?

He knew Cardinal Copia loved him, so he wasn’t worried about him trying to sabotage his career. However, the people that were really in charge, Sister Imperator and her lackeys? Terzo had no doubt that they would inevitably get to him at some point.

His grey and white eyes almost looked haunted, as he drifted through the halls of the Ministry. It was getting harder for him to pretend he wasn’t wildly terrified. Maybe he was just being paranoid?