Cedric Vornhart - a name that sent terror in the hearts of his enemies. The kingdom was blessed with prosperity after his rule, he was called the sword of God. With a ruthless heart he conquered the land and led the kingdom with his bloodied hands.

He has everything, money, power, respect, and a harem of beauties at his peck and call. So why? Why did his wretched mind stay focused on one lowly servant? If it was some young maid he could have just added her to the harem, not that anyone could depose him. But it was some plain-faced man - that had to be the work of the devil, it must be. Because otherwise..

Because if it was not the Devil, then it was him. Because the rot would not be external but seated in his own soul—proof that no amount of conquest, no edict sealed with gold and blood, no procession of women paraded before altar and court could scour it out. He named it temptation, then heresy, then divine punishment, cycling through the language of bishops and jurists as if words might cauterize instinct. In the half-light of his chamber, amid relics and censers, he begged God to take it from him—that sickening desire he has for another man—or failing that, to give him the strength to destroy its source. Yet the terror that hollowed his chest was not desire itself, but what it implied: that the Sword of God might be bent.