CH:13
The news that the emperor had announced the reestablishment of diplomatic relations with Reed began to spread. Rumors also circulated that a delegation from Reed would soon visit Escliffe. Naturally, the eyes of the people of Escliffe turned toward the northern country—Reed.
“I’m going to the prayer room for a bit.”
Of course, this had nothing to do with Amelia. She neither understood political matters nor knew that the false revelation she had conveyed had caused Ivan to lose his mind. She lacked the perspective to even grasp that causal relationship in the first place.
That’s why she could step into the prayer room so calmly, trembling only with anticipation and excitement.
“Ivan?”
Amelia opened the door leading to the prayer room and called out Ivan’s name. But there was no reply. Tilting her head in puzzlement, she walked to the center of the prayer room. He usually showed up by this point, but today there was not even a late sign of his presence.
“Ivan, it’s me.”
Amelia whispered his name again, glancing around to see if he might be hiding on purpose. But even after the heavy clouds covering the ceiling cleared, there was no sign of him. The light filtering through the stained glass wove its pieces like chains, illuminating the empty prayer room.
“…Is he a bit late?”
Amelia murmured as she turned in a full circle to check her surroundings. She never doubted he would come. He had promised to meet again next week, so she firmly believed he would show up.
“I’ll wait.”
Turning her body, Amelia gazed at the altar. It was the place where she once sat side by side with Ivan. She scanned the floor just in case, but thankfully, there were no traces of alcohol. She let out a sigh of relief.
“When will he come…?”
She sat in the same spot as before. Beneath her white dress, her small feet tapped restlessly, revealing her boredom and nervous anticipation.
“I’m here to pay my respects to the priestess.”
Reaching Amelia’s room, Louis informed the guards of his purpose.
“She’s stepped out for a bit.”
The guards calmly replied that Amelia was not in her room.
“Where did she go?”
“To the annex prayer room.”
Louis frowned.
“Again? Who accompanied her?”
Amelia wasn’t devout enough to visit the prayer room regularly to pray to God. Especially since she was, by her very nature, a fraud pretending to be a divine agent. Once might be excused as needing alone time, but repeatedly—something was off.
“No one. We were instructed to let her do as she pleased for a while, and the priestess expressed a desire to go alone…”
The guard answered cautiously. Since Louis had given those instructions, he couldn’t accuse them of laziness or dereliction of duty. After all, they didn’t know Amelia’s true identity.
“Alright. I’ll go check myself.”
Louis sighed and turned around, heading toward the prayer room. Since the place had long been neglected, the path was as deserted as the loosened vigilance suggested.
“…”
Something’s definitely up.
A faint tension appeared in Louis’s eyes. He truly pitied Amelia for having to bear so much responsibility simply by being born. But Louis was a member of the House of Skipper. He had no intention of destabilizing the pillar that supported them all. In fact, he had been assigned to stay close to Amelia precisely to prevent her from spouting nonsense to others.
“The priestess wished to go alone…”
Recalling the guard’s words, Louis stopped in front of the door to the prayer room. Steeling his expression as if making a decision, he pressed his ear against the wooden door instead of calling her name.
“…”
He furrowed his brow with deep concentration, but no sound came through. Only a heavy silence lingered.
Is she really praying? That can’t be it.
Thinking that, Louis opened the door just a crack. Fortunately, it opened slightly without a creak.
“Hmm…”
He sighed softly. On the other side, Amelia was sitting alone at the altar. Her expression blank, she looked as if she were lost in thought, her foot tapping irregularly on the floor. Her small shoulders glowed pale under the moonlight, all of her figure seeming painfully fragile.
“They said something about the upcoming Coming-of-Age Night.”
Perhaps she truly needed time alone. Whatever Aaron had told her, it certainly couldn’t have been good news.
Let her be.
With that thought, Louis turned away.
“I’m curious what she’ll do with the freedom she’s been granted. I just hope she’s not entertaining foolish thoughts.”
If Aaron asked again about Amelia’s recent behavior, Louis planned to say she simply seemed to need time alone to sort through her thoughts.
“I’ve prepared the list.”
Aaron nodded. A sheet of paper with a few names neatly written lay on the table.
“These are people who likely need to be permanently expelled.”
The names on the list were those facing permanent expulsion. Aaron skimmed over them with an indifferent gaze and a faint smile. Martin, Jerry, Ricky, Roman—none of them familiar names.
“Did they commit offenses serious enough to warrant permanent expulsion?”
Aaron asked, and the priest in charge of apprentice priests nodded. He oversaw their management.
“They’ve done things no priest should ever do.”
He pointed to Martin. Apparently, he had engaged in an inappropriate relationship with a devotee. Jerry and Roman had been caught drinking with women at a tavern and were dragged back by holy knights.
“And this Ricky fellow?”
At the mention of Ricky’s name, the priest shook his head in exasperation.
“He’s the worst of them all.”
“What did he do?”
Aaron asked, and the priest let out a heavy sigh.
“Honestly, Jerry and Roman were influenced by Ricky. He was the first to sneak out and wander taverns. Three years ago, he even stopped showing up at the temple.”
At first, Ricky said his mother was sick, so they occasionally allowed him to stay out. But when no one seemed to care anymore, he completely disappeared after three years as an apprentice priest.
“He recently returned to the temple… but only about once a week. Even then, he would leave soon after arriving. No one here even remembers what he looks like. And since he’s never been disciplined, the others probably thought they’d get away with it too and began misbehaving.”
“His conduct outside the temple is even worse—he drinks, smokes, gambles. All of it.”
“It’s definitely a serious problem.”
Aaron clicked his tongue. Even Aaron—who knew that the god and the priestess were fabrications—would never engage in such behavior. So the harsh assessment made sense.
“Is there no chance of reform? He once walked under the name of the god.”
“I’ve tried to guide him with a shepherd’s heart, but I believe it’s now beyond my reach. We must set an example before others are further corrupted.”
The priest spoke with resolve. He had taken in Ricky, a starving boy, and made him an apprentice, so he felt responsible—but now believed it was out of his hands.
“If you say so…”
Given how firmly the priest felt, Aaron saw no reason to argue for Ricky’s retention. He didn’t care about the life of a faceless young man.
“Still, leaving a group always brings emotional turmoil. Tell them to pack and leave by next weekend.”
The priest nodded at Aaron’s words.
“You may go now.”
With that, he folded the list and tucked it into his robe before leaving. The moment he was gone, Aaron relaxed and leaned back into his chair.
“You seem to have a lot on your mind.”
Truthfully, while hearing the names on the list—which he didn’t care about—Aaron had been thinking of Amelia.
“I found it suspicious that she was alone in the prayer room, so I followed her. But she really was just sitting alone at the altar.”
Louis had said Amelia was alone in the empty prayer room. But Aaron found it hard to believe that at face value.
Usually, people caved either with a carrot or under threat of death. But Amelia, though she remembered her sister’s death, feared what might have happened to her when she tried to flee, and understood how her mother had been discarded, still didn’t stop defying him. She stubbornly refused to accept the role she’d been given.
Of course, she hadn’t dared to try escaping again.
“…”
So then… could she be trusted?
A faint trace of contemplation passed over Aaron’s expressionless face.
