She prayed desperately. That Saul’s life hadn’t been ruined because of a mere prophecy, because of the timing of his departure. And that his barely sustained breath wouldn’t be destroyed by this unfulfilled prophecy. Please. Show mercy. That’s what she prayed for.

But when Catherine met Samuel’s gaze, she realized the cold truth. Samuel’s solemn whisper reached her like something fractured and disjointed.

“I don’t know how Lady Cavendish came to know this, but…”

“That prophecy was indeed about the two Cavendish brothers.”

There was no point in hoping…

“At such a young age, there couldn’t be others with such significant divine grace.”

Catherine closed her eyes in despair, realizing that God’s mercy never reaches everyone. Her clasped hands fell limply. Thud. They dropped against her thigh.

The sensation of her hands hitting her thigh brought David back to his senses. He had been listening to Catherine and Samuel’s conversation in a daze, blinking in confusion at their rapid exchange. He couldn’t understand any of it—Samuel declaring himself a prophet, the sudden mention of a prophecy, and how he and Saul, the Cavendish brothers, were entangled in it. David stared blankly at Samuel’s wrinkled face and asked.

“…What are you talking about?”

With his thoughts in complete disarray, David asked again. Even to his own ears, his voice sounded bewildered.

“Why are Saul and I involved in this prophecy?”

Powerful divine grace? He couldn’t understand what that meant. David was thoroughly confused.

David knew he possessed holy power. He had vaguely sensed it before, but he learned of it definitively at the age of eighteen. Six years ago, when Saul had just become the master of Cavendish, David enrolled in the theological school on Saul’s orders. The priest assigned to him then informed David that he possessed holy power.

However, the priest instructed David to keep this fact secret. When David entered the theological school, he was eighteen—older than other students who typically enrolled at fifteen or sixteen, but still too young to possess divine grace.

The manifestation of divine grace varied from person to person, but it generally appeared only after one turned thirty. Cases like David’s, where divine grace was discovered at such an early age, were extremely rare.

The priest explained that in such cases, there was a high possibility that David would immediately become a formal priest and be summoned to the Central Temple before he was ready.

He worried about the problems that might arise if David’s divine grace was revealed at such a young age before he was prepared.

“Even Father Gabriel was summoned to the Central Temple that way and suffered for quite some time. The devout aren’t always righteous.”

That was when David first heard about Father Gabriel. Though the priest was reticent, David, raised as the second son of an ancient family, understood the implication easily.

The temple, being a gathering of people, harbored its own conflicts that could claim victims. This assumption wasn’t far off, as the priest mentioned Father Gabriel and then advised David.

“Father Gabriel’s divine grace was discovered after he became a priest, so your situation is different. It will be revealed eventually, but it’s better to prepare as much as possible beforehand. So keep your divine grace hidden for now. I’m the only one with divine grace here, so it shouldn’t be difficult to conceal.”

For the past six years, David had been receiving private instruction from his assigned priest while continuously hiding his divine grace. Without any unusual events, this would have been his final year doing so. Since David’s time at the theological school was limited, he was scheduled to become a formal priest when spring arrived after winter.

However, David’s divine grace wasn’t particularly remarkable. Though he didn’t understand when the priest first told him, he knew now. David’s divine grace wasn’t strong enough to identify himself as a numbered candle like Father Gabriel, and it was quite weak compared to his assigned priest’s.

David’s divine grace had merely appeared at a somewhat early age, with nothing else special about it. So if Samuel truly heard that prophecy, it would more likely refer to Father Gabriel than the Cavendish brothers.

“…Aren’t you mistaken about something?”

David simply couldn’t understand why he and Saul were involved in the “powerful divine grace” Samuel mentioned. The gap between what Samuel was saying and what David had observed and felt was too great.

Moreover, David had one more reason to believe that powerful divine grace had nothing to do with the brothers. He frowned, thinking of Saul.

“And… Saul has no divine grace.”

When David pointed this out, Samuel shook his head. He rubbed his wrinkled face momentarily, looking like someone struggling to explain a difficult concept. “It’s hard to explain clearly, but…” He exhaled softly and continued.

“The moment I saw you both long ago, I was certain this prophecy concerned you two.”

Samuel’s eyes were extraordinarily clear as he spoke. They conveyed an unwavering truth, difficult to comprehend yet absolute. His face reflected firm conviction, suggesting that doubting him would be wrong. His certainty was unyielding.

“And the Count possesses divine grace as well.”

“…Saul?”

David found this particular claim difficult to accept. The prophecy belonged to a realm he knew nothing about, so perhaps Samuel was right about that. But divine grace was different. Those with divine grace could recognize others who possessed it.

If Saul had divine grace, David should have noticed when he saw him. Yet since returning to Cavendish, David hadn’t sensed even a grain of divine grace.

Noticing David’s skepticism, Samuel nodded silently. Finding it difficult to explain, he hummed softly, organizing his thoughts.

“Hmm.”

The sound escaped his lips like a groan before he finally spoke.

“And the Count…”

David couldn’t see Samuel’s face clearly as he tried to say something. He suddenly realized that it had grown completely dark. And just as he realized this—

Flash! Lightning struck. Startled by the light surging from behind, David instinctively turned around. White light washed over his vision again. He narrowed his eyes. The shattered light scattered in sharp fragments across his field of vision.

Patter. Before the afterimage of light could fade, he heard rain hitting the window. David blinked at the sudden change. In that brief moment, the scenery outside had completely transformed. The dry landscape that had been calm without a drop of rain was now covered in a storm.

Just like the day David returned to Cavendish, heavy rain was pouring down. It was so dark that one couldn’t see an inch ahead through the fierce wind.

This wasn’t normal weather. Belatedly sensing a faint strange power, David turned in alarm.

“Samuel…!”

But Samuel was gone.

Before he could assess the situation, a sound like the sky breaking apart reached his ears. Then another flash of light struck. In that momentarily brightened space, David realized that his arms were empty as well. White and black. In that instant where light and shadow intertwined, there was only one human shadow. David rose abruptly with an ominous feeling.

“Catherine!”

He shouted, but no answer came. All that returned was his own voice, bouncing off the walls.

“Samuel!”

David called out again, but still no response. Only the sound of fierce wind hitting the windows echoed from all directions. It sounded like countless people clinging to the windows, pounding them incessantly. David hesitantly stepped back, then stopped when he bumped into a low table.

“Oh God.” Just as he habitually murmured, moving his lips, light flashed again.

Flash! Amidst the long-stretched white and black afterimages, David saw a shadow extending to his feet. He stopped murmuring and stared at the spot quickly hidden by darkness. It was definitely something that hadn’t been there moments before.

The shadow he glimpsed was behind David. Its rounded, elongated shape looked like a person standing. He couldn’t tell who it was. The only certainty was that whoever stood behind David was neither Samuel nor Catherine.

An indescribable chill ran up his spine. David froze, unable even to blink. Belatedly, he noticed a faint presence that had been masked by the harsh sounds from outside. Tap. A sound like something being tapped. A very shallow sound.

Confirming he hadn’t seen wrong, light flashed again. Tap. Once more, as a dark shadow stretched out, he heard a sound like fingertips tapping on a desk. Tap. The light quickly faded and the shadow was buried in darkness, but the sound didn’t stop. Tap. It continued.

Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap…

Almost as if waiting for David to turn around.