The priest’s cautious demeanor seemed excessively solemn for merely addressing a dejected child. Catherine found this strangely unsettling.

His attitude differed from what might be expected of someone with a polite disposition or someone kind enough to show respect even to a child.

Instead, it resembled the comfort one might offer to a colleague or friend who had suffered a great misfortune, someone deserving of respect.

Simultaneously, it appeared like the cautious approach of someone afraid to interfere in a matter beyond their reach.

Perhaps this was excessive speculation. Catherine shook her head. The priest’s demeanor had been visible for only a moment; she might have misinterpreted it.

Even if the priest had indeed displayed an unusual attitude, it could simply reflect his polite nature. It might be nothing more than a meaningless memory from the past.

Yet despite her confused thoughts, Catherine knew there must be a reason why the evil thing deliberately showed her this scene from Saul’s memories.

“Why do you say such things again?”

Confirming her suspicion, while Catherine remained confused by her complex emotions, the priest’s quiet voice reached her from some distance ahead.

“I swear to God, there was no falsehood in what I told the Count.”

“I truly heard it and merely relayed what I heard.”

Despite the distance that had grown between them as Catherine stood at the edge of the corridor, the priest’s voice reached her with strange clarity.

Catherine blinked in surprise at his polite, soft voice. There was strength in the priest’s voice as he asserted that he had truly never spoken a falsehood.

Yet something about his tone seemed odd. Catherine clenched her hand, unaware that her knuckles were turning white. The priest’s answer didn’t sound like words spoken with unwavering faith that couldn’t be doubted.

Simultaneously, she felt a sense of déjà vu, as though she had heard a similar conversation not too long ago.

Suddenly, the vague anxiety whose form she couldn’t identify seemed to slowly raise its head above the surface. Her hands trembled. As her clenched palms grew numbingly cold, Catherine shivered.

She couldn’t understand why the priest’s kind tone felt so chilling.

“…but.”

Before Catherine could recall anything, young Saul’s muffled, unclear voice caught her attention. His disheveled hair, visible at the crown of his head still buried in the priest’s shoulder, swayed lightly.

She glimpsed the priest’s gaze briefly looking down at him. The priest asked in a calm tone:

“Are you troubled?”

The priest had stopped in his tracks once more.

“Young master, look at me.”

He gently gripped young Saul’s shoulders again and slowly pushed him upright.

“Please look at me.”

Saul, who had been stubbornly keeping his face buried in the priest’s shoulder, reluctantly faced the priest who was trying to comfort him, but kept his gaze lowered.

“But thanks to you, weren’t we able to prevent greater suffering?”

The priest said, meeting Saul’s eyes.

“Isn’t that so?”

There was no answer to the priest’s question. Catherine too could do nothing but bite her trembling lips. She found it difficult to understand what those words from just seconds ago meant.

Catherine finally relaxed her tense lips and exhaled the hot breath that had gathered in her mouth.

“Huh.”

An unintended laugh escaped her. Even subconsciously, the priest’s words seemed so absurd that she found them ridiculous.

This sounded almost like… Saul had known in advance that all those events would occur.

Catherine laughed at how preposterous her own thought was. She recalled the memory she had faced just minutes earlier. The Countess standing alone in the dark corridor with a newborn in her arms, and young Saul appearing from the other end of the corridor.

And even the terrible situation that unfolded afterward.

The more she retraced her memories, the more ridiculous the idea seemed. How could that be possible?

Catherine blinked. She must have misheard or misunderstood what the priest had just said.

Perhaps there had been similar incidents before, or the Countess’s behavior had been concerning. That would provide a more convincing explanation for why Saul had desperately tried to stop the Countess.

However, this thought didn’t last long.

“What did you hear this time?”

Mocking Catherine’s desperate denial, the priest’s voice fell heavily, with a question so clear she could no longer deny it.

* * *

【On Desire】

The trembling stopped.

The strength drained from her grip, which had been so tight her knuckles had turned white. The air that rushed into her loosened palm felt sticky. It was cool.

Like winter air seeping through an open window, the sensation of something cold brushing against her exposed skin was vivid.

She felt the carpet compress beneath her feet. Catherine halted her movement abruptly. Though she was standing on solid ground, for a moment she felt like she was tilting, standing on an uneven surface.

Instinctively, she stepped back and placed her hand on the window frame for support.

Her hand touched the edge between the wall and the window frame. Thud. At that moment, she felt something hit the window near her fingertips. A brief, bouncing vibration struck her fingertips and passed.

Though fleeting, the sensation carried a chill too prominent to ignore.

Frozen like a frost-covered branch, Catherine stood motionless, stiffly turning her head to look at the window.

Thud.

Just then, something fell nearby again. Catherine blinked. A raindrop slid down the surface of the window, overlapping with another to create a long line.

Thud. Pitter-patter. More raindrops fell, rapidly covering the first ones. Within seconds, rain began pouring suddenly, creating numerous lines on the glass. The overlapping streams soon covered the window forcefully.

Everything around turned pitch black in an instant. The moonlight that had been shining through the clouds was now completely obscured.

“The crying sounds…”

Catherine, who had been watching the intensifying raindrops falling outside the window, looked up at the voice that sounded somewhat frightened.

Perhaps due to the sudden rain, the corridor, once again pitch black, greeted Catherine.

The surroundings were so dark that she couldn’t clearly see the two people who should have been only about ten steps ahead. She could only vaguely make out their figures standing in the corridor.

From within that pitch darkness, young Saul’s voice continued slowly.

“I heard Mother and Dave crying…”

His hesitant voice faded, then cut off when he closed his mouth. During the momentary silence, a wet sound like sniffling came through.

Belatedly, he seemed to recall that terrible scene again and feel afraid. Surprised by Saul’s reaction, the priest turned toward him.

Catherine instinctively took a step toward them, then stopped, remembering there was nothing she could do even if she approached.

Just as Catherine halted her step, Saul’s whisper continued quickly.

“What if Father… starts hating Mother now?”

His voice, muffled from burying his face in the priest’s shoulder again, came through somewhat indistinctly but was still comprehensible.

However, it sounded unnaturally cut off at the end, with him hastily closing his mouth in fear of what he had said. It was an abrupt ending.

Because he had finished speaking that way, Catherine thought young Saul would say no more. Contrary to her expectation, however, Saul opened his mouth again after barely a few seconds.

“But it wasn’t Mother’s fault.”

Young Saul’s continuing voice sounded somewhat urgent. Worried the priest might condemn his mother, his voice carried thick, poorly concealed anxiety. Young Saul was clearly terrified.

“I know.”

The priest’s voice was calm as he responded to Saul’s voice, seemingly having guessed his unstable state. But that was all.

The priest’s answer sounded less like he truly knew and agreed with Saul’s words, and more like he believed Saul wouldn’t lie.

“Don’t worry. Nothing will happen.”

And his following words seemed less like he truly believed this and more like he was expressing a hope that it would be so. Catherine suddenly realized.

“I will help you.”

He was mistaken.

The priest didn’t understand Saul. The understanding the priest showed was hollow and incomplete. At least, that’s how it felt to Catherine.

“So, if you hear it again, come to me like last time.”

As the quiet, careful admonition continued, the priest’s robe, which had been still in the middle of the dark corridor, gently swayed. The priest moved slowly within Catherine’s dazed gaze. 

Soon, the pair of feet faintly visible under the darkness walked into even deeper darkness.