“Will the Father, who is said to be closest to God…… listen to my story as well?”

“If you wish, I will gladly lend you God’s ear.”

The woman, who had been silent for a long time, opened her mouth.

“We were to hold the ceremony in autumn, but the marriage was postponed.”

“Oh my.”

“It’s a family that practices early marriage due to precious heirs…… but using my fiancé’s seizures as an excuse, we’ve remained only engaged for ten years now.”

Timeo listened to the faint noises outside the confessional while gradually distancing himself from the young lady’s complaints before him. Just as he was about to completely focus his attention elsewhere……

“I think he might really die this time.”

Instead of answering, Timeo indifferently made the sign of the cross. Contrary to the gravity of the confession, he felt a faint hint of laughter from the young lady across from him. Though it was a pitiful story, she was still young, so she could hurry to find another partner.

“It’s a strange story.”

“What is?”

“If my child were critically ill, wouldn’t it be better to hurry the marriage as soon as possible?”

“Since he’d be full of defects in terms of reproduction too, they’re probably afraid of being disgraced by the other family.”

“You speak with such certainty.”

“It seems Father and I communicate well.”

Could this state be described as ‘communicating well’? Timeo, who had placed his hands neatly together, stared across with an expressionless face.

“How many could you bear for me, Father?”

“That’s an inappropriate question. I am celibate.”

“The doctrine states that it’s not good for people to live alone.”

“Marriage distracts the mind and interferes with meditation.”

“Is that something to be said by someone who sips alcohol in the confessional?”

The young lady, who had risen from her seat, extended the back of her hand to Timeo beyond the bars. Timeo looked at it with disgust as if it were a rotten rope.

The young lady, who had removed the veil covering her face, leaned forward with her hands on the desk. Thanks to this, Timeo could vividly see her face. She was a young lady who couldn’t even be compared to the countless women who had passed through this monastery. Timeo knew her. It was a face he couldn’t fail to recognize.

“You were only entrusted to the monastery. They never meant for you to become a priest…… But you’ve become a perfect one, Timeo.”

The woman, who had neatly tied her curly black hair in half and let it down, stared at Timeo’s pathetic face for a long time. She seemed deeply lost in thought as if scoring an artwork. Phyllis Menez extended the back of her hand to him. Very politely too, as if hoping for an escort…… Could this be a valid sentence? Phyllis’s public smile quickly became indifferent. Her ash-gray eyes still remained on Timeo’s dumbfounded face.

Phyllis Menez de Bagnole.

The daughter of Marquis Menez who had fallen to Vesoul one day. A theatrical girl who was born and raised in Bagnole and slipped through fingers like sand, who went out for walks without fail every day. Velvet, pearls, and other luxury goods, once an intimate playmate, Timeo’s first and…… his brother’s fiancée. Someone who had been severed from Timeo long ago……

“Timeo Völlörban. Go to Vesoul right now and propose to me.”

So she was Marcel’s fiancée.

†

Phyllis Menez was following the priest. In the monastery, men and women were not allowed to walk side by side.

In the past ten years, the barren land of Alzaz at the western edge had transformed into an unknown field that provided new stimulation to young men and women. Around the field that had only contained the gloomy monastery building, villas of various families had appeared, and quite a lot of vegetation that marred the scenery had been cut down. Nevertheless, the area around the monastery still felt desolate. The clear weather turned gloomy as soon as they entered Alzaz land.

Despite being early summer, the climate was chilly with just one shawl. While Phyllis faithfully followed Timeo, she quickly surveyed the monastery’s overall view. She seemed to make eye contact with someone looking down at them from the upper floor. Perhaps due to their secluded lifestyle, when their gazes met, they harshly drew the curtains immediately. Phyllis discovered the shadow of two people clinging together and shook her head as if disgusted. Among the young priests they encountered in the corridor, there were some who looked at Phyllis and Timeo with explicit gazes. Timeo only passed them with a blunt face showing not an ounce of agitation. They probably saw her as a woman who had come to pay church fees in exchange for a young priest’s body. However, since it wasn’t an entirely wrong speculation, Phyllis had no reason to be displeased. Rather, she secretly admired the priests’ sharpness in penetrating the essence.

“Did you also do such things?”

“What do you mean by such things?”

Timeo replied curtly without even looking back. She seemed to have asked something unnecessary. Even if he had done it, so what…… Phyllis, who had trailed off, pulled her shawl close. She frequently arranged her disheveled hair, trying to appear as devout as possible. However, the more she tried to appear as a devout woman, the more Phyllis’s presence at the remote monastery inevitably stood out more than necessary.

From Phyllis’s perspective, other believers seemed to want to become part of the monastery’s gray walls. They wore dark, simple dresses with wide-brimmed hats that completely covered their faces. She couldn’t even guess their identities. However, the quality of their clothing was clearly luxurious at first glance. Phyllis, who had been calmly following Timeo, casually opened her mouth.

“There seems to be a village nearby.”

“There’s only the monastery in the vicinity.”

“Well then, you don’t need to worry about church fees. The priests are also quite skilled……”

A woman who had been standing modestly like a statue against one wall immediately opened any door and entered the lodging interior as soon as Phyllis and Timeo moved. Since soundproofing wasn’t very guaranteed, she thought she could faintly hear a woman’s joyful laughter. Whether Phyllis looked at that room or not, Timeo’s face remained as indifferent as if encountering an unwelcome guest. Phyllis now looked at the back of Timeo’s head with pity as if things were finally making sense.

“If you also rolled around, and that’s why you’re refusing the marriage proposal request……”

Marriage proposal request. It was something she feared others might hear. Timeo, who had been walking somewhat angrily, suddenly stopped and silently waited for her to close the gap. When Phyllis reached him, Timeo bowed his head to her.

“This is a monastery and you’re Menez’s daughter. You should think about the need for self-restraint.”

“Are you dropping the honorifics, Father?”

“Of course not.”

Looking down at Phyllis’s frowning brow lost in unpleasant thoughts, Timeo sighed for once.

“……I didn’t do that.”

“What?”

“I’m different from those troublesome fellows who forget their position and rush at any woman they see.”

“You don’t need to convince me. Anyway, you’re also an adult……”

“Yes, though it was a poor coming-of-age ceremony, I certainly had one.”

At the word ‘poor,’ Phyllis’s mouth closed like a clam. After their reunion in the confessional, conversations with him generally flowed this way. Moreover, he had been choosing to utter only sentences that would stimulate Phyllis’s guilt from earlier. Phyllis also had a headache.

Timeo, who stood blocking Phyllis, leaned diagonally against a pillar while staring down at her small head. It was a head whose thoughts he couldn’t fathom at all. ‘Marcel’s fiancée’ seemed suddenly curious about the actual situation of monastery life, and for someone who had come to demand a marriage proposal from him, she had a peaceful expression.

So this might be a trace of longing. He must have momentarily lost his mind at the shameless request of Phyllis, who had been his only childhood playmate, albeit briefly. Timeo maintained his stubborn gaze that he would absolutely not do what she wanted.

“You’ve gotten shorter, Phyllis.”

“You’ve grown ridiculously tall. I guess the monastery food suited your taste?”

“Well…… if you’re curious, why don’t you set up that guy’s tombstone in Alzaz? It’s excellent enough to make you want to taste it coming and going.”

“I’d appreciate it if you’d refrain from such low-grade jokes, at least in front of your father. Marcel’s condition is serious.”

“Ah, there’s no need to go as far as a tombstone. When your fine fiancé breathes his last, the merciless duke might stuff his former daughter-in-law into a monastery.”

“Timeo.”

“I’m too busy with priestly duties to apologize like a gentleman. Sister.”

“I’m sure you are.”

“So go back.”

Phyllis’s ash-gray pupils met Timeo’s gaze. Timeo didn’t avoid those eyes either. It was his final courtesy.

“I must have made it clear. That it’s a proposal that won’t harm you either. How long do you intend to stay buried in the countryside playing at being a priest that doesn’t even suit you?”

“It doesn’t suit me at all? I’ll become an official priest next month.”

“Yes. It suits you. So you’ll suit Völlörban Castle very well too.”

“Lady Menez.”

“Speak.”

“I liked you for a season. The clever you back then saw through my heart, and the naive you now thought everything would remain the same. So you came all the way here to make an absurd demand, using a child’s fleeting feelings as hostage. But I’m sick to death of Völlörban. The Völlörban bloodline, Völlörban territory, and you, who are no different from Völlörban property.”

“I don’t belong to anyone.”

“Well, would others think the same?”

“What do you mean?”

“The beautiful tale of Lady Menez deeply loving the damn Völlörban lord and having an incomparably devoted love affair of the century for ten years is famous even in this rotten monastery. ……Whether it’s pure love or foolishness……”

“More importantly, where’s the office?”

Her face showed no movement, as if she hadn’t listened to Timeo’s warning at all.

“I’m going to stay here for a day. I need to reveal my identity and get a room.”

Timeo pressed his forehead. Unlike the gloomy monastery scenery, this area was currently in peak season. Early summer was indeed perfect for hunting, so it was a time when those with unofficial lovers at their sides or noblewomen targeting priests would be staying in large numbers. Even if a room was luckily available, he couldn’t throw this naive young lady into the midst of such debauchees.