Timeo stared down at Phyllis as she passed in front of him. It was also then that Timeo’s face, which had been smiling slightly in consideration of his surroundings, gradually faded. There were two things Timeo was curious about. First, did this woman urging a priest to marry know what it meant to become husband and wife? Second, had she done ‘that thing’ with his brother whose name he hated to even think of? If the disease hadn’t consumed his lower body as well, probably……

“Have you ever mounted?”

“……What?”

Phyllis tilted her head. Only Timeo had frozen at her proposal, and Phyllis was just calm, which made him even more furious.

Phyllis continued chattering, unaware that Timeo was coming close to her. She was preaching like a priest during service about how reasonable this marriage was for both sides, and the treatment that unmarried men and women of Confère sometimes received. It was an instant when he grabbed Phyllis’s wrists that had been neatly placed in front. Her paper-thin body fluttered greatly. Timeo, who had grabbed both of her wrists and lifted them up, muttered.

“There are many who preach to me even without you, Phyllis.”

“……Why are you doing this?”

She seemed truly flustered. Timeo, who had pushed Phyllis against the outer wall as if lifting her up, looked down at her indifferently. It only appeared indifferent, but Timeo felt his insides boiling.

His other hand that held nothing grasped Phyllis’s lower jaw.

“This…… I don’t think this is a very good position.”

“What’s a good position then?”

At Timeo’s counter-question, Phyllis first closed her mouth. The gentle face that had been smiling out of courtesy had long since sunk. Phyllis sighed inwardly. Why had she remembered this face as merely docile…… Looking up at him, he had a completely unfamiliar impression.

“Phyllis.”

Timeo’s hand slowly descended. The large hand that passed mercilessly through Phyllis’s neck, collarbone, and even her upper chest unexpectedly reached her lower abdomen. Following his touch, Phyllis also lowered her gaze.

“Do you want to become husband and wife with me?”

“……I’ve been proposing all along.”

“Not that kind of thing.”

“……”

“Do you know what it means to become husband and wife?”

Timeo’s thumb pressed firmly against Phyllis’s lower abdomen. Phyllis unconsciously held her breath. Though it was only light pressure, it felt very uncomfortable. When she remained silent, Timeo’s hand dropped a little lower. It had been flat all along, but would soon encounter a slope. She had to say something to him.

“I know. So could you let go of my hand? This is a monastery and……”

“Right. We’re outside.”

“Besides, you’re a priest.”

“Marriage is something done with a man, not a priest.”

It was an instant when Timeo, who had withdrawn his hand, pressed his body against hers. His lower body touched Phyllis completely. Through the dress fabric that wasn’t layered multiple times to give a modest and chaste impression, she felt his masculinity. The monastery’s outer wall behind her felt more cozy than now when front met front.

“Being husband and wife means I’ll do lewd things against this place.”

“……Are you trying to scare me?”

“It’s nothing to be scared of. As long as you permit it and I’m aroused, it’s daily routine that will happen every day.”

Strength drained from Phyllis’s body as she sighed softly. He had no intention of doing anything more here. Timeo, who had stepped back, examined Phyllis’s wrists. Just the reddened flesh from his grip made him swallow repeatedly. Timeo gestured back toward the path they had been walking.

Phyllis remained silent and reached a room at the end of the corridor as Timeo guided her. When he tried to follow her inside, she blocked him with her small body.

“Did you mean for us to stay together?”

“Well, this is my room. Ever since I first came here.”

“In short, you’re so deeply attached to this room that you can’t carelessly give it up.”

“Does it work that way? The monastery has simple furnishings. Unfortunately, guest rooms are always full.”

“Why?”

“Because believers never cease coming for various impious matters.”

Phyllis stood at the entrance and surveyed Timeo’s room. From the iron bed to the shabby gray walls, it was an extremely simple novice priest’s room. While Phyllis stared at the dark carpet laid on the floor, Timeo quietly closed the door and stepped out into the corridor.

†

The monastery priests clicked their tongues at Timeo, who attended the midday prayer right on time. Among the countless duties a priest must perform, he never missed prayer and attended to heighten the monastery’s devotion. Even when he was leisurely enough to tilt a glass alone in the empty dining hall, he naturally seemed devout.

However, what caught Timeo’s ankle at the entrance to the prayer hall was unexpectedly some priests’ idle chatter.

“Even so, inside the monastery…… how fearless.”

A couple of dispirited priests were muttering among themselves as if they had witnessed some terrible sight. Timeo openly listened to their conversation with his arms crossed. In short, a young baron staying at the monastery under the pretext of hunting was ardently harassing some devout noblewoman in the courtyard. These foolish priests seemed to have received a rebuke when they tried to stop him. Since hunting was an excuse from the beginning and the purpose was impious behavior, Timeo tried to ignore the two stupid priests who looked idle and placed his hand on the old door handle of the prayer room.

“If it’s black hair…… it must be that person, right?”

“Let’s check the entry records later……”

Timeo, who had turned his steps, gradually approached them. The priests seemed to expect him to ignore them and pass by as usual, so when Timeo remained beside them, they stared blankly at the face of the handsome man who looked extremely devout. There was no one in this place who didn’t know Father Timeo. Wasn’t he the center of the ‘reading society’ who was more often called a noble priest than a novice priest, and renowned as an exemplary monk? So they had no choice but to spill everything as Timeo asked……

Timeo, who had run down the arched stairs in one breath, hurriedly crossed the courtyard with his back to the corridor. The monastery, said to have been built hundreds of years ago, boasted a scale beyond necessity compared to its internal finances, and due to poor management, the inner and outer chambers were overgrown with empty spaces and weeds of unknown purpose. When heading to the stable for night walks, he would sometimes encounter troublesome lovers entangled together in the bushes. Each time he looked down with deep disgust, rumors had circulated for a while that Father Timeo might be impotent.

As soon as he turned the corner, he saw the back of some fool’s head as he embraced a woman’s shoulders. His contemplation wasn’t long. Timeo stretched out his long arm, and when he grabbed the man’s nape, he realized the young lady’s dress wasn’t purple, but Timeo first threw the man to the ground as planned. Bewilderment and embarrassment settled like freckles on the unfamiliar woman’s face, then immediately changed to an ecstatic gaze the moment she made eye contact with him. As if she had seen God and was about to leap into Timeo’s arms at any moment, Timeo stepped back.

Timeo forcibly calmed his constantly uncomfortable feelings. This wasn’t a ruffian’s harassment, but merely an unofficial lovers’ tryst. Cursing the two ignorant virgins about male-female ecology, Timeo willingly extended his hand to the man on the ground. Timeo, who lightly dismissed even the man’s attempt to brush away his extended hand, grabbed his collar and lifted him from the ground. It was as natural a hand movement as drawing water from a well. He even brushed the dazed man’s shoulders a couple of times. As if he hadn’t knocked him down……

To think he’d be late for midday prayer over such a trivial matter. It was when Timeo was about to return. Leaves fell rustling from above his head. It was strange since not a breath of wind was blowing. Timeo, who reflexively looked up, almost fainted with some exaggeration.

†

Phyllis Menez was sitting perched on a tree. A large grain sack was scattered carelessly under it. Because she had shaken the branch so violently to time Timeo’s passage under the tree, a young branch that had broken helplessly was held in her hand.

“What on earth are you thinking? Come down right now.”

“Climbing trees is easier than you’d think. It’s difficult to attempt because everyone assumes no one could climb in such attire.”

“I’m beginning to vaguely understand why Marquis Menez desperately hid you.”

“Well. You wouldn’t know even if you died and came back to life.”

“Are you saying there were worse eccentricities than this?”

“More importantly, aren’t you curious about the contract terms?”

“Damn it, not at all.”

“You don’t need to do such acts with me at all.”

“What?”

“Things like kissing or sleeping together.”

Unlike Timeo whose face had turned dark, Phyllis shrugged and slowly opened her mouth.

“It’s true I came to shake your fleeting feelings. It’s also true I couldn’t think of a clever plan because you hit the mark. But regardless of your feelings, you’ll have to return to Vesoul with me first. I left a suicide note in the room. That I came to consider throwing myself because I ardently loved Völlörban’s second son and faced an unwanted marriage with a sick husband.”

“……What?”

“Your peaceful life, pretending to be a priest, will end today too. Falling head-first is as easy as climbing a tree.”

“Phyllis Menez!”

“You said you’re no longer a Völlörban, but…… you kept even the telegram announcing your brother’s critical condition very preciously.”

“You even went through the drawers of an ownerless room without permission.”

Timeo rubbed his face with his palm. It was after his face had become disheveled unsightly.

“When Marcel dies, find another partner. You’re young.”

“What am I supposed to do when there’s no one among all the unmarried men in Confère who matches you?”

Since Phyllis made a truly annoyed expression, Timeo was half-convinced despite himself. It wasn’t wrong either. They would select partners early and marry young, then divorce before thirty, completely ruining one spouse’s situation. Therefore, when choosing a partner, one had to rationally consider various moves.

Watching the feet swinging carelessly in the air was now dizzying. Though Timeo had once climbed walls to rescue an unpleasant furry beast when a fearless cat had climbed onto the monastery roof, he had never caught a person.