“As the Holy Maiden is such a precious person, it would be a great sacrilege for priests like us who serve the deity to casually call you by that name.”

The holy maiden, who had been bouncing with excitement, quickly became a bit deflated.

“But I’m so very curious…”

“I’ll tell you. But I’ll only say it once, so you must listen carefully.”

The holy maiden nodded her head vigorously. Arianne lowered her head, put her lips to the child’s ear, and whispered softly:

“Saint Bernadette”

“Wow, it’s beautiful…”

“Isn’t it? Ceres and the high priests gathered and deliberated for days to give the Holy Maiden a beautiful name.”

But the holy maiden soon became gloomy again. When Arianne asked what was wrong, the holy maiden replied:

“Names are meant to be called. No one will ever call me by my name. What’s the use of having a name then?”

The holy maiden, who had appeared downcast, quickly tried to smile, saying, “It’s okay. Isn’t it something just to have a name? Even if no one calls me by it, it’s better than not having one at all.”

It was behavior clearly conscious of the weather outside, which was beginning to turn gloomy. Arianne felt so sorry for the holy maiden that she wanted to somehow resolve the child’s concern.

“Hmm… how about this? We create another name for the Holy Maiden. A name that only the two of us know, one we’ll use when it’s just us.”

“Really? Will you really do that for me?”

The holy maiden’s forced smile quickly transformed into a genuinely bright one. Arianne also smiled warmly at the child’s cotton-like smile.

“Of course! What kind of name would the Holy Maiden like? Think carefully. Once we decide, I won’t change it!”

Looking at the playfully smiling Arianne, the holy maiden grinned broadly.

“Can’t you choose it for me, Arianne?”

“Me?”

“Yes. Since it’s a name you’ll call me by, you should choose it.”

So Arianne fell into deep thought. Even if it was a name only the two of them would use, she couldn’t choose it carelessly. After pondering for a while about what would be good, Arianne said:

“Snow. How about Snow?”

“Snow?”

“When I look at the Holy Maiden, I think of snow. White, soft, and pure. It was snowing on the day you were born, wasn’t it? The snow then was a fierce blizzard that engulfed the world, but the fluffy snowflakes that gently fall in midwinter are incredibly beautiful. When the Holy Maiden smiles brightly in winter, beautiful snow falls like twinkling stardust. The Holy Maiden resembles that snow exactly.”

Arianne, who had been speaking with a dreamy expression, asked the holy maiden:

“What do you think? Do you like it?”

“Hmm… just a moment. Let me ask Mari’s opinion.”

The holy maiden whispered something into the ear of the teddy bear Mari she was holding. Then, as if listening to the teddy bear’s answer, she put the doll’s mouth to her ear and nodded repeatedly. Arianne was a bit worried that the holy maiden might not like the name she had given her.

After finally ending her conversation with the teddy bear by saying, “Yes. I understand, Mari,” the holy maiden looked at Arianne.

“Mari says she likes that name very, very much too! From now on, when it’s just Arianne, me, and Mari, I’m Snow. Got it?”

The holy maiden—Snow—smiled innocently, revealing a gap where one of her front teeth had recently fallen out. Arianne couldn’t resist and pulled the adorable Snow into her arms.

♣ ♣ ♣

The holy maiden, Snow, grew vigorously day by day, just like a newly sprouted seedling.

Pale green leaves sprouted from bare trees, lush greenery flourished, then faded and fell as autumn leaves, snow piled upon them, then melted. And leaves sprouted again. During these repeated cycles, Snow grew nearly two hand spans taller.

The sky occasionally became overcast with dark clouds, but there was not a single instance of torrential rain or snow like before. People’s lives found stability, and peaceful days continued.

It was an autumn night when crickets were chirping.

Snow was in her room at the Santarium, as always. She sat in a chair with her hands modestly folded on her knees. Relying on the soft candlelight, Priestess Arianne, sitting behind Snow, was undoing her braided silver hair one by one and grooming it. Snow fidgeted with her hands and asked:

“Arianne, all the priests seemed busy today. Is something happening at the temple?”

Snow rarely left the Santarium. Going outside might cause her mood to be affected by various external factors. That would cause dark clouds to gather in the sky again, which was what Snow worried about most in the world. Since she herself didn’t go outside the Santarium, Snow didn’t know much about the various events happening at the temple.

Since the holy maiden was still considered too young for official occasions, she had no special schedule related to temple duties except for offering prayers to the Goddess Amir twice a day, morning and evening. This meant she had even fewer reasons to go outside.

Snow had plenty of free time. Apart from offering prayers, reading books, and studying basic knowledge, she always had free time. She spent all those hours cooped up in her room at the Santarium.

“Ah, today guests came from the palace.”

“The palace? The palace where princesses and princes live?”

Snow had recently taken an interest in reading books, especially novels. Princesses and princes appeared as main characters in about one out of three novels Snow read. Naturally curious about such figures, Snow asked with sparkling eyes:

“In our country, princesses are called ‘imperial princesses.’ Since Akelan is not a kingdom but an empire, the emperor’s sons should properly be called ‘imperial princes,’ right?”

Arianne gently untangled the silver hair with a brush so as not to hurt Snow, correcting her misconception.

“Who came from the palace?”

“From what I heard, it seems someone very important came. But I’ve been here with you all day, Snow, so I don’t know exactly.”

Snow’s smooth straight hair quickly formed soft waves with just a few brush strokes. Arianne gently swept the hair over one of Snow’s shoulders. However, when Snow suddenly turned her head to look at Arianne, some of the hair swung back behind her.

“Could those important people from the palace possibly be imperial princes or princesses?”

“Ah, that could be. The imperial princes and princesses occasionally come to the great temple to receive blessings from the high priests.”

“Wow!”

Snow exclaimed, covering her mouth. Snow’s exposed fingernails were short and white, not specially grown, groomed, or polished like those of other noble girls.

“How wonderful and beautiful must they be? They must be different from me, who has to forcibly hold back tears whenever I feel like crying. They must all be so brave that they never cry, so they don’t need to hold back tears. And they must be this tall, right?”

Snow stretched her hand as high as possible with her palm facing down to indicate height as she spoke.

“Well, they might be similar in height to you, or much shorter? From what I’ve heard, the eldest imperial prince is the same age as you.”

Arianne believed that while imperial princes and princesses were noble, the holy maiden was equally if not more precious. So she felt a bit upset at Snow’s words, which praised the imperial princes and princesses while belittling herself.

“The imperial princes and princesses have probably grown up hearing stories about you, Snow. They might think, ‘How beautiful and kind must our holy maiden be, who is as white as snow? I really want to meet her someday.'”

Snow opened her eyes wide. A rosy blush appeared on her still doll-like small cheeks.

“Do, do you really think so? Would the imperial princesses and princes think of me that way?”

“Of course. Later, you’ll be the one to perform the baptism at the imperial prince’s coming-of-age ceremony.”

Snow’s wide eyes grew even larger without blinking. This time her red lips also parted.

“Me, at the imperial prince’s coming-of-age ceremony?”

“By that time, you’ll have many occasions to attend as the holy maiden. Originally, the coming-of-age ceremonies for imperial family members are presided over by the highest person in the temple, and until Snow was born, Ceres took that role, but now you’re here, aren’t you?”

Snow looked at the old teddy bear Mari placed on a shelf in one corner of the room. Though she no longer carried the doll around in her arms now that she was older, Mari, the first gift she had ever received, was still her good friend. It was as if Mari was saying, “Snow, you’re amazing!”

“If you eat well and sleep well until you meet the imperial prince, you’ll be able to show an even prettier appearance. Now, if you sleep late, you might have to show a less pretty face. So shall we go to bed now?”

Snow nodded her head vigorously and ran to the bed to lie down. Arianne, feeling proud, curled up the corners of her mouth and pulled the blanket up to Snow’s chest. Arianne picked up the candlestick that had been placed next to the chair. The light that had softly illuminated around the chair moved toward Arianne.

“Sleep well, and I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”

“Goodnight, Arianne. Sleep well too.”

When Arianne left the room with the candlestick, everything became dark. Snow’s heart pounded at the fact that she, not someone else, would be the one to baptize the imperial prince who would become a splendid adult someday. She pulled the blanket up just below her chin and held it tight. Snow squeezed her eyes shut.

‘If I want to look prettier then, I should sleep early. Fall asleep, fall asleep, fall asleep…’

But Snow didn’t know that there is nothing that drives sleep away more than forcing yourself to fall asleep by repeating such suggestions. The tears squeezed out from her tightly closed eyelids moistened her dry eyes, making sleep even more elusive.