Chapter 17: The Informant (3)

“As of this moment, I declare the dismissal of Father Edwin from Archelio Monastery! Furthermore, as a heretic who has defiled the name of God, he shall pay for his sins!”

My heart plummeted to the very ends of the earth.

“Edwin, tell us—what punishment did God deliver to the disciple who defiled a woman’s body?”

Among the seven disciples of God, there was Aaron, who broke his lifelong vow of celibacy and gave in to temptation with a village maiden. Enraged, the Lord made him suffer the consequences of his betrayal.

“…He was made to drink lye.”

With a heart in tatters, I grabbed hold of the edge of his sleeve. Edwin—you really intend to drink it in my place and die. No. Not that. Anything but that.

My fingers, barely clinging to his sleeve, were ruthlessly swatted away.

“Alicia, what you’re about to do will turn all of Father Edwin’s efforts to dust.”

Lucio whispered at my ear, twisting my fingers cruelly as he spoke.

“Even if you intervene now, nothing will change. Why not just put your hands together and pray like a good little nun?”

At a signal from Father Revencio, two nuns stepped forward and set a large white porcelain vessel down on the table.

“I don’t want scandalous rumors escaping beyond these temple walls.

If the whispers reach the palace, this will all become far too complicated.

So, according to temple law—by the will of God—we’ve decided to carry out your judgment here.”

With the gentle face of a benevolent priest, Father Revencio personally offered Edwin death.

He held out the white porcelain vessel he had caressed so delicately—as if it were a jar of honey—and extended it to Edwin.

“If you refuse, your innocent kin will suffer under the law of collective punishment.

This is the only way to end it with you.”

Say it’s not true. Say it wasn’t you.

Tell them it was me—the one who consorted with the Saintess was just a lowly nun.

I shook my head in denial, rejecting the reality playing out before me, but his back didn’t move an inch.

After a fleeting silence, Edwin finally spoke, as if his resolve had hardened.

“…Promise me no harm will come to my family or the clergy of Archelio Monastery.”

Father Revencio pressed his lips solemnly to the holy symbol at his neck.

“Before the feet of God, I swear it.”

A priest’s vow. If broken, he would be eternally bound—burned alive within the flames of damnation.

No sooner had Revencio spoken than Edwin lifted the porcelain vessel.

“Father, no! Please—don’t do this!”

Lucio yanked me back by the arm, and I collapsed beneath the chair before I could reach him. My fingers trembled, stretching—so close to brushing the hem of Edwin’s white cassock.

I had to stop him. I should be the one to drink it instead.

It wasn’t you who committed the sin—it was me.

I’m the one who should die…!

“…No—!”

And then, he began to drink.

The lye slipped down his throat.

Edwin’s shoulders began to tremble uncontrollably as his body reacted violently to the poison. Soon, his face flushed red, like a man being strangled.

“Kh…!”

His golden eyes searched desperately for someone—anyone.

The moment his faltering legs caught sight of me, they froze in place, steady and unyielding.

Time seemed to stop as we locked eyes.

A quiet, devastating final gaze—tender, and utterly tragic.

Then, the porcelain vessel slipped from his hand and shattered against the floor.

His body collapsed over the broken shards, crumpling like a marionette with its strings cut.

“Father!”

The lye was already eating away at his skin, red blotches blooming like burns.

Blood welled from the cuts where porcelain had pierced his limbs.

Crimson flowers bloomed across the pure white of his cassock.

“Father, please! Please, stay with me!”

I shook him, frantically trying to rouse him.

His chest still rose and fell—barely, intermittently—but his eyes were shut, sealed tight like death itself.

“Someone—please—fetch a physician!”

If they left him like this, he’d die—helplessly, inevitably.

But none of the priests seated in the chamber moved.

They just watched from their chairs, gazing down silently at Edwin’s collapsed figure.

“Please… please, merciful and wise Father Revencio—please…”

I clung to Father Revencio’s legs, sobbing uncontrollably.

Even as he looked down at me like I was nothing more than an insect, I pressed my forehead to the floor and begged.

Just once—please, just once, show him mercy. Save him. Please, I’m begging you.

***

It had been four days since Edwin left Archelio Monastery.

Only after he had vomited thick blood on death’s doorstep did the priests—who had until then kept their hands off—finally move him to a relief ward.

Which facility he’d been taken to was known only to Father Revencio.

Several times a day, my heart seized with terror.

I feared I would hear that he had died there in that relief center.

And if that was truly how he passed—so suddenly, so quietly—then maybe… I never wanted to know if he was gone at all.

“…Father?”

A cluster of nuns gathered at the monastery’s gates.

Was it Edwin? Had he returned? Had he survived and come back to me?

The laundry basket in my hands tumbled to the dirt.

I pushed through the crowd.

“I’m terribly sorry for being late.”

There he stood, upright and still, clad in pure white robes.

“…Father Daniel.”

Father Daniel bit down on his lip to hold back his emotions.

His left arm was still wrapped in bandages, and in his right hand, he held a neatly folded cassock.

Sister Susanna stepped forward and accepted it from him.

As she unfolded the garment, the other nuns covered their mouths and lowered their gazes.

“No… No, it’s not… This isn’t right…”

No matter how many times it had been washed, the cassock still held a faint scent of soap.

And yet, faint brown stains remained—unwashed, unforgiven.

“This isn’t right! Father, this isn’t right. Say something—please! Tell me it’s not true!”

I grabbed Father Daniel’s sleeve and lashed out, unable to contain myself. His gaze, which had been holding back so much, finally crumpled with quiet sorrow.

“There will be no funeral. I don’t believe Father Edwin has returned to God’s side. I’ll leave his room just as it is—so that he can come back to it anytime.”

Soon, tears welled up and soaked the corners of Daniel’s eyes.

“…I’m sorry.”

The moment Edwin disappeared from my side, the world vanished too.

The sky above was clear, not a single cloud in sight—yet it felt like the heavens had collapsed.

“Ah…”

Sister Susanna handed me the stained cassock.

I pulled it into my arms as though it were his embrace, clinging to it tightly.

No matter how many times it had been washed to remove the bloodstains, not even the faintest trace of his scent remained.

“Hh….”

I sent him away without a single kind word.

I hadn’t even told him I loved him—not once.

All that remained with me was the memory of coldly shaking off his hand…

Of stabbing his heart with cruel words.

I folded Edwin’s cassock neatly and placed it atop his bed—so he could come back and wear it whenever he pleased.

The old desk, the scattered stacks of documents… It felt like he could walk in through the door at any moment.

As I sat in front of his desk, a small flower pot tucked in the corner caught my eye.

Judging by the broad leaves, it looked just like the flower he once gifted to me.

I had callously let mine wither and die…

But he must have quietly watered and cared for this one.

Its petals were in full bloom.

“Father Edwin…”

The flower, blooming fully with no one to tend it, looked so heartbreakingly pitiful.

“Until you return… I’ll take care of it. I promise.”

I hugged the little flowerpot tightly to my chest and stepped out of the room. But the faint, sorrowful smile that had just graced my lips vanished in an instant the moment I looked down at the petals.

“…Lucio.”

The murderer who had driven Edwin to the brink of death—was now shamelessly standing in front of his room.

“Oh? So you don’t even use honorifics anymore?”

“Don’t you ever stand in front of Father Edwin’s room again. Don’t pass through this hallway. Don’t so much as linger nearby.”

I screamed at the top of my lungs.

The nuns walking through the monastery corridor all turned their heads in alarm, eyes fixed on me.

Lucio quickly glanced around, then feigned innocence with a practiced calm.

“…Sister Alicia, why are you yelling all of a sudden? You scared me. If I’ve done something wrong, I sincerely apologize.”

Pretending to be a naive, innocent boy.

It was disturbing—watching him twist his voice like that, clinging to his role as a clueless seminarian.

“…Weren’t you the one who dropped the handkerchief, Alicia? And now you’re blaming me? If you hadn’t been doing such unholy things with Father Edwin in the monastery, I wouldn’t have had to report it to my grand-uncle.”

His voice dropped to a chilling whisper, and goosebumps rose along my skin.

I couldn’t believe what I had just heard.

Grand-uncle?

I looked up, unable to hide my shock.

But he didn’t even seem to realize the slip of the tongue that had just escaped his mouth.:

As I stood frozen, the nuns walking down the corridor sensed something strange and cautiously approached.

“Licia, is something wrong?”

They gently patted my shoulders and asked with concern.

Lucio scratched his head and answered with a sheepish smile.

“She just seemed a little out of it. I spoke to her from behind, and she suddenly got angry. Haha, I’ll be more careful next time.”

I belatedly scanned Lucio’s face, taking in every inch.

Those murky violet eyes, like stagnant water.

Cheeks lifted with greed.

The corners of his mouth twitching in delight.

Finally, all the scattered puzzle pieces clicked into place.

“Ahaha!”

The moment certainty struck, a crazed laugh escaped me.

How foolish I had been not to realize it until now.

“Licia, are you alright?”

The nuns asked again, their voices laced with concern.

I just kept laughing, stumbling backward in a daze.

To them, I must have looked completely mad.

“Ahahaha…!”

I clutched my stomach and laughed until I cried—tears trailing down my face with every twisted smile.

Stupid, foolish Alicia.

‘If you’re going to keep secrets, you’d better hide them well—not just from me, but from the other seminarians and priests too.

One of the seminarians… is Father Revencio’s great-grandson, you know.’

It was only now that I realized—Lucio’s offhand comment had been a warning.

And I had trampled that warning, choosing instead to grow closer to him.

Because of that, Lucio came to Archelio Monastery for training.

And as a result… the innocent Father Edwin became the sacrifice.