For the past hundred years or so, it had been the custom for each generation raised in the prayer house to live as priests-in-training until they came of age, then leave the order once the next generation born under the Three Stars entered the faith.

　　Of course, remaining at the temple was an option, but staying on as a priest-in-training without ever becoming a full priest was a waste of time in more ways than one. Within the temple, full priests and priests-in-training were treated completely differently.

　　So they figure if they just tempt us a little, they can easily get their hands on a woman who’d been a priest, driven out of the temple.

　　They jumped to the conclusion that she would have no immunity to men and that even the smallest kindness would make her heart flutter.

　　How infuriating.

　　She wanted nothing more than to stomp right on their feet, but if she did something like that, she would have to go to the confession booth, and do penance as well.

　　If she were serving just to put on a show for the Cardinal and other high-ranking priests so she could stay at the temple longer, that would be one thing. Honestly, though, Daphne had no desire to suffer because of people who barely even counted as believers.

　　…But even feeling this way is probably a sin. Abba, please forgive this foolish little lamb.

　　Just as Daphne made the sign of the cross and offered a brief prayer of atonement, hurried footsteps sounded nearby. Then a familiar voice called out for her to stop.

　　“Daphne!”

　　It was Thalia, a fellow priest-in-training from her class. Daphne smiled brightly when she saw her.

　　“Welcome back, Thalia. Did you show them around all right?”

　　“Yeah. Sorry I’m late,” she panted. “Where are the other sisters?”

　　“They’ve probably gone to get the ingredients.”

　　“That looks heavy. Here, give me some. I’ll help.”

　　Thalia took half the dishes. She chattered away as she walked into the dining hall with Daphne.

　　“I heard heretics have recently been running rampant out there because the Three Stars rose again. Even the high priests are busy because of it. I’m worried that at this rate, our laicization permits might get delayed.”

　　Thalia had gotten engaged while preparing to leave the order, and she was fretting over whether her fiancé might change his mind if her laicization approval didn’t come through in time.

　　Daphne bit back the urge to meddle and say that she shouldn’t marry someone with so little resolve.

　　“Don’t worry too much. Bishop Isabella said she’d try to put her weight behind it at the bishops’ council, didn’t she?”

　　“Right…? It’ll work out, won’t it? Even if we’re treated like leftovers, Bishop Isabella is our bishop, so…”

　　“Girls! We’re back!”

　　Daphne nodded and reassured Thalia as the other priests-in-training came into the dining hall. Seeing them carrying boxes full of ingredients, Daphne and Thalia set down the dishes and went to help.

　　That evening, once they had finished all their duties, Daphne and the other priests-in-training went to bed early. Tomorrow they would have to lay out fresh bedding throughout the prayer house, so there was a lot of work ahead.

　　But none of them could quite fall asleep. With only days left until they would leave the temple they had lived in all their lives, anticipation and fear kept them tossing and turning. At last, one of the classmates lying there together whispered.

　　“Hey, Thalia. What did Bishop Isabella say earlier?”

　　Thalia, who had also been lying awake, spoke as if she had been waiting for someone to ask.

　　“She agreed to officiate at my wedding to Hansen.”

　　“Really? You’re going to marry him?”

　　“Yeah. I’m going to tell Hansen when I see him tomorrow!”

　　“I’m so jealous. Bishop Isabella officiating… She’s practically like a mother to us.”

　　“Leah, any news? You know, the person you mentioned last time.”

　　“He hasn’t been coming to the temple lately, so I’ve been worried… I guess I wasn’t someone he’d take the marriage vows with.”

　　The classmates who had been lying down sat up. They would have nowhere else to turn once they left the order, and they easily fell into their sister’s melancholy. Daphne joined the others in comforting her, saying it wasn’t her fault, that Abba would find her a better match. But the melancholy spread easily, and the somber mood wouldn’t lift.

　　At this rate we’ll be miserable all the way until dawn. Should I just bring them out now? I was originally going to give them when we said goodbye, but…

　　Hoping to lift the mood, Daphne clapped her hands and said brightly.

　　“Girls. I have something for you.”

　　“What is it?”

　　Daphne opened her box. Inside were woven bracelets she had made as gifts for her classmates, using leftover thread she had saved up bit by bit whenever she did the mending.

　　…Huh? Why are there only seven?

　　She had made eight thread bracelets in all, and she was briefly flustered when she couldn’t see her own. But faced with seven pairs of eyes waiting expectantly for the gifts she was about to hand out, she smiled as if nothing were wrong.

　　“These are friendship gifts from me to you.”

　　“Wow…!”

　　The classmates marveled at the bracelets woven from colorful thread, wondering when she had even made them. The gloomy mood vanished without a trace. They loved the bracelets, saying how pretty they were, and Daphne smiled with pride.

　　Admiring one another’s bracelets with the other sisters, Thalia asked Daphne.

　　“Huh? Daphne. What about you?”

　　“Well, I made them for you, so…”

　　“Come on, you should have one too!”

　　Thalia promised to make her one if she didn’t have one, and Daphne laughed and said she would take her up on that.

　　Did I drop it somewhere while cleaning? Well, I can look for it tomorrow.

　　She didn’t give it much thought.

* * *

　　To cut to the chase, Daphne never did find the thread bracelet she had made for herself.

　　The moment dawn broke, her classmates headed out to the backyard, saying they should wash the bedding for the incoming priests-in-training. She took that chance to search every inch of the place, but she didn’t find so much as a single strand of thread, let alone the bracelet.

　　It’s not like the bracelet grew legs. So why can’t I find it?

　　She had often lost everyday supplies, but they hadn’t been important, so she hadn’t paid them any mind. This was the first time something so clearly useful had vanished like this.

　　Had a ghost come through? With no more time to spare, Daphne turned away, feeling deflated.

　　She came out to the backyard with her share of the bedding in her arms, only to find her classmates straining to move a massive tub. She poured the detergent she had prepared into the tub in the middle of the yard. Around then, Thalia and the other priests-in-training rolled up their sleeves and hiked up their skirts.

　　They put the bedding into the tub of soapy water and began stomping it. Goosebumps prickled over their skin from the cold water. Thalia shuddered and grumbled.

　　“Ugh, it’s freezing! It would be nice if we could use hot water, even just for washing the bedding.”

　　“Good thing the weather’s warmed up. If it were winter, we wouldn’t be able to wash the bedding at all.”

　　Despite their grumbles, they stomped diligently all the same. The bedding that had gone unwashed all winter had to be cleaned thoroughly so the little priests-in-training who would enter the prayer house after them could have cozy blankets.

　　They stomped hard to work the old grime out, then moved the bedding to a tub of clean water drawn in advance and rinsed it, repeating the process several times.

　　Marianne, soaked in sweat from head to toe, cried out, panting.

　　“When I get out, I’m going to… have the latest fashions made… at the biggest boutique in the capital… Don’t any of you try to stop me…! Farewell, you ancient vestments!”

　　At that, the other sisters, soaked in sweat like Marianne, giggled.

　　“The latest fashion? That sounds nice! I’m going to Lake Rocadelli, the one that supposedly shines emerald green. With a fancy parasol and a picnic basket!”

　　“That’s the one backed by perpetually snow-capped mountains, right? I heard the area around Lake Rocadelli is one of the top honeymoon destinations. They say Lord and Lady Ignati went there on their honeymoon, too.”

　　“You mean the viscount and viscountess who came for a blessing last time? Lucky them. They looked pretty satisfied.”

　　“Even so, the groom’s going bald any day now, isn’t he?”

　　“You! Compared to House Ignati’s fortune, a bald head is nothing!”

　　They burst out laughing and dumped out the last of the rinse water.