…Ah. Did he overhear what I was just talking about with the others?

　　Right, that had to be it. Bishop Isabella wasn’t the type to go scurrying off to the Cardinal to tattle on them.

　　“Thank you for your concern.”

　　Daphne more or less accepted that and offered a small smile. Theodore’s brow furrowed ever so slightly, as if he sensed she was treating what he’d said as empty talk.

　　“I meant every word of…”

　　“There you are… Huff…! I’ve been looking everywhere…!”

　　Bishop Caleb cut in between Theodore, who had been about to tell her to come to his office, and Daphne, who wanted nothing more than to leave at once. Thanks to Caleb’s interruption, Daphne could finally step away from Theodore.

　　“It took a good forty minutes just to find Your Eminence! Goodness, I’m out of breath…”

　　Bishop Caleb’s forehead gleamed with sweat, as if to prove he really had been searching.

　　“Come now, please come with me at once!”

　　“…Bishop Caleb.”

　　Theodore swallowed. He stared down at Bishop Caleb. When the massive man’s gaze darkened, Bishop Caleb’s shoulders gave a startled twitch.

　　“Just where are we supposed to be going?”

　　“H-His Holiness is waiting.”

　　“His Holiness? Why…?”

　　“Well…”

　　Bishop Caleb glanced at Daphne, who had missed her chance to slip away and was now watching warily, then raised his voice.

　　“The stars rose not long ago, did they not? It is why His Holiness is summoning the cardinals. You wouldn’t believe how worried he is.”

　　“…”

　　He was saying it right out in the open, like he wanted everyone to hear.

　　Figuring that nothing good would come of lingering, Daphne bowed, careful not to let the bedding in her arms touch the ground.

　　“Allow me to take my leave now. May Abba’s grace be with you forever, Fathers.”

　　As she turned her back and hurried away, Bishop Caleb clicked his tongue. He jutted his chin toward Daphne’s back as she entered the prayer house.

　　“Isn’t all of this because of them? If it weren’t for them, there wouldn’t be such an ominous air surrounding the temple, and the prayer house wouldn’t have become a restricted area like it is now.”

　　The saint in the prophecy was interpreted as a bishop or higher, up to the Pope himself. That was why, every twenty years when the Three Stars rose, the high-ranking clergy felt both relief and anxiety.

　　They were relieved that the current priests-in-training at the prayer house would leave the order without causing any trouble, and anxious that the prophecy might yet come to pass if they failed to guide the incoming priests-in-training into becoming proper priests.

　　On top of that, becoming a priest of bishop rank required the ability to handle at least a certain amount of holy power, and most found it difficult to attain enough even after a lifetime of training.

　　Naturally, the stronger a person’s holy power, the greater their authority and duties within the temple became, and the more indispensable they became as clergy. And unrivaled among them was the man standing right there. Cardinal Theodore Valentino.

　　“Your Eminence shouldn’t be in a place like this, either. They may no longer be the prophecy’s targets, but their nature doesn’t change. Why else would the prayer house be off-limits to priests? It’s a measure to keep the prophecy from coming true.”

　　The priests preferred to avoid discussing the prayer house’s purpose and the prophecy. But Bishop Caleb figured it was fine in front of Cardinal Theodore. Punishing sinners was within a Cardinal’s authority, after all.

　　Cardinal Theodore had never hesitated to severely punish clergy who turned their backs on the doctrine and on the Holy Spirit Abba. So Bishop Caleb assumed he would not hesitate to bring down the hammer on those born under the Three Stars, either.

　　But Theodore Valentino reacted differently than Bishop Caleb had expected.

　　“I understand your concerns, Bishop Caleb, but they, too, are proper priests. They have trained every day, offering up their daily bread and prayers to the Holy Spirit Abba, so it would be best if you refrained from such remarks.”

　　“Ah…”

　　Bishop Caleb was taken aback to hear himself rebuked instead. He had assumed Cardinal Theodore would think poorly of them as well.

　　One wrong word and I nearly made an enemy of the Cardinal!

　　Bishop Caleb realized how careless he had been and agreed as he sweated profusely.

　　“Of course, Your Eminence. I wouldn’t dare judge those dedicated to the Holy Spirit Abba… I must offer a prayer of repentance.”

　　“If you need to make a confession, you may tell me at any time.”

　　Bishop Caleb nodded and led him onward, wiping cold sweat from his brow.

　　“This way, please.”

　　Theodore followed Bishop Caleb toward the Pope’s office, slipping the slender object he had kept clenched in his fist the entire time into his robes, never once opening his hand.

* * *

　　“Good job, everyone…”

　　The exhausted priests-in-training dragged themselves back to the dormitory and headed for their own beds. They did this work every day, but on days like today when they changed the bedding, it was twice as draining as usual.

　　“Tomorrow is manor duty, right?”

　　“Yeah. The priests said they can’t tend to it because of the consecration, so they want us to do it. Looks like we’ll be spreading fertilizer and plowing the fields.”

　　“Why is there so much to do? At this rate we’ll be doing nothing but labor until the day we leave.”

　　“I know, right…? Ugh, my whole body aches. Everything hurts.”

　　They threw themselves onto their beds with groans. They would normally have dropped off right away, but they couldn’t get to sleep. They didn’t say it outright, but the thought that there weren’t many days left when they could all sleep together like this kept them awake.

　　Thalia, who had been rustling as she tossed and turned, muttered, “Oh, right.”

　　“Come to think of it, Cardinal Theodore came by this afternoon. Why was he here?”

　　“Yeah, why? Daphne, what did the Cardinal say to you?”

　　Marianne sat up as well, looking curious. At their words, the other priests-in-training also pushed themselves up and looked at Daphne.

　　“Daphne?”

　　“…Huh? What?”

　　When the others called her name, Daphne lifted her heavy eyelids. She had been drifting toward sleep as she listened to their chatter, which they passed off as complaining.

　　Marianne’s eyes sparkled.

　　“Cardinal Theodore spoke to you, right? What did he say?”

　　“Ah… He didn’t really say anything special.”

　　“Oh, come on, nothing special? I saw him hold you back and say something as you were trying to leave!”

　　“Uh…”

　　They’d seen that?

　　Before she knew it, everyone was staring at her with shining eyes, Marianne at the head. When Daphne didn’t answer right away, her cohort pressed her even harder.

　　“Not to mention, Daphne, you were held in Cardinal Theodore’s arms! How was it? Flat? Or firm?”

　　“Who knows? Maybe it was hard enough to give you a bump on the head? He’s young for a Cardinal, and tall, too.”

　　“Just among the cardinals? There can’t be many people like him even out in the world.”

　　When Theodore Valentino’s looks finally came up, Daphne wrinkled the bridge of her nose. At this rate, they were going to say something that would get them in serious trouble. She sat up and carefully began to speak.

　　“Nothing much. Somehow he knew I’d said I wanted to take on the ministry of the next class of priests-in-training.”

　　“What…!”

　　“So he asked if I was really going to stay and serve while you all leave the prayer house.”

　　More precisely, he had told her to tell him if she needed anything for her ministry.

　　But if she told them that, they would all get so excited they wouldn’t know what to do with themselves, so Daphne let her words trail off. Still, they were already flaring their nostrils, faces flushed with excitement, because Cardinal Theodore had not only spoken to her but even knew about her situation.