The Pious Priest's Sinful Collection - Chapter 9
“Ah…”
Hearing what sounded like a gentle rebuke, Bishop Caleb was taken aback. He had assumed Cardinal Theodore would share his negative view of them.
‘I almost ended up on bad terms with the Cardinal over a careless comment!’
Realizing his blunder, Bishop Caleb began to sweat profusely and quickly agreed.
“You are absolutely right, Your Eminence. I should not have dared to pass judgment on those consecrated to the Holy Spirit, Father… I must offer a prayer of repentance.”
“If you need confession, do not hesitate to let me know.”
Bishop Caleb nodded and wiped the cold sweat from his brow as he led the way.
“This way, please.”
Theodore followed Bishop Caleb toward the Pope’s office, slipping the thin object he had been holding in his clenched hand — never once opened — into his robes.
* * *
“You all worked hard today…”
Exhausted, the novices trudged back to their dorms and collapsed onto their beds. It was the same labor as always, but on days like this — when they had to change their bedding — it felt twice as tiring.
“Wasn’t it manor maintenance tomorrow?”
“Yeah. The priests said they can’t handle it because of consecration duties, so it’s up to us. Looks like we’ll be spreading fertilizer and tilling the fields.”
“Why is there always so much to do? At this rate, we’ll be working nonstop until the day we leave.”
“Right? Ugh, every joint in my body aches…”
Groaning as they threw themselves onto their beds, they would normally have fallen asleep in an instant. But not tonight.
Though no one said it out loud, they all knew that there weren’t many nights left where they could sleep together like this, and that quiet thought kept them from drifting off.
As she rustled under her blanket, Thalia suddenly muttered:
“Oh, right.”
“Huh?”
“Come to think of it, Cardinal Theodore came by earlier today, didn’t he? Why was he here?”
“Yeah, good question. Daphne, what did the Cardinal say to you?”
Marianne, her face full of curiosity, sat up. At the sound of the two girls’ voices, the other trainee priests also propped themselves up and turned to look at Daphne.
“Daphne?”
“…Huh? What?”
Drowsily drifting toward sleep as she listened to their half-complaining, half-chatting conversation, Daphne opened her heavy eyelids when she heard her name.
Marianne’s eyes lit up.
“The cardinal spoke to you, right? What did he say?”
“Ah… nothing in particular, really.”
“Oh, come on! I saw him stop you as you were leaving and say something!”
“Umm…”
So she saw that much. Before Daphne knew it, Marianne had become the ringleader, and all eyes were now sparkling with curiosity. When she didn’t answer right away, her peers urged her on, and eventually even brought up the moment she had ended up in Cardinal Theodore’s arms.
“Besides, Daphne, you fell into his arms! What was it like? Flat? Or firm?”
“Who knows? Maybe it was so rock-hard it could bruise you? He is one of the youngest and tallest cardinals, after all.”
“Not even just among cardinals! I bet there aren’t many men like that even outside the clergy!”
When the topic finally shifted to Theodore Valentino’s appearance, Daphne scrunched her nose in discomfort. At this rate, someone was bound to say something reckless. She sat up and cautiously began to speak.
“It really wasn’t anything special. Somehow, he knew I’d said I wanted to stay behind and assist the next batch of novices.”
“Gasp…!”
“So he asked if I was really planning to stay and serve while the rest of you left the monastery.”
Strictly speaking, he had told her to let him know if there was anything she needed for her monastery — but if she said that, they’d probably get even more excited, and Daphne wasn’t sure she could handle the chaos.
