Delia would remain as my attendant until I announced that I was dismissing her. Rosina was fervently nodding, agreeing that she should have alerted me before going to the High Bishop for anything.
It would be one thing if this had happened right after Delia had become my attendant, but I had thought we were getting along quite well lately. Delia’s sudden betrayal made my head hurt. Why? That was the question that stirred my heart most. I looked down at my swaying tea before saying anything.
“...I will dismiss Delia. Please call her so that I may inform her.”
Fran’s stiff expression softened; it seemed that he thought I would be more hesitant to dismiss her. His arms still crossed in front of his chest, he said “Understood,” then left.
I picked up my cup again now that the discussion had settled down. The tea that tasted like nothing before was now unbearably bitter.
When Fran returned, Delia was with him. The rather pleased expression on her face was a sharp contrast to Fran’s grimace. She casually walked over to me, her crimson hair fluttering behind her.
“Good morning, Sister Myne. What would you like to talk about?” There wasn’t a trace of malice in her expression. She looked so normal and spoke so much like she usually did that I felt a little dizzy; for a second I even wondered if she hadn’t actually taken Dirk to the High Bishop at all. But Fran and Rosina’s stiff expressions brought me back to my senses, and I shook my head.
“I heard that you returned to the High Bishop.”
“I did,” Delia said with an expression so full of glee that she was positively sparkling. “When I told the High Bishop that the High Priest had looked for someone to adopt Dirk but couldn’t find anyone, he found someone for us immediately! And a noble father at that. Isn’t that incredible? Since adoptions by nobles here would require the archduke’s permission and thus be delayed, he went out of his way to search among nobles from other duchies. He has many more connections than the High Priest does.”
“Does that not mean that you and Dirk will end up separated?” I would have thought that Dirk would be sent to the other duchy at once. Perhaps Delia would be sent with him as a caretaker. Either way, the High Bishop had certainly gone out of his way to get an adoption that wouldn’t need the archduke’s approval.
These ominous signs were making me visibly worried, but Delia just laughed. “Dirk will be raised by the High Bishop until he comes of age, as he is no longer an orphan. The High Bishop will give us one of his attendant rooms and allow Dirk and I to live together.”
...Wasn’t that odd? If Dirk was going to be raised in the temple until he came of age, he wouldn’t be able to go to the Royal Academy despite being adopted, nor would he be able to grow up with his new family. For what purpose, then, would the noble have adopted Dirk? Even assuming he was just after his mana, it seemed like a strange decision to let the High Bishop raise him.
I was getting increasingly worried the more I learned, but Delia gave a happy smile, her cheeks blushing a rosy red. “Now I won’t have to be separated from Dirk. Had I remained with you, he would have been sent away to the orphanage in no time at all.”
Since Delia still couldn’t bring herself to go to the orphanage, in her eyes, Dirk being sent there while she remained in the director’s chambers was the same as them being ripped apart entirely. It was true that they wouldn’t be living together even if she grew more comfortable going to the orphanage, and once Dirk was baptized he would be sent to the boys’ building where it would be even harder for them to meet. What could I say to Delia, considering that she had taken matters into her own hands to spend more time with Dirk?
“The two of you aren’t being treated poorly, are you?”
“No, of course not,” Delia replied with a firm shake of her head.
At the moment, the High Bishop was only showing Delia his good side. If she only knew him as a kindly grandpa, then she wouldn’t believe anything bad I said about him.
I took in a deep breath. “In that case, I hereby dismiss you as my attendant. You will now serve the High Bishop. Are you okay with that?”
“Very. If that’s all you have to say, Sister Myne, I would like to return to Dirk. His adoptive father will be arriving soon.”
It had felt like there was ash in my mouth when I forced myself to announce her dismissal, and yet Delia didn’t seem to feel anything in particular at all. She was just excited to leave and get back to Dirk as soon as possible.
“My apologies for calling you over here. But I hope you know that Fran and Rosina were both worried sick looking for you and Dirk when you left unannounced. Wilma was surprised, Gil was shocked to find the room empty when he came back from the workshop, and I myself was shaken when I heard the news this morning. We were all worried about what might have happened to you and Dirk. I would have liked for you to have at least said something before you left.”
In the end, I did let her know how I felt, hoping more for her to understand what she had done than to make her feel bad for
