“...The High Bishop said you wouldn’t approve of me taking Dirk, so I decided to be more stealthy. I do apologize for that. I’m sorry,” she said, averting her gaze as she shifted the blame to the High Bishop.
So she had known that she was doing something I wouldn’t approve of after all.
“Well, good luck raising Dirk. I imagine things won’t be easy for you.”
“Thank you, and goodbye.” Delia gave me a true smile this time, then left to return to Dirk. I was glad to see that she was happy, but I knew there was no way that would last.
Once she was gone, I looked to Fran and Rosina. “...Will Delia and Dirk be okay?”
“There is nothing more we can do now that Dirk is no longer an orphan. Delia chose this fate herself,” Rosina said firmly.
I gave her a hesitant nod. “...You’re right.” But I still wanted to help her however I could, and as I thought about what I could do, Fran knelt down beside me. He took my hand and looked up at me with deadly serious eyes.
“Sister Myne, even if Delia is to come calling, you must never visit the High Bishop under any circumstances,” he said. I blinked in confusion, and with a face full of worry he continued. “When I went to get Delia, the High Bishop was extremely insistent that you go to his room to fetch her yourself. I repeated that it would not be proper for a mistress to leave her chambers for her attendant, and in the end successfully left with Delia, but his change in behavior is frightening to me.”
The High Bishop had ordered that I never be brought to his room—he didn’t even want to look at me. Yet now he was telling Fran to bring me to him. He wanted me to dismiss Delia in his room. That change in behavior made Fran feel uncomfortable, and it certainly was strange.
“Furthermore, it seems that it was the High Bishop who had given the letter of invitation to the noble who caused a stir at the east gate the other day. His name was on it, and the Knight’s Order went to question him. He claimed that he just wanted to strengthen the bonds between our duchies, but the High Priest predicts that he wanted the noble inside the city so that he could acquire Dirk.”
“Why would the High Bishop send a letter of invitation if the archduke hadn’t approved it?”
“It seems he didn’t know,” Fran said. I tilted my head in confusion, and he lowered his voice with an uncomfortable expression. “The High Bishop spent most of the winter in the temple for the Dedication Ritual, and since he is not legally a noble, he is rarely invited to winter social gatherings. He simply was not aware that the rules had been changed.”
The High Bishop technically wasn’t a noble, and was thus not invited to the gatherings of noble society where the archduke had announced the change in rules. He had therefore tried inviting a noble from another duchy just like he had in the past.
“We do not know why the High Bishop has given Dirk to an outsider noble and drawn Delia to his side. I request that you take great care and approach the future with great caution.”
Fran’s hands were shaking, perhaps out of worry for me. I squeezed them and gave him a nod.
The Shadow Falls
“Sister Myne, would you consider taking on a new attendant to replace Delia?”
“Do I need a new one right away?” I wasn’t living in the temple like I had been during the winter, so as far as I was aware there wasn’t enough work to require immediately replacing Delia.
“The sooner the better.”
Now that Dirk was gone, Fran could sleep at night and handle the more physical labor with Gil. Rosina, however, didn’t want to hurt her fingers doing chores, and Fran went on to explain that it would be better for everyone if Delia was replaced soon.
“If I may speak frankly for a moment, I know that you are still worrying about Delia and have a tendency to be soft on those you care about. It would be easier for me to relax if there was someone other than Delia here for you to direct your compassion toward.”
I fell silent, unable to disagree that I was still soft at heart. He must have seen me looking around the room aimlessly for Delia at times, and in the end, Fran was right: it was more important for me to work toward easing Fran and Rosina’s worries than for me to keep worrying about Delia, who was gone and would stay gone.
I sighed and briefly lowered my eyes. “...If I am to pick one from the gray shrine maidens, perhaps Monika and Nicola will do?” They had both helped Ella cook throughout the whole of winter. Wilma had recommended their services, and I already knew they were diligent workers, not to mention that I could entrust both chores and helping the chefs to them.
In reality, since the Italian restaurant was on the verge of completion, all of the chefs except for Ella would soon be leaving. Ella wanted to stay to learn more recipes, and I had already negotiated with Benno to make that a reality. It had worked out for the best anyway since we needed someone to direct the new chefs Benno would be sending our way. Plus, it would be easiest for Ella to work with Monika and Nicola since they already knew each other.
“Monika and Nicola? Sister Myne, would you be capable of taking both on at once?” Fran, knowing the financial state of my chambers, whispered his concerns to me in a low voice. It was true that they might be a slight strain on my wallet depending on the season, but I already had more orders for the games we
