What miserable fate now awaited Brother Egmont? I could not wait to find out. There was nothing quite so refreshing as trash getting what they deserved.
I started making my way back to the High Priest. Just as I was approaching his room, I saw him leaving with Zahm, another of his attendants. I walked over to them.
“High Priest, where might you be going?”
“I believe today is the funeral, and I would like to be at the chapel for it. Arno, prepare to welcome the Gilberta Company.”
Funerals that involved going to the temple’s chapel tended to be for commoners, and the High Priest practically never went to receive the report of death himself. So why is he going out of his way to attend this time? I wondered as I returned to his room and began preparations.
Not long after, I received a report that the Gilberta Company’s carriage had arrived at the back gate. I headed to the entrance to welcome them inside.
“Thank you for coming today,” I said, guiding them to the room and then leaving. The High Priest seemed to want to proceed with as much secrecy as possible, and was once again clearing the room of all attendants. Truly, what had happened last night? I knew nothing outside of the fact that we would be visiting Sister Myne’s room in the afternoon.
“It’s time, Arno.”
“Understood.”
Once their meal was finished, I followed the High Priest’s orders and headed for Sister Myne’s room with the sheets of plant paper he had handed me. The High Priest knit his brow tighter than usual; his heavy frown made it quite clear that he was conflicted about something, but since I knew nothing of the circumstances, I decided there was no need for me to think any more about it.
I walked down the hallway and stood in front of the door to the orphanage director’s chambers, which took me back to when I was the former director’s attendant. It still felt so strange having to ring the bell of arrival just so I could enter. And when I did, Fran answered the door, just like he would back then.
“Please come inside, High Priest,” he said.
The hall was unchanged from when Sister Margaret had lived here, perhaps due to Sister Myne reusing the furniture. These similarities made my memories of the past even more vivid, and I smiled nostalgically as the High Priest began talking to Fran beside me.
“How is she?”
“She has a small fever, but she is dressed and ready. I have gathered all of her attendants as requested.”
I climbed the stairs with Fran and found myself instinctively looking around for Sister Margaret. In my mind’s eye I saw her rich golden hair and her deep-blue eyes, crinkled in a smile that never left her face. The beauty mark above her lips was as sensual as anything I had ever seen, and her gesturing hand was enough to make my heart pound.
But unlike in my memories, it was Sister Myne and her attendants inside the director’s room, the former looking a little more flushed than usual, perhaps due to her fever. There were two girls among them who I didn’t recognize, both of whom were looking this way anxiously. They were most likely Delia’s replacements. As they were not yet of age, there had been few opportunities for us to meet.
“Who are these two?” the High Priest asked.
“Monika and Nicola,” Sister Myne replied. “I spoke yesterday about taking them on as attendants to replace Delia. They will take care of me and help the chefs in the kitchen.”
“I see. In that case, let us discuss the future.”
What the High Priest said next was truly shocking: Sister Myne was in fact the daughter of an archnoble who had been sent to the temple and disguised as a commoner for her own protection. Her true name was “Rozemyne.”
Despite having seen her commoner family several times before, my first reaction was not surprise, but rather understanding. The temple was ruled by the oppressive whims of the blue priests; there was no point in arguing with their unreasonable expectations and demands. The decisions they made became the proper way of the world.
Regardless of what they thought on the inside, the attendants of Sister Myne, or rather Lady Rozemyne, all nodded in understanding. It was surely easier for them to understand serving an archnoble than a commoner.
“Rozemyne will be baptized in her father’s mansion this summer, and at the same time be adopted by the archduke. She will then assume the position of High Bishop,” the High Priest said, which made many of Sister Myne’s... er, many of Lady Rozemyne’s attendants blink in surprise. It was clear from their expressions that they had heard what he said, but could not understand it. I felt the same way.
It was not particularly rare for nobles to hide or be forced to send their pre-baptism children to the temple, where adult blue priests would serve as their guardians. Since nobles announced their children at their baptism ceremony, it was normal to send children who would never be announced to the temple before it happened. The idea that an archnoble’s daughter had been hidden and raised in the temple with the High Priest as her guardian made perfect sense and was readily agreeable. That said, it was a bit much to say that Lady Rozemyne would be replacing the High Bishop.
“The High Bishop has earned the ire of the archduke through multiple criminal acts, and is already imprisoned as we speak. I will assume the duties of High Bishop until Rozemyne is formally adopted by the archduke and can assume the position herself.”
He said he would assume the duties
