Rosina blinked in surprise, then let go of the harspiel and went off to fetch Monika and Nicola; that warning would likely be enough for her to teach them properly. I myself went to get Gil, who was busy cleaning on the first floor, and together we exited the director’s chambers to meet the High Priest.
“Ah, there you both are. Let us head to the High Bishop’s room. Zahm, inform Fran of our current situation.”
Zahm, one of the High Priest’s attendants, brought me up to speed as we walked. It seemed that the blue priests had still not been told the details of the incident—all they knew was that the High Bishop had passed away, and those who had deep connections to him were trembling in fear over whatever had brought him down.
“Fran, Gil—put away the altar. We will handle the paperwork.”
“Understood.”
The High Bishop’s personal belongings had to be removed so that his room could be prepared for Lady Rozemyne. Inside, the High Priest’s attendants were busily moving around, though I found it strange that I couldn’t see Arno among them. Gil and I began using cloth to delicately wrap up the bible, the candles on the altar, and so on before moving them to a wooden box for storage. I also measured various pieces of furniture, writing my findings on a diptych to use as a basis when ordering new furniture for Lady Rozemyne.
“Man, I bet when she’s the High Bishop, Myne’s— Er, I mean, Lady Rozemyne’s gonna be pumped. Er, going to be pumped,” Gil said, trying to speak properly now that there were people around. I gently corrected him, noting that “pumped” should be “very pleased” instead, but I too could rest a little easier knowing that Lady Rozemyne would be able to find solace in having new books to read as everything else about her life changed.
“Is that all of the paperwork? There’s not as much here as I expected,” the High Priest observed.
“We found several wooden boards on one of the shelves,” one of his attendants responded.
Since the High Priest would be taking on almost all of the High Bishop’s duties, he and his attendants were prioritizing the paperwork over everything else. But since the High Priest had already taken so much work from the High Bishop to circumvent his laziness and incompetence when it came to doing his job, there wasn’t actually much paperwork there.
“I will now take these to the orphanage director’s chambers to organize,” I said, gesturing toward a number of wooden boxes filled with paperwork and equipment. Gil and I picked up the first one, but as we went to leave, the High Priest called out to me.
“Fran, come to my chambers after noon. We must discuss transferring the High Bishop’s furniture, as well as the High Bishop duties that Rozemyne will need to perform.”
“Understood.”
I returned to the director’s chambers, where I compared my measurements with ones Rosina had taken earlier. As the daughter of the archduke, Lady Rozemyne’s furniture would need to be fashionable, expensive, and of course, precisely measured.
Fourth bell rang. I took Lady Rozemyne’s book away from her so that she would eat, and then went to the kitchen to eat whatever food was leftover, as was customary for us attendants. But it felt strange to be here without Delia, her former role having been taken by Monika and Nicola.
“How is your learning going?” I asked them. “Do you think you can manage as attendants?”
“Not everyone is lucky enough to be taken on as apprentice attendants. We don’t have much time to learn, but we’ll try our hardest,” Monika said with a serious expression. Nicola nodded with a smile, adding that with food this good, she would work as hard as was necessary.
Her putting her stomach above everything else made me smile; with enthusiasm like that, they would both be masters of their jobs in no time. According to Rosina, they had been trained in the orphanage by Wilma ahead of time, so their training here was progressing faster than anticipated.
After our meal, I took the divine gifts to the orphanage. Once Wilma and Fritz had hurried over to get the gifts, I looked around. Everything seemed to be running as normal.
“How are things, Wilma?”
“Well... I am a little worried about Delia. She is looking after Dirk all by herself, accepting help from no one. I feel that it won’t be long before she collapses...”
I lowered my eyes a bit upon hearing Delia’s name. To speak frankly, she was not someone I was fond of. Both her using her womanhood as a weapon to get the High Bishop to accept her, and prioritizing the orphan Dirk over her own master did not sit well with me. I personally did not care what happened to Delia now that she had betrayed her master for the High Bishop, but Lady Rozemyne would still worry if something happened to her or Dirk—she had pleaded with the archduke himself to spare their lives, after all.
“I do not believe there is much we can do but let Delia continue on until she collapses. She is in such torment right now that she would likely not listen to anything we have to say to her. Our best course of action is to prepare someone to look after Dirk and someone to look after Delia once she collapses.”
“...I see. Very well then.” Wilma sent a worried glance toward the back of the dining hall, then nodded.
Upon returning to the director’s chambers, I found Gil anxiously waiting for me. “You’ve gotta go to the High Priest’s room, right? I’ll go check up on the workshop. We’re gonna be going to the forest tomorrow,” he said, so worried that his
