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Chapter – 05
“Pardon me? What do you mean by that, Your Eminence? Are you saying you are granting me permission to oversee Lady Salome’s education?”
“That is correct. Is there a problem?”
“But Your Eminence, between my duties as a High Priest, I simply do not have the time to take responsibility for a young lady’s education.”
“Lady Salome is a member of the Duke Krüger’s household. You are well aware of how much the Krüger family donates to the temple.”
“…….”
“For the time being, I will order another priest to take over Father Johann’s duties. Please focus entirely on Lady Salome’s education.”
In truth, I had hoped His Eminence would order me to refuse this task. Instead, the answer I received was entirely unexpected.
Still, there was nothing incorrect about the Cardinal’s reasoning. Duke Krüger was the largest donor to the Salute Temple. Should he take offense over this matter and withdraw his support, the temple would suffer greatly.
O Ataras, why do You burden me with such a trial?
“Are you listening to me, my lady?”
“Yes, of course. I’m listening very carefully.”
“It hardly seems that way.”
I stopped reading from the holy scripture. We had been going back and forth like this for nearly an hour already.
Lady Salome showed no interest in the lesson whatsoever. Knowing that she had spent many years abroad and was unfamiliar with the Empire’s religion, I had prepared the lecture with care—but she appeared utterly indifferent.
She didn’t even look in my direction, staring out the window instead. I closed the scripture I was holding. I truly should have insisted more firmly back then that I was unfit to educate Lady Salome.
“Then please recite the passage I just read.”
“And Jesus answered and said unto them, Truly I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done. And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive. The Gospel of Milena, chapter 21, verses 21 through 22.”
“…….”
It was always like this. She barely listened to the lesson, yet when asked to recite what I had just read, she did so without a single error. The rumors that Lady Salome had never lost the top position at the Rehlin Academy appeared to be true.
To be honest, she was a genius. A deus ex machina who never forgot anything she heard even once. It was regrettable that someone born with such remarkable talent chose not to use it for something worthwhile.
“Why do you believe in God, Father? How can you believe in Him?”
She suddenly turned her gaze toward me and asked the question. I felt a slight sense of relief. If she had finally developed even a bit of interest in the lesson, that alone was a blessing.
“That is an unusual question. Allow me to ask in return—do you not believe in God, my lady?”
The state religion of the Holy Terium Empire was the faith of Ataras. The imperial family and all citizens worshipped the one true god, Ataras. In this land, believing in God was the natural order of things. Not believing was what was strange.
Her words could have caused serious trouble if overheard, but I did not rebuke her. If she truly did not believe, then as a priest, it was my duty to guide her toward faith.
“Well… I suppose it would be difficult to say that I truly believe.”
“As you are aware, priests possess divine power. Those who wield it usually hold positions of Cardinal or higher. And His Holiness the Pope even receives prophecies directly from Ataras. If Ataras did not exist, how could such things be possible?”
“But it has been thousands of years since Ataras last appeared in this world in person. No one who saw Him is still alive. People merely read the scriptures and revere Him because of what is written there. How can we be certain that divine power or prophecy truly comes from a god?”
“Blessed are those who believe. It is precisely because we cannot be certain that faith exists. If Ataras were to appear before everyone, then there would be no one who doubted Him. But He does not do so. Believing in what cannot be seen—is that not true faith?”
I closed my eyes briefly. Those were words befitting a priest, yet not entirely sincere.
I had not believed in God from birth. It was only after experiencing that incident—after God saved me—that I came to believe. In that sense, I understood Lady Salome’s heart. Not everyone can believe from the beginning.
Of course, refusing faith entirely until the end would be another matter altogether.
Old memories threatened to surface. I forcibly pushed them away.
“…That really is a very priest-like answer. I don’t truly believe that God ‘doesn’t exist’ either. I simply don’t believe that God loves humans.”
“Why do you think that?”
“If God truly loved humans, He would never have given me this kind of fate.”
I tilted my head slightly. What fate was she referring to?
Though Lady Salome was smiling, she looked strangely sorrowful for the first time. Beneath her bright smile, it felt as though a dense mass of emotion was quietly stirring. I was about to ask her to explain further—
“Let’s stop the story here. If you want to know more, then grow closer to me. Maybe someday I’ll tell you. They say a woman full of secrets is attractive, after all.”
“…That won’t be necessary. It’s not a story I’m that desperate to hear.”
“How cold.”
Lady Salome stood up and strode straight toward me.
“Shall we make a wager?”
She smiled brightly and naturally took my hand. No matter how many times I saw it, I could never grow accustomed to her smile. There was something about it that made it impossible to look away.
“A wager… out of nowhere?”
“Johann, I guarantee it. You will fall in love with me.”
I was left speechless. What nonsense was she spouting now? And calling me by my name so casually was strange in itself.
Perhaps my thoughts showed on my face, because she merely shrugged.
“I knew you wouldn’t believe me. That’s why we’ll make it a bet. If you fall in love with me, you lose. If you don’t, then I lose.”
“A wager like that offers me no benefit whatsoever.”
“Oh my. Don’t tell me you lack confidence? Are you afraid you might fall for me?”
“That is not what I meant.”
She was clearly provoking me.
“Fine, then I’ll offer a reward. If you do not fall in love with me, I’ll grant you any wish you desire. I could even agree to never appear before you again.”
My eyes narrowed slightly. I didn’t wish for her to disappear entirely, but I wouldn’t have minded if she stopped tormenting me so freely.
“…And if I lose?”
“Then you’ll grant my wish.”
It wasn’t a bad deal—because there was no possibility of me falling in love with Lady Salome.
I had already devoted both my body and soul entirely to God. There was no chance I could love someone in a romantic sense. Especially not Lady Salome.
“Very well. I accept the wager.”
“Thank you for accepting. You may choose the time limit, Father. As long as it’s not something absurd, I don’t mind. After all, this wager will end in my victory.”
On what basis could she be so confident? Did she have something to rely on? No matter how I thought about it, I couldn’t guess what that might be. Unless she was a god herself, she couldn’t possibly control human emotions.
“The time limit… three months. How does that sound?”
“Three months… not bad.”
She answered and stepped closer. The distance between us shrank dangerously. I tried to step back, but she was faster.
She pressed a brief kiss to my cheek and pulled away.
“My lady! That behavior is—”
I frowned. A kiss on the cheek was a common greeting and not truly improper. Still, I disliked how she always acted entirely at her own discretion. Whether she understood my feelings or not, Lady Salome simply smiled calmly.
“I look forward to working with you.”
Much later, I would realize—
Perhaps this was the moment I succumbed to the serpent’s temptation.
“One question, if I may. What led you to study abroad?”
After the afternoon lesson ended, I shared tea with Lady Salome. Though she rarely listened attentively in class, she never once made a mistake when tested.
I found it difficult to understand why Duke Krüger had sent someone like her to a distant foreign academy. No matter how much trouble she caused, had she attended an academy in the Terium Empire, she would have become an asset to the nation.
With talent like hers, she must have stood out even as a child. What kind of incident could she possibly have caused at such a young age? If the Duke had been willing to accept such losses, it must have been no small matter.
“Didn’t my father tell you?”
“He did mention a few incidents in his letter. Cutting off the young duke’s hair while he slept, releasing a pet viper during a tea party, spraying herbicide in the garden and destroying all the flowers…”
“He only told you the cute and harmless ones, it seems.”
