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Chapter – 20
“I haven’t been having those dreams lately.”
Now that I thought about it, I really hadn’t been having nightmares at night these days. Before, I used to wake up every night to my parents’ voices screaming, begging to be saved. But when had that stopped, exactly? Instead of them, there was now someone else who appeared in my dreams.
A woman with red hair, smiling at me. Dreams where I talked with her, chatted, and wandered here and there together. When I woke up, I always realized that the person I’d been with was Lady Salome.
“That is truly fortunate. Though they committed the sin of denying the gods after being misled by false whispers, your parents were admirable people.”
“……”
“John, are you not standing here to atone on their behalf?”
I slowly nodded. I placed my hand over the left side of my chest. It still felt as though the scarlet mark engraved there remained. A brand that those who denied the gods were forced to bear as punishment.
Back then, when I was young, I didn’t understand why we had to wear such a mark. At first, I was even happy, thinking it was just a new decoration on my clothes.
“How shameless of them to walk around with their heads held high. How dare they deny the gods!”
“The punishment from the temple is far too lenient. People like that are bound for hell! Oh, what is this world coming to? Merciful Ataras…”
But as time passed, I came to understand. Whenever I went outside with the scarlet mark, people would point fingers at me. Many of the servants who had worked at our estate quit all at once.
Every time my mother saw the mark on her chest, she cried. She would hug me tightly and whisper that everything would be all right. It felt less like words meant for me, and more like words she was saying to herself.
“Father, did we do something bad? Everyone avoids our family.”
“No, my son. That isn’t so. People are simply confused right now. It’s hard for them to accept that the god they believe in does not exist.”
Even so, my father remained resolute. When I wandered the halls late at night, unable to sleep, I would often pass by his study. Even at such late hours, the light would be on as he immersed himself in his research. I instinctively knew it was research denying the existence of the gods.
As a child, I would hide behind the door and watch him for a long time. On days when he went out, I would sneak into the study and read his research notes.
I couldn’t fully understand the content. Still, there was one conclusion I grasped clearly.
“There is no such thing as the gods people believe in. What exists is merely something like a mechanism that regulates the order of the world.”
Even after standing trial at the temple, my father could not abandon his research. Because they continued committing the sin of blasphemy, my parents lost their lives— in a truly horrific manner.
“At the time, you were very young. Just because your parents denied the gods does not mean the child must do the same. As you can see, you have grown into a fine servant of the gods.”
“Yes, Your Holiness. Even now, I am deeply grateful to you.”
“You have nothing to thank me for. It must have been the will of Ataras that moved me to extend a hand of salvation to you.”
After losing my parents, I had nowhere to go. There were no close relatives. Everyone who had once been close to my parents cut ties with them the moment the scarlet mark appeared on their chests.
Our property had already been confiscated long ago. Had Your Holiness not reached out to me, I would have wandered the streets. I might not even be alive today.
“If you have nowhere to go, then come with me. The temple exists to be a home for those with nowhere else to turn.”
The hand extended to me by His Holiness—who was the High Priest at the time—felt like a ray of light. I resolved to believe in the gods devoutly, if only for his sake.
To prove that I was different from my parents. To prove that I was not a sinner like them.
“To think that such a small child would grow into a High Priest. I am most pleased. Surely, you will be able to carry out the grand will of the gods.”
“The grand will…”
I couldn’t quite follow what His Holiness meant. He always spoke in a roundabout way, but today it felt especially so.
“Still, do not forget this. Now is the time to draw others to your side, rather than oppose things directly.”
He seemed to be referring to the incident at the imperial palace. I wanted to tell him— that it hadn’t been my own will. That I had been led by Lady Salome’s hand and had no choice.
But I feared something might happen to her if I said that. So I kept my mouth shut.
His Holiness seemed to take my silence as agreement. He smiled gently.
“Go into all the world and proclaim this gospel to all creation.”
“…Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.”
Heraes, Chapter 9, Verse 6. Amen.
His Holiness recited the verse first, and I naturally followed after him. He patted my shoulder a few times. It felt as though I’d returned to my childhood.
That was when I noticed the pure white gloves covering his hands. He didn’t usually wear gloves. I wondered if he had been injured somewhere—though it could simply have been a change of heart.
Noticing my gaze, His Holiness casually lowered his hand.
“Then I must be going now. If I’m late returning, the central temple may be thrown into chaos. I slipped out because I was worried about you. For me to visit the temple officially would require going through a great deal of procedure.”
“I see. Thank you sincerely for coming all this way yourself. Still, it may be dangerous for you to return alone—perhaps an escort—”
“Ah, I came with a single holy knight, so it will be fine. Thank you for your concern.”
Normally, several priests would have escorted His Holiness, but since this visit was made in secret, that wasn’t possible.
I quietly accompanied him to the entrance of the temple. There, a holy knight—who hadn’t been there before—stood guard.
“Next time, I shall visit officially.”
I bowed my head lightly. As he was about to step into the carriage, His Holiness suddenly turned back and spoke.
“John. Be wary of that woman.”
“What do you mean by—”
He did not answer my question. With a benevolent smile, he boarded the carriage. I could only watch as it disappeared completely into the darkness.
His words lingered in my mind. Be wary of that woman. No matter how I thought about it, the woman he meant had to be Lady Salome.
But why would His Holiness warn me about her? He wasn’t someone who would say such things over mere concerns about my reputation.
There were other puzzling parts of our conversation as well—praising me despite the grave insult I’d committed against the imperial family, and saying that now was the time to gather allies.
My thoughts were tangled. I had gone to the chapel to clear my head, but instead, I had even more to think about.
Unconsciously, I looked up at the night sky. The moon shone brilliantly, dazzling in its fullness. It looked as though it would soon be a full moon—too beautiful to enjoy alone.
After gazing at the sky for a long while, I returned to my room to sleep.
Inside the rattling carriage, the man looked down at his hand. When he removed the white glove, a black stigmata glowed on the back of his hand. He brushed it with his other hand. At first, there had been searing pain, but now he felt nothing at all.
After fiddling with the mark, he put the glove back on. It was something that must never be shown to others.
For a pope—one who claimed to be the proxy of the gods—to bear a black stigmata, an omen of ill fortune. If others were to find out, he would be forced to step down from the papal seat. He could not allow his plans to be disrupted.
So far, everything had proceeded smoothly. Before long, he would fully realize his ambitions. To do so, any potential obstacles had to be removed in advance.
“Salome Kruger.”
Resting his arm on the carriage window, the man propped up his chin and murmured the woman’s name.
A figure who had studied abroad in a foreign land and suddenly returned to the Terium Empire. Her intentions were unclear, yet she continued to approach John.
If John simply fulfilled his role, the pope wouldn’t have cared about his personal affairs. John was nothing more than a chess piece for his grand design. Had it been any other woman, he wouldn’t have paid it much mind.
But Salome Kruger was different. There was something odd about her. She acted as though she knew far too much.
According to reports that had reached his ears, Salome had played a role in today’s incident—when wine was thrown in the crown prince’s face. Just what did this woman know? Or was it merely a chain of coincidences?
“We shall meet soon enough.”
The man’s eyes glowed red.
