Chapter 66
Epilogue.
“I never imagined even Daphne would return to secular life.”
Bishop Isabella muttered the words with a tone that was equal parts bittersweet and relieved, her gaze sweeping over the now-empty dormitory.
“It might sound a bit harsh, but in truth, I think this convent is finally returning to what it was meant to be. For the past hundred years, we’ve been keeping young girls locked away here because of some prophecy. It never sat quite right with me. I’m glad that, at last, we can use this space purely as a place of prayer.”
With the old, crowded beds cleared out, the once-cramped room now looked as it was originally intended — a prayer room, peaceful and bare.
“Am I sad to see Daphne go? Oh, of course. I wasn’t the one who changed her diapers, but she’s a child I’ve watched for over a decade.”
Unlike the other novices who had been bottle-fed and had their first steps guided there, Daphne had entered the convent already grown, or nearly so. And perhaps for that reason, Isabella had always felt a touch less attached to her than the others. She hadn’t realized just how hard the girl had tried.
She hadn’t known because Daphne never said. And because she never needed to say anything. One day, she had simply grown into someone remarkably upright and steady, and that alone had been enough to set Isabella’s mind at ease. The girl had come in late from the outside world, and Isabella had expected trouble. But Daphne had proven her wrong, so much so that Isabella had repented for ever thinking ill of her.
Daphne never once complained. Never once made trouble. She was the least demanding of them all.
So when Daphne had said she wished to stay at the convent instead of returning to the world, Isabella had been quietly pleased. She believed Daphne would be the perfect person to guide the next generation of the prophecy-born.
She had never considered what kind of life would await the girl if she remained. Or rather, she had known but closed her eyes to it. Daphne had always taken on even the harshest tasks without protest, always setting an example. Isabella had simply assumed she would manage, even if she stayed the rest of her life as a servant of the temple.
How blind, how cruel that assumption had been. And how little she’d understood at the time.
“Everyone’s been distressed about His Holiness collapsing… but I believe the Holy Father will rise again soon. Now that the three stars are gone, we don’t have to live in fear of the prophecy anymore. Oh, and the babies who were meant to enter? They’ve all been returned to their families. It’s for the best. No matter how dearly clergy like myself may love them, it can never compare to the love of their true parents.”
The inverted-triangle mark that once appeared on the three stars at birth had vanished, and the newly risen stars that followed had fallen like shooting stars in the night sky.
“That night, the falling stars were truly beautiful. And I believe the future awaiting those children will be just as beautiful.”
While the Grand Temple was in upheaval, it wasn’t until Daphne told her she’d found the love of her life and would be returning to the secular world that Bishop Isabella truly understood.
That even this girl — so composed, so dutiful — had needed a place to rest her heart.
She had only stayed at the convent because she’d had nowhere else to go. And that now, with someone to turn to, someone to belong to, she was more than ready to take flight.
“I leave her in your care, Your Eminence.”
Bishop Isabella gave an awkward smile as she looked at Theodore Valentino, who returned her words with a gentle smile of his own.
“However, I suppose I should call you Mr. Theodore now.”
Who would have guessed that the cardinal, once considered the most likely successor to the papacy, would suddenly resign from all office and declare his return to secular life?
Theodore Valentino, once promised the path of radiant glory, had chosen to abandon it all to see the world anew. He took off the cardinal’s ring with his own hands.
To many, the laicization of Theodore, once a paragon of priestly devotion, came as a deep shock. Especially since it coincided with the fall of the “three stars,” their symbolic marks vanishing like shooting stars in the night sky.
Naturally, within the Grand Temple, murmurings stirred. Was this not the fulfillment of the prophecy surrounding the three stars? Should the source not be identified, condemned? But with the man himself offering no protest and the Pope remaining silent, there was little the faithful could do but offer their blessings to the path Theodore had chosen.
After all, even if he had stepped down and left the Temple behind, none could bring themselves to cast out a man like Theodore Valentino.
“She will be with me now, Bishop. You needn’t worry.”
“…Yes. Of course.”
Isabella replied, nodding slowly. She added, with quiet sincerity, that she hoped the Father’s grace would continue to guide their steps in this new life.
* * *
Daphne still couldn’t quite get used to the feel of silk against her skin.
The dark green dress embroidered with gold thread had few embellishments, yet the sheer quality of the fabric made it look more luxurious than the one worn by that nobleman’s daughter who had once visited the convent.
Even high-ranking clergy wouldn’t be clothed in something of this caliber. Not even Theodore’s robes had felt like this — at least not quite. Perhaps only someone at the level of the Pope could wear something so fine.
‘Do I really deserve to wear something like this?’
She couldn’t stop fidgeting, the dress feeling as out of place on her as a crown might on a commoner’s head. Having spent a lifetime wrapped in the worn and the weathered, she couldn’t settle into the comfort of anything this fine.
“Uhm…”
Daphne, gazing at the rippling sunlight on the river’s surface, bent to pick up a pebble — then hesitated as she saw the fine folds of silk begin to crease. She let it be. Just then, she heard a voice behind her.
“Why are you doing that here?”
“…Teddy!”
Daphne turned, beaming. Theodore was walking toward her.
Discussion
1 Commenthiraheth