Chapter 15

“Uh, what should I do? Louis… This is mom’s favorite bowl…”

“I broke it.”

“Huh?”

“Tell her that.”

015

Punishment and Sin (Part 1)

The footsteps stepping outside the reformatory were heavy.

Anne stopped walking and let out a deep sigh. In the end, they had fought. The days apart had been too long, and after reuniting, there wasn’t enough time to exchange even kind words.

She couldn’t say she didn’t understand Louis’ actions, but at the same time, she couldn’t help feeling a pang of disappointment. How much had she…

“…I shouldn’t think like this.”

Anne shook her head to shake off the lingering haze in her heart. After all, even Ailim had said that one should not expect rewards for devotion.

Of course, Anne was prepared to devote herself without expecting anything in return.

Even if the other person was unaware of her devotion, or even misunderstood it. It’s fine. They’ll understand someday.

For now, her vision was just clouded by darkness, but it would return to normal. Definitely. Anne could see at a glance that even if Louis had changed, his essence remained the same.

As an Inquisition Judge, she knew better than anyone how humans could break and crumble.

And she was also aware that she was blinded by love. Louis wasn’t an exceptional warrior or a specially trained agent; in terms of willpower, he was just an ordinary person.

Still.

‘It wasn’t me.’

Even in a state akin to a half-corpse, he stubbornly spat out those words.

Most people, by that point, wouldn’t even be able to scream, let alone speak, and would only let out meaningless groans. The unyielding resolve that refused to break even under such harsh trials gave Anne, who had been anxious, a sense of certainty.

Sweet lovers, kind parents, good neighbors. Anne had seen countless times how good people fell into heresy and corruption, pushing their loved ones into the fiery pits of hell with their own hands.

Truly reforming heretics was extremely rare. The Inquisition was already short-handed just trying to judge the ever-growing number of heretics, and those who had crossed the line once were more likely to break taboos again. Cases of those who were believed to have been successfully reformed falling back into heresy were piled up like mountains in the Religious Order.

But Louis was different.

Just as she never doubted the divine, Anne held this as an absolute truth. Louis was different. Louis could be reformed, and once he returned to the light, he would never return to the darkness.

On what basis? What made Louis different from other heretics? Anne suppressed such questions.

Even if you were seduced by another woman, it’s not your fault. I wasn’t by your side. Like the evil beings they are, they must have used vile and coercive means to force you to cross the line.

So, none of the actions you took are your sins. It’s all because of that fiancée or whatever she is, that witch.

Unconsciously, her hand groped at her empty waist, as if reaching for a mace.

‘Never again will such a thing happen.’

Soon, Anne clasped her hands together neatly. As if in prayer, or as if making a vow.

‘From now on, I’ll always be by your side.’

Anne’s goal was simple yet clear. Protect Louis. From what?

From heretics, evil gods, corruption, sin, taboos, the Religious Order… from everything.

Anne was, of course, a devout believer, but the priority in her life had never changed.

Knock knock.

“Who is it…? Come in.”

Anne pushed the door open and entered.

It was the first time. Visiting Cardinal François’ office twice in one day.

Unlike before, this meeting was scheduled. So, the moment the door opened, François, who had been engrossed in paperwork, looked up in surprise at the sudden appearance.

“Anne…? No, Sister Anne, what brings you here?”

For some reason, François seemed more startled than usual by the unexpected visitor. Whether it was because Anne rarely visited on her own, or if there was another reason she didn’t know.

It didn’t matter. That wasn’t important right now.

Without waiting for an invitation to sit, Anne naturally pulled up a chair and sat across from François. Right now, she was here for something less important than taking care of Louis.

Even if it’s metal, unrefined steel can only be dull. Just thinking about how you started trembling bit by bit, trying not to show it as you left, makes my heart ache.

‘Just wait a little longer, Louis.’

All of this is for you.

Even if it’s painful now, someday you’ll understand.

“Your Eminence, Cardinal François.”

The Religious Order emphasizes that we are all brothers and sisters under Ailim, in a horizontal relationship. Thus, no matter how high-ranking a clergy member is, the usual form of address is simple.

Brother or Brother, or if more formal, the archaic term ‘Vito’ meaning ‘brother.’ If they are so fixated on formality, there’s only one reason.

Official duties that require a clear hierarchy.

“I, Inquisition Judge Anne, have come today to confess the sins I have committed before Your Eminence.”

“Judge Anne…?”

“Please take back your words. We are all born under the same hand, but before punishment, the ties of blood must be severed, must they not?”

Having spent most of her youth in the Religious Order, Anne’s demeanor in observing etiquette was so perfect that it was hard to believe she had just been acting like a spoiled girl.

François was no less impressive. Despite being in a situation that would be sufficiently bewildering, he didn’t show his inner thoughts and instead wore a faint smile, like a spring still touched by winter’s chill.

“That’s right. Inquisition Judge Anne. Although I have also been ordained as a confessor, if you’ve come to me not as a priest but as a cardinal, you must know what that means, right?”

“Yes. I will not run from the yoke I must bear.”

Not avoiding responsibility through the trick of confession, but accepting the appropriate consequences for her actions and the price for what she had done.

François, still with a gentle but slightly colder voice, asked.

“Inquisition Judge Anne. What sin have you committed?”

And Anne brought out her prepared answer.

Of course, she couldn’t say she was sheltering a heretic. Telling the people of the Religious Order directly that she was protecting Louis wouldn’t work and would only backfire.

So, Anne intended to show her resolve through actions, even if it left some room for suspicion.

“I failed to overcome personal emotions and resorted to violence against my brother.”

Anyone who touched Louis wouldn’t end up well.

The Religious Order preaches mercy, but what the Inquisition Judges learn is judgment and retribution. In the face of overwhelming evil, where even mercy fails, their task is to tear down the fortresses they’ve built.

“Who…?”

“Inquisition Judge Verdo.”

That wasn’t enough.

To go further, to make the fallen ruins an example, to repay harm with tenfold harm, and to instill such fear in the enemies of the Religious Order that they wouldn’t dare oppose them.

Anne was merely doing her usual work. Only this time, it wasn’t for the Religious Order, but solely for herself. For the person she loved.

“My achievements, the only clue to chasing the ‘fiancée,’ were ruined by Inquisition Judge Verdo. Because of his hasty intervention, the thread that could have caught the evil was almost severed.”

Though, the true intent must remain hidden forever.

“…How is Inquisition Judge Verdo’s condition?”

“He’s not dead.”

Anne replied briefly.

It wasn’t a lie. She hadn’t done anything yet.

No matter how sharp François was, he couldn’t see through her true intentions with just this clue. To let him grasp her true meaning, Anne decided to throw in one more piece.

“Although he provided the pretext, blinded by anger, my actions were excessive. I intend to suspend my activities as an Inquisition Judge for the time being and reflect on my actions.”

An Inquisition Judge is a profession dispatched across the world to hunt heretics. To suspend that meant she wouldn’t go far and would stay close to the temple.

No matter how much Anne held up the shields of achievements or the fiancée, she couldn’t deceive everyone. Sensing her true intentions, François’ eyes sharpened.

“Then what do you intend to do during this period of reflection?”

“Service, and as a form of penance, I will lend a helping hand to the reformatory, however small.”

A blatant intention. While it was dangerous to be directly caught and excommunicated, Anne had no intention of hiding her resolve within that line.

To assault a colleague over a heretic, and then quit her original duties to cling to that heretic? If it were any other cardinal or Inquisition Judge, a hearing would be called at the first sign of such behavior.

But they were different.

The relationship between Anne and François was ‘special.’

“Is that heretic… so precious to you?”

Eyes that were different yet clearly similar stared at each other, and Anne spat out her words, discarding any pretense.

“Yes.”

Before joining the Religious Order, Anne’s full name was Anne Aillard.

Depending on the region, the surname was also called Aileno or Hallard, meaning ‘child of Ailim, or Ailam.’ But of course, all things in the world are born under that breath.

Aillard is the surname given to children without a family name, orphans and bastards.

“…I understand.”

And so, knowing that Anne was rushing toward ruin, he had no choice but to push her forward.

“Inquisition Judge Anne. For the sin of being swayed by emotions and assaulting a colleague, I sentence you to service at the reformatory.”