Chapter 237

The cold and heavy air of midnight settled on the street, and the silence was palpable.

Sofia Sub-priest walked quietly, following Professor Antorelli, gazing down at the snow crunching beneath her feet. The sound of crunching echoed softly.

Just earlier that evening, there was no snow at all where people had walked, so it must have snowed again in the meantime.

Professor Antorelli continued to match his pace for Sofia, but somehow he seemed to be more cautious than usual.

Thanks to this, Sofia Sub-priest could relax enough to enjoy the sight of the footsteps left imprinted in the snow as she stepped down into it.

“Ugh….”

The wind whooshed by, and Sofia unconsciously groaned as she tightened her coat’s collar, which she had loosely draped over her shoulders.

As they walked along, a snowman appeared ahead. Instead of snow, it had buttons for eyes, a long rock protruding for a nose, and dry branches for arms and ears. It was a typical snowman.

It was wrapped in a scarf that suggested it had been crafted by someone with talent. Sofia Sub-priest remembered her days living in the Holy Empire.

The children in the Holy Empire are innocent. Even when they receive boring education from priests they meet everywhere or from the churches set up throughout, they remain pure, untainted by any of society’s filth. Indeed, they are as pure as the white snow….

‘But how….’

What had Professor Antorelli gone through? How could such things happen?

When Professor Antorelli came to the Holy Empire, Sofia Sub-priest was also there. However, she was too busy with her studies at the Seminary to catch wind of such news promptly.

She only faintly heard that the Great War had ended— along with some rumors that a few surviving military priests and injured soldiers had come to the Holy Empire.

It was fortunate that the professors at the Seminary strictly enforced silence on such rumors; otherwise, Sofia Sub-priest might have been swept up by the tide of public opinion and spoken ill of people like Professor Antorelli. What a chilling thought that was.

And because of that, Sofia Sub-priest believed that there was at least something she owed Professor Antorelli in terms of atonement. Although such a future may not have occurred, under different circumstances, it might have very well happened.

Even knowing that, she still suggested a trip to the Holy Empire to Professor Antorelli.

Despite being a proposal for someone who had been looking increasingly weary lately, was it better to let him rest at the staff dormitory over the winter break?

‘…By the way.’

Sofia Sub-priest glanced back at the path she had walked.

It was late, a little past midnight. On the roadside lightly covered in white snow, only the distinct footprints of Professor Antorelli leading the way and Sofia Sub-priest following him remained. The residence where Professor Esther, Elin, Chloe, and Laura were sound asleep had already slipped out of sight.

‘Where are we going?’

They had come quite far. Though Professor Antorelli walked slowly, they were quite a distance away. Fresh snow began to settle faintly over their footprints in the distance.

There was a saying that stepping on someone else’s footprints would bring bad luck. Sofia Sub-priest found herself thinking that it might be true.

Indeed, Professor Antorelli’s footprints looked quite unstable.

Although he was certainly walking slowly, his footprints appeared messy, as if he were stumbling. They looked like those of someone swaying unsteadily.

Sofia Sub-priest looked ahead. Professor Antorelli’s figure, which should have appeared steady as usual, looked overtly precarious.

‘What on earth happened….’

Could he have had a nightmare? Was there something troubling him when he met Priest Camilla and Priest Peter during the day?

If not, could it be the influence of being in the Holy Empire?

Yes, it was certain. Considering what Professor Antorelli had experienced, just being on the grounds of the Holy Empire could be causing him immense mental exhaustion.

To Sofia Sub-priest, Professor Antorelli emanated an air as if he were being pushed into something with every encounter. Although it wasn’t as extreme as in the past, she felt it increasingly in recent days.

Every time Professor Antorelli looked at her, his gaze seemed off. There was a sense of something ominous behind his eyes.

This was true during the memorial for Priest Helena, as well as throughout the Fall Festival at the Academy. He certainly appeared mentally unstable.

‘Maybe… I shouldn’t have come… Should I suggest we head back tomorrow?’

Esther, Chloe, Elin, and Laura. It might be an apology owed to those four, but Professor Antorelli had listened to Sofia Sub-priest’s almost forceful words without hesitation. The reason Professor Antorelli was feeling mentally pushed was due to the words that Sofia Sub-priest had brought up.

So, she had to take responsibility and return to the City. Even if the other four remained in the Holy Empire to enjoy their trip, Professor Antorelli needed to go back with her.

Sofia Sub-priest had made up her mind. She felt a bit hesitant, but still…

‘Even if I’ve returned to the Holy Empire after a long time, I can’t just leave the Head Priest to struggle… I can’t just stand by and do nothing.’

Thus, after solidifying her resolve, Sofia Sub-priest broke free from her thoughts to stop Professor Antorelli. Her narrowed gaze on his broad back finally expanded.

“…Huh?”

Sofia Sub-priest accidentally let out a voice of surprise. She hurriedly looked around.

Snow. Snow. Snow. Here, there, everywhere. There was nothing but cold, white snow. Sofia Sub-priest quickly turned back.

In the distance, the edge of the city flickered behind them. But turning forward, it was the same.

This place was strange. It seemed as if a large plaza in the middle of the city had been removed and replaced with an open field from outside the city.

With no paths, there were no people. The days when places where people walked became paths have long past. In a world that was already fully explored, people walked only along designated paths.

This was a deserted plaza. Although it was as large as a park, the scattered, irregularly grown, bare trees presented a desolate sight.

Since no one had passed through, no footprints remained.

With no people, the snow continued to pile up. It was hard to find a patch of ground that was not covered in snow.

“Head Priest…? I think we’ve come too far….”

With a crunch—Sofia Sub-priest’s gaze slowly descended.

Professor Antorelli was kneeling.

Swaying unsteadily as if collapsing, he trembled in the cold winter wind blowing intermittently.

He knelt down as if he were falling.

“Head, Head Priest?!”

In front of Sofia Sub-priest.

Sofia Sub-priest looked at him, her expression one of alarm. Her instincts to escape the situation made her eyes dart around, but everywhere she looked was equally disconcerting.

Buried in the snow up to just above his shins was Professor Antorelli, now silent. In front of him stood Sofia Sub-priest, with a thick blanket of pure white snow surrounding the two of them.

This place was a prison. A prison of snow, of winter.

The two were trapped in the snow prison, unable to meet each other’s gaze. Professor Antorelli only looked down at the ground, while Sofia Sub-priest could not meet anyone’s gaze but the top of his head.

“There’s so much snow piled up…! Head Priest! Please get up! If you stay like this, you might catch a cold….”

“…It’s my fault.”

At last, a dry, cracked voice emerged. In her shock, the words that Sofia Sub-priest had been shooting out like bullets suddenly stopped.

‘We promised not to say that….’

But why?

Why was he falling into guilt again? Why was he lashing himself?

“It’s all my fault. Just everything….”

Professor Antorelli’s upper body sank further down. He reached out into the soft, piled snow. His hand became buried in the cold, bone-chilling snow.

“Sofia Sub-priest, every time I face you….”

‘…No.’

Sofia Sub-priest instinctively sensed something. Her instincts were sending her a sharp warning signal.

She must not listen to Professor Antorelli’s words. The moment she heard him out, it would truly be time for her to make a choice.

The time for decision came so suddenly like this.

“Every time I look at you, I wished for Helena.”

And, I did nothing.

The falling snow could not be stopped. Neither could the falling rain, nor the blowing wind, nor the shining sun be halted.

Natural phenomena were a kind of power that humans could not control.

To Sofia Sub-priest, at this moment, it was as if what was happening was a natural disaster.

She could not stop this.

Like a volcano erupting, it was a sweeping disaster.

Whether it would lead to destruction or whether it would create a fertile land, no one knew the fearful outcome of it.

The power of decision rested solely upon Sofia Sub-priest herself.

“I thought I could be a substitute for Helena…. I might have thought that….”

It was a disaster.

* * * * *

When you show yourself, I show myself too.

When you act, I follow suit.

When you are happy, I am happy too.

When you are sad, I too was sad.

It was like a mirror. The mirror always reflected the me from the past.

And I became the mirror.

Even when others approached me trying to show their true selves… the mirror that I had become could only return that true image.

Every single action of mine returned as a wound.

“…Every time I look at you, I wished for Helena.”

And even now.

I never once faced you in a moment.

The destination we were heading to that day was a distant journey towards the North Star beyond the piercing cold sky.

Towards salvation, and perhaps…. towards the future that might be waiting for us.

I prayed to hold your hand, to leave together. For us to move forward together, ensuring you could follow me. So I waited, matching our paces.

…I could have left first. I didn’t.

Looking back now, I should have.

I should have left first. I must have….

– Szzzz—!!

… I must have.