"Sister... um, what sins have you committed?"
Elise hadn't even considered that a reply would come.
After all, it made no sense for a priest to be stationed in such a rundown confessional.
'Did I... hear that wrong?'
But Elise clearly sensed a presence beyond the partition.
It couldn't be a hallucination...
So who on earth would perform confessionals in such a remote place?
A inexplicable fear welled up, but curiosity bloomed alongside it.
Elise cautiously asked,
"Sh-Should I just confess like this...?"
"Of course."
A response came back.
That gentle voice stirred a strange feeling in Elise.
Confession.
Elise had never done it even once.
Clergy of the Church were supposed to perform confession once a year by principle, but Saintess candidates like Elise were exempt.
After all, no shortcomings were allowed for a Saintess who would one day become the face of the Church.
She had to be a flawless servant of God.
But this place was different.
A shabby confessional in a corner of the academy.
The supervising priest here wouldn't know Elise's voice.
In that case...
"I... um... I've deceived other people."
"Deceived them?"
"Yes. There's... no light within me at all, yet I've fooled everyone into thinking I've received some great blessing."
Elise began her story. Her innermost struggles that she'd never shared with anyone. Yet, to her own surprise, the words flowed out candidly.
Why was that?
Was it the certainty that no one but this person would hear?
Or had it simply built up that much inside her?
"Those with faith... those pure souls seeking blessings from me... I've thought they were annoying on the inside..."
By tradition, a Saintess had to love all living things.
But Elise couldn't become such a paragon.
Fake Saintess. She was confessing that sin here, piece by piece.
Confessing her own sins voluntarily to another.
It was a peculiar sensation. Almost like something was being washed away from her chest.
"...To sum it up, you feel like you're deceiving those around you by pretending to be perfect?"
"Yes..."
The nameless priest beyond the partition fell silent.
Was he pondering how to seek forgiveness from God?
Elise bowed her head deeply, waiting for the priest's next words.
But then...
"May I dare to offer some advice?"
"Ad-Advice?"
Elise's eyes widened round.
She'd never experienced confession firsthand, but she knew the procedure. After confessing her sins, the priest should recite the penitential prayer.
Yet the priest spoke slowly, as if it were the most natural thing.
"You seem too harsh on yourself, Sister."
"Harsh...? But..."
"You don't need to be perfect. Try loving even your own flaws."
Elise felt a fresh shock.
No need to be perfect. Love even your flaws.
Words she'd never heard before.
Not from her family.
Let alone from the Archbishop she'd followed like a father.
But if she, a Saintess, wasn't perfect, then...
"Clinging to perfection can sometimes be unhealthy. What if, once in a while, you deliberately broke the rules?"
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Elise left the chapel in a daze.
The sun had already set, and darkness was beginning to blanket everything.
"...What on earth was that?"
Elise turned to look back at the chapel.
Unable to bear the stuffiness, she'd bolted from the dormitory in search of escape. There, she'd entered the confessional and spoken with the priest.
Was it really a proper confessional? As someone studying theology, Elise knew full well it deviated from all canons.
No, was the person she spoke to even real?
"A... divine revelation?"
Elise murmured quietly.
It wasn't an entirely absurd guess. Stories like that appeared often in the holy scriptures. Saints visiting rundown churches. Divine revelations bestowed upon them.
"No, probably not."
Elise shook her head. She knew she wasn't that devout.
Yet the priest's words lingered etched in her mind.
- 'What if, once in a while, you deliberately broke the rules?'
"Deliberately... break the rules..."
Elise had never even imagined it.
From childhood, she had to be perfect, and when she fell short, she pretended. She'd only ever heard rebukes for her inadequacies, never to love her flaws.
Was that why?
She wanted to test if it was truly a divine revelation or just some eccentric priest's advice.
So Elise decided to rebel just for the day.
'Just until the sun sets.'
The academy dormitory where Elise stayed was called Ophelia Hall, reserved for the children of the uppermost elite.
Naturally, it had strict, controlled rules.
Ophelia Hall had a curfew. Returning after sunset meant punishment, a major blow for a Saintess candidate like Elise.
But today, Elise resolved to return after dark.
Sitting on a bench in the darkened garden, Elise took a deep breath.
Her heart fluttered. A quiet sense of liberation she'd never felt before.
"I'll definitely get scolded."
As time passed, her anxiety grew.
She felt foolish.
Acting so recklessly on one priest's advice.
Her steps toward the dormitory entrance, now fully shrouded in darkness, were heavy.
"What time is it? Why are you returning now? I'll have to report this to the dormitory head..."
The Guard Knight at the entrance blocked Elise.
The voice from behind the steel helmet was steeped in protocol.
But the moment moonlight revealed her identity—Elise Aurora de Lua, the academy's prodigy—he froze.
"...S-Saintess!"
The knight's voice cracked. Gone was his scolding tone as he fumbled awkwardly, lowering his spear.
Soon, spotting the dust piled thick on Elise's shoulders, he stammered,
"Th-There must be a profound reason! I saw nothing! P-Please forgive me...!"
She couldn't tell what misunderstanding the knight had.
But she could sense his fear of her, his respect, and his desire to avoid entanglement.
No one scolded Elise as she passed through the empty entrance and returned to her room.
This was a first.
Back in her dormitory room, she stood before the mirror.
The girl with snow-white hair wore a wry smile.
A smile unbecoming of a Saintess.
Had she worn this smile in front of the knight earlier?
"...Eek."
Elise startled and adjusted her expression.
But even as she tried, her lips twitched upward.
This was an utterly unexpected outcome.
The Guard Knight, an incarnation of rules, crumbling before her.
'Ah.'
Elise realized.
The happiness she felt now wasn't mere liberation.
She'd discovered that her status as Saintess candidate reigned above the academy's rules.
A dizzying, sweet thrill.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
The next day, after morning mass, Elise sought information about the chapel.
"That place? It was built by the Church at the time of Erebos Royal Academy's founding. Back then, the diocese wasn't as powerful, so they settled for a small one in a remote spot. After the grand academy cathedral was built, no one paid it any mind."
The questioned priest clapped as if suddenly remembering.
"Come to think of it, I heard there's a new priest managing it recently."
"A New Priest? Who is it?"
"No idea. He's academy staff, not from our diocese, so I don't know details. But we worship the same God, so better to show respect."
"R-Right... you are."
Elise felt a strange joy.
That yesterday's events were real.
Not a divine revelation.
'No, if it were a divine revelation, shouldn't I be happy...?'
She didn't know.
But the liberation and thrill from yesterday were unforgettable.
"Lady Elise, has something good happened?"
"N-No!"
Elise startled and touched her lips. Her slyly upturned mouth embarrassed her.
How could she fail at expression control like this? She'd thought she was a master at faking smiles.
Watching her hastily compose herself, the priest smiled warmly.
"Still, you look less fatigued today. That's a relief."
"Have I... looked tired lately?"
"Yes. You never showed it, but you seemed exhausted. Your complexion is better today, so I'm relieved."
At the priest's kind words, Elise glanced at her serene face reflected in the stained-glass window.
It didn't look much different.
Yet today felt far more at ease than yesterday.
The reason was obvious.
It stemmed from yesterday afternoon in the confessional.
'My condition really is better...'
That nameless New Priest had affirmed Elise unequivocally.
Church doctrine held that gratitude deserved corresponding sincerity.
After morning mass that day, Elise went to the chapel.
And emptied her entire pouch into the spiderweb-covered offering box.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
"Yaaawn..."
I stretched with a big yawn, descending from the chapel loft.
Yesterday, I'd spent the whole day cleaning the attic and ended up oversleeping.
Well, the academy didn't seem to care if I slept in or slacked off anyway.
"So pitiful, so sad."
The woes of a lowly temp worker.
I grabbed the broom and swept the sand piled up in the chapel's front garden.
That was when it happened.
A golden beam reflecting off the morning sunlight caught my eye.
"What the...?"
The source was the offering box.
The golden light emanated from there.
Who would skip the academy's grand cathedral to donate here?
I pried open the broken lock of the offering box.
"...Insane."
The moment I saw the dozens of gold coins piled inside, I nearly fainted.