Chapter 5
Chapter 5
*
A few days later, early in the morning, Scarlett was ready to go to the Monastery.
Scarlett hugged Viktor, who had come to see her off, tightly.
"I'll miss you, Viktor."
Viktor stroked Scarlett's hair, which was nestled in his arms and looking up at him earnestly, and tucked it behind her ear.
"When you come back, Father will be less angry, I hope."
Scarlett nodded at his words, then leaned her head against Viktor's chest and said,
"Will you be less angry too?"
"No."
Scarlett's smile disappeared at his matter-of-fact answer.
"Not even after a month?"
"You betrayed me."
What was her husband thinking?
During their honeymoon, she couldn't sleep soundly, trying to figure out the mind of the man she had fallen in love with at first sight.
She did ridiculous flower readings with only two answers, "He loves me, he loves me not," and looked for rare grass in the meadow that supposedly made love come true. She tried laughing, sulking, and crying, but her husband was always the same.
He never caught fire. Being next to the ever-cold Viktor always made her feel like she was burning alone.
She wondered how she could have loved such a man for two years, but then she thought that's what unrequited love was like.
Because unrequited love is about loving someone who doesn't love you. In the end, she thought time was the only answer. When the fire went out, this love would disappear too.
Scarlett smiled, stepped back, and asked in a gentle voice,
"How about three months? Will you be less angry in three months?"
"......"
"Then a hundred days. A hundred days... be less angry after that, okay? If it's longer, I'm afraid you'll forget me."
"Okay. Let's do that."
When Viktor answered, Scarlett happily hugged him tightly and waved her hand, saying,
"See you in a hundred days, my love."
"Okay."
Would his anger subside after a hundred days? Would the fire in her heart go out if she was away for a hundred days?
Scarlett desperately hoped for both as she got into the carriage.
*
Mellin Monastery was quite far from the capital.
Scarlett's servants' expressions darkened as they entered the Monastery, which stood alone in the middle of nowhere.
The room prepared for Scarlett was made of stone and was as empty as a prison.
Candice, the maid who brought Scarlett's luggage, frowned.
"Goodness, even if it's a Monastery, there should be a bed, shouldn't there? It's not a place for practitioners, but for ascetics."
Scarlett, who had expected this to some extent, smiled silently and looked up at the small window. Her only concern was that it didn't get enough sunlight.
The servants were busy decorating the room with winter bedding and a brazier. It was only natural for a wealthy family like the Dumpelt Family to bring this much luggage when traveling.
At that moment, Delpio Priest, whom Gregory had personally asked to look after Scarlett, entered the room. He looked at the servants trying to put down the bedding and said in a stern voice,
"What is this? Why does a woman who has come to repent need so much luggage?"
The servants paused at his words.
Delpio Priest continued.
"Take the luggage out immediately. The God Reskia will be displeased."
"Even so, how can you treat our Duchess Marina like this...?"
Candice tried to argue, but Delpio interrupted and raised his voice.
"This is also Lord Gregory's order."
"......"
Candice had no choice but to back down, as it was Gregory's order.
The servants were restless, but they had no choice but to pack up the luggage they had left in the room.
After they left the room, looking back several times, Delpio stood in front of Scarlett with the scripture in his hand.
Then a nun came and whispered to her.
"You can kneel down."
And when she left, Scarlett knelt at the priest's feet with a slightly nervous face.
Delpio handed over the scripture and said,
"The God Reskia has spoken. All demons are in the technology created to surpass others. Therefore, the daughter of the clockmaker and the woman born into the Crimson Family were born with original sin."
Scarlett's expression hardened at his words.
Reskia was the god of nature, and Edelrod, the state religion of Salantie, was a religion that believed in this God Reskia. Hundreds of years ago, the nomadic ancestors of Salantie settled here, following a small star. And they began to worship the star that led them and the God Reskia who created the great nature.
It was true that those who believed in the God Reskia pursued a life close to nature. However, it was Delpio's insistence to claim Scarlett's original sin by mentioning the religion.
Scarlett said.
"My parents didn't make clocks to surpass others."
"Time is what nature tells us. It is the act of the devil to artificially make people read time and make their hearts busy."
"That's ridiculous..."
"That's why you betrayed your husband."
Soon Delpio had the monks make her kneel on the floor. Then he said boastfully.
"You may not understand your sins now, but you will soon. You will gain both repentance and purification here."
*
A hundred days was a longer time than she thought.
In the meantime, the very cold season had passed, and a biting cold snap had arrived. Salantie had a lot of snow in December and January. February and March in the capital were often rainy, with a chilling weather with strong winds.
While his wife was away at the Monastery, Viktor was responding to interviews with reporters that he was not suited for.
He looked out the carriage window at the pouring rain. Blight, who meticulously arranged the countless medals on his uniform so that none were crooked, squinted and pursed his lips as if he didn't like something.
It was Viktor who hired Blight because of his obsessive tidiness. Since he had chosen him himself, Viktor was tired of the tidiness, but he didn't say anything.
After much deliberation, Blight finished Viktor's grooming and neatly removed the withered petals from the bouquet he had brought.
Caring even about the gesture of handing Viktor the bouquet, Blight asked.
"Are you sure you're all right? Even seeing Duchess Marina."
"I go often."
"But this time, you're with reporters."
"It can't be helped."
He didn't want to use this method until the very end, but the Royal Police and the media were constantly attacking Viktor's parricide, so he had no choice.
Soon Blight opened the carriage door and got out, opening an umbrella.
Amid the crowd of reporters, Viktor got out of the carriage with a bouquet in one hand.
As his hardened, beautiful face was revealed in the rain, the reporters, who had been preparing aggressive questions, paused. The young officer now exuded a dignity that belied his age of twenty-six.
He entered Oslitt Monastery, the wealthiest in the capital, where his Mother, Duchess Marina Dumpelt, resided.
Oslitt Monastery was famous for its chapel filled with stained glass. It was beautiful, but very few were allowed to enter.
Mother Marina Dumpelt was sitting in an armchair on the porch overlooking the garden, which had been decorated with a large sum of money donated by Viktor.
As Viktor approached, Marina looked at her son.
"Viktor."
"Mother."
Viktor smiled and approached. Then he knelt down next to the chair on the floor made of good wood and looked up at Marina.
Marina stroked Viktor's hair for a moment before suddenly getting up. Then her eyes changed and she grabbed his neck.
"If it weren't for you, you..."
"...you would have lived as royalty. Yes, I know."
"You should never have been born! You ruined my life!"
"You've said that many times."
He simply let his Mother's dry hands scratch at his shoulders and nape.
It was always the same. After hitting and scratching Viktor as if she would kill him, Marina was exhausted and breathed heavily. Then, as if she had come to her senses, she asked him.
"Is your wife doing well?"
"Yes."
"Does she still love you that much?"
Viktor smiled faintly at her words.
"Of course. As much as it's overwhelming."
Marina nodded and soon opened her mouth again.
"Did I ever tell you about the slide in the royal palace when I was young?"
"...No."
It was a story he had heard a thousand times. The story of the slide with the gold handle, and the story of the cradle full of jade ornaments that all the royals inherited and used.
She talked about growing up in the royal palace for a long time, and in the middle, she blamed Viktor again. The bouquet he had given her had long been torn apart in Marina's anger and thrown into the rain.
After listening to her story for a while, Viktor got up as Marina showed signs of falling asleep.
Then Marina grabbed his arm and said.
"Son, someday take me back to the royal palace."
Her face was filled with an indescribable hope mixed with madness.
"My beloved son. You're the only one I trust. Do you understand?"
"Of course."
Viktor said as he straightened her blanket.
"Someday I'll take you back to the royal palace."
