Chapter 3: The Pitiful Princess (3)
God’s Cradle was a sort of academy where children from all over the country gathered to study God’s word under the guidance of the Pope. Since it also served as a monastery, it was much stricter than a regular academy, with many rules to follow.
“We must gather the priests who will spread God’s word.”
“We will block the forces of evil in the coming chaotic times, and the priests will protect us with God’s word at the forefront.”
The children studying at God’s Cradle were the Pope’s preparation for future priests. However, the oldest seminary student was not even fifteen years old. Many children aspired to become priests, so they were more obedient to the rules than their peers, but not all of them felt the same way. For those who cared more about the present than the future, life in the monastery was harsh.
Among those complaining about the monotony, only Marian remained bright and cheerful. She woke up before the sun every day, and she took care of everything herself, from eating to drinking water, and even though she spent more than six hours praying and two hours transcribing the Bible each day, she found it fun.
In the early morning when the cold frost formed, Marian would rub her sleepy eyes while drawing water from the well with David, or pulling vegetables from the garden. She would tease him by making him grimace as he drank the icy water, or hold up a bug clinging to the vegetables in front of him, only to receive a tiny caterpillar as a “gift.” Those days were filled with a heart-pounding joy.
“Praying is so hard… it’s so boring.”
She tried to comfort a fellow seminarian, the same age as her, saying they should hang in there, but she felt a little guilty since it wasn’t hard for her at all. Praying face to face with David, or sitting beside him while praying, was much better than praying alone in the palace’s prayer room. Sometimes she would be scolded for not focusing on her prayers, which was the only difficulty she had, so there was no reason she couldn’t be happy.
However, misfortune sometimes came when she least expected it.
Her noble character, emanating from her good nature, and her innocent beauty, which she couldn’t hide despite her young age, caught the attention of many boys. Marian, who often felt more goodwill than malice and tended to blame others’ bad actions on herself, never imagined that these kindly boys might be the problem.
It was an ordinary day. Marian, who usually prayed later than anyone else, returned to her room early. She couldn’t concentrate on praying or reading the scriptures because David had been taken by someone from the Duke’s estate. She felt empty without him, but she was more worried because David’s expression had been bad when he had faced the servant.
It seemed that the Duke and Duchess Cromwell were having difficulty conceiving a child, and since they weren’t young, perhaps they were planning to make David their heir.
With a troubled heart, Marian went to bed early. Sleep didn’t come easily, but she forced her eyes shut. Just as she finally drifted off, she heard a sound.
Knock. Knock.
Her consciousness stirred slightly from the sea of sleep.
Creeeak…
Marian mumbled in her half-sleep.
“David?”
The sound stopped. But even then, her consciousness, which had already begun to drift away, slowly came back. Marian opened her eyes. It was pitch dark. She couldn’t see anything. Why did I open my eyes? As soon as she thought this, something in the dark moved, right in front of her.
A hand approached from the darkness and quickly retreated, and she heard the sound of something small and light falling to the floor. She couldn’t summon a maid, so her nightgown, which hadn’t been repaired, was hanging loosely with a button that seemed like it would come off with the slightest touch. She realized that the sound was the button falling, and at that moment, a scream burst from her lips.
***
It was a seminarian, the one who had been closest to her, the one she had gotten along with well. He was the one who had complained about how boring and tedious it was. He didn’t even look at her. He excused himself, saying he was just a little curious, but David showed no mercy and had him handed over to the Holy See’s internal office.
“Don’t worry too much. He will never be able to approach you again.”
“What will happen to him?”
“He’ll be expelled.”
David said coldly. When he saw Marian flinch in surprise, he softened his expression and returned to his usual gentle demeanor.
“Don’t worry. He’s the one who committed the crime.”
Marian reluctantly nodded. For a while, the monastery was filled with a lot of noise. He was a boy in his prime. Full of youthful energy, he couldn’t resist a momentary desire. If he is expelled, he won’t have any parents or family to take care of him, and his future will be bleak. Shouldn’t we give him a chance to repent?
Even though Marian tried not to listen, those words reached her ears. Whenever she entered the chapel, the atmosphere would suddenly grow quiet. The space, once comfortable and solemn, felt foreign and strange. It was no longer as comfortable as before, and she often felt an urge to leave and return to her room. If not for David, who always acted calm as if nothing had happened, she might have given in to that impulse a few times.
***
As time passed, Marian, who had walked around with her head lowered as if she were a sinner, regained her bright smile. However, she still couldn’t help but worry about what happened to the seminarian who had almost harmed her.
“You don’t need to worry. They say the monastery found him a position,” David said.
“Really? Oh, thank goodness.”
As Marian sighed in relief, she noticed an unusual silence and looked up. He was watching her with a strange expression.
“Are you worried about the one who tried to do that to you, Princess?”
“……”
“I heard. You begged His Majesty the Emperor for mercy. You asked him to spare that boy.”
Though he was still a seminarian, Marian was originally a princess. The act of trying to assault a princess would not be taken lightly. It was Marian who had sent a long letter to the Emperor, trying to stop him when he was furious and wanted to execute the boy.
“Uh? Ah… he made a mistake, but I still hope he can have a chance at life. He just shouldn’t do wrong again.”
“……”
“One mistake shouldn’t send someone to hell.”
Upon hearing this, David looked surprised, and then his expression became complex. Soon, it softened into his usual calm, gentle face.
“I hope you find happiness, Princess.”
“……”
“More than anyone else.”
Marian blinked and then gave a sincere smile.
“Thank you, David. I am happy right now. And I know you will be, too.”
Because I’ll be with you.
Marian’s heart felt at ease again. She thought that everything had been settled for now.
***
One day, Father Benedict of the Benedictine Order spoke up.
“I believe we should separate the seminarians by gender. Marian belongs in a convent, not here.”
He glared coldly at Marian, who was sitting dumbfounded, and then reported to the archbishop.
“Marian is still young, but soon she will be a virgin. Even now, she distracts the young seminarians from focusing on their spiritual life and communicating with God.”
Marian was speechless in disbelief. It was absurd. She had gotten along wonderfully with her peers until now. There had been one incident, but that did not define her entire time here. She had prayed with a pure heart alongside her fellow seminarians and shared in God’s word. Father Benedict wasn’t just insulting her, but also tarnishing the honor of her peers.
Marian had expected her fellow seminarians to stand up in anger, but soon, she was stunned. Not a single seminarian opposed Father Benedict’s words. Everyone avoided her gaze with awkward expressions.
Except for David.
“If Marian’s mere presence, simply because she is of a different gender, causes disruption in our spiritual life, then none of us deserve to be here.”
David, a seminarian who followed God’s word more devoutly than anyone else, spoke up. He was praised for how well his attire suited him, and with his characteristic cold and composed voice, he directly opposed the monk’s suggestion. As he stared at Father Benedict with icy eyes, the monk’s eyebrows twitched.
The atmosphere quickly became tense.
Marian didn’t realize how many seminarians liked her, nor did she understand why the monk, who should have been correcting the boys, was instead insisting that she leave the monastery. She felt disappointed in him.
Only then did she realize that when she opened the door in the morning, David was always there waiting for her, and when she walked to the prayer room, he was always with her. She had thought he was just the one who was closest to her, but David had actually been blocking the other seminarians from approaching her. He had been doing this to prevent incidents like today from happening.
What on earth had she been mistaken about?
Her face burned with embarrassment.
