Chapter 8

I allowed Ardal to guide me to the pope’s office. As I entered, I saw the pope. He looked as though he had stepped right out of a painting with his shimmering blonde hair.

<Character Discovery!>

< Difficulty ???? (2000) : ★+>

The pope provided a seat to Ardal and me and sat opposite of us.

However, Ardal stood firmly by my side. The Pope looked at him and laughed, “Ardal, you can sit down—”

“No, thank you.”

Ardal interrupted the pope to refuse. With a shrug, the pope gazed at me and said politely, “Did Ardal explain what is going on to you?”

“Yes, I’m going to be a saint….”

“Yes, a prophecy has said so. You will be the one to seek out the Holy Kingdom and lead the empire back into the arms of God.”

“How… I can’t do that.”

“Is there something wrong?”

I reached out and said, “I don’t know.”

The pope laughed. “Sister Haniel, I have directly received the prophecy. My judgment is not incorrect.”

I bit my lips slightly and laughed. Those who saw my smile began to revel at the fact that the Holy Woman had smiled.

“Sister Haniel will be educated as a saint until she goes to the Empire.”

The pope’s words came to an end, and the final prayer time approached.

“For our Holy Daughter.”

Their prayers were for me.

***

Ardal came to me after the pope’s introduction. As I went out to knock on the door, he looked down at me.

“Ardal, what’s going on?”

“I came to tell you about your instruction times.”

“Oh, education…”

Knowing in detail what the pope’s education was like, I could not hide my feelings about the soon-to-be act and bit my lips.

“If Haniel is all right, the Holy Father wants to begin his education today. He said he wanted to say a lot of things before he went to the Empire,” Ardal said stiffly.

“Yes, I want to learn a lot from the Holy Father.”