Saint's Prison - Chapter 8

Prayer of Grief

As the monastery came into view a short distance ahead, the sun had already fully risen.

It seems I had walked farther than I thought.

I say “seems” because my memory of the journey to the stone circle is terribly vague. Like a sleepwalker, I had walked that distance.

Even so, Johanna did a fine job of finding me.

Finding a single person in a vast forest is no small feat.

Moreover, considering the timing of when she caught up to me, it must have been shortly after I left the monastery that she entered the forest to search for me.

I walk, following Johanna’s back.

As a nun, her steps are without gaps, and she seems to know how to use her body efficiently.

Before coming to Stonehurst, what on earth was she doing?

As we approached the monastery, I noticed a petite figure standing inside the steel main gate, hooded, with hands clasped over her chest in prayer, head bowed.

—It was Amal.

It seems she had come out to welcome me back on purpose.

I waved my hand and shouted loudly.

“Hey, Amal!”

Amal immediately reacted to the voice and looked up.

“Andy-sama!”

She ran up to the gate and grasped the iron bars, desperately calling my name.

I hurried to the main gate.
Johanna, sighing at me, followed behind.

When we reached the main gate, Johanna pulled out a key from her pocket.
She unlocked the lock on the gate.

After waiting for her to finish, I slowly pushed the main gate open.

As soon as I entered the grounds, Amal leaped onto me.

I managed to catch her, but I couldn’t stop her momentum and we both fell backward.

“Ah, Amal, hey, too much force. Ouch, I hit my butt.”

While being pushed down by Amal and trying to protest, a large drop of water fell on my cheek.

It was a tear.

Tears overflowed one after another, tracing down my cheek.

“Andy-sama, Andy-sama, Andy-sama!”

Amal sobbed in agony, calling my name repeatedly. Instinctively, I sat up and hugged Amal tightly. She clung to my chest, her body trembling.

Amal’s body was cold as ice. Had she been waiting here all this time, worried about me for sneaking out of the monastery? A tightness in my chest grew.

“Amal, I’m sorry for making you worry, sorry.”

“Andy-sama, you weren’t in your room, and when I couldn’t find you anywhere in the monastery, I, ah, I thought you might never come back… uh, sob, eh, Andy-sama.”

It might have been Amal who had Johanna look for me. She would have been the most likely to notice first that I was gone.

“Yeah. I’m sorry. I’ve come back properly. I’ve come back to where Amal is.”

“Andy-sama, Andy-sama, ah, don’t leave me behind… don’t leave me alone…”

“It’s okay, it’s all right. I won’t leave. I’ll be by Amal’s side.”

Hearing this, Amal relaxed her shoulders. I stroked her back to calm her down. After a while, I could hear her small, regular breathing. She must have been completely exhausted from standing for so long.

I stared blankly at Amal’s sleeping face.

I never thought I would make her cry so much…

“Kuro-dono, perhaps we should enter the monastery for now. I will go ahead and report to Priest Benedict.”

Johanna, who had been watching us with a troubled look, said that and went back to the monastery first. Ah, I seem to have caused her some trouble.

After a while, I lifted Amal in a sideways embrace. With utmost care, as if handling something fragile, I slowly headed towards the monastery.

＊＊＊

Entering the monastery and walking down the corridor, Francesco spotted me and came running.

“Kuro-dono! Good, you’ve come back. I’m glad you’re safe.”

“Yeah, sorry for the worry. I’m fine.”

“That’s a relief indeed. The atmosphere was quite different without you, in many ways.”

“What do you mean by ‘in many ways’? But thanks.”

Francesco smiled, then lowered his gaze and looked at Amal with somewhat cold eyes.

“Kuro-dono, you should carry her quickly.”

“Yeah, you’re right. Sorry, I’ve got to go.”

While feeling a sense of discomfort from his gaze, I nodded to Francesco and continued towards Amal’s room.

Amal’s room was at the very end of the monastery, right next to the chapel where Amal and I had met. It is located away from the male living area so that no mistakes occur.

When I first came here, I couldn’t hide my surprise that priests and nuns lived in the same monastery. Normally, male and female monasteries are separated, and men and women are not mixed.

Maybe there are such cases I don’t know of since I’m not familiar with the precepts.

Reaching Amal’s room, I laid her on the bed and covered her with a blanket up to her shoulders. Her eyelids were painfully swollen red, and the trails of her tears remained on her cheeks.

I stroked her cheek and was about to leave the room quietly when my hem was grabbed.

Thinking she had woken up, I peeked at her face, but she was still deeply asleep.

It seemed to be an unconscious action. My feelings were indescribable.

Carefully removing my hem from Amal’s grip, I held her hand tightly. Amal seemed to relax, her expression softening.

I closed my eyes and decided to wait quietly until Amal awoke.