The Young Lady Drawing Lots #3
"Lady Psyche, have you ever seen the ocean? Have you ever looked out upon a vast, unbroken horizon?"
Psyche furrowed her brow at my question, looking as though she had no idea what I was driving at.
I picked up a cup from nearby and answered simply.
"Suppose this cup were a ship sailing toward the edge of that horizon. And suppose this ship had a tall, splendid mast stretching toward the sky. As the ship grew more distant, it would gradually sink lower and smaller, until only the mast remained visible."
"And that is your proof that the earth is round? That does make sense."
Indeed, Psyche was a clever woman. From a simple discussion of the sea and the curvature of the ground, she had already grasped the core of what I was trying to say. There was no need to add explanations about lunar eclipses, or how the shadow of an identical stick differs in length from place to place.
"But it still differs entirely from the Church's teachings. According to the Church, is the earth not said to be flat like a plate?"
Psyche asked me whether it didn't differ from the Church's teachings. It was the same question she had asked earlier.
Hearing this for a second time, I realized that whether the earth was round or flat was not particularly important to her.
"To answer your question, my lady, I shall have to explain the answer to the second problem. The reason rain falls. How does the Church explain this?"
"It is said that God commands the saints to sprinkle rain where it is needed. That is why, in regions where rain does not fall, they hold rain-making rituals directed toward the saints."
Psyche was correct. I had once visited a region where rain never fell, and they had erected statues of the saints and made a great fuss of bowing before them.
Recalling that time, I explained calmly.
"As I wrote on my answer sheet, rain falls solely because of water vapor. Water on the ground evaporates under the sun's light, freezes in the cold air of high altitudes, and forms clouds. Clouds are a natural phenomenon created by ice particles clumping together. When these particles grow heavy, they fall toward the earth, and when they meet warm air, they become raindrops."
"Hyde, are you saying that clouds are not the heavenly kingdom where angels and God dwell, but simply a phenomenon of gathered water droplets?"
Psyche furrowed her brow again, looking as though she had heard something absurd.
"Monk Hyde, this too is a story that differs from the Church's teachings. Depending on the circumstances, speaking such things carelessly is grounds for being called to account by the inquisitors. Do you not know this?"
I know.
The church people of this world would hate what I have to say.
But my answer seemed to have struck a chord with Lady Psyche. I never missed the curiosity and surprise that filled her eyes.
After all, the Agarpe family held a hostile stance toward the Church.
I well knew that the royal house and the Church had fought each other to the death because they stood opposed on theological and scientific grounds.
As allies of the royal house, the Agarpes were a family interested in practical matters—so much so that they kept their roads clean and even installed aqueducts that required great labor.
As a member of the Agarpe family, Psyche must have liked my scientific and practical answers. That was why she had passed me through the preliminaries.
But at the same time, she seemed a little troubled.
"Hyde, everything you said was an excellent answer. But every single one of them stands apart from the Church's teachings."
Psyche's expression was shifting into something complex, a blend of many emotions. Doubt and curiosity, wariness and anger, I thought.
If I dared to guess, the Psyche who pursued practicality as the daughter of Count Agarpe was colliding with the Psyche who, as a faithful believer of the Church, respected its teachings.
I opened my mouth one last time for that Psyche.
"All the answers you seek, my lady, lie in the answer to the third and final question. How many angels can stand upon the tip of this pen—"
I picked up a quill that lay on the dais before my chair. It was a feather pen thinner even than my finger.
How many angels could stand upon it?
"The Scriptures mention the existence of angels. Then what of the weight of a real angel? What of its height, its appearance?"
The Church loved to speak of angels and demons and the like. There were many testimonies from people who claimed to have witnessed angels, and those who said they had appeared in dreams.
The same went for their opposite, the demons.
But I dare say that in the five years I had lived in this world, I had never so much as seen the tip of a demon's or angel's feather.
"So, Hyde, you claim that an infinite number of angels can stand upon the tip of this quill? You are the only candidate who wrote such a preposterous answer."
"What does it matter? Does how many angels stand upon a quill pen have any bearing on our salvation? Is the roundness of the earth, the principle by which rain falls, a matter of importance to the salvation of the soul?"
"What?"
"Lady Psyche, deep down you already know. What the truly important question is. How shall my soul be saved—that is the real question, is it not?"
"Hyde, are you, a monk, saying that angels neither exist nor are visible beings?"
Psyche's brow crumpled.
I was reminded of elementary school, when I had told my desk partner, "Santa doesn't exist. Santa is actually your dad," and we had gotten into a huge fight.
She had been a cute kid, and with tears beading in her eyes she had shouted, "Santa is real!" and gotten angry at me.
Psyche seemed to be that sort of person as well.
Soon she asked,
"Then, Hyde, what do you think of demons? Do you also believe that thinking about demons has nothing to do with receiving salvation?"
Demons.
Satan.
Devils.
The old religions loved to define such beings, give them names, and write books about them.
In truth, knowing their names or attributes was the same as the question of how many angels could stand on a pen.
Does it matter?
"What matters is only the restoration of my spiritual relationship with the Lord. The reason contemporary theology is heading toward nonsense is that it has forgotten this foundation and merely wastes time thinking about angels and demons."
I answered with confidence.
At that, Psyche furrowed her brow even more.
"Hyde, you seem not to know something. Angels may not be easily visible to human eyes, but demons exist in this world and even now roam this earth. We must fear them. Those cursed Great Sin Seats—"
"Pardon?"
"The seven Great Sin Seats. If you have placed yourself in the Church, you cannot possibly be unaware of them."
"Ah."
Suddenly my words stuck in my throat.
My lips felt bone-dry. I began fretting over where my hands and tongue were supposed to be, and I urgently needed to pee.
As I stood flustered, Psyche looked at me with narrowed eyes and said,
"Yes, it seems even you fear the names of the living demons. Are you afraid?"
"...Honestly speaking, I am afraid. I do not believe there is anyone who fears those names as much as I do."
I answered honestly.
I simply could not lie.
At my honest answer, Psyche pouted her lips.
"It seems you could not even give a falsely brave answer before the woman you claim to have fallen for at first sight. Very well, Hyde. That concludes the questions. Get out of my sight."
There was much I wanted to say, but nothing came out of my mouth.
Of all times, for the sins of the past five years to catch my ankle at the end of the interview.
Should I have lied and said it was fine?
But I truly, sincerely did not want to lie.
Not to Psyche, the woman I loved, in this life I had so rarely been given again!
Knight Loras was wandering the corridor in a very confident frame of mind.
He was always overflowing with confidence.
It had been so when he took second place in the knights' tournament, and it was so now that he had written every correct answer on the sheet and become a "prospective bridegroom candidate."
No—this very moment was the peak of confidence in his entire career as a knight.
What the shape of the earth is. What the principle of rain is. I know all of it. Of course I do—we learned from the same teacher as children! These questions were made for me.
Knight Loras had grown up with Psyche in the Agarpe territory since childhood. They had had the same teacher and learned the same things.
The questions Psyche had set were among those the teacher had taught them. Because of that, Loras was certain Psyche was favoring him.
Psyche wants to marry me too. She only tried to keep her chastity because of the betrothal to the royal house and because she was ill. Once she recovered, she would want to marry me.
Loras believed that he, the most capable and popular man in the Agarpe territory, was a perfect match for Psyche.
Loras himself also thought that for a perfect man like himself, Psyche was the best match.
Psyche was the most beautiful woman in the Agarpe territory, and even in the kingdom she had been praised as one of the "Three Flowers."
A woman every man admired.
The thought of taking such a woman as his wife put him in an excellent mood.
In that sense, it was fortunate that Hyde cured Psyche's illness. Hyde—that fellow was a tool for the happiness of my life!
As he was thinking such things, the old servant Eliezer, who oversaw most of the manor's affairs, approached and bowed his head toward Loras.
"Sir Loras, Lady Psyche requests that you enter the drawing room together with Doctor of Theology Selim."
"Together with Selim?"
Doctor of Theology Selim was the only man Loras considered a rival. He too had studied under the same teacher as Loras and Psyche.
If Loras was the finest martial artist of Agarpe, Selim could be called the smartest man even within Agarpe Manor.
Soon a thin, scholarly-looking man with brown hair faced Loras before the drawing room.
Selim and Loras.
The two fated rivals locked eyes, sparks flying for a moment.
Then they entered the drawing room and simultaneously swallowed their breath before the beautiful Psyche.
I can barely breathe! Beauty that makes you forget she spent two years ill! Today I will have that woman!
Loras and Selim took their seats.
Psyche asked them indifferently,
"Sir Loras, can you explain what you wrote on your answer sheet? First, the first problem. What is the shape of the earth?"
"The earth is said to be round like a ball."
Loras answered with great confidence. He still vividly retained the shock from childhood of hearing that the earth was round like a ball.
Soon Psyche raised one eyebrow and asked,
"And how would you prove it?"
"Prove it?"
How was one supposed to prove that the earth was round? There had been some story he had heard, but nothing came to mind, and as he wracked his brains, the scholarly Selim cut in.
"My lady, one can tell by looking at a ship on the horizon. The reason a ship approaching from afar on the horizon shows its mast first is because of the round shape of the earth."
As he said this, Selim shot a sidelong glare at Loras. Loras felt as though his score had been docked, his guts twisting, his face burning.
I have to score more points somehow!
In Loras's mind there was nothing but the thought that he had to do better than Selim. Right then Psyche asked Selim with narrowed eyes,
"Then, Selim, why does rain fall?"
"Is it not God working wonders to benefit the land? If you look at Amos chapter 4, verse 7, it says—"
"That is enough. Your explanation is sufficient."
"Indeed, my lady is the wisest in all of Agarpe."
Selim lifted the corners of his mouth smugly.
Loras found the sight so distasteful he wanted to storm out of the room.
Psyche said,
"Then, Selim, how many angels can stand upon this quill pen?"
"That is a debate that has been actively discussed in the Church's councils these past five years. The most persuasive claim is Archbishop Archibold's theory of seven angels."
Archibold.
At that name, Psyche's face twisted.
"Selim, do you respect Archbishop Archibold?"
"Of course. As a theologian, as a believer, and as one who aspires to the priesthood, who would not respect Archbishop Archibold? And though I say this only now, if I become the son-in-law of the count's house, I shall join hands with Archbishop Archibold and further revive the churches of this Agarpe territory."
Selim's ambition was thoroughly bold. He was so passionate that the sight of him, who never exercised, clenching his fist and trembling was bizarre.
As Psyche answered ambiguously, "Indeed...," Loras cheered inwardly.
Selim, you stupid fool! You spend all day with nothing but scripture and books, so you can't read the political situation around you! The Agarpe family and the Archibold family are practically sworn enemies! Selim, you pretentious idiot!
Loras felt good that Selim's score had been slashed.
Selim, who intended to join hands with the Archibold family and hand over the entire Agarpe territory, would never be chosen by Psyche.
That left only himself.
As Loras anticipated victory, Psyche rose from her seat.
"Then, Sir Selim and Sir Loras, a final question for you both. You know of the Great Sin Seat causing havoc in the Durgien region. What should be done about him?"
An additional question.
At that special treatment, Loras thought, here it comes.
He rose from his seat, clenched his fist tight, thumped his chest, and shouted,
"My lady, if you give the order even now, this Loras will form a subjugation force, seize those wicked criminals, and make them kneel before you!"
"Oh? Loras, are you not afraid of the Great Sin Seats?"
"As a knight of Agarpe, what is there to fear!"
Even he thought it was a splendid answer.
A complete victory that gave Selim no room to reply.
Psyche seemed impressed by this as well, for she smiled faintly.
"Very well. Everyone, please leave. I shall announce the results myself in one hour. Gather everyone in the garden."
Psyche dismissed Loras and Selim.
One hour later.
Before Loras, who had been spending the longest yet happiest time of his life, the flower-like beautiful Lady Psyche appeared.
Loras's heart pounded as if it would burst.
He felt as though everyone was looking at him.
Indeed, among the candidates, Loras was the most likely favorite to win!
Soon Lady Psyche opened her mouth.
"I shall announce the results. My marriage partner is the Wood Badge monk, Hyde."
Crack—.
Loras heard the sound of his sky collapsing.
He felt as though he were crumbling without footing beneath the round earth, and his vision swam.
What? What did she say? What is that woman saying right now? Leaving this Loras aside, she wants to marry some orphan who rolled in from who knows where? She's insane! Psyche's illness clearly has not yet healed!