Chapter 58 The Convent of the Saintess

Dong—

Hearing the bell toll from the monastery, Eric’s eyelids twitched as he awoke, discovering that the early morning light was just beginning to peek through the windows and the hour was still quite early.

This was the time the nuns rose for the day, and he could afford to sleep a little longer.

Staring for a while at the brightening window, Eric closed his eyes, but his mind only grew clearer. He was the sort of person who, once awake, found it difficult to drift back off.

Today there were no classes; instead, he was to report to the Saintess Tower as an intern, to learn how the Saintess's Court operated and familiarize himself with the workflow. Consequently, he could afford to wake up later than usual.

However, it mostly depended on when Alana would come to summon him.

Eric lay still in bed. After a short while, he heard faint, subtle movements from outside.

Alana was already up.

A moment later, the bedroom door opened. Eric heard footsteps drawing closer, and when he opened his eyes, Alana was already standing by his bed, leaning over and extending her right hand toward him.

"..."

Seeing him open his eyes, Alana withdrew her hand. "Your Highness, you are awake."

Summer had arrived by now, and the nun's habit was light and thin. Having just gotten out of bed herself, the collar of her habit was slightly parted. As she leaned down, the faint, deep cleavage and the gentle sway of her chest were just within view.

"Mm." Eric, who had just been complaining that the morning sun was rising too quickly, now found himself regretting that the room wasn't quite bright enough.

Since he was awake, Alana did not linger. She offered a slight bow and withdrew from his room.

"Being too close is indeed not a good thing..." Eric glanced down at the bulge beneath the bedsheets, reminded once again that he currently possessed an exceedingly young and intensely vigorous body.

The Saintess's warning had not been without reason.

Once the youthful reaction gradually subsided, Eric got up to change his clothes.

The Saintess seemed to assume that Alana was his personal attendant, as no other arrangement had been made for him. Only he and Alana lived in the annexes reserved for the Saint-elect. Since Eric was more accustomed to looking after himself—at least he didn't need anyone else to help him dress or bathe—and had made no new requests, the arrangement had simply remained as it was.

Most of the time, however, Alana possessed a natural conscientiousness about caring for Eric, viewing it as her duty, accompanied by a subconscious impulse she had not yet fully recognized.

"Your Highness, your collar."

Alana stepped up before Eric, raising her hands to flip down the back of his collar, while he cast a glance at the neckline of her dress.

She had already put on her white wimple and collar.

Proper, conservative, and possessing the very picture of how a nun should look.

Eric shifted his gaze elsewhere. "I mentioned to the Saintess yesterday about bringing you along to the Saintess's Court today. Her Holiness did not object."

Alana gently stroked the lace trimming of his garment. "Thank you, Your Highness."

After finishing their meal, the two of them proceeded directly to the administrative center of the Saintess's Court—the Saintess Tower, which stood independent of the main monastery.

The Saintess Tower possessed a structure that was narrow at the top and wide at the base. The apex of the tower was the private domain of the Saintess—though the current Saintess had not ascended up there for a very long time. The middle section consisted of a slender tower shaft several tens of meters tall, while the lower portion near the ground served as the Saintess's Court, spanning two levels and covering a considerable area.

Every decree issued by the Saintess had to be conveyed and executed through the Saintess's Court. The court governed nine nominal convents, each managing a portion of the nuns. Alana had previously served as the Mother Superior of the Seventh Convent among them, and they were the primary enforcers of the Saintess's edicts.

"Your Highness Eric."

The moment Eric appeared, all the nuns in the ground-floor hall bowed in unison to him.

These nuns were responsible for the daily operations of the Saintess's Court and were addressed as female officials. Their ranks varied from high to low, though according to what Alana had told him, the high-ranking officials were stationed on the upper floors.

The primary duties of the Saintess's Court stemmed from the Saintess's multiple roles: mistress of the Saintess Monastery, cardinal of the Holy See, and the nominal leader of all nuns across the entire continent.

Consequently, apart from managing the internal affairs of the Saintess Monastery on a daily basis, these female officials also received various categories of intelligence from the Holy See externally, providing the basis for the Saintess to take a political stance or make decisions during Consistory meetings, as well as managing the numerous nun-led monasteries scattered throughout the Empire and the wider continent.

Eric and Alana strolled around the ground-floor hall. The female officials were not overly busy, so whenever the two of them paused, the official under their gaze would explain the task she was currently handling—for Mother Superior Gabby had already instructed them in advance.

"Your Highness Eric."

A female official in her thirties had spotted the two of them wandering over some time ago. When they finally came to a halt, she immediately bowed to Eric.

Eric nodded slightly, while Alana bowed to her in the capacity of an ordinary nun.

"What are you working on over here?"

Eric glanced at the official's desk. A number of open booklets were laid out upon it, almost as if they had been deliberately arranged because he was inspecting the premises, serving to demonstrate that she was exceptionally busy.

"The Mother Superior of the Second Convent in the royal capital of Varene returned to the arms of the Divine a few days ago. The convent has petitioned the Saintess to dispatch a new Mother Superior to them," the official replied.

"Varene..."

Eric glanced at Alana beside him. Over the past few days, he had heard the name of this northern kingdom on several occasions.

This kingdom had seceded from the Empire over a hundred years ago, and its royal family belonged to the Ribard family, descendants of the twelve founding knights. Furthermore, Eric’s own ancestors bore a significant connection to the independence of the Kingdom of Varene.

—In the 551st year of the Gaea Era, Duke Ribard declared the independence of the Valance region and established the Kingdom of Varene. The Emperor dispatched Marquis Ciminiano to subjugate Varene, but the imperial forces suffered a crushing defeat. Marquis Ciminiano was demoted to an Earl, his originally fertile fiefdom was confiscated, and he was relocated to the remote Dante County.

"Are even the Superiors of the monasteries over in Varene dispatched directly by the Saintess Monastery?" Eric asked.

After all, the distance from the Holy City of Raseyr to the capital of Varene was even shorter than the distance to the imperial capital.

"By convention, yes," the official replied. "The monasteries over there provide an annual donation to the Saintess Monastery, and in return, the Saintess Monastery offers them assistance in various respects, including dispatching nuns to manage the local monasteries. However, as a rule, only a single nun is sent to each monastery."

This was the difference between protocol and actual operation. Eric listened intently. "What do you mean?"

"Because there are simply far too many monasteries across the continent," the official explained. "And the nuns sent out typically must have spent over twenty years in training within the Saintess Monastery, meaning there aren't all that many candidates available. Therefore, for monasteries that have already been assigned an external Superior once before, we generally select a suitable successor from among their own internal members."

She pointed to her desk. "These are the dossiers of the internal nuns from that local monastery."

"A Superior selected from within would naturally be more familiar with the monastery itself and find it easier to manage," Eric observed.

The official nodded. "Yes, Your Highness."

Eric thought for a moment. "Must the nuns dispatched to regional monasteries spend a full twenty years right here in the Saintess Monastery? If a certain nun entered the Saintess Monastery at a very early age, and was then sent out to execute other missions, spending decades away, would she possess such qualifications?"

The official clearly had not encountered such a question before. She frowned in thought for a moment and replied, "Aside from being dispatched to serve as a Superior, there are no other missions that would cause a nun to be stationed outside for decades, Your Highness."

Eric glanced at the silent Alana standing beside him. Who said there weren't? The student of just such a person was standing right here.

"I am speaking hypothetically. Suppose such a person did exist?"

The official answered, "Then she ought to be qualified."

She paused, then added, "Everything within the monasteries stems from the holy decree of the Saintess."

An idea struck Eric. He did not say anything further, but instead pointed to her desk and asked, "Have you made your selection?"

"Two suitable candidates have already been identified, Your Highness," the official replied. "Sister Tabitha from their convent and..."

Eric raised a hand to cut her off, indicating that this was not what he wanted to hear. "And what comes next?"

The official lowered her head and answered, "We report the candidates to the senior female officials, who determine the final choice. Then we submit it for the Saintess to review, draft the Saintess's decree, and finally arrange for a courier to dispatch it to Varene."

And so, for the remainder of the time, Eric and Alana followed this female official through every single step of the entire process.

As for the step where the Saintess would normally review the matter, Mother Superior Gabby acted on her behalf.

"There is no issue. Draft the decree and send it out."

Having instructed the official, Gabby turned her gaze to Eric. "I have worked in the Saintess's Court on behalf of Her Holiness for decades. The experience and capability I possess in handling various affairs are far beyond comparison to the ordinary nun by Your Highness's side."

Was she recommending herself to him?

Eric was startled for a moment, then let out a laugh.

"Of course I trust Mother Superior Gabby's competence, otherwise Her Holiness the Saintess would never have entrusted you with such a vital position. However, as for the future, nobody can say for certain..."

He paused, glancing at Alana beside him. "Given the opportunity, I still wish to experience the feeling of appointing people based on personal partiality."