Dusk Street Sanatorium.
Inside the small, sealed confession room.
Sister Aponia continued to pray for each and every person.
Heavy shackles and chains draped over her body.
Although the monastery had been renovated, its size remained the same.
The monastery had never been meant as a place for residence. After Aponia converted it into a sanatorium, the space became even more cramped.
The prayer hall had long since been turned into a playroom for the children.
That place was no longer suitable for Aponia's daily quiet prayers.
Instead, the confession room—now repurposed as a storage space—was more fitting.
"May Miss Pardo's work proceed smoothly."
When praying for Miss Pardo, a trace of worry inevitably surfaced in Aponia's heart.
The last time she saw Pardo, she had glimpsed her fate... one filled with hardship.
Although Aponia wished to help Pardo change that difficult destiny, the language of fate lingered stubbornly.
Aponia possessed the ability to, through physical contact with others, achieve what she called "seeing beyond reality."
In other words, she could see through a person's fate.
Ever since she escaped that near-death experience, her vision would occasionally be filled with interwoven puppet strings, threads of varying lengths, and flickering candle flames of uncertain brightness.
At first, Aponia did not understand what these symbols were. She thought they were an illness caused by her brush with death.
But as she witnessed more and more of these strings, threads, and flames, she gradually discovered patterns.
This "illness" occurred with a certain regularity.
What they revealed were chains of events that did not follow the usual flow of time and causality.
In other words, fate.
Through experience and understanding, Aponia slowly learned to interpret these symbols, much like learning a new language.
A language of the divine.
However, the commands of the divine could not be changed.
Once, Aponia had attempted to challenge divine will and alter the fate of others.
But the results went against her wishes. She discovered that such efforts were futile.
Within the symbols, those flickering candle flames would indeed change in response to her actions.
But this did not eliminate a person's ultimate fate.
What changed was merely the process of events.
After failing in her attempts, Aponia did not give up. Instead, she chose a method incomprehensible to ordinary people—
To bear as much of others' fate as possible.
This was not a selfless act of sacrifice, at least not in her own eyes. She saw it merely as a desperate search for redemption.
Like a butterfly bound by chains of fate, longing to break free.
Yet at this point, Aponia realized that even this was futile.
"You again—sneaking off here to torture yourself!"
A sudden roar shattered the silence of the confession room.
Kalpas' voice, burning with fury, came through the small opening in the wall. Seeing Aponia enduring the shackles, Kalpas... hardened.
His fists hardened.
"If you enjoy suffering so much, how about I punch you a couple times every day? I just happen to be short a punching bag."
With a clatter, the chains fell to the ground.
Slender, jade-like legs stepped out from the inner room, bathed in holy light.
"This is not suffering, Kalpas. These shackles help me... understand more clearly what I should do."
Freed from the restraints, Aponia clasped her hands before her chest and stepped out from the inner chamber of the confession room.
She gave Kalpas a gentle nod in greeting.
"So... Kalpas, what brings you to see me?"
As the saying goes, one does not visit a temple without reason. Kalpas would never come to chat with Aponia for no reason.
He would much rather she leave the monastery altogether—leave his sight, leave his life—so he wouldn't be irritated.
Aponia did not insist otherwise.
Instead, she was concerned he might have something important, so she asked directly.
"Charles got a letter. Go read it."
After throwing out those words, Kalpas turned and left.
If he could read, and if Charles hadn't looked so desperate to know what the letter said, Kalpas would never have come to ask Aponia for help.
Charles was one of the children in the sanatorium. He often helped Kalpas with work—in the form of cheering him on...
All the children knew that wherever Kalpas went, Charles would follow.
If Charles had a wish, Brother Kalpas would always do his best to fulfill it.
"Hehe, Kalpas... you're getting better and better at getting along with the children."
Aponia tidied her somewhat disheveled clothes and followed Kalpas out of the confession room with a look of quiet satisfaction.
...
"Ah, it's Brother Kalpas and Sister Aponia!"
"Good morning, Brother Kalpas!"
"Good morning, Sister Aponia!"
The children playing and chasing each other in the corridor greeted them before running off to continue their games.
Seeing Kalpas and Aponia together did not strike them as strange.
Although rare, it was just like the big brothers and sisters singing on television—it was perfectly normal.
But Kalpas clearly didn't see it that way.
"Get lost. Stop following me!"
Being followed by Aponia obviously annoyed him, as if it made their relationship seem closer than it was.
He had nothing to do with this woman!
Aponia smiled gently at Kalpas.
"Kalpas, you also want Charles... to know as soon as possible... what is written in that letter, don't you?"
"Without you leading the way... it would take quite some time... to find Charles in the sanatorium..."
Even so, Aponia remained respectful.
She slowed her pace, deliberately putting some distance between them.
Knowing he couldn't out-argue her, Kalpas loudly cut her off: "Annoying!"
Silence hung in the air for a moment.
Then Kalpas snapped irritably, "Walk faster! Didn't you eat breakfast or something?"
Aponia smiled faintly and quickened her steps to follow.
Kalpas really was a kind-hearted child.
...
"Brother Kalpas, Sister Aponia!"
Under a tree in the courtyard, Charles lit up when he saw Aponia behind Kalpas.
"Sister Aponia, please help me read it—this letter from my family!"
Although Charles lived in the sanatorium, he was not actually an orphan.
It was just that his illness had been too expensive to treat, and his family had no choice but to abandon him.
After being taken in by Aponia, he still longed to return home.
He had once asked Aponia to send a letter to his family to let them know he was safe, but there had been no reply.
Now that a letter had finally arrived, how could he not be excited?
His illness had already been cured. He wanted to go home!
"Mm." Aponia accepted the letter Charles carefully handed her.
Opening it, she saw that there was quite a bit written inside.
She took the time to read it fully first—just in case there was anything that might hurt Charles, she could prepare herself.
From what she saw, that did not seem to be the case.
It was a perfectly ordinary family letter.
Just... carrying a faint scent of blood.
After summarizing its contents, Aponia spoke softly, "Charles, your family in Barcelona hopes that you will return home."
"Ah!" Charles froze for a moment before bursting into cheers. "That's great! I can go home!"
He grabbed onto Kalpas' arm and jumped up and down, irritating him. "Let go!"
"Ah, right!" Charles suddenly remembered something. "I need to go pack my things!"
With that, he jumped off Kalpas' arm and ran back to his room.
He couldn't wait to go home—as soon as possible, not even a second longer.
Aponia watched his departing figure, worry appearing on her face.
That one sentence she had just spoken had changed Charles' candle flame.
It had grown even dimmer.
"Barcelona... Miss Pardo seems to have gone there as well. That place is currently caught in warfare. It's very dangerous."
"Unfortunately, the children of the sanatorium cannot do without me. I cannot accompany him."
Aponia's uneasy murmur was overheard by Kalpas.
"Perfect." Kalpas snorted coldly as he also headed toward the rooms. "I've been waiting long enough for the slaughter of the battlefield. Hahahaha!"
"Kalpas..."
"Hmph. I'm going to fight. Don't tell me you're going to stop me from that too, Aponia."
"Kalpas, you must not fight."
"... I'm going to restock. I'm heading into the city to restock. That works, right?!"
Left with no choice, Kalpas actually borrowed Pardo's excuse.