The next day, Lena woke up with a pounding headache.
She looked around and realized she was in some sort of solitary chamber.
"Where am I? What happened?"
She stepped out of the room and asked a passing priest, who clicked his tongue and informed her of the gravity of the situation.
She had committed a sin, he said, and the higher-ups were currently in a meeting.
"What? What? Did I perhaps... drink alcohol? But they said alcohol was alright..."
Unable to comprehend the situation, Lena was subjected to a brief interrogation.
A priest with a stern, unyielding expression made her sit before him, offering no comforting tea, and proceeded to bombard her with cold questions and pronouncements.
"There has been testimony that you and Sir Gilbert Forte engaged in indecent conduct."
"What? Indecent conduct?"
"Do you recall being seen embracing in the garden last night?"
"N-no. That's impossible. Sir Gilbert and I are not in that kind of relationship."
"There was testimony from another trainee. They said you were embracing and about to kiss."
"What?"
"Also, it's been said that you received a bracelet as a gift from Sir Gilbert. Is that true?"
"No! That was a gift Sir Gilbert was going to give to his younger sister. He asked for my opinion on it. I returned it to him right away."
"Sir Gilbert's younger sister?"
"Yes!"
"...Regardless, it's true that you were embracing, is it not?"
"I-I don't remember. Truly."
"Sir Gilbert has admitted to it. And perhaps we should ask what you were doing outside at that hour?"
Lena continued to plead her case, but the conclusion had already been made.
The Holy Church had to punish them both.
Although there was testimony against Lena, the priests who taught her defended her, asserting that she would never do such a thing. Considering Gilbert Forte's past behavior, it was clear that he had taken advantage of Lena while she was drunk.
However, he was a noble, and not just any noble, but the son of the Swordmaster who held the real power in the Bellita Kingdom.
The reason for Gilbert's presence at the Holy Church was also a problem. He was there under house arrest for political reasons, and they couldn't simply expel him.
Tensions were already high between the Bellita Kingdom and the Church. The Holy Cross Church not only refrained from sending priests to war but also pressured the Jerom Holy Kingdom to declare neutrality and even directly blocked the flow of military supplies.
The Swordmaster, who held military power, was undoubtedly resentful of the Holy Cross Church.
In this situation, if they were to expel his son from the Church? In the worst-case scenario, the churches in the Bellita Kingdom could face persecution.
Ultimately, the Holy Church decided to expel Lena. With such a scandal, they couldn't allow both of them to remain.
Fortunately for them, Lena was a commoner with no one to back her up.
There were plenty of others aspiring to become priests, so they made the convenient choice.
Despite Priest Ophelia, who had recommended Lena, vehemently protesting, the decision stood. That very day, Lena was expelled with her meager belongings.
Gilbert Forte was placed under house arrest for several weeks.
Expelled alone in the heart of winter, Lena stood outside the Holy Church gates, unable to leave, her trembling hands clasped in prayer throughout the night.
She begged for forgiveness.
She cried out, claiming her innocence.
The gates remained closed.
***
As the snow began to melt, signaling the arrival of spring, Leo arrived in Lutetia and checked into an inn to rest. It had been an arduous journey.
'If only Woody were here, it would've been much faster. I wonder how he's doing.'
He had walked the entire distance, lacking any other mode of transportation.
After buying food with the money he had earned from hunting throughout winter, he had nothing left, not even enough to join a merchant caravan.
The copper coins he had just paid the innkeeper were his last. All he had left were a few silver coins.
'I came back completely broke. Lena's not going to be happy about that. Hehehe.'
Still, he couldn't help but feel elated.
He would see Lena soon.
The next day, Leo woke up early and had breakfast. In the inn's lobby, people were buzzing with news.
"I hear the war might be ending soon. The Astin Kingdom has retreated."
"I heard that too. The Swordmaster of the Bellita Kingdom... I don't recall his name, but apparently he did something amazing."
Leo listened intently as he munched on his bread. He didn't know the details, but the Astin Kingdom had retreated.
He had read about the Astin Kingdom's defeat in the story of the beggar siblings. So it seemed to be true.
However, Leo was puzzled. On the battlefield he had witnessed, the Astin Kingdom had the upper hand. It seemed unlikely that the Bellita Kingdom's Swordmaster alone could have turned the tide, especially since the Astin Kingdom also had its own Swordmaster.
It wasn't a war that could be won so easily, yet it had ended in just one year.
'I need to find out what happened...'
Uncovering the truth about a war in a foreign land seemed like a daunting task, but he had plenty of time.
Lena still had over a year before she could become a priest.
He paid the innkeeper his last copper coins for breakfast and set off towards the Holy Church.
"Excuse me? Lena was expelled? Why?"
But instead of Lena, he was met with a shocking answer.
Lena had been expelled for keeping an untidy room.
"That's absurd... There's no way that's true. It's Lena we're talking about."
But the answer remained the same.
Leo couldn't comprehend what had happened.
Lena, expelled? Why? How?
'No, finding Lena is more important right now.'
He racked his brain. Lena wouldn't have the money to return to Demos Village. He had heard that she was simply thrown out of the gates.
Leo stood outside the Holy Church gates.
'If I were Lena, I would have...'
Cried.
Anger welled up inside him, but he suppressed it and continued his deduction.
'And then Lena would have...'
He looked out at the sprawling city of Lutetia, the capital of the Jerom Holy Kingdom. Leo returned to the city and spent two days searching every nook and cranny.
His hunch was right.
He found Lena working in the kitchen of a bakery.
"Lena!"
"Leo!"
Upon seeing him, Lena dropped the dough she was holding and rushed towards him, knocking over a nearby table.
Her hands were covered in sticky dough, but neither of them cared as they embraced tightly.
A sack of flour toppled over, sending a cloud of white powder into the air. The bakery owner and customers stared at them in surprise.
Lena clung to Leo, sobbing uncontrollably, her tears mixing with the flour that now dusted her hair and clothes.