Chapter 1. Hypocrisy (7)
“Tell them there’s no rush, to take their time.”
He actually hoped they would take even longer. Since an excuse had presented itself, he wanted to look around outside. The Grand Duke wasn’t riding with him, but he had assigned a soldier to serve as his eyes. If not for times like this, there would be no opportunity to observe the surroundings, so he almost wanted to thank the old woman.
However, his sightseeing quickly lost its appeal. Though it hadn’t been long since they left the castle, he could see poor and struggling people wandering the streets. Even on such a joyous day, they sold rat poison with grimy hands, sold handmade baskets… Some poor people with no motivation at all could be seen sitting in alleyways.
A boy approached unsteadily. When the soldier tried to stop him, Ronen raised his hand to show it was fine.
“Madam, if you help me, God’s blessing will be with you.”
The boy’s voice was weak, as if he had been starving for a long time. He might be around seven years old. He was probably much older than he looked.
Even in this cold, he was barefoot. Looking down at his toenails that were all cracked and blackened with death, Ronen opened the carriage door.
“Would you like to get in the carriage for a moment?”
The soldier’s gaze touched briefly. Ronen added words.
“I want to let him avoid the cold until all that is sorted out and receive God’s blessing.”
The boy, who had shown a surprised expression, quickly climbed into the carriage. Others who had missed the opportunity could be seen approaching with disappointed faces before being blocked by the soldier.
Whether it was his first time in a carriage, the boy couldn’t even sit and was bending his waist crookedly. He seemed to worry that the chair would get dirty if he sat down.
“It’s fine. Doesn’t God neither consider anyone dirty nor lowly?”
Only then did the boy carefully perch his bottom on the seat. A faint smile crossed Ronen’s lips at the sight of him trying his best to minimize the contact area.
“Do you know who I am to climb up so carelessly?”
“You didn’t seem like someone who would harm me, madam.”
Though he was clearly tense, his answer was crisp. His speech wasn’t clumsy either, and even in his eyes that were hollow from cold and hunger, there was intelligence hidden. If he had been born in a good place, he might have grown up to be someone who received much recognition.
“…And if I could get something to eat this way, I was confident I could handle anything.”
“You’re still too pure.”
“Pardon?”
He responded with a gentle smile instead of an answer to the boy who asked back as if wondering what he meant. When beasts rolling their eyes to devour you are spread everywhere. The boy didn’t yet know what future a warm carriage and a piece of bread might bring.
“Child. Do you believe in God?”
“Yes.”
“You’re very hungry and cold, but aren’t you resentful of God?”
“It’s fine. Trials are only temporary, and God will eventually save us. When we enter heaven in the future, we’ll live forever in a world without hunger or cold.”
The boy who had said this suddenly spoke in a pleading voice.
“If you give me money, I’ll first fill my stomach, wash my body, and then go pray. It’s been too long since I prayed. God might not accept me.”
“…The cathedral still doesn’t accept the dirty and poor.”
“How did you know? Only those who donate can have their sins forgiven, so if you don’t have money, you can’t enter to pray.”
The boy had frightened eyes. Those in such hardship often waited for death instead. When their difficult lives ended, they would regain peaceful rest in eternal paradise. To do so, they had to believe in God. They had to follow God’s word. They had to pray, donate, confess, and repent.
If told they would fall to hell, if told it would be more painful than their current lives, they would all collapse and pray endlessly while crying. Their last hope and wish was death, and God’s embrace that would welcome them afterward.
“Child. You believe in God without doubt and have such a pure soul, so God will gladly accept your soul.”
“Do you really think so?”
“Of course.”
At Ronen’s gentle words, the boy looked up with eyes rippling with emotion.
“You really are an angel, aren’t you? You came for me, didn’t you? I heard that angels are neither women nor men. You’re dressed like a lady, but you’re actually not, right?”
At the boy’s words, Ronen smiled with difficulty and raised both hands to fidget with his wig. He took out one of the hair ornaments. It was an accessory of the right size for the boy to put in his pocket. The gem, only the size of the boy’s fingernail, was of the highest grade without a single flaw, so it was quite valuable.
“This is all I can give you… I understand that you need this. However, you don’t seem to have the strength to protect it. Excessive greed always brings disaster. Will you still accept it?”
The boy looked back and forth between the gem and Ronen with surprised eyes, then quickly nodded. Ronen asked again.
“Won’t you regret it?”
“Absolutely not.”
The boy held out both palms. Looking at the pitch-black palms covered with grime, Ronen muttered as if to himself.
“…Yes. I will gladly give it since I will receive grace in return for helping you.”
When he placed the gem on the boy’s palm, the child bowed his head repeatedly in gratitude. Saying God’s blessing would always be with him – it was the usual words beggars uttered, but today it struck deep.
While conversing with the boy, the street seemed to have been roughly cleared as the soldier knocked on the door. The boy gave thanks a couple more times before getting off the carriage and immediately began to run.
“Being called before committing sin might also be a blessing. That purity of yours won’t be with you forever.”
Like the boy disappearing into the dark alley, Ronen’s voice also scattered into the air without a trace.
The carriage that had run for a long time reached the building where Ronen was staying. After going around the narrow alley with the soldier and arriving in front of the building, the gatekeeper welcomed Ronen. The soldier who had finished his task turned around to return. There was a hand that grabbed his wrist.
“What’s wrong?”
“Take this.”
What Ronen handed over was a gem larger than the one given to the boy. The startled soldier waved his hands.
“If it’s payment, I’ve already…”
“With this, I’d like you to find and bury the body of that child we saw earlier. I trust you remember both the location and appearance clearly for reporting purposes.”
The soldier, who had been making a blank expression as if his soul had left him, spread his palm as if bewitched. A red gem was placed on it.
“Even after the funeral, there will be a lot of money left, so put in plenty for the journey to the afterlife. You can keep the remaining money as compensation for your trouble.”
“…I understand.”
Only then could Ronen enter the building. The sound of the soldier returning could be heard beyond the closed door. Ronen couldn’t hide his troubled expression and let out a faintly trembling voice.
“What you met was not an angel but a devil. May you not hunger in that place.”
Since he was a believer who committed no sin and believed in God, and was a child who begged to offer tribute to God, He would gladly guide him, taking pity on his murder. After finishing a short prayer for the young lamb who had left this world, Ronen climbed the stairs.
While the wealthy bought God’s love with money, the poor suffered from too many restrictions and conditions. Why was God’s love so unfair?
No, no. God is always fair. What was unfair were humans. The problem was humans who interpreted God’s word as they pleased and used it for their convenience.
“…Hear now, is not my way equal? Are not your ways unequal?” (*Ezekiel 18:25)
As if he had never been sad, all expression had disappeared from his face.
***
The night was deep. However, the city was still noisy. The candles in various buildings and in people’s hands were brighter than the moon in the sky.
Eckart, who had left the castle, wandered the streets aimlessly, which were no different. Though he had escaped to avoid people, this place was worse if anything, certainly not better. It was actually more troublesome because of the women who clung to him saying they’d sleep with him for one night and give him a special discount.
It was already a moment when he couldn’t hide his bewilderment as the moist red tongue, neat teeth, and enchanting light green eyes of the woman called Ronen kept flickering before him.
When the Grand Duke’s fingers went in and out between those lips, making saliva flow, he truly felt dizzy. His breathing became rapid, sounds grew distant, and all the lights blurred. Only that was clearly etched in his eyes. Engraved.
He seemed out of his mind, constantly thinking of a woman he had seen for the first time, and moreover, another man’s partner.
Concluding that he seemed intoxicated by the atmosphere, he changed his walking direction to return to where he had tied his horse. Having stayed in this corrupt city, lustful thoughts were settling in his heart too.
It was while he was wandering around the entrance of an alley. Eckart’s eyes caught sight of a young child collapsed on the cold ground. He hurriedly approached and examined the child, but the child, who was covered in wounds as if severely beaten, had already breathed his last.
“…Dear Lord. Please guide this child warmly.”
On a day when everyone was happy and joyful, feeling pity for the child who had closed his eyes alone, Eckart made the sign of the cross and offered a brief prayer. He couldn’t just leave him like this. After taking off his outer garment to cover the child’s body and lifting him into his arms, the body from which the soul had departed was too light.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
