In the stone-walled manor of Count Piast, Yolenta is nothing but a quiet servant girl who dusts the library and keeps her head down. But every night, she slips away to a hidden attic and does the one thing forbidden to women of her station: she watches the stars.
Three years ago, she discovered a discrepancy between the Church-sanctioned star chart and the actual night sky—a tiny, relentless deviation that shouldn't exist. Armed only with her mother's forbidden Star Language dictionary, a windo
Orb: The Star Inheritor - The Two in the Observation Hut — An Awkward Night Bound by Stars
The late-autumn night wind slipped past the rear of Count Piast's manor. The leaves rustled dryly, and the moonless sky was packed thick with twinkling stars.
The moment Yolenta stepped out through the kitchen's back door, she hunched her shoulders against the cold air. She pulled her coarse wool shawl tight around herself. In her hands she carried a small cloth bag. Inside were her mother's keepsake star-language dictionary and a stack of half-finished calculation sheets.
(Do I really have to go out this late at night?)
Another version of herself whispered in her mind. A woman, in the middle of the night, alone with a man. And not just any man—a heretic monk whose eyes had been burned out. If anyone saw them, there'd be no explaining it away.
But her feet wouldn't stop.
Ever since that rainy night, the moment she'd squeezed Badeni's hand back, Yolenta's heart had been decided. She wanted to know the truth of the stars. For that, even if she was afraid, she had to take the step.
"You're late."
A voice came suddenly from the darkness.
"Eep!"
Yolenta let out a strange yelp and jumped. Her heart pounded so hard it felt like it might leap out of her mouth.
"W-w-why are you here...?"
The owner of the voice stood beside the stone paving that led to the rear of the manor. A tall man using a long wooden stick as a cane. His dark brown short hair swayed in the night wind, and his stubbled face floated faintly in the starlight. Both eyes clouded white. An old scar running from his left cheek to his chin.
It was Badeni.
"Your footsteps are the loudest in the whole manor. For a servant, you could stand to walk more quietly."
Badeni said it bluntly.
"A-am I really that loud...?"
Yolenta thought back on her own footsteps. It was true—when she walked in a hurry, her wooden sandals clacked against the stone paving.
"Yeah, loud. But that works in my favor. I can tell exactly where you are."
Badeni said this and tapped the ground twice with his stick.
"Follow me. Guide me to the observation hut."
"Guide you? But I don't know where it is..."
"You don't need to. I do. You walk ahead so I don't trip, and tell me the way. Describe where the stones and tree roots are."
"Um, okay... got it."
Yolenta began walking a little ahead of Badeni.
"Um, there's a stone here. Please move to the right."
"Right, then."
"Next, there's a tree root spreading out. Please lift your feet high."
"Understood."
The two of them proceeded slowly along the back path at night. The area behind the manor was where the servants chopped firewood and did laundry during the day, and at night no one was there. Only the sound of insects and the wind could be heard.
"...Um, Badeni."
Yolenta said quietly, still facing forward.
"What."
"Where exactly is the observation hut? I've been at this manor five years, but I've never heard of it."
"On the north side of the manor, near the edge of the forest. It's an old hut the previous Count Piast used before the star-reading tower was built. No one uses it now."
"Why would you use a hut nobody uses, Badeni?"
"I'm borrowing it on my own. More precisely, using it without permission. The hut is on the manor grounds, but no one manages it. It's buried in the thicket, and its very existence has been forgotten. For heretic research, there's no better place."
"Without permission... borrowing it..."
Yolenta was a little taken aback by this man's total lack of common sense. But she didn't feel bad about it. If anything, she thought, this man truly puts the stars above everything else.
Eventually, as they neared the forest's edge, a small building came into view, standing alone in the thicket.
"That's it."
Badeni stopped.
"Huh? That's the observation hut?"
Yolenta strained her eyes.
It was a small stone building. The roof was made of wooden planks, peeling away in places. Ivy crawled up the walls, there was only one window, and the door was tilted as if it might fall off at any moment.
(So this is... the observation hut.)
Honestly, it was a ruin.
"It looks like this, as you can see. But I've fixed up the inside. We're going in."
Badeni felt along the ground with his stick and put his hand on the hut's door.
Creeeak...
The door opened with a heavy sound.
Inside was far darker than outside. Only the starlight coming through the window faintly illuminated the floor.
"I'll light a candle. There should be a candlestick over there."
Badeni pointed with his finger to the right side of the entrance.
Yolenta groped for the candlestick and lit it with a flint.
A small flame slowly illuminated the inside of the hut.
"...Wow."
Yolenta let out an involuntary sound.
Inside the hut was one wooden desk and two chairs. On the walls, several sheets of paper were pasted up. Star charts marking the positions of stars. Calculation tables crammed with numbers. And precise orbital diagrams of celestial bodies the likes of which she'd never seen.
"These are... all yours, Badeni?"
"Yeah. Since I started borrowing this place, I've been bringing things in little by little every night. Even without sight, I can calculate. With paper and charcoal, I can draw the stars."
Badeni sat down in the chair before the desk.
"Sit, Yolenta. Starting tonight, this is your research room."
"Research room..."
Yolenta repeated the words as if savoring them.
(My research room.)
A research room for her—a female servant. That such a place could exist in this world.
"...Um, are you really sure I can use this place?"
Yolenta asked timidly as she sat down in the chair.
"What are you saying at this point? I have no intention of letting your talent rot buried here. My research needs your mind. Of course you're the one who'll use it."
Badeni said this and groped for a stack of papers on the desk.
"Tonight's observation target is the retrograde motion of the planets. You know it."
"Yes. It's the phenomenon where a planet appears to temporarily move in the opposite direction from its usual motion. According to the teachings of the Star Scripture Church, the planets move across the celestial sphere exactly as God ordained, so retrograde motion is impossible. But in reality, when you observe, it looks like they're moving backward. That's why the Church forbids detailed observation of retrograde motion, calling it a 'trial of God.'"
Yolenta's tone naturally grew heated.
"...You really are interesting."
Badeni's mouth softened slightly.
"The fact that it's forbidden makes you want to know. That's your nature. Same as mine."
"Uh, ah, well... sorry. I just got carried away."
Yolenta lowered her head, embarrassed.
"Don't apologize. Here, you don't have to hold back about the stars for anyone. Talk as much as you like. Show me your calculations."
Badeni held out his palm.
Yolenta took the calculation sheets from her cloth bag.
"Yes. These are my predictions for Jupiter's retrograde motion, calculated as of last night."
"Jupiter, eh. Fine. Read them aloud to me."
"Huh? Read them aloud?"
"I can't see. Naturally."
"Ah, right. Sorry. Um, first, from the position of Jupiter's conjunction..."
Yolenta began reading out the numbers written on the calculation sheets, one by one.
"...From the above, I predict that Jupiter will begin its retrograde motion approximately twelve days from its current position and continue retrograde for about forty-eight days."
"I see. Your calculations are based on Ptolemy's epicycle model. The Church-approved formula. But your prediction is too optimistic."
Badeni said it flatly.
"Too optimistic?"
"Yeah. In your calculation, the start of retrograde is about two days later than actual observation. You're calculating the epicycle radius using the Church's standard values. But the actual motion of the planets can't be explained by those standard values. In my calculation, retrograde begins in ten days."
"Ten days? That can't be. I've observed Jupiter every night for three years. I calculated based on those observation records. They almost match the Church's star charts too. Isn't it your calculation that's wrong, Badeni?"
Yolenta found herself arguing back in a strong tone.
(Ah, that was bad. He's older, and my teacher, and I just...)
But once it came to calculations, she couldn't stop.
"Oh? My calculation is wrong, is it. Interesting. Then show me your grounds."
Badeni's voice didn't sound angry. If anything, it had a teasing, provoking ring to it—like he was enjoying himself.
"I have grounds. Here, my observation records. For three years, I've recorded Jupiter's position every night. If you look at these records, you'll see that your calculation doesn't match actual observation."
Yolenta took another stack of papers from her cloth bag.
"Read them."
"Yes. Um, first, counting from the spring equinox, the first observation day is..."
Yolenta read out the observation records.
Date, time, Jupiter's position. Calmly, but precisely.
Badeni listened in silence. Now and then he tapped the desk with his finger, as if calculating something.
"...That's all. Calculating from these records, Jupiter's retrograde still begins in twelve days."
When Yolenta finished, Badeni was silent for a while.
"...I see."
Badeni murmured low.
"Your observation records are accurate. Astonishingly accurate. I'll admit that my calculation diverges from actual observation."
"Huh?"
Yolenta was caught off guard.
(This man actually admits it honestly.)
She'd assumed he'd be prouder, refusing to admit his calculation was wrong.
"But your calculation isn't entirely correct either. You're calculating with the epicycle model, but that model itself has limits. Data showing those limits already appears in your observation records."
Badeni took a single sheet from the stack of papers on the desk.
"This is a new calculation model I made. Abandon the epicycle model, and describe the planets' orbits in a different form. Calculating with this model explains the slight discrepancies here in your observation records."
"Slight discrepancies..."
Yolenta looked at her observation records. It was true—there were very small discrepancies between calculated and observed values. She'd dismissed them as error.
"You discarded those discrepancies as error. But those discrepancies are precisely the doorway to truth. Calculations can't lie. Observations can't lie. Then what's off is the calculation model itself."
Badeni's words made Yolenta gasp.
(What's off is the model.)
She'd never thought of it that way.
"Your new calculation model, Badeni... show it to me."
Yolenta leaned forward.
"Yeah. But first, I'm fixing the roof. This hut has a hole in the roof, and when it rains it's useless. Before you came, I got caught in the rain a few times and my calculation sheets got wet."
Badeni stood up.
"Fixing the roof now? It's nighttime?"
"Night is better. No one can see. You hold the ladder from below."
Badeni groped for an old wooden ladder in the corner of the hut and set it up.
"O-okay... got it."
Yolenta went around to the base of the ladder and braced it with both hands.
Badeni climbed the ladder, holding a board to plug the hole in the roof.
"Tell me the position. Where's the hole?"
"Um, above your right hand, a little to the left. Please move a bit more to the right."
From below, Yolenta described the position of Badeni's hand and the hole in the roof.
"Here?"
Badeni pressed the board against the hole.
"Yes! Right there!"
Yolenta couldn't help raising her voice.
"Quiet. It's the middle of the night."
"Ah, sorry..."
Yolenta covered her mouth.
To secure the board, Badeni held it with one hand and tried to take a nail from the tool pouch at his waist with the other.
That was when it happened.
"Ngh—"
Badeni's body tilted.
"Huh!?"
The ladder lost its balance. When Badeni tried to pull out a nail, his center of gravity shifted.
"Badeni!"
Yolenta instinctively reached out.
But the moment
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