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 - Comrades of the Thaw — The Morning That Shatters the Wall of "What Would a Woman Know"
The snow had begun to melt.
The stone building of the Piast branch of the Inquisition sat dark and heavy in the morning light. Snow on the roof turned to meltwater, dripping from the eaves—drip, drip, drip.
Inside the interrogation room, it was freezing.
Badeni sat in a chair against the wall. A scruffy dark-brown beard. Both eyes clouded white. The old scar running from his left cheek to his jaw floated pale blue in the thin light from the window.
Before him stood Wilfried.
A silk coat. Polished leather shoes. A silver ring on his finger. The man who had once shared a desk with Badeni at the Star Academy now curried favor with the Church and stood on the side that hunted heretics.
"Badeni. I know you've been hiding observational records that prove heliocentrism."
Wilfried's voice echoed strangely off the stone walls of the interrogation room.
"...Proof, you say."
Badeni turned his clouded eyes slightly toward Wilfried.
"Don't play dumb. I have your research notes in my keeping. I've examined every page. A new interpretation of planetary retrograde motion. The mathematical formulas for heliocentrism. If these reach an inquisitor's eyes, you burn at the stake."
Badeni said nothing.
"But I am merciful. If you honestly confess your sins and give me the names of your two accomplices—that serving girl and the young guard from the security guild—I might put in a word for a reduced sentence."
"...I have no accomplices."
"Don't lie. I already know that girl was helping with your calculations. A woman, doing astronomical calculations. How far you've fallen. The former genius, letting a serving girl speak of the truth of the stars."
A thin smile crept across Wilfried's lips.
"What could a woman possibly understand? The movements of the stars—as if a woman could comprehend them."
In the corner of the interrogation room.
Beyond the small window that led to the waiting room, Yolenta clenched both hands tight.
(What could a woman possibly understand—)
The words stabbed deep into her chest.
In the predawn hours of yesterday, she had stood before Novak, deciphered the code in her mother's dictionary, and presented proof of innocence. And still, Wilfried mocked her.
Beside Yolenta, Okuji narrowed his amber eyes.
"...That man just put his hand inside his coat."
Okuji lowered his voice.
"What did he take out?"
Yolenta lowered hers too.
"Paper. Folded paper. ...He's going to swap it for the evidence on the desk."
Even from the dark waiting room, Okuji's eyes caught the surface of the desk in the interrogation room with perfect clarity.
"Swap it...? But why?"
"My eyes are watching. That man's fingertips are trying to pull a single sheet from the stack of papers on the desk. ...That paper isn't real. It's a forgery. He intends to fabricate evidence of heliocentrism to frame Master Badeni."
The blood drained from Yolenta's face.
(No...)
"...We have to stop him."
Yolenta put her hand on the door of the waiting room.
"Wait."
Okuji gently caught her arm.
"I'll go."
"Eh...?"
"You already showed Novak the code yesterday. If you go out there again, that inquisitor might not even listen. ...But my eyes can testify to that man's lie."
Okuji's voice was low and trembling.
"Okuji..."
"...I'm useless. I always have been. But you told me—that my eyes are more accurate than your calculations. ...So now, I'll use them."
Okuji threw open the door of the waiting room.
The air in the interrogation room shifted.
Wilfried turned around.
"Who are you?"
"...Okuji. Substitute fighter of the Civil Security Guild. Master Badeni's guard."
Okuji stepped into the center of the interrogation room.
"A guard? Hmph. What authority do you have to enter a place of interrogation?"
"None. But I can testify."
Okuji fixed his gaze straight on Wilfried's hands.
"You just took paper from inside your coat. Folded white paper. You're trying to swap it for the evidence on the desk. ...Am I wrong?"
Wilfried's fingers twitched and stopped.
"...What are you talking about? The evidence has been here from the start. Badeni's research notes, which I submitted."
"Liar."
Okuji's voice rang sharp through the interrogation room.
"Your right cuff. There's ink on it. Blue ink. The stack of papers on the desk is written in black ink. The paper you just pulled from your coat is written in blue ink. ...The ink got on your cuff before you made the swap."
Wilfried's face went pale.
"...W-what are you—saying such baseless—"
"The basis is right here. My eyes see through your lie. I saw the moment you pulled a single sheet from the stack on the desk. Your fingers touched the third page. Then you swapped it with the paper from your coat. ...The third page on the desk now is a forgery, written in blue ink."
At Okuji's words, Wilfried took a step back.
"Silence! You—a man from the gutter—you dare question my word?!"
Wilfried's voice cracked.
At that moment, the far door of the interrogation room slowly opened.
A black coat. A silver star emblem.
The inquisitor Novak entered quietly.
"...How noisy."
Novak's voice was low and without warmth.
"Lord Novak! This man is an insolent wretch disturbing the interrogation! Have him removed at once!"
Wilfried clung to Novak desperately.
Novak glanced at Wilfried.
"...You. Be silent."
Novak turned to Okuji.
"...Continue. What did you see?"
Okuji swallowed hard.
"...That man swapped the evidence. The third page on the desk is a forgery. It's written in blue ink. ...My eyes can name the position of stars even in pitch darkness. A man's hand movements are nothing—I see them clearly."
Okuji's voice was shaking.
But he didn't look away.
Novak stared into Okuji's eyes for a long moment.
"...What interesting eyes."
Novak approached the desk and picked up the third page.
"...Blue ink, is it."
Novak held the paper up to the window light.
"...This is a copy of a star chart. But the numbers written on it are in a different hand from the other pages."
"Th-that's—! Badeni is trying to frame me! In league with this man!"
Wilfried's voice was nearly a shriek.
"...Silence."
Novak's voice was like ice.
"...Wilfried. In the name of the Church, you brought forged evidence into a place of interrogation. ...That sin is grave."
"Th-that's not true! I was only, for the Church's sake, the heretics—"
"You fabricated heretics—is that what you're saying?"
Novak's lips twisted faintly.
"...I will hear your full account later. ...For now, withdraw."
Wilfried's lips trembled, and he left the interrogation room.
Novak turned back to Okuji.
"...I have indeed heard your testimony. But that alone cannot prove Badeni's innocence."
"...Then—"
From the door of the waiting room, Yolenta emerged.
"...You."
Novak's eyes caught Yolenta.
"...I will show you. The results of cross-referencing the code in my mother's dictionary with the true observational records written in Master Badeni's notes."
With trembling hands, Yolenta held out a single sheet of paper to Novak.
"...On this paper is written the sequence of numbers I derived by deciphering my mother's dictionary code. And this sequence matches perfectly the planetary observations recorded in Master Badeni's notes. ...Master Badeni's observations recorded the correct positions of the stars—the very positions my mother's code points to."
Yolenta's voice was shaking.
But her eyes were steady.
"...In other words, Badeni's observations match your mother's code."
"Yes. My mother's code is proof that she pursued the truth of the stars. ...Master Badeni reached that same truth. That's why the records match."
Yolenta spoke with conviction.
Novak stared at the paper.
"...You deciphered this sequence in a single night?"
"...Yes."
"...Interesting."
Novak set the paper on the desk.
"...But this alone does not clear the suspicion of heliocentrism. Your mother's code and Badeni's observations may both have been obtained from heretical texts."
"...Then I will testify."
At the entrance of the interrogation room stood Father Fernando.
Gray hair streaked with white. A long white beard. The chief priest of the Star-Reading Tower fixed his calm, pale blue-gray eyes straight on Novak.
"...Father Fernando. What business does the chief of the Star-Reading Tower have here?"
"...In the predawn hours of yesterday, I followed the trail of that man—Wilfried—together with these children. And I saw it. That man burying a sewing box behind the pilgrim's inn, the Silver Star."
Fernando's voice rang out slowly, but clearly.
"...A sewing box, you say?"
"Yes. Inside were Master Badeni's research notes and this child's mother's calculation papers. ...That man stole them, hid them, and now has tried to fabricate false evidence. ...I saw it with my own eyes."
"...Why would a priest do such a thing?"
"...In my youth, I noticed that the star charts and the actual positions of the stars were slightly off. ...I was afraid, and I tried not to think of it further. ...But these children are different. Despite their fear, they pursue the truth of the stars. ...I will no longer look away."
Fernando's voice was trembling.
"...I saw it too. The moment that man swapped in the false paper. ...This young man's testimony is the truth."
Fernando looked at Okuji.
Okuji gave a small nod.
After a long silence, Novak slowly opened his mouth.
"...Understood."
Novak gathered the stack of papers on the desk.
"...The evidence of heresy is insufficient. Badeni is released."
All the strength drained from Yolenta's body.
(...Thank goodness.)
Tears welled up and spilled over.
"...However, this is not the end."
Novak's voice was cold.
"...The suspicion of heliocentrism has not vanished. ...You will be placed under surveillance. ...Be prepared."
With that, Novak left the interrogation room.
Badeni slowly rose to his feet.
"...Yolenta."
"...Yes."
Yolenta ran to Badeni's side.
"...I'm sorry. I've caused you trouble again."
"...No. I didn't want to lose you, Master Badeni. ...That's all."
Yolenta gripped Badeni's cold hand.
"...Okuji. ...If not for your eyes, who knows what would have happened."
"...It's nothing. ...As long as I was useful to you all, that's enough for me."
Okuji said it brusquely.
"...Father Fernando. ...I owe you a debt now as well."
"...Think nothing of it. ...I feel I've finally atoned, just a little, for my own sin. ...The stars, you see, are honest. ...I looked away for a long time. ...But I can't anymore. ...Let me watch over your stars."
Fernando said this and exhaled a white breath.
The four of them left the Inquisition.
Outside, it was a morning of melting snow.
Meltwater dripped from the rooftops.
The sky was white and bright.
"...Cold today."
Okuji looked up at the sky.
"...Yeah. But spring is close now."
Badeni began to walk, leaning on his staff.
Yolenta walked beside him.
(...We're alive.)
(We can still look at the stars.)
A gentle warmth spread through Yolenta's chest.
They returned to the observation hut.
Snow still clung white to the roof and the roots of the trees.
But the sunlight was a little stronger than yesterday.
The three of them entered the hut.
"...It's cold. Let's light a fire."
Okuji crouched before the hearth.
"...Yeah. Please."
Badeni settled into his usual spot against the wall.
Yolenta stood by the window.
"...Yolenta."
"...Yes."
"...You are my disciple."
Badeni's voice was quiet.
"...Your disciple?"
"...No."
Badeni turned his clouded eyes toward Yolenta.
"...You are my comrade."
Yolenta's heart gave a leap.
"...Comrade."
"...That's right. A comrade who pursues the truth of the stars alongside me. ...You've been told to give up your research because you're a woman. ...But I know your talent. ...You stand in the same place as I do."
Badeni's words came a little faster now.
"...Master Badeni."
Tears rose in Yolenta's eyes.
"...I—I want to know more."
Yolenta smiled.
She smiled without wiping her tears.
"...I want to know more about the stars.
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