He was but a simple priest, following the lord's teachings despite the world being wrecked with poverty and the plague; when life failed him, his faith did not. He had always supposed himself to be a man of God, and had dedicated himself to the chur...
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_ 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝟷𝟷 ; 𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚋𝚞𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 _
𝐀 𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐒𝐄, 𝐈𝐌𝐏𝐄𝐍𝐄𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐁𝐋𝐄 𝐒𝐈𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄 𝐅𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐇𝐔𝐑𝐂𝐇, 𝐎𝐍𝐋𝐘 interrupted by the quiet whispers and gossips of the churchgoers. The rumors would only stay on one person for a few moments, always jumping to the next victim upon them entering the church hall and looking around confusedly. However, soon, they would realize the circumstances dealt.
In front of the tall stained glass window that typically faced the courtyard, were papers upon papers blocking the sunlight, each one pertaining to one of the church's regulars. It seemed that even the worst of secrets were being exposed right there and then; news of infidelity, crimes, betrayals--all of the worst sins that given person had committed within their lifetime were up on display. No one was saved, not even the elderly women or young children whose sins were rather mundane.
However, such a tense silence couldn't last for long, and soon people began breaking out into arguments and squabbles. Wives crying at their husbands' infidelities, mothers scolding their misbehaved children, grandparents gasping at how immature their children were... for the first time in weeks, they weren't discussing the so called "murderer" in their midst, who was the only person without any secrets to expose.
Amanda watched with amused eyes as the chaos unfolded. Even the nuns and priests weren't being spared from the gossip, and neither was she. Secrets she had hoped would never come to life were being displayed clear as day upon that window, and yet she couldn't help but be rather impressed at the perpetrator.
The culprit was obvious enough, considering the only person to not have any of their secrets exposed was (Y/N) (L/N), but no one had even accused Lucius of being the perpetrator. Perhaps they were only looking for what was there instead of what wasn't, but their short mindedness was truly groundbreaking. They were all like sharks, trying to sacrifice other people in the vain hope that their own pathetic secrets wouldn't be acknowledged.
Of course, Amanda was one of the few people already desensitized to this type of debacle; many of the nuns were crying upon being shunned for their honestly uninteresting secrets. Her secrets had already been put out a long time ago, so no one cared to gossip about her, in favor of the newly revealed gossip.
But, she had to think to herself, wasn't (Y/N) the most deserving of an expose out of all the churchgoers here?
Oh, but perhaps it was only natural that Lucius would exclude her from the harsh treatment. He was not the objective nor calm-minded type from what Amanda had observed. His judgement was clouded. With what exactly, Amanda was curious...
Was it love? Pity? Anger?
How could a mere priest even arrange an exposé of this caliber? He had forsaken his family, and lived a rather isolated life and thus lacked connections to anyone who could pull such a stunt.
Again, Amanda couldn't help but find the entire scenario amusing, despite how mortified everyone else seemed to be. An outsider might have assumed that (Y/N) (L/N) herself was behind this, trying to turn the tides on all of the gossip surrounding her--but the truth was even more interesting... or Amanda assumed it would be, anyhow.
Similarly to Lucius, Amanda lacked contact with her family--albeit for different reasons--so as much as she would've liked to find out how he coordinated all of this, she was rather powerless. She still believed herself to have an advantage over the priest, however: she could think ahead, while he found himself acting in the heat of the moment.
Clearly, he had not understood what would happen as a result of this occurrence. It was like a crime of passion, or an act of petty revenge, rather than a proper retaliation... like a child stomping its feet and having a temper tantrum.
_
They say that when one is on the verge of death, they see their life flash before their eyes--all of their sins, all of their pleasures, memories of their family and their childhood--and that they regret having to die so soon. But when he was walking that fine line, one misstep from tumbling into a dark abyss, he didn't see his old, fond memories, of meeting his wife or playing with his brother as a child...
He saw God.
God condemned him. God scorned him. God punished him.
The entire memory was a blur, but he could recall the terrifying sensation. He had never been a particularly religious man, however, he had imagined that if he ever were to meet God, it would be a joyous affair. That day had instilled a fear of God in him.
One wrong move and God was going to strike him down, fry his nerves to a crisp, short-circuit his brain...
He couldn't believed he had been living as such a filthy sinner. His brother had died in a gruesome, messy scene, and he had blamed his only niece for it, calling her a murderer and believing the rumors surrounding her.
His hands trembled, as his wife worried for him. He wasn't sure what to do--how was he meant to apologize to the orphaned woman he had thrown plates and vases at, who he had called such horrible names because of his own misgivings...?
He had to apologize. It wasn't some moral revelation that brought him to it--no, it was a requirement. He was going to be struck down by God if he didn't repent for his sins...
No, that wasn't quite right. It wasn't God that had spoken to him that day, but a mere man.
Even so, he knew that if he didn't comply, the result would be the same. A deadly punishment, fit for a sinner.
