With her black hair neatly pinned and dressed in a modest, dark-colored gown, Ariadne De Mare commanded the attention of everyone in the Great Basilica of San Ercole. Her voice, brimming with a dignity that belied her youthful appearance and plain attire, pulled every gaze toward the altar.
“The Gospel of Manuel, Chapter 19, Verse 17, states that the Gon of Yesak said: ‘Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Holy Spirit, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.’”
“Furthermore, the Gospel of Sandro, Chapter 7, Verse 21, clearly testifies: ‘For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.’”
“Who are you to claim that you understand the truth better than Saint Manuel and Saint Sandro, two of the six apostles who served the Gon of Yesak in his own time!”
The atmosphere within the Great Basilica was instantly thrown into chaos by the restless murmurs of the crowd. Yet, despite Ariadne’s challenge, the apostle from Acereto did not show the slightest emotional disturbance; he simply answered with a gentle, placid smile.
“I am but a villager from a remote island, seeking the words of the Holy Spirit. However, the Holy Spirit was not always the Father; there was a time when He existed alone, before He became the Father. The eternally existing Holy Spirit created His Son, who did not exist before, out of nothing. By logical necessity, the Son is a creation.”
He continued, his tone unwavering.
“In Chapter 3, Verse 14 of the Exodus, the Great Holy Spirit said, ‘I am the Creator,’ and at the same time, He declared, ‘I am the only God.’ The Gon of Yesak is the Son of the Holy Spirit and a great prophet, but He cannot surpass the Holy Spirit. Divinity is unique—how could the Son rise to an equal position? Are we not here to serve the only, omnipotent Holy Spirit?”
It was a gentle, yet highly dangerous assertion.
Ariadne’s offensive against the apostle from Acereto was sharp. She did not waver in her logical consistency, and the passages from the scriptures she cited were as precise as if she had memorized them in preparation, striking exactly where the argument was most vulnerable.
“The Gospel of Paolo, Chapter 3, Verse 16, refers to the Gon of Yesak as ‘manifested in the flesh of the Father, the Holy Spirit,’ revealing that the Gon of Yesak is the persona of the Holy Spirit and His Son! Are you claiming to be above Saint Paolo, one of the six apostles? Is the apostle from Acereto denying the Creed?”
— ‘Denying the Creed? That’s impossible.’
— ‘Is he denying that the Gon of Yesak is the Holy Son?’
— ‘It sounds like the arguments of the Moorish heretics across the sea.’
— ‘Is he… a heretic?’
— ‘Should we just stand by and watch this?’
The commotion in the gallery intensified. It was fortunate that the commoners were restricted to the square outside; had they been permitted to mix with the nobles, someone would have surely hurled filth at the altar, and a riot would have broken out among the pews.
On the balcony at the upper right, a secretary to Leo III rushed up, threw back the velvet curtains, and presented his report.
“H-huff, huff, Your Majesty. The situation downstairs is grave. Shall I send the guards to drag them out?”
Leo III was a stout, broad-boned man approaching sixty. His piercing blue eyes glinted beneath thick, bushy white eyebrows.
“Which one of them are you planning to drag out?”
“Pardon? Why, the girl who caused the disturbance, of course.”
Leo III chuckled, a low rumble in his chest.
“If anyone is to be dragged out, it would be the apostle from Acereto. Why discard a prize that has rolled right into our laps? Whose daughter is she? She is truly remarkable.”
Prince Alfonso, who had been staring down with a spellbound expression, replied from the shadows of the balcony.
“That is Ariadne.”
“What?”
Queen Marguerite, standing beside them, answered in her son’s stead. Having rarely exchanged words with her husband, she spoke to the King only when representing the Prince.
“She is the second daughter of Cardinal De Mare.”
Prince Alfonso proudly added.
“She is my friend.”
The King looked at his untarnished son with a wry smile.
“You have made a fascinating friend.”
Seeing the King so amused, the secretary paced anxiously, wringing his hands.
“Your Majesty, the mood below is volatile. We must intervene. What should we do?”
* * *
It wasn’t only Leo III’s secretary who was wringing his hands in anxiety.
“Just where does she think she is, making a scene like that!”
Cardinal De Mare was at his wit’s end. The issue of the Apostle from Acereto and his followers was no simple matter.
Pope Ludovico had been preparing to hold the Council of Trevero to bring the Apostle from Acereto to heel, but the influence of the man’s followers was not to be underestimated.
While the fact that Pope Ludovico had barred Cardinal De Mare from attending the Council of Trevero should have been a humiliation, the Cardinal had inwardly welcomed it.
Because he could not gauge which faction would prevail at the Council of Trevero, he had found it burdensome to take a side; the Pope’s decree had provided the perfect pretext to remain neutral.
He had been maintaining that delicate neutrality with such difficulty, and now his fifteen-year-old illegitimate daughter—a mere girl who had only been studying theology for two months—was engaging in a debate with the Apostle from Acereto before everyone’s eyes!
Cardinal De Mare was just about to summon his lower priests to drag Ariadne away and offer an apology to the Apostle for the disturbance when—
*Clatter!*
The main entrance of the basilica swung open with a thunderous sound. Those who had burst through the massive wooden doors wore small, triangular white hats.
Upon seeing the peculiar hats and the black cross emblem embroidered on the capes draped over their simple priestly robes, someone shouted:
“It’s the Inquisitors!”
The Inquisitors, under the direct authority of the Holy See, were storming through the gates of the Great Basilica of San Ercole. Nearly fifty sturdy priests in formal uniforms marched in, keeping perfect rank and file.
Cardinal De Mare was deeply unsettled to see clergymen from a diocese other than his own—priests not under his jurisdiction—swarming into his domain. He rushed forward.
“Just what is the meaning of this!”
“Cardinal De Mare, we have come by the order of His Holiness Pope Ludovico from Trevero to execute the heretic!”
The lead Inquisitor scanned the area with an arrogant gaze before shouting, his chest puffed out.
“Where is the sinner, the priest Alejandro!”
It was the name by which the Apostle from Acereto was known. For the first time, a crack appeared on the face of the Apostle, who had remained settled at the center of the main altar, continuing his sermon even while clashing with Ariadne.
“Seize him!”
— Waaaaah!
At the command, the priests surged forward, forcing the Apostle from Acereto to his knees on the altar and binding his hands behind his back. The Inquisitor ascended to the top of the altar, while the Apostle was dragged down to the floor, their positions effectively swapped.
The lead Inquisitor unfolded a scroll of edicts and began to read.
“Hearken, sinner! The Council of Trevero, held in the year 1122 of the Continental Calendar, has reached a definitive theological conclusion through fair debate.”
Sensing his fate, the Apostle from Acereto began to struggle. The sturdy priests pinning him down gritted their teeth, suppressing his resistance.
“The Acereto School, which denies that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are one, is hereby declared a heresy that has corrupted the proper interpretation of the Gospels! We hold the sinner, the layman-priest Alejandro, accountable for deceiving and misleading the masses; his priesthood is hereby stripped, and he is sentenced to excommunication on this very spot!”
— “Excommunication…!”
— “Good heavens…!”
Excommunication was a social death sentence. Henceforth, no follower of the Heavenly God could commune with or maintain social relations with the Apostle of Acereto—no, the excommunicate Alejandro. Any merchant who sold him food or any innkeeper who provided him shelter would be deemed a sinner in the eyes of the Heavenly God. Nothing remained for him but to become a wild man, drifting through deep mountains and secluded valleys.
“Furthermore!”
The Inquisitor’s tone was fierce.
“If any among those who followed the Acereto School refuse to recant their opinions, they shall be excommunicated alongside their ringleader. Should anyone aid the excommunicate Alejandro, either spiritually or materially, they too shall be charged with a crime equivalent to excommunication! Thus decreed by Pope Ludovico!”
Rolling up the parchment—marked with Pope Ludovico’s signature in crimson ink—the Inquisitor turned toward Cardinal Del Mare.
“Cardinal Del Mare, you must also be held accountable for the fact that the excommunicate Alejandro was boldly delivering sermons within your Great Basilica.”
Cardinal Del Mare’s dark green eyes clouded with panic.
— ‘I’ve been had!’
From the beginning, it was Pope Ludovico who had arranged for the Apostle of Acereto to come to San Carlo. The Holy See had even kindly specified the very date the Apostle was to visit.
Cardinal Del Mare had accepted it, thinking it was merely a ploy to prevent him from attending the Council of Trevero, but Pope Ludovico must have calculated everything—from the excommunication of the Apostle of Acereto to implicating the Cardinal as an accomplice in the affair.
“Inquisitor, there seems to be some misunderstanding. I did not summon the Apostle of Acereto, and…”
Knowing full well his words would fall on deaf ears, Cardinal Del Mare searched for a way out, spinning desperate excuses in a groveling tone. What could possibly work? A bribe? Pleading? Since the man appeared to be a direct subordinate acting on the Pope’s secret orders, nothing would suffice. Was he to be excommunicated himself?
As the Cardinal’s thoughts spun in a vortex of dread, a small warmth took hold of his left hand, gripping it firmly to steady him. It was Ariadne.
The black-haired girl stepped forward, her demeanor gentle yet resolute.
“Inquisitor. Pray, listen to what I have to say for a moment.”
The Inquisitor let out a sharp scoff.
“And who is this young lady? How dare you, of all people, interrupt a conversation between those who possess the authority to interpret the Lord’s word?”
Every eye in the grand corridor was fixed upon them.