The Nun's Confession: 6. A New Devotion

They left the convent at dawn, when the mist still clung to the hills like a secret.

Lucien held her hand the entire way down the stone steps. He didn’t speak, didn’t pray—just stared straight ahead as though if he looked back, the guilt would consume him. Emilia walked beside him barefoot, her veil tucked beneath her arm, her body raw with ache and rebellion.

Neither of them had anywhere to go.

They simply… went.

By nightfall, they found shelter in an abandoned rectory on the edge of a quiet village where no one asked questions and no one cared about collars or habits. It was crumbling, quiet, and cold.

But it was theirs.

Lucien built a fire in the hearth while Emilia stood at the window, her arms wrapped around her body. The world felt too wide, too loud. And yet for the first time in years, she could feel her breath fill her lungs without permission.

She turned to him. “Do you regret it?” she asked. Even though he had confessed his feelin