Elizabeth finished what could be her final day on this job. She patiently waited for Father Benedictus to arrive, which he did after a few minutes. His presence was enough to fill the empty room with an uncomfortable aura. With a firm and strong voice, he talked to the silent nun.

"Sister Elizabeth, I suppose that you haven't forgotten yesterday's conversation."

"I haven't, father."

"Good, we haven't decided what we'll do with you yet." Benedictus slowly approached Elizabeth, and continued talking in a voice full of judgment "But you know, you're innocent. In the end, you just protected someone."

"If you have something to say, just say it." Answered Elizabeth with a cold tone.

"She's having a bad effect on you, you weren't like that before." Father Benedictus spoke in a harsh tone to intimidate her. When he saw there was no expression on her face, he continued like nothing happened "Sister Sukebe is being a bad influence on you, but if you accept to not see her anymore, we might go back to how everything was before."

Elizabeth stared at him without showing any emotion. After an uncomfortable minute passed, she decided to finally answer his proposition.

"I'll wait for you until you find a task I can do, in the meantime, I have a garden to take care of."

Elizabeth was about to leave, but right after she turned her back, Benedictus raised his voice once more.

"Even if it means leaving this monastery? Would you leave God?"

Elizabeth stopped at those words and turned back to him. Father Benedictus expected an apology but was surprised instead.

"Sister Sukebe is more important than this monastery for me. As for God, I think it's a bit pretentious to say that being here is the only way to love the Lord. No matter which path I take, I'll love both God and sister Sukebe."

"Love Sister Sukebe?" Asked Benedictus, shocked by those words "Are you implying that this woman is as important as the Lord?"

"I'm not implying, I'm pretty clear on it. Now if you excuse me, these plants have a very strict watering schedule."

Elizabeth left without a word, leaving the man speechless in the room.

Sukebe and Elizabeth both spent time together in the garden. There, she explained what happened with Father Benedictus. As she told the story, Sukebe felt visibly worried.

"Does he want to exile you from the monastery?"

"He won't." Answered Elizabeth "He would have done it before if he wanted to."

Elizabeth continued to take care of her plants under the attentive eye of her beloved. She was doing so without a single worry in the world but quickly noticed that Sukebe wasn't feeling as carefree as her. Gently caressing her lover's cheek, Elizabeth asked with a soft voice.

"Are you alright Sukebe? Are you worried about me? It will be alright, I promise."

"No, it's not that." Said Sukebe, with a bit of sorrow in her voice "It's just that they're right, I only bring sorrow... If I wasn't here, you would still-"

Elizabeth put her finger on Sukebe's mouth, stopping her in her words.

"If you weren't here, I wouldn't have found out about this wonderful feeling. And I'm glad to say that you are the one that showed it to me."

After saying those words, she leaned in for a short kiss, making Sukebe blush a bit. Even after a few days, she felt as happy as the first time their lips touched, she never felt so loved by someone before. Without a warning, she took Elizabeth in her arms with tears in her eyes.

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"You're so perfect Eliza, I love you so much."

"I love you too, Sukebe."

Elizabeth caressed her lover's back gently and slightly chuckled to herself.

"Eliza... Isn't it what you called me last night?"

"It's cute... Isn't it?"

"It is, but I think that last night you said that because you couldn't finish your sentence. It was cute, hearing you say my name and being cut by your moan."

Sukebe took a step back, her face was all red and even hiding her face behind her hands wasn't enough for Elizabeth to not see it.

"W-Why do you keep reminding me? It's so embarrassing..."

"Isn't it what you wanted? It seemed like it made you happy."

Elizabeth smiled softly, caressing her lover's cheek while losing herself in her violet eyes.

"Am I interrupting something?"

The two women turned toward the source of the voice, surprised to not be alone.

It was Maria, looking at the two nuns with a look full of judgment.

"You two seem awfully close. Forbidden kind of close if you know what I mean."

"You needed something, sister Maria?" Elizabeth spoke with a freezing tone in her voice, wary of Maria.

"They're searching for sister Sukebe, I think she's supposed to do her job. I knew you two were close, but it seems like you were even more than I thought."

"Is it a problem?"

"For me, no. But I'm not sure how Father Benedictus would feel about two nuns falling in love. And even if I'm mistaken, he'll be more than happy to believe me. I'm sure he's just waiting for the day Sukebe leaves this place."

"I think you mean sister Sukebe." Elizabeth kept her voice as cold and steady as she could. She couldn't accept seeing her lover being disrespected in front of her.

"Why does it matter? Soon, she won't be 'sister' anymore."

"Sister Maria, please stop-"

"Stop it!" Maria yelled, with frustration in her voice "God, sister, faith! You don't care, do you? You've fallen for the devil Elizabeth! You are far from the faithful woman you were!"

Everyone stayed silent after Maria's outburst, not knowing what to say. The woman slowly calmed herself but was on the verge of tears. Sukebe took a deep breath and took a step forward to the others's surprise.

"Don't say that of Eliza, she never stopped believing in the Lord, not even once."

"Stop talking, demon. And why are you so calm now? You always opposed everyone, rebelled about the rules, and now you want me to believe that you're a faithful nun?"

Sukebe looked back at Elizabeth, and after pausing her gaze on her for a moment, replied to Maria.

"I think... I just found faith. I feel at peace now, and I think I understand why people give their lives to someone. I feel the same now."

Maria showed a face of disgust at Sukebe and turned her angry gaze at Elizabeth.

"Is that the person you replaced me with? What does she have that I don't?.. Why did you leave me Elizabeth?"

"It hurts me too." Answered Elizabeth with sorrow in her voice "I wish that I still had my friend with me, the one that I talk about most things. But I saw the ugly truth, you are not as pure as I thought, you reject everything that you don't want, without even trying to understand." Elizabeth got closer to Sukebe, and took her hand while still staring at Maria "I found someone that I love as dearly as God, and even if we took different paths, I hope that you too, find your light."

"I don't need to find light, unlike you, I'm faithful to God."

Without another word, Maria left like a storm. Elizabeth looked where she was standing for a moment, lost in her thoughts. Sukebe took her in her arms and softly asked.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes, don't worry. It just... feels weird, I've seen sister Maria mad before, but seeing her mad against me... It's like I realized how she was. But it's alright, I just need you and God, the rest doesn't matter."

"Do I really make you so happy?"

Elizabeth smiled softly and gave her beloved a slight kiss on her forehead.

"More than anything. Now we should go, I'll help you cook today too."

The two women headed to the kitchen and worked together like last time. But this time, Sukebe seemed a bit distracted. Not only her reaction time was slower, but she also forgot what she was doing and what she was supposed to do quite often.

After finishing everything, they started eating in the kitchen. Elizabeth decided to take this opportunity to confront Sukebe.

"Sukebe, is something the matter? You've been acting weird lately."

"Oh... It's just..." Sukebe was taken by surprise, and couldn't think of an answer right away. It took her a few minutes to collect her thoughts and finally give an answer

"Do you like living at the monastery?"

Elizabeth seemed surprised, it was a weird question to ask so suddenly. But she still ended up answering, with her calm and soft voice.

"I like being here, it's not always easy, but I'm glad to show my faith to God."

"... I see." Sukebe didn't seem satisfied with the answer. She was lost in her thoughts for a moment, but Elizabeth wasn't going to let her feel sad without trying to understand. She went closer to Sukebe and took her in her arms while talking gently.

"For me, all that matters is you and the Lord, I've said it countless times. This monastery is just a place where I can live and show God's allegiance."

"Do you truly think so?"

Elizabeth took delicately a strand of her hair and took it out of her wimple, just like Sukebe likes to do.

"I only obey God's rules, and I only follow your heart. The rest doesn't matter to me."

Sukebe smiled a bit, before plunging into her lover's arms. Elizabeth still wondered what she meant when she asked about the monastery, but she was ready to wait until Sukebe was comfortable to talk about it. In the meanwhile, she would love her all she could.