Gray clouds drifted slowly and low between the mountain peaks that surrounded the monastery on nearly every side. A cool wind wandered endlessly through the valley, gently swaying the slender apple trees and filling the air with the soft rustling of leaves.

You carefully picked ripe, crimson apples, placing each one gently into a large wicker basket. The simple task soothed your thoughts, allowing you to focus only on the steady rhythm of your own movements. Somewhere in the distance, cows lazily mooed, while birds called to one another beyond the orchard fence. It was your last obedience for the day.

Only a year ago, you made a choice that changed your life forever. Here, each day began long before dawn and ended only late in the evening, filled with prayers, labor, and an endless struggle against your own weaknesses. It was not an easy path, but every passing day became another step closer to the Lord.

A sudden gust of wind swept through the orchard, sending the folds of your cassock fluttering and making the branches creak uneasily. You reached for another ripe apple, but before your fingertips could brush its smooth skin, it detached from the branch on its own and fell heavily onto the damp grass.

You carefully stepped down from the small ladder and bent to pick it up.

But someone else's pale hand reached it first.

You straightened abruptly.

Only a heartbeat ago, there had been no one standing beneath the apple tree.

Now, a stranger stood before you.

"Careful."

His voice was quiet, almost reverent. With a faint smile, he held the apple out to you.

Your eyes swept over the man. A long black coat, dark trousers, and impeccably polished leather shoes. His face seemed flawless—almost impossibly so. Well-defined features, pale skin, and calm gray-blue eyes... everything about him looked just a little too perfect. So perfect, in fact, that it stirred an inexplicable feeling of unease deep within you.

Strange... You hadn't heard a single footstep. It must have been the wind that drowned them out.