At first, the whispers drifting through Rome sounded like any other Vatican gossip — vague, unlikely, and easy to dismiss. Nothing in the Holy City stays quiet for long, but most rumors die before reaching St. Peter’s gates. This one didn’t.
By morning mass, the atmosphere inside the Vatican had shifted. Something old, hidden, and heavy had been disturbed. Officials moved faster in the corridors. Doors closed more firmly. The small city-state pulsed with a tension no one dared name.