In front of the central temple, many people were praying with their hands together.
“Goddess, please bless me.”
“Please heal my husband.”
People bowed down and prayed to the priests as well as the statue of the Goddess.
“Please give me your blessing.”
Then the priests put their hands on the people’s heads or shoulders and sent words of blessings with arrogant faces.
“The blessings of the Goddess will dwell upon you.”
“Thank you. Thank you very much.”
The people crouched down and handed over bundles of bills in their pockets or the wrapping cloths they were holding.
The priests didn’t even accept them and just winked. Little boys in blue training clothes ran and took them instead and disappeared somewhere.
The priests looked around with greedy eyes, paying attention to those who had just donated their fortune.
It looked like wild dogs wandering in search of food.
The believers clung to them, asking for one more word, but they ruthlessly shook them off, saying that their business was over.
“The blessings are over! Go back!”
Such things were happening all over the square.
“Huu.”
After taking a deep breath, Leticia made the vine pattern on her sleeve stand out and moved on.
Her clothes, with vines drawn on her sleeves, could only be worn by the priests of the temple.
The priests of the temple had a higher rank than the other priests because they served Josephina right next to her.
A priest dressed in white recognized the pattern and quickly approached.
“Are you from the temple?”
“That’s right.”
Leticia smiled softly as if nothing was wrong and lowered her head. The priest quickly straightened his back and opened his mouth.
“Hehe, to think that the person who personally attends the Saintess has to walk all the way to this shabby place.”
“I want to confess my sins to the Goddess and purify my body and mind.”
“There should be a prayer room in the temple as well…”
Mistaking Leticia for a temple priest, the priest’s attitude became noticeably more polite. Leticia gently closed her eyes and raised her mouth.
“Of course there is, but I hear a lot that this place is the best temple in the Capital. There are high voices praising the central temple among the clergy.”
“Hehe, is that so?”
The face of the priest who had been tricked by her lie brightened.
“Since a precious person has arrived, I will guide you personally. Is there a place you are looking for in particular?”
“I’m going to the purification room.”
“Are you talking about the purification room?”
The priest who was about to guide Leticia hesitated. A puzzled look appeared on his face, which was just happy to see her.
Purification room.
It was a place to display the traces of those who sinned against the Goddess. The remains of Julios, who had been executed for blasphemy, were also there.
“The Purification Room requires official permission… Did you bring your permit?”
“Actually, I forgot the permit and left it in my room.”
Leticia smiled sweetly and took out the jewelry from her bosom. The priest’s eyes changed when he saw the sparkling jewel.
“I’ve come this far, but it’s a waste to go back… It will only take a while, will it be all right?”
“Hehe, I can’t accept something like this… Still, it’s what the Saintess’ chosen one wants, so of course I’ll do it.”
The priest quickly put the jewelry into his bosom. He immediately started guiding.
“Please follow me.”
Leticia passed through the main building, long corridors and well-maintained gardens before entering an isolated building.
Passing through the gold-trimmed high arches, open spaces greeted her.
On the high ceiling, the life of the Goddess was expressed in colorful paintings. Like the plaza, there was a statue of the Goddess in the corridor here.
After praying for a while toward the statue of the Goddess, the two headed towards the end of the corridor. At first glance, there was a small side door in a corner that could easily be overlooked.
“This is the purification room.”
The priest pushed the old doorknob and smiled.
The door opened with a creak, revealing the scenery inside the room. Contrary to its grandiose name, the purification room looked very shabby.
The dust shimmered in the light from the small window. Stone dust fell from the old ceiling, and cobwebs filled the corners.
In the middle of the room was an altar of flat, gray stone, with a slightly chipped corner. There were piles of all sorts of miscellaneous items around it.
All of them were traces of those who were believed to have sinned against the Goddess.
A bloody crown, a broken sword, an old book, even the clothes of a criminal executed for treason.
A mountain of objects piled up to show how much Josephina had harmed innocent people.
It was because most of the owners of these keepsakes died unfairly like Julios.
“Then come out as soon as the prayer is over. I’ll be waiting outside.
“Thank you.”
Leticia lowered her head until the priest left.
Tuk. The door was closed.
She quickly put her ear to the door. The priest’s hum grew father and farther away.
‘A black wooden box. I have to find it.’
The remains had to be found and stolen before the priest returned.
Her fast moving gaze froze. In a corner of the altar, there was a black box full of dust.
Leticia’s heart sank with a thump.
She hurried there and brushed off the dust with trembling hands. A small phrase was dented in the corner of the lacquered wooden box.
“The lowly criminal of the Principality who scorned the Goddess…”
Her voice trembled, and Leticia paused her words. She caught her breath and put the letters back to her eyes.
“The remains of the deposed Prince Julios are put here.”
Goddess, thank you.
Leticia closed her eyes tight.
Though it hurt to think of Julios, who was left in such a humble state, she was happy to be able to send him back to his hometown.
“Your Highness, it’s been a while. I will definitely send you back to your hometown in this lifetime.”
Leticia carefully collected the remains and placed them in her arms. Then she took out of her pocket an old hand mirror, the silver coating of which had peeled off.
She had just taken it from the reliquary after deciding to steal the remains of Julios.
Although its appearance was shabby, the efficacy was quite usable. It was because it showed the illusion that the caster wanted.
Leticia put the mirror down where Julios’ remains were. After reciting a short starter word, a faint light leaked from the mirror.
The mirror slowly melted and a strange shape began to sway in front of it. After a while, the remains, which she had just stolen, appeared like a lie.
It was an illusion created by the mirror.
They were so identical that you could never tell them apart just by looking at them. Examining the phrase engraved in the corner, Leticia thought.
‘Can I touch it?’
She held her breath as she cautiously reached out. The harsh touch was exactly the same as when she touched the remains in her bosom.
‘I’m so glad.’
A sigh of relief leaked out at the effect of the sacred object, which was better than expected.
‘I can definitely fool mother’s eyes with this.’
Josephina was not very interested in Julios’ remains anyway.
She only thought of it as an excuse to blackmail Dietrian while putting it in a warehouse with a plausible name.
So, in the future, she would have no idea that the remains were gone. Still, she prepared the holy relic in advance just in case. Prepared for all the dangers and having accomplished her goal, Leticia cautiously stepped out of the room.
The corridor was empty.
The priest who said he would wait for her was nowhere to be seen. It was what she expected. A corrupt priest wouldn’t do his duty.
His promise to her had been completely forgotten, his mouth would have been caught by the jewelry she gave him.
Leticia calmly headed for the building’s exit.
As she left the corridor and passed through the garden she had passed earlier, she heard an excited voice.
“Why did the Saintess come to our temple? It’s not even a holiday today!”
Leticia stopped her steps.
“To be blessed by the Saintess. How lucky we are today!”
People rushed to somewhere. Letica, who had been frozen and unable to breathe, turned her head.
A crowd of people gathered in the hallway, looking somewhere. As she followed their sight, several knights dressed in red patterns were standing holding spears. Among them was a face that Leticia knew well.
‘They are mother’s paladins.’
Through the round arch, a woman seated on a palanquin was seen in the backlight as she reached out to the people. Although she was only a shadow, she was instantly recognizable.
‘My mother came here.’
Leticia’s complexion turned pale.
‘Today isn’t even a festival. Why.’
Josephina originally visited the other temples only at the beginning of each month and on the festivals honoring Goddess. It was to enjoy the sight of the crowds waiting for her filling the temples.
It was thanks to that that Leticia was able to boldly come to the central temple.
‘Did Enoch coming back to life change the future?’
That was the only thing she noticed right away.
‘Why is it like this…no. The reason is not important right now.’
Now, in her bosom, Julios’ remains were there. If it was ever discovered, the future of the remains was clear.
Due to her mother’s nature, perhaps she would even get rid of the remains in front of Dietrian.
She didn’t want to imagine how great the shock would be to Dietrian.
‘I have to hide the remains before I run into mother.’
There was only one entrance to the temple, so there’s no way out undetected. Leticia entered the building where the purification room was located.
Facing the empty corridor, her eyes darkened.
‘There’s nowhere to hide the remains.’
In the high ceiling and spacious corridor, there were no common decorations. There was only a statue of the Goddess standing in the distance. After all this, she still had to bring the remains back to the purification room.
Will the remains that have been recovered be finally lost like this?
‘Please, anyone, help me.’
The time when she was stamping her feet with a burning heart.
A bright light broke out from somewhere.
Leticia’s eyes widened as she reflexively turned her head away from the light. The black box she was holding gradually became transparent.
Before she could even respond, they scattered. In an instant, only a faint light remained in her hand.
“What, is this…”
Leticia looked at the pale white light on her hand in dismay.
“The remains, why. What happened…”
The light that had been pooled in her hand slowly went somewhere. Following that trajectory, Leticia’s eyes widened.
The light was streaming into the pockets of the cloak she was wearing.
She couldn’t breath and put her trembling hands in her pocket. She grabbed a small, cold object that she had completely forgotten about.
“A ring?”
It was an imitation of an elixir she had found in the warehouse earlier. The remains disappeared and the remaining light was connected to the ring.
It looked as if the ring had hidden the remains.
A light of surprised flashed in her eyes.
The ring that had been on her hand a while ago had faded like fog and turned into a silver bracelet.
It was a silver chain bracelet studded with a round black jewel.
The bracelet moved as if it were alive and slowly wrapped around her wrist.
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