Chapter 33
Eliza’s hesitation was broken by the small ringing of a bell announcing that the time she had rented the prayer room was up.
Eliza, suddenly coming to her senses, composed her expression out of habit.
Holy power? Something like that was the exclusive privilege of the chosen.
The priest stopped her as she tried to shake off her vain expectations with a shake of her head.
“If you visit the temple regularly, you may be able to awaken your ability.”
“But if I keep taking up your time like this every time, wouldn’t that be a burden to you?”
“Oh, not at all. Time spent seeking God together is always a blessing to me.”
Eliza found it strange that she kept trying to hold her back so persistently with such a peaceful expression.
When Eliza remained lukewarm, the priest began making a more proactive suggestion.
“However, if you feel burdened, how about helping us make holy water? The temple is always short-handed, so the believers often volunteer.”
Eliza stopped just as she was about to refuse the priest’s offer.
“If you are frequently exposed to holy power, you may naturally be able to awaken what you have received.”
“Holy power? Do you use holy power when making holy water?”
“That is correct. We seal purified water that has been prayed over by enveloping it with holy power.”
The purified water that had been prayed over was divided into containers, covered with clean cloth, and then blessed by the priests to create holy water.
Since the few priests could not handle the entire process themselves, they always needed help from outside.
Because it was volunteer work, there was no pay, but the believers willingly did it for a single blessing spoken directly by a priest.
Sometimes, when volunteers got married, the priests would even serve as witnesses.
Eliza listened carefully to the priest’s explanation about having a pure heart and such, focusing on the information she needed.
‘Found it. A chance to come into contact with holy power.’
Eliza lightly bowed her head and spoke in a delighted voice.
“Then, please call me whenever you make holy water. If it means that I can take one step closer to God, it would be an honor.”
The priest also drew a pleased smile across her lips and placed her hands on Eliza’s shoulders.
Eliza happily listened to the quiet prayer that followed and closed her eyes.
***
Before going to the temple, Eliza narrowed her eyes as she prepared Luo.
She placed the gemstone she had been carrying in her pocket beside the raw stones spread out in a row.
‘It looks a little brighter. Or is it just my imagination?’
The white stones were all similarly opaque, but the stone she had brought to the temple last time seemed to have become slightly translucent.
However, even with the same kind of gemstone, each raw stone naturally differed in transparency, so it was difficult to make an accurate judgment.
For now, Eliza separated the raw stone that appeared translucent from the others, put them in her pocket, and set off for the temple.
Inside the crude carriage sent by the temple were Xenia and Eliza.
“I’m really happy that I got an opportunity like this thanks to Miss Eli.”
Jenia had neatly braided her reddish-brown hair and was gazing around with sparkling eyes.
Eliza gave a light laugh and replied.
“Aren’t you getting too excited? It’s just volunteer work.”
“Everyone is desperate to get the chance to volunteer at the temple.”
“Really? Why? Wouldn’t it just be exhausting to work even on Sundays?”
“Miss Eli, honestly, sometimes you really sound like a lady who was raised in privilege.”
Eliza, caught off guard, quietly shut her mouth.
Jenia raised her index finger and spoke to Eliza as though teaching her.
“It’s a chance for people like us to make an impression on the priest, isn’t it? They’re always shut up in the temple and never set foot in the town, but we get the precious opportunity to meet them face-to-face and receive their blessing.”
“……Ah. I see.”
When going to the temple, one had to be clean.
But what did people who had neither water to wash with, let alone water to drink, do?
Eliza had seen people dragged away for being dirty before they could even receive the bread and wine distributed by the temple.
Eliza pondered for a moment before suddenly asking about something that came to mind.
“Then, what about weddings? If they aren’t even in a position to visit the temple…….”
“People who aren’t in a position to hold a ceremony? They just press their stomachs together and live as husband and wife.”
“Press their stomachs together…….”
“Oh my, do you not know what that means? What am I saying?”
Jenia hastily covered her mouth.
Eliza found that reaction even more embarrassing and waved her hands.
“No, I know that much.”
“Really? You know? That’s surprising, too.”
“What do you take me for? Even if I look like this, I’m the White Fox…….”
Eliza almost said that she was the Eli of the inn, the very same Eli who had been singing suggestive and risqué lyrics without even knowing their hidden meaning from the beginning, but she barely managed to keep her mouth shut.
Jenia tilted her head, apparently curious about the words that had been cut off halfway, but soon changed the subject.
“By the way, the priest even sent a carriage all the way here. And considering how she personally saw you off last time, she really treats Miss Eli specially, doesn’t she?”
“Indeed. I was a little surprised, too.”
When Eliza had left the temple last time, the priest had personally seen her off and had even sent a carriage for her to ride today.
Eliza felt burdened by how actively the priest was trying to win her over.
That was why she had included Xenia in this visit.
“Such special treatment is suspicious. At this rate, won’t Miss Eli suddenly become a saint or something?”
“Pfft…… There’s no way.”
There was already a saint for that.
Eliza let out a light laugh, then suddenly stopped.
Because she had remembered the Crown Prince after so long.
“Give all of my achievements to Leopold.”
“You want to save Lord Hagen?”
“Yes. This was a crime that could not have been suppressed this quickly if it weren’t for me. I think it is enough merit to receive at least one life in return.”
“And after paying for your achievements with that, what of the price for my helping you?”
“……Not yet.”
“When someone regains what they lost, will you not reveal even one of them?”
‘Because that time has not yet come.’
It had been a brief meeting in the cold winter.
The incomprehensible expression of the man who had readily accepted her anxious request more easily than she had expected still looked untouched by any wounds.
‘When I return. At that time, I will surely tell you, Your Highness.’
‘Are you leaving?’
Even that heavy voice that had not tried to hold her back despite her silence, and the dry, stinging air, still remained vivid.
Ah, but winter had passed.
Jenia’s chatty voice called Eliza back to reality.
“But if there were a saint, I really think she would be like Miss Eli. When I first met you, that sparkling hair of yours was so beautiful…….”
“Jenia.”
Eliza cut her off firmly.
Only then did Jenia realize her mistake and widen her eyes.
“Ah…… I’m sorry. I misspoke.”
“I have red hair. From the beginning, I had red hair.”
“Of course. I know!”
Jenia deliberately nodded exaggeratedly, taking Eliza’s words to heart.
Even if she had always been the one who brought her hair dye, she now had to completely forget the silver hair that had shimmered like sunlight on rippling water.
‘She even looks cool when she’s like this.’
Jenia looked at Eliza’s profile as she turned her head away and blushed.
She truly liked her friend.
That was why, if it was something Miss Eli disliked, she did not want to do it at all.
Seeing that Miss Eli was quietly looking outside at the moment, it seemed she wanted to make the journey in silence.
So Xenia willingly kept her mouth shut.
***
“Miss Eli!”
“Ow, ow, that hurts.”
“Th-there’s someone injured! Over here!”
Before long, Jenia had completely forgotten her attempt to behave demurely and had to scream in a panic.
Before her, Eliza was supporting one bleeding hand with the other.
Pieces of glass she had deliberately broken were scattered sharply across the floor, glinting.
However, Eliza did not throw away the shard of glass that had wounded her hand and instead held onto it tightly.
‘Tsk, it does sting. Come on, hurry up and get here.’
Jenia’s commotion drew people’s attention, and soon the disturbance reached the priest.
Unable to run for the sake of decorum, the priest hurried toward Eliza as quickly as she could.
Upon seeing Eliza’s bleeding hand, the priest waved to another priest.
“Oh my! Priest Dietrich! Come here!”
“What should I do about making such a mistake? Here, I was holding the bloodstained object so that it would not defile the holy temple as much as possible.”
“Oh, sister. Such devotion…….”
When Eliza raised the hand that had been supporting her injured hand, the priest wore a deeply moved expression.
Blood was not supposed to touch the sacred space.
That was why Eliza had been holding her hand up so that the blood would not fall onto the floor.
And to think she had even held onto the object that caused the injury.
Moved by her admirable consideration for the temple despite being in pain, the priest made the sign of the cross.
‘Done. At this point, there’s no way they’ll realize I injured myself on purpose.’
