The Pure Priestess's Innocent Courage_5
Upon returning to the temple, the first one to greet us was Tina.
“Wah!” she exclaimed, startling us as she popped out from behind the door. It looked like she had spotted us coming and hidden there. When she spotted Elysia being carried on my back, she flashed a grin and quickly tossed out a remark to Lucia that might cause some misunderstanding.
“Mom, Mom! Oppa brought his sister back all messed up♥”
“Tina! If you keep teasing Mom like this, I won’t be able to use you. What kind of prank is this… No… Really?!”
Before I knew it, Lucia, dressed in a different outfit, approached with wide eyes.
The temple opens until late evening once a day. As the goddess of the night sky, her priestesses put a lot of effort into astronomy, and they show the results of their research and the movements of the stars directly to the laypeople.
And the day before, the temple’s priestesses finished their duties early at noon to prepare for the next day and conserve their stamina. It was a custom. And today was that day, so Lucia was wearing an apron over her usual clothes even though it was still early afternoon.
“Hoo. I was worried thinking something had happened since you suddenly disappeared. I didn’t think you’d be hiding somewhere… No, not just hiding. Raising my daughter diligently won’t do any good.”
“Mom, do I not need a daughter?”
“Yeah yeah, a man comes and your expression changes, honey is dripping from your eyes, and you’re sulking like where will you live.”
“Ehehe. Then what about me?”
“… Tina, you were never the type to care about Mom and just cause trouble. By the way, I told you yesterday, all the traps are filled, right?”
“Yeah, and I apologized to Oppa Theo too. He said he’s fine! He said he walked around normally!”
“Good that you didn’t get hurt badly. If Theo couldn’t walk, you wouldn’t have had anything to eat for three days.”
Tina smiled bashfully and ran away.
Lucia stood at the entrance and let me and Elysia on my back inside, continuing her words.
“… I don’t know what kind of suspicious thing you did while you were cleaning, but anyway, put her to bed.”
“I didn’t do anything that would make you suspicious.”
“If you were planning to strip our innocent Ria, you’d better prepare yourself.”
“Innocent…”
I laid Elysia on the bed and looked around her room.
No matter how much I covered my eyes, things kept catching my attention.
Elysia’s ‘treasures’…
There seemed to be more of them than last time, but maybe it was just my imagination.
Lucia couldn’t be as brazen as she wanted, so she cleared her throat.
“… Of course, there’s a bit of obsession, but that’s your karma, so you have to deal with it yourself. You were a bodyguard, right? Remember?”
“Well, Elysia didn’t particularly like having me as a bodyguard.”
“Since it’s in the past, I’ll understand to some extent.”
Lucia covered Elysia with a blanket and said.
“You know, back when Ria was in the Cadeliz family, she had no one on her side. The Witch’s Red Eyes. And she had no choice but to hide the tragedy that would come from those red eyes. It was only natural that she would reject and guard against anyone who approached her back then.”
“It’s fortunate that it’s not like that now.”
“That’s also the reason why Ria sees you as special. If you hadn’t been there, Ria… there wouldn’t have been a daily life like this.”
Lucia closed the door and came out.
“Still, it’s fortunate.”
“What?”
“You seemed to have some feelings for Ria too, so I’m glad.”
Lucia laughed lightly and patted my shoulder.
“Frankly, I heard some things about you through the church. Like the rumor that you received a marriage proposal from the princess and became her son-in-law. Of course, I kept it secret from Ria, but I was really worried about what would happen if you just settled down.”
“… Are you kidding? Would I go there of my own accord?”
“Still, seeing you cohabiting, I thought you must have had some interest in Ria from before, so I was relieved.”
“……………”
“… Why no words? It makes me uneasy.”
“Well, it’s not like I don’t have any thoughts about Ria… um… even if there are some misunderstandings between us, it shouldn’t be a problem since we’re living together, right?”
“No way… Did you really mean that about the hotel yesterday?!”
“After wandering around for a long time, I thought it was just sharing a nearby hotel room.”
Lucia’s face turned pale.
“You… you absolutely must not tell Ria about that. Do you understand? Do you know what kind of heart Ria had when she decided to leave the temple?”
“Of course.”
I answered briefly and quietly mulled it over.
“Ten years…”
***
Today is the last night spent at the temple.
After Boris the priest returned, Elysia said she would start preparing for the move, so for the time being, I’ll be living alone.
(Rarely do I have such worries.)
“Ah, you’re here.”
(Huhu, I am always watching you.)
“Considering that, it’s the first time I’ve talked to you since Nea appeared.”
(K, ku. T, that was quite an event. I was busy too.)
The words left by Astasia were trembling a bit, as if making excuses.
(By the way, it seems some flies are getting tangled.)
“Are you talking about Ragnea-nim?”
(Ragnea? No way. That guy is worse than a fly. The god who lived so sloppily in his lifetime was the first. If you want a peaceful retirement life, you should avoid getting entangled with such a poor god. What I’m saying now is related to the child of the red eyes.)
“… Ah, that person, the baron or the supervisor.”
(Yeah.)
“Elysia doesn’t seem too worried about it, and I don’t think I need to move either, so I’m leaving it. Moving because of handling that…”
(It’s troublesome to get up from a lying position just to catch a little bug. Even if it weren’t for you, our church kids could handle it.)
“Thinking about it since last time, you’ve been taking good care of Elysia. Does that mean you like Elysia that much?”
(I love my children in my cradle equally. Those who have the lettering engraved on their bodies are all equal.)
“It’s not very trustworthy.”
(Huhu, though it sounds like a lie, it’s surprisingly true. But if it’s for your favor, it’s a bit different. Entrusting the child of the red eyes to our church, and bestowing the lettering on that child to make them a priestess, was something you asked me to do ten years ago.)
“Yes, it was.”
(The ten years you lived were so full of chasing that you had no time to care for others, and I, the goddess of wisdom, know that well. So there’s no need to feel sorry about it.)
“… It seemed so.”
I continued quietly.
“Actually, I’m getting more and more unsure about how to treat Elysia.”
(……….)
“I was always thinking about the pressure to finish the covenants and leave for another place. I thought Elysia’s role would end when she solved the Witch’s Red Eyes and was sent to the church.”
Astasia’s words paused for a moment.
It was unusual for the goddess of wisdom to hesitate over what to say.
(Don’t forget. You are different from other humans. So, instead of feeling sorry for the child of the red eyes, it would be better to feel grateful first.)
I accepted the meaning of those words gently. I thought this worry itself was evidence of having a heart at ease.
“I haven’t had such a quiet time flowing for a while, so I was a bit dazed. I’ll have to get used to it gradually.”
***
Ten years ago, I had a dream.
The familiar scenery and unique scent of the Cadeliz family settled deep into my mind.
The mansion filled with fragrant flower scents was a prison for Elysia Cadeliz.
The family head father, new stepmother, half-sister, butler, maids, workers, errand boys from outside, and even the strong dog raised in the mansion treated Elysia as if she didn’t exist.
It was an unwritten rule.
Do not interact with the ‘Witch with Red Eyes’.
That’s family poison. Stay away. Look at those ominous eyes!
It was familiar not to have anyone to talk to.
The back talk I heard was curses and insults, and hatred with murderous intent.
The only one who sent me a kind word without any strings attached, after I sent my mother away, was ‘him’.
“Elysia. You can’t go alone.”
“… Can’t go alone…? Is this a scolding from me?”
She brushed her silver hair that flowed softly down her back behind her ears. Her red eyes held poison in her gaze, and her voice was thick with caution.
Expensive brooch and neat clothes. Noble posture and speech patterns hammered into her head for the honor of the Cadeliz family. None of these were things she chose to wear herself; they were forced for the family’s honor.
“Why are you trying to follow me all the way? It’s a pity, but I can walk alone without a bodyguard like you.”
The corners of her mouth that rarely moved twitched.
“Learn your place.”
It was definitely,
It must have been reflected as mockery towards him…
Mockery?
Mocking?
Who?
Who?
Me… Gray…
Ah.
Aah.
Aaaah.
“Ah. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. A. Aaaaaah! You crazy bitch! What are you saying to Gray! Cancel, cancel!”
I had a nightmare. I screamed. My mind was clear.
I had a nightmare. This was the first nightmare I had. I didn’t care about my childhood. The mansion and people were no longer cared for. Their faces and names were buried with the passage of time, and I thought I had overcome them.
Even while sweating so much that it soaked the bed, the only thing that made Elysia jump up was the words I had arbitrarily said in my memories.
I reached out and flailed. Even if I tried to grab them, they were from a distant past. Whether it was because I woke up startled from sleeping or because Gray might remember the words I wanted to pick up, tears began to well up.
Elysia hugged the treasure No.1, the Gray pillow, tightly and wriggled.
“Gray guide! I was wrong! It was hurtful. I won’t say things like that ever again!”
Rolling around…
Pouring out anxious feelings towards the Gray pillow.
When I hugged the Gray pillow, my heart felt a bit calmer.
…But sometimes it would explode like now.
“You don’t have to apologize, right? No! I want to! Come on… the pick-up for apology…! Pick! Side! Side…! Kyaa, Gray da. Dam. He! If I hug you too aggressively from the morning, my chest might burst…”
Rolling rolling rolling rolling rolling
“Ehehe… Gray chew… Chew… Chew… Swoop! Haa. Gray smell……… Swoop. Haa. Swup… By the way, it’s strange. It’s been a while since I last sprayed perfume, but the smell is strong. Like Gray is right next to me…”
With an incredibly realistic smell, Elysia buried her face in the pillow and rolled around on the bed.
Bam!
Perhaps because I was rolling too mindlessly. I clumsily hit my forehead on the edge of the bed’s backrest.
“Ugh… It hurts… I don’t want to…”
I squatted and whimpered, rolled around, tossed my body, and kicked the blanket away.
Elysia then met Tina’s eyes.
“…………”
“…………”
“Big sister, hello.”
“………… Tina, hello.”
What?
When did you get here?
Did you… see everything…?
It would be better if that was all.
Elysia’s gaze slowly sucked in behind her.
“…………………”
I wanted to die.
Beyond Tina waving her hands desperately to suppress her laughter…
A person standing directly in front of the door, watching herself.
“……….”
Gray was looking at herself.