novel
| ← Ch.010 | Ch.012 → |
"Oh, you didn't know. I inherited my late husband's business and I've been running it since then. Now that my body is like this, Jane is the one actually working hard."
"What kind of business is it is it?"
"It's a green business. The business association is not very well known, so you won't know it. It's mainly a place to trade rubies or other jewelry."
Sienna nodded her head in silence while thinking that the name "green business" sounded particularly familiar to her.
'I think I heard that somewhere.... '
However, there was nothing that immediately came to mind. Sienna talked some more with her aunt Kelly and then returned to her room. Kelly wasn't fit enough to talk for too long.
"Chelsea, it'll be better if you just stay in the mansion, " Sienna said when she got to her room.
At Sienna's words, Chelsea asked with a sullen look, "Why? Miss, am I bothering you?"
Even though she was at an age to have her own grandchildren, Chelsea was cute when she was sulking.
"We've been here for less than a day. I'm sure your fatigue isn't too relieved. Until tomorrow, I want you to just eat something delicious and sleep well at the mansion. If you get sick for no reason, your son, Carl, will resent me. I'm sure you'll have a grandchild soon...."
"But still..."
"Let's go to the city market the day after tomorrow. You'll need a lot of stamina to do that, so get some rest."
In the end, Chelsea decided to stay in the mansion.
"Are you taking the carriage?"
Sienna saw the two horses in front of the mansion and asked Jane for directions.
"The Goddess of the Earth Temple is located outside the castle. It'd take a long time to get there by walking."
Sienna didn't know where the temple was, so she got into the carriage like they suggested. The two-person carriage slowly strayed out of the driveway of the house.
Jane asked Sienna carefully, "Miss Sienna, may I ask why you want to go to the temple?"
Sienna did not want to elaborate on her somewhat special encounter with Roy. If she was to explain how she knew him and how she had come to save him, she wouldn't be able to answer fully. Who would believe that she knew what would happen in the next five year?
"I thought it would be a good idea to go to the temple because aunt Kelly is not feeling well. I had heard about it beforehand. I heard that the temple also sells potions. I'm not sure since I come from such a remote place, but it seems to be an item that helps the sick get better when they take it, right?"
"If that's the case, it's better not to expect much. The temple in the capital city doesn't sell potions. In fact, none of the temples in Laifsden sell potions."
"Hmm? Don't temples sell everything?"
Sienna had never been to a temple before, so she thought it was a place where people would go to get treated, where people would go to sell potions, or where people would go to give blessings to the earth.
"The Goddess of the Earth church is not the state religion of the Holy Empire, so they do not involve themselves in potion selling. There are other denominations, of course, but only those that are viewed as state religions sell potions at their temples."
Sienna was surprised. It occurred to her that temples were indeed political institutions.
"What a shame. It would've been good if they had potions. There is nothing I can do. I'll go and drop by to pray I guess."
Jane smiled softly when she said that, but Sienna felt embarrassed when Jane looked at her that way. She felt like it wouldn't matter even if she prayed really hard.
Suddenly, Sienna remembered Roy talking to the horse and asked, "What position would a priest hold if he had the power to talk to animals?"
"Talk to animals?"
"Yes. The ability to talk to a horse or a cat, for example."
Jane tilted her head at Sienna's question and said, "I heard that the most important ability in the temple is the ability to heal, and the next one after that is the ability to control the weather. The third one is the ability to have an attack skill that can be used for war. I heard that other skills are ranked fourth."
"Then, it must be the last thing to be classified in the rankings, the ability to talk to animals."
She had thought it to be a pretty good ability, but...
'Indeed, if that priest had an ability that was considered of the utmost importance, he would've been protected by the Holy Empire and would not have come to the Laifsden temple. Instead, he would've stayed protected in the Holy Empire. '
The carriage drove a long way past the square in the center of the city. The rattling ride seemed to make Sienna sick, so she turned her gaze out of the window.
"We've arrived."
Sienna stepped down after taking Jane's hand.
"This is it."
Jane pointed to a small, white building. It looked more plain than she had thought it would. It was even smaller than aunt Kelly's mansion. Only the symbol of the Goddess of the Earth on the door signified that it was a temple.
"It's small."
Jane replied nearly chuckling at Sienna's disappointed remark, "Laifsden has a lot of regulations for temples to prevent the power of religion from threatening the imperial power. This temple has put a lot of effort in going through the process. Because of how complex the system is, there are many temples that have become inactive within the Laifsden Empire."
"Well, it doesn't matter what it looks like."
Jane said that she had work to do nearby, and that she would return in an hour, so Sienna stepped inside.
The temple was lined with long chairs. There was no sign of anyone inside. Priest Roy seemed to be away.
"I thought he'd wait at the entrance of the temple every day..."
She looked around inside and saw the prayer room. In front of the prayer alter, there were rooms. They looked like they only fit one person at a time and were probably made as private prayer chambers.
She entered one of the prayer rooms. Now that she was there, Sienna would do like she had told Jane and pray for aunt Kelly's health.
"How do I do it?"
Sienna didn't know what to do because she had never practiced any religion before. In fact, even now, she didn't believe in the Goddess of the Earth. She just wanted to do something to soothe her confused mind.
She couldn't figure out why she was back in the past. Still, she doubted it could all be a figment of her imagination.
'How do I pray?'
Sienna closed her eyes and gathered her hands together.
"I want aunt Kelly to have a speedy recovery. And... and..."
What else was there for her to pray for? Sienna agonized. Should she ask for Arya to be given divine punishment?
'Please, make it so that he won't be unhappy. Don't let Joseph have to go through such a horrible death. '
Nonetheless, there was no need to pray to the Goddess for all of those things. It was a matter that would be solved cleanly if she didn't marry Carl. She'd rather...
"Please, make it so that I don't love Carl."
If she didn't get distracted by Carl again, then those terrible things wouldn't happen.
"Please..." Sienna prayed with all her heart."If you have given me another chance... Please, make it so that those events never come to pass."
Sienna said her simple prayers and left the prayer room. As soon as she came out of the prayer room, she felt the warmth of a body gripping her ankle.
"It's mommy!"
Sienna picked up her skirt and checked her ankle, and there, she found a very familiar black cat. Sienna held the cat named Coco in her arms, and Coco rubbed his head in her arms, purring to indicate that he was feeling good.
"Miss Sienna! You're here!"
It was Roy. He was wearing a priest's black garb today today. His hands were covered with dirt, as if he had just finished some field work. Seeing his plain face made her feel at ease.
"I came by to pray, " she said with a soft smile.
"May the Goddess answer miss Sienna's call..."
He vowed his blessing to Sienna by putting his hands together. Sienna joined him by putting her hands together and bowing her head down.
"I'm so glad you came, whatever your purpose."
"It seems you've just gotten back from work, right?"
When Sienna looked at Roy's hands and noticed they were stained, he put his hands against his clothes and rubbed them with ease, smiling boyishly.
"I was at the small garden next to the temple. Would you like to see it?"
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