Chapter 20
Chapter 20. The Wavering Lily
While the knights were preoccupied with controlling the nobles terrified by the epidemic, Eurene slipped out of the knights’ quarters through a side door, wearing a shabby cloak she had obtained by asking a servant working there.
There was rarely anything she couldn’t get with her kind smile. Even being able to accompany the Empress today was because she had won over the mansion’s servants to her side.
Not far from here was the place she truly wanted to go.
“To the left, past the red pillar tree, then turn right…”
Recalling the directions in the letter warning her to be careful lest she end up at the nearby ruined temple that had collapsed long ago due to flooding, Eurene hurried her steps.
As described in the letter, after leaving the path connecting the knights’ quarters and the nearby village and walking for about 10 minutes, a newly built temple began to appear in the distance.
“Haah…”
She was out of breath. According to the letter, the time she could meet was limited, so she needed to hurry even a little.
She arrived in front of the temple. Perhaps because it was far from the capital, there weren’t many visitors despite it being a temple commemorating the end of the war and symbolizing the land where Sefitiana was buried.
Eurene looked up at the temple with a complex expression.
She had heard that the Emperor and Empress visited here first right after their wedding. Just recently, the one she longed for had stood in this very place.
There wasn’t a moment when she didn’t think of him wherever she went. Swallowing the lump in her throat, Eurene moved to the location specified in the letter.
A small building separate from the main temple. Pressed tightly against its back, Eurene finally spotted a priestess coming out with laundry at the time mentioned in the letter. Eurene’s face brightened.
“Aksha!”
“Oh my, Lady Eurene?”
She was a young girl of about twenty, wearing oversized priestly robes cinched with a cord. Upon seeing Eurene, the girl almost threw down the laundry she was carrying and ran to her.
“To think such an esteemed person would come here alone!”
The girl called Aksha carefully took Eurene’s hands as if handling precious gems.
With her eyes closed, reciting a short prayer, the girl was every bit a priestess. The only trace left of her days wandering the slums just two years ago were her rough, worn palms.
“Have you been well? I’ve been waiting so long since receiving your letter.”
“How about you? Are you doing alright here?”
“Very much so. It’s incomparable to when I was begging in the slums. It’s all thanks to you, Lady Eurene. I’m truly grateful.”
“No, I only did what I had to do.”
“There are many who wouldn’t have done the same.”
“It would have been better if I could have brought you to the Duke’s household, but I’m glad you seem happy.”
“This is more than enough. I don’t even know how to repay your kindness.”
The greatest stroke of luck in Aksha’s life as a war orphan wandering the slums was meeting Eurene standing before her now.
Starve to death, or survive by selling her body like other slum girls? Wanting neither option, she had leapt at a noble’s carriage, prepared to die.
‘Please take me in! I’ll do anything! Whatever you order, I’ll do it, please…’
At that moment, Eurene stepped out of the carriage and appeared to be kneeling, begging Aksha like an angel from stories.
Blue hair curling beautifully, warm green eyes like spring buds, white delicate hands contrasting her own unsightly ones as she was helped up, that clear voice…
If not for the Duchess Castallo saying they couldn’t take in someone of unclear origins, Aksha would have wanted to serve by Eurene’s side for life.
Eurene was not unaware of Aksha’s feelings. Someone who would grant her requests even if it meant turning her back on the Duke’s household, the imperial family, and the temple. Aksha was such a person.
“Aksha, what you told me in your letter is my last hope. Can you tell me more details?”
At those words, Aksha nodded with a serious expression.
There was something she had kept in mind, thinking it might be of help to Eurene someday. A secret she had observed in hiding since being assigned here from the institution training novice priests, from the moment the temple’s construction began.
Given her background, with no connections to rely on or place to flee, she often ended up taking on various covert tasks for the high priests.
One of those was visiting the architects who built this temple.
It was a simple job of delivering a locked box while avoiding others’ eyes, but she instinctively realized what was inside.
The weight, too heavy to hold with both hands for long, and the clinking metallic sound – it was far too much compensation for mere architects.
Why? Usually such backdoor payments are made to cover something up. The only connection between that architect and the temple was that he had designed the newly built structure.
So she quietly observed the High Priest and the Chief Priest who followed him, without showing her suspicions.
The two frequently visited a prayer room located in the innermost part of the temple. Though no different from other prayer rooms, it was rarely visited by priests or visitors due to its somewhat difficult location.
Each prayer room contained a statue symbolizing a deity, but this room had a statue of the legendary tree where the jewel Sefitiana was said to have opened, making it especially unpopular. No matter if it was made by the gods themselves, who would want to pray before a statue related to a jewel that had driven countless people to their deaths?
Moreover, all prayer rooms were freely accessible to both priests and general visitors, so it didn’t seem like a place hiding any secrets.
That is, until she hid behind the statue when the High Priest and Chief Priest entered while she was in the room, and overheard their conversation.
“—I heard clearly. They silenced everyone who knew the path to the underground chamber storing Sefitiana. No one will suspect an ordinary prayer room.”
Having finished her story, Aksha looked at Eurene’s reaction.
She had agonized for days over whether she should stop Eurene if she truly cared for her. How many people had suffered for so long because of that one jewel?
Others might call Sefitiana a divine miracle, but to Aksha who lost her parents to war, it was just a cursed rock.
However, the letters exchanged with Eurene over two years were full of sincerity about how beautiful a love she was in, how hard she was working to protect that love, what courage she was mustering to set that love free.
‘Though she never told me who her partner is…’
Perhaps, like in comedies or novels, it was due to an insurmountable difference in status, or opposition between families.
If Sefitiana was to be used for such a poignant love, it would be far more valuable than being used for something terrible like war.
‘Above all, I believe in Lady Eurene. That I happened to obtain information about Sefitiana just when she needed it must be God’s will.’
If a divine miracle doesn’t reach someone as beautiful and pure as her, then who would it reach? It was time to return the miracle she had received from Eurene.
Aksha took out the cleanest priestly robe from the basket she brought and shook it out.
“I have to go to the laundry room at a set time, and I’m already a bit late. If I delay any longer, other priests might come looking for me. Let’s hurry, Lady Eurene. I’ll guide you nearby.”
“Priestly robes? Didn’t you say ordinary people could enter the prayer rooms too?”
Should she say this or not? Aksha picked up the basket from the ground and moved, keeping an eye on her surroundings.
“The statue there was damaged. So now only priests in charge of cleaning can enter. There’s no one specifically guarding it, but it would be better than looking like a visitor entering.”
“Damaged? How did that happen?”
“His Majesty the Emperor and Her Majesty the Empress visited the temple recently. Actually, it happened right after they used the prayer room. According to rumors…”
Aksha whispered in a voice only Eurene could hear.
“They say the two engaged in unspeakable acts in the prayer room.”
“Unspeakable… acts?”
Afraid someone might overhear, Aksha lowered her voice to a bare whisper.
“What unspeakable acts could there be between a man and woman? Many priests claim to have heard sounds through the door, so it doesn’t seem to be just an unfounded rumor. Oh my…”
Even as she spoke, Aksha’s face flushed. In fact, the descriptions she had actually heard were far more explicit, but not suitable to tell a nobly raised lady.
Aksha turned her head, intending to change the subject for Eurene, who she assumed would be even more embarrassed. However, contrary to her expectations, she was startled to see Eurene’s unfamiliar expression and hurriedly apologized.
“Lady Eurene, was that an uncomfortable topic? I’m so sorry.”
“…No. It’s fine. But it would be best not to spread such talk. His Majesty is not that kind of person.”
Perhaps she should have been more careful broaching this subject, even with a kind person. Seeing Eurene looking somewhat angry, Aksha regretted her loose tongue.
‘But it didn’t seem like a false rumor…’
She had heard that right after that incident, the High Priest was furious about some issue related to the imperial family. In fact, he hadn’t shown up for prayer times for quite a while, and word was that he would soon send an official letter of protest to the imperial palace.
Thinking that as a Duke’s daughter, Eurene must have actually met the Emperor and was trying to preserve his dignity, Aksha pointed to one of the temple buildings.
“Over there, Lady Eurene! As soon as you enter, keep to the left wall and turn – the innermost room. It’s time for people to start looking for me, so I must hurry back to the laundry room.”
“I see. Thank you so much, Aksha.”
“You can throw the clothes you’re wearing into the bushes in front when you leave. I’ll take care of them later. I hope we can meet again, Lady Eurene.”
After bidding farewell with a regretful look, Aksha left. As Eurene turned in the direction she had indicated, the smile completely disappeared from her lips.
“Right. How could Brother Tatar be that kind of person? It’s just a rumor.”
He had been the model of a crown prince. Always upright and diligent in everything, constantly honing himself to fulfill the duties that came with power.
How could such a person be the subject of such a vulgar rumor?
“Surely it’s a rumor that woman spread to tarnish Brother Tatar’s reputation.”
Eurene arrived at the prayer room with the “No Entry” sign, her face set.
Once she opened this door, she could free his future from being bound to that woman. Now Tatar would walk that future together by her side, and no one else’s.
Without hesitation, Eurene opened the door.
