A heavy silence had settled over Caelus's bedroom.
"Alfredo."
"Yes, Your Grace."
"Do you hear that?"
Caelus asked in a languid voice.
Alfredo listened closely with a puzzled look on his face. But he heard nothing.
"Your Grace, what do you mean? Unless this old man's ears are starting to fail him, I hear no…"
Caelus let out a short laugh.
It was not a sneer or a bloodthirsty mockery, but the laugh of an ordinary human being.
Alfredo's eyes widened slightly.
Caelus had not offered even a faint smile since the death of the previous grand duke.
For him to laugh like this.
Silence settled for a moment, and Caelus slowly opened his eyes.
"Right. I hear no sound at all."
Tranquility lingered in his red eyes.
"It is the first time in my life that it has been this quiet."
Because he was born with cursed mana, the world had always been a hell of noise to him.
The screaming of mana scraping against his blood vessels. The auditory hallucinations lingering near his ears. The constantly surging urge to destroy. He had never enjoyed a single moment of peace.
But now it was different. The madness that filled his head had vanished completely, leaving behind a complete stillness he was experiencing for the very first time.
"And the saintess?"
"She is said to have returned to the temple. Also, there are rumors that she is a heretic, though it is not certain."
Alfredo bowed his head slightly.
"I will finish investigating as quickly as possible."
Caelus turned his gaze to the small table next to the bed.
"I will need to keep a close eye on her."
"She might be a spy."
"Perhaps she is."
Caelus reached out and picked up the paper Ariel had left behind.
"With this level of purification ability, she must be at least a high-rank saintess. Sending someone like her means the Order has an ulterior motive."
"Then…"
"It does not matter either way. Whether she is a spy, a heretic, or an assassin."
As long as she can give me this tranquility.
"Whatever the price is, I will gladly pay it."
As Caelus looked down at the paper, a faint smile touched his lips, subtle enough that even Alfredo failed to notice.
"Alfredo."
"Yes."
Caelus placed the paper back on the table. A strange heat flickered in his red eyes.
"Prepare the finest parchment."
"Yes, Your Grace."
Alfredo bowed deeply and quietly left the room without asking any questions.
* * *
Leaving behind the stormy day at the grand duke's castle, Ariel's party returned to the northern temple late at night.
Exhausted, everyone walked up the stairs in silence. As soon as they reached the second floor, they scattered to their respective rooms, and Ariel headed to her bedroom as well.
"Ugh, I'm so tired."
She flopped onto her bed.
Human feelings were fickle like that; the northern temple, which had felt so cold and run-down, now felt as comfortable as home.
What a crazy day.
Too many things had happened in a single day. She had only intended to negotiate her housing arrangement, but somehow she ended up stopping the grand duke's overload and even proposing a purification contract to him.
Thinking of a contract in a life-or-death situation was, looking back, recklessly brave.
Will the grand duke accept the contract? Still, as his savior, even if he doesn't sign the contract, wouldn't he give me some kind of reward?
When she was framed and banished to the North, the future had looked pitch black. A grand duke who supposedly turned into a murderer whenever he saw someone from the Order, plus harsh weather and a barren environment unfit for human survival.
Gathering one thousand gold in a place like that was beyond her dreams. She had thought she would be fortunate just to stay alive.
But arriving here showed it was quite different from the rumors. The North was much wealthier than expected, and if she played her cards right, there seemed to be far more chances to make money than in the central region.
Of course, not all the rumors were false.
The grand duke definitely seemed to have a terrible temper. But as long as she stayed out of his way, it felt like she could survive here somehow.
The cold looks from the Northerners were no big deal either. Since she would spend most of her time inside the temple, how often would she see them anyway?
Maybe it's actually better than I thought.
With that thought, tension left her body and deep sleep washed over her.
There was nothing she could do right now anyway.
Let's worry about complicated things tomorrow and just sleep today.
Ariel's eyelids slowly closed.
* * *
Waking up to the soft morning light, Ariel stretched, feeling completely refreshed after a good sleep.
Humming a tune, she lightly washed her face with ice-cold water and sat down at her desk.
In a small mirror propped on the corner of the desk, a beauty with glowing golden hair flowing over her shoulders smirked back.
One of the absolute laws of this world.
Anyone who handled divine power, regardless of age or gender, possessed stunning beauty. As if divine power itself carried a force that made people beautiful.
By the way, why are there so many mirrors here?
Surprisingly, the central temple had very few mirrors. Even a tiny hand mirror in a private room was rare. The Order's logic was that instead of wasting time on appearances, one should focus on one's duty.
What's the big deal about a dumb mirror?
Ariel silently stared at her face in the mirror.
"…"
Fair enough.
Looking at a face like this every day would make it impossible to focus on spiritual training or anything else.
Being pretty really is the best.
Satisfied, Ariel stood up and walked with light steps toward the central prayer room on the first floor.
Daily morning prayer was held early at the northern temple. In the central temple, missing a person or two among hundreds went unnoticed, but conditions were different here.
It was a grand prayer room that could easily seat over a hundred people, yet the group gathered consisted of only Mathias, Ian, Hilda, and Ariel.
Just four people.
I don't see Priest Gion.
He didn't seem like someone who would miss morning prayer, so his absence meant he was definitely still passed out after fainting at the grand duke's castle yesterday.
As Ariel clicked her tongue, Mathias had already stepped onto the altar for prayer. With no good spot to slip away in the back, Ariel ended up taking a seat right behind Hilda and Ian, who sat side by side.
Standing before the altar, Mathias closed his eyes, joined his hands, and began offering the morning prayer.
But something was strange.
The prayer coming from Mathias's mouth strangely resonated through the air, bringing a calm hush over the heart.
Wow, it actually feels holy.
It was a feeling she had never experienced in the central temple.
Are high-ranking bishops like archbishops normally this holy? He looks like a useless old man from the neighborhood, but as expected, one shouldn't judge a person by their appearance.
"O poor young souls cast out into the harsh blizzard, may the light of Luceria guide your path. Grant a warm shelter to those lost and wandering, and unshakeable peace to those who falter."
Mathias's low prayer gently filled the vast space. In a way, it was a moving prayer that seemed to speak directly to Ariel's current situation.
Ariel closed her eyes and let Mathias's voice serve as white noise as she drifted into thought.
A promise is a promise.
She recalled the moment she first accepted herself as Ariel rather than Sua Lee.
Ariel's past life, as far as her memories went, was miserable. After awakening divine power late, she was exploited back and forth before her parents sold her directly to the Order. Even so, Ariel had endured, saving every single coin, hoping to help her parents if she ever met them again.
Sua Lee in her past life was not much different. Every day was a war, a life without a single breather.
Both Sua and Ariel had lived desperate, suffocating lives.
So she promised herself.
Since she was going to live in this body anyway, she would live a comfortable, lavish life to the fullest until her natural time ran out. Controlled by no one, strictly for her own peace and comfort.
Maybe it's better to just bury my bones in the North for good.
She had adapted and survived after suddenly dropping into a totally different world overnight, so how hard could this be?
However, raising her rank to C-rank before that was essential.
In this world, power rank equaled authority.
A low-rank, D-class saintess was treated as little more than a servant in the Order. Most saintesses dispatched to the North so far were likely low-rank as well. If she had been even a mid-rank saintess, the Order would not have handed her over to the grand duke so easily.
Besides, who knows?
Now that a way to reach C-rank had opened up, maybe ways to reach B-rank, A-rank, and even S-rank would appear too.
Right, status window?
Just as Ariel was making ambitious life plans in her head and smirking at her invisible status window—
Creeeak—
The giant door of the prayer room opened cautiously.
As Ariel cracked her eyes open, she saw an exhausted Gion.
"Um… someone is here to see you."
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