Chapter 62

***

The next day we went to the temple again with our servants.

We were greeted by a priest wearing the same white cloth as yesterday. We could not see his face and could not be sure if it was the same person.

“Your Highness, last night…….”

Before the priest could say anything, Devan made the first move.

“Last night, unidentified men attacked us while we were sleeping.”

“……what?”

“We had to run away from the temple. I don’t think I need to say anything about the security of the temple. I wonder what the public will say if they know.”

The priest clamped his mouth shut. I noticed that Devan emphasized the word the temple.

The Temple attacked us. We knew that fact and the Temple knew  that we knew.

The Temple was at a disadvantage if these inside stories were revealed to the world. Devan was now pressuring them to go ahead with our wedding in silence, unless they wanted to make the problem bigger.

Of course the temple had no other choice. For no matter what we actually did in the temple, it was the temple that had attacked us first.

The priest’s chest rose and fell dramatically, and he immediately opened his mouth.

“…I’m sorry it happened. The wedding ceremony will proceed as it is because it was caused by the carelessness of the temple. Anyway…the space in the sanctuary for the purification ceremony has been ruined.”

It was an obviously suppressed voice.

“Thank you.”

Devan reciprocated lightly, then gestured to him as if to guide us. Then the priest took the lead.

I sighed inwardly.

Last night we left the temple like that, and inwardly I worried about how this would turn out, but fortunately it was fine.

The wedding was to take place in the temple chapel. Normally, this space was only used for priestly services, so the wedding day was the only day it would be open to the public.

This was of course my first time visiting the place.

“You can wait inside.”

The priest pointed to the back of the chapel. There were two doors, one on the left and one on the right.

The bride should go to the left and the groom to the right.

“Okay, I’ll see you later.”

Devan disappeared first to the door on the right. I went with some of the maids to the room on the left.

The room was still completely white. There was no special furniture except for a mirror and a table for dressing.

It was too bleak to be a wedding waiting room.

“Grand Duchess, I’m going to start the preparations.”

“Yes.”

The maid sat me down at the dressing table.

In the mirror I saw a tired face . It was because I didn’t sleep at all.

When I closed my eyes, the image of Cordelia came to mind, and when I woke up, the words of the one who called himself God came to my head. There was no way I could sleep properly.

The maid began to touch my hair.

“Haa……”

I sighed involuntarily at the soft touch. Through the mirror, I could see the maid making a mysterious face. In fact, not only she but also the servants must be wondering.

I came back at dawn and brought them back to the temple without any explanation.

There was a bad look on my face, and now I sighed deeply.

Devan told me not to worry, but I could not stop worrying. In the very basement of this very building people piled up like a mountain.

I had to help them, but I was in such a hurry that I couldn’t come up with any ideas.

What was Devan thinking? He seemed quite confident yesterday. It looked like he could solve everything right away.

But we had to sneak hundreds of people out of the temple basement. Would it be possible?

“Ha……”

That was when I sighed once more.

“Ayaa!”

The maid suddenly let out a small scream.

“What is it?”

Startled, I turned my back and saw the maid holding her finger.

“Are you hurt?”

“I am sorry, Grand Duchess. I accidentally pricked my finger with a pin. I’ll get you something else as soon as I can.”

“Let me take a look quickly.”

“Yes?”

The maid fidgeted. I grabbed her hand carefully.

It was not a little. There was a considerable amount of blood running from her finger.

“Ha…”

I frowned once and quickly focused my mind.

“Um, Grand Duchess?”

“Hold still.”

Soon a bright white light came out of my hand and the blood that had been flowing from the open wound stopped.

“Grand Duchess, this is…”

The maid blinked in amazement.

She took the handkerchief and wiped her finger clean. The wound disappeared without a trace as if nothing had happened.

“Grand Duchess! Oh my goodness.. ….”

“That’s all right. Just wipe the pin and use it again.”

“This is the divine power!”

The maid exclaimed, unable to hide her admiration.

It was a natural reaction, since divine power was not something that could be seen by ordinary people.

“Truly, truly, thank you. Grand Duchess.”

“….. It’s no big deal.”

The maid began stroking my hair again in a manner that was visibly more friendly than before.

But I had no time to be satisfied with her behavior.

What is it…? Now clearly something ….

I felt abhorrent.

When I used my divine power earlier, the amount of divine power in my body was indeed unusual.

It reminded me of last night. The very feeling that the divine power in me was connected to Cordelia.

The pure white light was the image of my divine power being sent to her over and over again.

‘’Then when that power absorbs all of your divine power…….”

“It will not be able to use that much space.”

I thought of what Pelos had said to me the day we first met. Ever since it first entered me, the black magic had been eating away at me.

And I even lost my divine power to Cordelia yesterday. …….

My heart leaped nervously.

If all of my power finally disappears….

“You’re going to die, probably.”

Pelos said, and the words pierced me like a curse.

* * *

I wore numerous pearls and flowers and sparkling jewels in my hair. I even had a gorgeous dress made up of layers of rich fabric.

Only now did I realize that I was getting married. That didn’t mean I was excited or overwhelmed.

Even though I was the main character of the wedding, I still felt like I was in the middle of enemy territory. The fact that I had wasted a couple of days picking out a dress like this made me feel empty.

What good would all this do?

The reason we got married was to fight against the temple.

But seeing such a scene last night made me wonder if that was really possible.

If the being I encountered was the real God…

If that God was real and the temple really worshiped God? Then it would mean that everything they had committed was also God’s will.

As I was thinking this, the maid poked me carefully.

“Hmm?”

“Grand Duke is here!”

I raised my head at her whisper.

The wedding in the temple took place without a procession.

The bride and groom emerged from their respective rooms and waited at either end of the corridor until the priest who served as the officiant arrived. The bride was on the left and the groom was on the right.

They look at each other across a thin curtain, and when the officiant comes to the table in the center, the bride and the groom will walk to the center and meet.

After that, they would receive God’s blessing and make the vows, and that was the end of it.

Since the officiant had not yet arrived, I waited in the hallway to the left of the main rite podium for the ceremony to begin.

Then, just a few moments ago, Devan appeared behind the curtain on the opposite right side of the room.

“Oh my!”

The maid, who had let out an exclamation, covered her mouth.

I didn’t make a sound but I felt the same.

All the things I had been thinking in my mind suddenly disappeared.

So this kind of thing can be …… helpful.

For the first time I had a positive thought about the vanity of marriage.

It was worth the days of relentless persuasion of Devan. I mean it was worth it because I had managed to stop Devan from choosing an outrageous wedding attire and chose something much better.

Devan, who appeared behind such the white curtain, was too beautiful.

The form-fitting, neat white formal wear enhanced Devan’s broad shoulders and long legs.

Since only white clothing was allowed, not a single pitch-black thing on his body existed. Except for his right eye, which was black and shimmering.

He looked very ascetic, even though he was not a priest.

But the sharp lines of his face and shining eyes that appeared were far from ascetic. Like the auburn rubies I willfully put on his ceremonial robe.

As I gazed at him in a daze, our eyes met for a moment.

Devan stared at me through the translucent curtain. It was a gaze that seemed to pierce through me.

He had a fishy smile on his mouth, and he seemed to be looking at his prey, not his soon-to-be-married bride.

Devan, who had been watching every inch of me, moved his lips slowly.

It was a word conveyed only by the movement of his lips, not by sound. It was visible only to me.

“Grand Duchess, ! You have to get ready now!”

“Ah, yes.”

I felt my face heated up as I adjusted my dress at the maid’s words.

It was what Devan said to me soundlessly, which did not match his arrogant face.