Chapter 132 - Purification

As the door opened, Madam was standing there wearing a dark blue set of coats and long skirts and a hat with feathers attached to them along with a red pendant with golden strings and her curly grey hair matching well with her wrinkle skin. 

Along with her, about 10 palace maids stood there with a piece of clothing in their hands.

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"Greeting to Madam." All of the ladies said as they bowed elegantly just the way they were taught to during the past few days of training.

"Looks like all the ladies have learnt quite a lot from the past few days of training and....*Scans each one for them from bead to toe* I must say despite the difficulties you all look absolutely lovely.", Madam said as she smiled with her eyes.

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Learning that compliment from her meant a lot to the ladies, and now that she approved of their looks what others said didn't bother them at all.

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"We thank Madam for such a pleasant compliment." Lady Hilton said as she kneeled a bit elegantly.

"Hoho, Lady Hilton you are just like your older sister, a beautiful swan." She complimented her out of the blue which made Lady Hilton a bit flustered but as a trained lady she didn't let it show in her face.

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"Pardon me, but Madam may we know what those things on the maids hands are?" A curious Lady coral asked as she looked at them with full focus.

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"Lady Coral I see you are just like your father always looking for something interesting. Well, anyway this is the crown and veil which all of you must wear and after that, the priest will perform a purification on you to get rid of any negative energy that is present and after that, you will carry on of those flowers of your choice and enter the hall when called for." The Madam explained as she handed all of the veils which were longer behind and hide the face till the neck length as for the crowns they each had the symbols of the families they belonged to.

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(Like Willson had roses, Maple had Maple leaf, Winter had snowflakes, Violet had Lilies etc etc..)

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"Umm, Madam do I need to water the veil since I am already wearing one?" Lady Maple asled as she held the crown in her hands.

"Hmm, I am afraid but the veil we are providing are directly sent from the temple so we can't allow you to wear it, how about you wear this for now and when the purification is over you can change into that again," Madam said as she patted Lady Maple head who agreed to her idea.

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After putting on the veil and all, the ladies were told to wait in the waiting room whereas the makes and Madam when to take with the priests.

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"Don't you all find this a bit weird? I mean isn't all this too much complicated I almost feel as if I am some kind of evil soul who is about to be captured." Lady Astor joked while Lady Coral nodded her head.

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"Hmm, I feel that too....you know there is news going on about weird activities happening around and about people going crazy due to the use of prohibiting magic. So, I think maybe this purification isn't just to get rid of negative energy but..." Lady Coral said with a serious face.

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"But to confirm that, none of us is one of those." 

Violet completed her sentence as she looked a bit down.

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"Correct! This is a good step although...Belonging to a well-known family I do find this a bit upsetting." Lady Coral said as she frowned.

"Hmm, it indeed feels unfair...but what can we do it's all for the empire's goodwill." Lady H

Hilton said as she smiled.

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"Lady Hilton is right, instead of back talking about them here we should respect their order and do what must be done," Rose said as she agreed with Lady Hilton.

"...But to think that they are performing purification on us doesn't that mean they have doubts on us...and as far as I know, the royals wouldn't take such steps unless they have a clear motive behind it." Irene said as she tilted her head and looked at the ladies.

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"Lady Winter, do you mean that the royals find something related to prohibiting magic from us?" Lady Maple asked nervously.

"I don't know but it's just a hunch~," Irene said as she shrugged while her eyes met with Violet.

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"Irene, just how many times have your hunchs come true?" Violet asked as she teased Irene.

"Well~ I don't count them" Irene said as she smiled making everyone to giggle as the mood lighted up a bit and the time for them to meet the priests came.

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"The Ladies are here, priests please bless them" Madam said as she kneeled before the Priests who were weaning white long coats with golden shwal on their shoulders with a cross sign pendent on their necks and a bracket on their hands.

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"Welcome, may the God graces be always bestowed to you all." The Priest who looked older than the rest with a long white beard and specs said as he smiled gently and looked at them.

"Ladies, let me introduce you to, Sir Alexis je is the high priest of our solar temple. His blessings come next to His Holiness." Madam said as she looked at the girls who felt as she there were walking on air.

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"(My head feels so light but my consciousness is still alive.)" Irene thought as she bowed towards the High Priest.

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"High Priest, please accept my greeting. I am Irene Bedisa Winter the eldest daughter of Winter family." Irene said as she bowed as the priest landed his eyes on her for a second he looked at bit shocked but soon that shock was replaced by a eased expression.

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"Bedisa, I see I have heard a lot about you from His Holiness and I know why. Your face has the brightness to change the flow which can make even the winter warm." The Priest said as he laughed on the other had Irene who was now used to such dialogs or compliments just nodded her head and smiled.

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"We too gave heard a lot about the High Priest and your generosity and goodness." Violet said politely, to which the high priest could just laugh as he looked at her.

"Well, Lady Carot it has been a while since I last saw you. You may not know but your middle.name was given by me 'Medee' and I see you are walking juts the way I thought you would." He said not letting his smile fade but the room suddenly felt quite werid.

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"....Well we are running out of time so High Priest please start the purification." Madam said as she ordered the girls to stand on the circle drawn before them and close their eyes.

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"Now, all of you would only listen to the prayers and make yourself connect with the lord above. So free your mind and soul." High Priest said as he sprinkled holy water around them and started chanting prayer in the ancient language which wasn't understood by any but the priests.

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The prayers reached to their souls and minds and every feeling be it anger or sorrow started to clean up and finally when they opened their eyes everything their mind and body felt so light as if there were only flowers around them and nothing like hate exists.

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"Wow, I feel as if I can fly." Lady Astor said as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"Yeah...but I need to get out of here." Violet said as she hurriedly left the prayer room with a pale face that worried the ones around.

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"Whats wrong with her? She looked so pale as is she saw a ghost or something." Lady Coral said as she removed her veil.

"....Could it be that she has soemthing to do with the prohibi----" 

"Lady Hilton!" Just when Lady Hilton was about to spout soemthing that could harm Violet reputation Rose stepped in as she gave her a cold look.

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"Please refrain from taking about things you aren't sure of or else it may lead to get the person involved to get into some unwanted problems." Rose said formally as she stood and exited the place leaving everyone awkward.

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"I....I didn't mean to say it like that...I was just..." Lady Hilton who felt guilty for her words said as she clenched her fists.

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"Lady Hilton please don't feel bad, we know you didn't had any bad intentions and trust me! Rose too didn't meant to be harsh it's just her nature...and about Violet...she is afraid of closed spaces especially such settings so she often runs out of breath." Irene explained as she smiled while giving a hand to Lady Hilton to make her sated form her sit.

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"I see it's like that, no wonder....still I should apologise to them and thanks for telling me this. Now I feel a lot better.." Lady Hilton said as she smiled while holding onto Irene's hands.