Volume 6, Chapter 14 – Is Mary to be a Bride?

Led by the nuns, they arrived at the inner sanctum Evelyn had spoken of—a spacious room over two hundred square meters in area. The majority of the room was a rectangular pool built of stone. When a person stood inside, the water just reached the top of their thighs. Around the pool were several smaller stone angel statues from which water gurgled. Sunlight shone on the sparkling water, reflecting a dreamlike, bluish hue on the walls.

It was worth noting that the inner sanctum used for purification did not emphasize privacy. At a height of four meters from the floor, there was a second-story corridor that encircled the bath. If someone were to pass by, they could easily glimpse the person purifying themselves below with just a slight downward glance.

For the person undergoing purification, this is not a bath in the usual sense, but a washing away of the impurities clinging to them before God. Yisi thought further. Those who can enter the inner sanctum must be devout believers in God. Firstly, they would not deliberately look at the person purifying themselves below. Secondly, even if they did, they would not have any lustful thoughts. In this sacred place, any dark thought is a blasphemy against God and will only invite divine punishment.

That being said, I should probably just face forward and stop avoiding her gaze…

In the center of the vast pool, a girl with silver hair cascading down her back was stroking her arm. Her fair and tender skin glistened under the reflection of the water. The perfect curve from her torso to her legs was enough to make someone of the same sex jealous.

Surprisingly, even though the girl was not covered by any cloth, Yisi could not have any thoughts other than appreciation. It was as if the person standing in the water was not a human, but a work of art meticulously carved by a craftsman. A faint, angel-to-human-like sense of distance emanated from her, truly embodying the word ‘beauty’, to the point where it made one hold their breath and stand frozen in place.

“Miss Evelyn is so beautiful…”

“Mm, but she’s not as simple as she looks. Mary, don’t answer Evelyn casually later. Be careful not to give her any leverage.”

“Okay.”

Noticing the sound of footsteps echoing in the hall, Evelyn, who was originally facing away from Yisi, turned around.

“You’re here.” Her deep green eyes looked directly at Yisi. Evelyn slowly walked out of the pool. The water droplets sliding down her skin and her wet, long silver hair all highlighted the girl’s allure—Evelyn’s development was second only to Refina’s. “It’s your turn next.”

“You called us here for something other than purification, didn’t you.”

Yisi glanced at Evelyn. At first, Yisi had thought Evelyn was at most a little older than Andrea. Now, seeing her in person, she knew that Evelyn was at least sixteen years old. Her chest was only slightly smaller than Refina’s. Although her facial features still retained a touch of immaturity, the beginnings of maturity could already be seen. She was also two finger-widths taller than her.

As if not paying any mind to Yisi, Evelyn opened her arms towards the nuns, letting them help her change.

“If that’s what you think, then so be it. I sincerely wanted to purify you and little Mary. Although I already erased the ominous thing for you back in the main hall.”

Rather than saying it for my sake, she’s probably afraid of eavesdroppers. Evelyn’s voice was noticeably louder when she said the second half of the sentence.

“Regarding the ominous aura, I have some questions for you. I hope you will cooperate with me.”

We’ve already come to the inner sanctum. Do I still have any room to refuse?

Although she wanted to say that, Yisi did not say it at an inopportune moment, but simply shrugged.

“You have to answer a few of my questions as well.”

“No problem. As children of the same Goddess, we have no need to hide anything from each other.”

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Here we go again…

If Edith was the type who would never lie, then Evelyn was definitely the type who was full of lies and lied without a second thought.

After changing into a specially made white and gold priestess’s outfit, Evelyn waved her hand to dismiss the nuns. Dragging her floor-length skirt, she led Yisi and Mary through the quiet temple. Because the temple floor was polished to the point where it could be used as a mirror, Evelyn’s skirt did not get dirty or tattered from dragging on the ground. This point was much better than Edith, who also liked luxurious formal dresses.

“Do you usually bathe in that place? It’s such an open space. Aren’t you worried about being seen by male believers?”

The pool just now was clearly filled with cold water. In an environment where it was still snowing outside, not a wisp of steam rose from it. Of course, judging from the fact that Evelyn wasn’t shivering from the cold and was even sweating slightly on the back of her fair neck, if it wasn’t a problem with Evelyn’s senses, then the water in the pool must have some kind of magical properties.

“I didn’t expect that to be your first question. I thought you would ask why I used a fake name outside.” Not stopping for Yisi’s words, Evelyn continued to walk down the quiet corridor without looking back. “As the child of God chosen by the Goddess herself, even if my body is seen, it is only like a mother and her child. Would you be ashamed if your body was seen by your daughter? Not to mention that only women were permitted to enter the inner sanctum just now.”

Although she called herself a child of God, Yisi could not hear any pride in Evelyn’s words. The first half of her sentence sounded like something she habitually said to believers. Her actual way of thinking was more rational than emotional.

“If you have any other questions, ask them all at once.”

“In the main hall earlier, you were clearly using the Ymir language, yet you were able to make Mary understand. Why?”

“Eh? Wasn’t Lady Evelyn speaking the language of the Hels Kingdom all along?”

Mary looked up at Yisi in confusion.

As an answer, Evelyn took off a pendant from her neck—the top of the pendant was inlaid with a cross, while the bottom resembled a simplified castle, looking like a chess piece at first glance.

“This allows me to converse with people of any race on the continent, provided they have a complete language system. The pendant can not only let me understand the other party’s meaning but also translate what I say into a language they can understand. It’s a magical item the church discovered on the Battlefield of the Gods in recent years. Although it’s not unique, it’s still priceless.”

“Then what’s the deal with the so-called baptism? Before coming here, I saw you baptizing a believer. One moment, that woman was filled with inconsolable regret, but after you touched her, the grief on her face quickly disappeared. Don’t try to fob me off with words like ‘she received God’s forgiveness’. The speed of that change cannot be explained by the word ‘forgiveness’.”

It was most likely mental magic. That would explain why Evelyn’s eyes became dazed after she touched her. Her own mental strength was far beyond that of ordinary people; even Hetty had suffered a backlash.

Evelyn stopped in front of a door, raised an eyebrow slightly, and turned her head to look at Yisi with a ‘believe it or not’ expression.

“This is the proof of divine power. It is precisely because I am the child of God chosen by the Goddess that I possess a power that ordinary people cannot understand. Anyone I touch will have their negative emotions instantly disappear. To date, no magic has been able to achieve the same effect.”

“But when you touched me, I didn’t feel anything.”

Evelyn’s hand, which was about to open the door, stopped in mid-air. A thoughtful look flashed across her face, which was then quickly replaced by a cheerful expression.

“Perhaps you had no negative emotions at the time.”

If one has no negative emotions, it would cause Evelyn to be dazed for a moment? If that’s really the case, then this so-called divine power is a bit too difficult to use. Assuming an omniscient and omnipotent God really exists, He would not give Evelyn a flawed ability.

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Click.

Evelyn turned the doorknob. The heavy, simple, dark brown wooden door was pushed open from the outside, and a room that was clearly a reception room, furnished only with a table, chairs, and a sofa, and with walls decorated with stained glass, appeared before Yisi’s eyes.

With a casual wave of her hand, Evelyn sat down on the sofa first, her proper posture showing no sign of neglect.

“Let’s sit down and talk.”

“I thought you would take us to your bedroom.”

“Although I would love to become friends with you who can talk about anything, we need to get to know each other first.”

In other words, she didn’t trust her.

Yisi sat down on the sofa with Mary.

“I have one last question.”

“Go ahead.”

“When you were using the name Shalu Ymir, did you change your name through a naming ceremony?”

Previously, the Omniscient Map had shown Evelyn’s name as ‘Shalu Ymir’, but now it had changed to Evelyn Anna Ymir Shalu. If it wasn’t that Evelyn’s level was higher than her own and she could easily deceive the Omniscient Map’s detection, then Evelyn must have undergone a naming ceremony again, overwriting her old name with a new one.

In this world, a name was not something that could be changed at will. A person’s name was decided by a priest or a similar figure through a naming ceremony at birth. If no one else renamed him in the future, this name would accompany him for life.

Of course, a person named A could claim to be called C, but as long as he went to an identification stele or was subjected to an identification spell, his real name, A, would definitely be displayed. That was why Yisi suspected that Evelyn had undergone a naming ceremony again. For someone of her high status, a mere naming ceremony was not a problem at all.

As if she knew Yisi would ask this question, Evelyn showed a satisfied smile of a successful prank.

“That is the power of a holy relic of the church. You should have seen the statue of the Goddess in the center of the main hall when you came, right?”

“What about it?”

“That is not just a statue, but a holy relic with powerful magical energy. Of course, that’s not what I want to emphasize. You know, the Goddess has a divine scepter by her side, decorated with angel wings at the tip—the wings are closed.”

“Are you trying to say that the scepter is also a real, existing weapon with magical power?”

“To describe it as a weapon is a bit too vulgar. I can only tell you that such a scepter truly exists, and it is one of the holy relics I can mobilize. It is called the Staff of Divine Retribution, and one of its abilities is to deceive detection magic, allowing others to see what I want them to see.”

“The Staff of Divine Retribution.”

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A familiar name. Just like when the Eye of Dusk was called the ‘Crimson Eye’, she couldn’t remember it for a moment, but Yisi was sure that it was not something she already owned or had ever owned.

If I could see the Staff of Divine Retribution with my own eyes, I should be able to judge whether God truly exists from the amount of magical power it possesses. However, Yisi didn’t have the intention of getting to the bottom of it. Not to mention that this type of weapon usually had the characteristic of recognizing a master, even if the existence of God was proven, she would still live her life as she did. After all, even if she wanted to find God to satisfy her curiosity, she wouldn’t even know where to start.

Leaning forward to pick up the hot tea that she had asked the nuns to prepare in advance from the table, Evelyn gestured for Yisi and Mary not to be so formal.

“Alright, you’ve finished asking what you wanted to ask. Now it’s my turn. That old fossil and his underlings are not here. I’m in charge of the entire church. I command you in the name of the 24th Pope of the Ymir Church—”

“Wait!”

Sensing that Evelyn was about to use her status to pressure her, Yisi quickly held up her palm towards Evelyn, gesturing for her to stop.

Evelyn frowned in displeasure.

“What?”

“Before you speak, I want to take you to meet someone first.”

“I cannot leave the temple casually until that old fossil returns.”

‘Old fossil’ should refer to the current Pope. It was said that the current Pope was the longest-lived human known, over two hundred years old. Because of his long-accumulated authority and long lifespan, he had already outlived at least three generations of next Popes who should have taken his place.

Even in private, directly calling him an old fossil is too disrespectful.

Yisi couldn’t help but break into a cold sweat. After patting Mary, she stood up from the sofa.

“Allow me to step out for a moment.”

“I won’t let you leave the central temple until you answer my questions.”

“Don’t worry. Since you went so far as to expose a secret to answer my questions, I naturally won’t just up and leave. I’m just going to stand outside the door and make some preparations. You can believe that I’m deceiving you, but you have to believe that I won’t leave Mary here.”

“Hmph, let’s just say that’s the case. Although I don’t think you can make any preparations just by standing outside the door, I believe in your love for your little sister… or should I say daughter? To be honest, I can’t tell what Mary is to you. In terms of age, you’re like sisters, but the way you look at her and the way she looks at you are completely different.”

Bang.

Evelyn’s words made Yisi’s knees hit the table, causing several cracks to quickly spread across the marble surface.

Yisi looked at a loss.

“Huh? Mary is just my…”

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My what?

If she gave a vague answer like ‘family’, it probably wouldn’t satisfy Evelyn. But if she were to state her specific status, although she had always thought of Mary as a daughter in her heart, if she were to say it just like that, Yisi felt that she hadn’t done enough.

“A slave~! “

While Yisi was hesitating, Mary answered in a lively tone devoid of any negative emotion, her eyes also squinting into crescent moons.

“Master treats me very well, just like her own family. Even Miss Camilla gets jealous. Tiffany often says that Master actually wants me to grow up and become Master’s bride… even though I’m already an adult.”

Huh? Tiffany said that behind my back?

That’s definitely misleading.

I’m confiscating Tiffany’s dinner when I get back. Even if Tiffany puts on a pitiful expression, I won’t let her off.

Clearly taking Mary’s words to heart, Evelyn rubbed her chin, her gaze wandering between Yisi and Mary, her expression quite serious.

“Buying a slave to be your bride… I see. I’ve seen similar people before. Although I personally cannot understand same-sex love, the precepts left by the Goddess specifically state that no believer shall obstruct same-sex or interspecies relationships. Even though in my opinion, there can be no truly equal love between a slave and a master, only a distorted relationship. Yisi looks like a proper lady, I didn’t expect her to be this kind of person.”

Hey, hey, what’s with that look of disgust?

I feel like I’ve been labeled a pervert.

Yisi, for the time being, put up a feeble resistance and coughed twice without changing her expression.

“I have no romantic feelings for Mary. That is Tiffany’s groundless fantasy and has nothing to do with my own will—anyway, I’ll go out and prepare first.”

Under Evelyn’s gaze, which felt like thorns on her back, Yisi fled the room as if escaping. She closed the door, then used a series of [Advanced Teleportation] to return to Alvier City. Just as Andrea was about to lie down on her bed to sleep, while Andrea wasn’t paying attention, she scooped her up from behind in a princess carry and ran off using [Advanced Teleportation].

Then, while Andrea was still speechless from the drastic change in environment, she pushed open the door to the reception room where Evelyn was, placed Andrea on the sofa, and sat down beside her, her index fingers intertwined.

“Alright, you can continue what you were saying just now. What were you going to say in the name of the 24th Pope of the Ymir Church?”

“Ah…” Her golden eyes gradually filled with joy. Andrea couldn’t pay attention to her surroundings. Her hands wrapped around Yisi’s neck like snakes, and she threw herself forward to hug Yisi tightly. “Lady Yisi!”

Her bouncing pink hair and the night-colored long dress she hadn’t seen in a long time, the familiar figure with completely different behavior from her memory—nuzzling Yisi’s cheek affectionately, her nose buried deep in Yisi’s hair, inhaling deeply—Andrea’s ‘abnormal behavior’ left Evelyn frozen in place.

“…Alvier VII?”