Chapter 42
Light novel: Episode 42
Manhwa: Chapter 17
* * *
Thanks to Ordell’s consideration, Monica guided her parents to the Saintess’s reception room.
‘It feels strange, somehow.’
Since becoming her aide, Ordell’s bedroom and reception room had become part of her usual sphere of activity.
Now, seeing her parents, whom she hadn’t met in half a year, inside a place that had become as familiar as her own room, she was overcome with a strange sense of emotion.
“It’s neat. And clean.”
Monica looked at her mother, who was calmly looking around the reception room.
Her mother’s graceful and flawless demeanor was exactly what Monica had always admired and wanted to emulate.
“It seems like the Saintess of the Sun God is quite frugal.”
“……”
Though that woman once paraded opulence in this poor temple like it was the royal palace, Monica chose not to correct her mother.
After all, the Saintess had disposed of all her extravagant possessions and now lived frugally so technically, it wasn’t a lie!
“I was honestly a bit surprised, having only ever seen the Saintess of the Great Sea God’s grand temple.”
“Don’t compare our Saintess to that rude woman.”
Monica shot a glare as she set down the tea she had brewed herself.
It was a rather brash act to direct toward her own mother, whom she deeply respected but in this matter, she couldn’t help herself.
How dare anyone compare our Saintess to that Great Sea God bitch!
“…You really have become a follower of the Sun God.”
Instead of scolding Monica for her intense reaction, Lady Hindel gave her a bitter look.
“After making your parents cry for half a year, I never imagined you’d be here, serving as a priestess.”
“Right! Do you have any idea how shocked your father was when we heard you were here?!”
Count Hindel shouted in fierce agreement.
It wasn’t anger on his face, but a mix of worry and relief.
“I’m sorry for making you worry.”
Monica admitted her fault without resistance.
“But I didn’t intentionally hide my divine power awakening. It just happened suddenly, not long after I ran away.”
Her divine power had awakened in the most unexpected moment, while she was still wandering and unsure of where to go after leaving the estate.
Divine power is not something that is passed down genetically, nor is it something a person is born with.
It is literally a blessing from the gods, and so, Monica was very surprised when her awakening happened so suddenly.
Then, a few days after the awakening, a priest of the Sun God came to find her.
He told her that since she had been chosen by the Sun God, she could walk the path of a priestess if she wished.
He never forced her to become one.
He simply offered her a path, explained everything in detail, and gave her the time she needed to think it over thoroughly.
That was what moved Monica’s heart, as someone who had never once considered becoming a priestess.
And so, she became a priestess-in-training or an apprentice priestess.
For someone who had lived as the daughter of a Count, life in the impoverished grand temple was far from easy.
From the moment she opened her eyes in the morning until she lay down at night, she had to do all kinds of menial chores, but even so, she never once regretted it.
Rather, she felt a sense of fulfillment, as if she had finally found the path she was meant to walk.
“I’m going to live the rest of my life as a priestess. This is where I truly belong.”
“…Monica.”
“That’s why I won’t be inheriting the family name.”
That was the very reason Monica had left her loving family, stabbing them in the heart as she ran away.
She had been born as the heir to the family and was expected to become its successor but she didn’t want that.
Looking back now, perhaps the reason she had rejected it so strongly was because her true fate was to live as a priestess of the Sun God.
“The family will be in good hands with Alex.”
Her younger brother, Alexei Hindel, was two years younger than her.
He loved their family and cared deeply for the people of his domain, dreaming of its prosperity.
Monica knew his heart better than anyone else in the world.
That’s why she willingly decided to give up her position as heir to her brother.
Her brother, who was passionate about his work, would do a better job than her, who had no desire to become the head of the family.
“…Anyway, it’s already been decided. Alex is going to be the successor.”
Lady Hindel spoke with a sigh as she listened to Monica’s words.
Monica’s face lit up.
“Really?”
“How could we make someone who ran away from home just because she didn’t want to be family head into the heir? Even if we forced you to become the head, with your temperament, the moment you stopped wanting to work, you’d just run away again.”
“That’s right! You know me so well!”
Monica clapped her hands in delight.
See? My family really knows me better than anyone!
“Well, since that’s settled, you’re free to do as you like now…”
Lady Hindel, watching her daughter, asked,
“But even so, isn’t this place too lacking and poor for you to live in?”
Monica’s face, which had been smiling happily, suddenly froze at her mother’s remark.
Count Hindel also stepped in to support his wife.
“She’s right! Just looking around, it feels so poor. And the Sun God? Isn’t that practically a dying religion?”
After learning where Monica had been for the past half-year, the couple began investigating the grand temple she was staying at.
And they were stunned.
That their daughter was in a temple so utterly forgotten even they, with all their knowledge, hadn’t known it still existed. It wasn’t just on the verge of collapse. It had already collapsed.
If it had been the temple of the Great Sea God, they might have understood. No, even if it had been another god, they could have accepted it.
But not the Sun God.
“We don’t understand what you gain from becoming a priestess in a place like this.”
The couple held their daughter’s talents in high regard.
Even knowing how much she hated the idea of becoming heir, enough to run away, they still hadn’t been able to give up on her.
Despite knowing their second child had more passion, they had chosen Monica as heir without hesitation because of her natural ability.
So how could they possibly leave their precious daughter in a place like this?
Monica was meant for something greater, a much better place.
“Gain, you say…”
But Monica thought differently.
Her lips curled in a half-smile, as if amused.
“Mother, Father. I’m not here as a merchant or anything like that. I may still be an apprentice, but I am a priestess who has already been baptized.”
A servant of God, one who wields the divine power bestowed upon her, and offering that power upon those who need it.
“Gain? You must be mistaken because all you’ve seen are worldly places like the Great Sea God’s temple. But originally, priests aren’t supposed to care about profit, they live by faith alone.”
Monica knew.
The grand temple where the soft sunlight always shone, the people who lived cheerfully even in poverty, and the god who had never once turned away from them.
As long as the Sun God, who loves her unconditionally, remains here, so will Monica.
“I’m not here to gain anything. I’m here because I’m a priestess. Things like a god’s reputation don’t matter to me at all.”
To be honest, she felt a little disappointed.
She never expected her always-calm, rational, and intellectual mother to say something like that.
“…Pffft.”
But instead of getting angry, her mother… laughed?
“Ahahaha! She really is our daughter!”
It wasn’t even a mocking laugh. It was a bright, joyful one that made her double over, clutching her stomach.
“See? I told you Monica wouldn’t come back and would choose to stay here. If she were the type to give in to persuasion in the first place, she would have come back home ages ago.”
Lady Hindel gave her husband, who was seated beside her, a pat on the shoulder.
It was a side of her quite unlike the graceful demeanor she had shown earlier in front of Ordell.
“Monica, my daughter… is that truly your choice?”
“Yes.”
Though she was a little flustered, Monica answered Count Hindel’s question earnestly.
He let out a sigh and covered his face with one hand.
“Alright, do as you please. You were never the type to need our permission in the first place.”
“Wait… were you testing me?”
“Testing you? I just wanted to know your true feelings.”
Her mother’s matter-of-fact reply left Monica speechless.
Still, she was relieved they hadn’t strongly opposed her decision.
“Though, there’s one thing I want to correct. It’s true the grand temple is poor right now, but that won’t last long.”
Monica explained the current situation of the grand temple to her curious parents.
That under Ordell’s guidance, they had partnered with Duke Sieri and were currently working together on a potion business based on their strong healing powers.
“What? The Lumen Merchant Guild?”
“My goodness, you mean that Duke Sieri?”
Since the Hindel estate was located far away in the eastern region, word of the potion business hadn’t yet spread that far.
Therefore, the couple, who had just learned the truth, were genuinely shocked.
“Even His Majesty the Emperor would find it difficult to influence and move the Lumen Merchant Guild…”
“Yes, and that impossible feat was accomplished by our Saintess. And that’s not all! She even saved me!”
“Saved you? Monica, don’t tell me you were in danger?!”
Lady Hindel, who had felt some relief thinking Monica had been safely staying at the Sun God’s grand temple since her runaway, was now in full panic.
Count Hindel was no different.
“Just who was it?! What kind of bastard laid a hand on you?!”
Monica wasted no time tattling to her furious parents.
“Baron Gale, a vassal of Count Kiris, slapped me and insulted me!”
All she did was ask him to wait a little for formalities, and that bastard slapped her in the face just because she was supposedly ‘blocking his way.’
And as if that wasn’t enough, he had also insulted her, the grand temple, and even the Saintess!
And naturally, she followed up with the touching tale of how Ordell appeared at that very moment, saved her out of genuine concern, and publicly humiliated Gale in front of everyone.
The moment they heard that their precious daughter had been slapped, the doting parents’ eyes turned red with rage.
* * *
“…So, in other words.”
I looked at the fuming Lord and Lady Hindel standing before me.
“You want to actively help our grand temple from now on.”
The couple had rushed over out of nowhere and declared this at the table where the four of us had been quietly enjoying tea in the middle of the dreary temple garden.
“Yes! We would like to become official patrons of the grand temple!”
What was this? I did absolutely nothing, and yet a pair of sponsors suddenly rolled in out of the blue.
SoundlessWind21’s Notes:
If there are any errors, whether it be grammatical, spelling, translation, or website-related issues, feel free to let me know. (´◡`) Anyway, thank you for reading!