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Chapter 57
‘The High priest…’
Elisha stared blankly at the man in front of her.
From what she heard from Olivia and other people around, she knew that Aiden was younger than expected, but seeing him, in reality, made it even more disbelievable that he was the high priest. Nevertheless, as soon as she saw him, she had no choice but to intuitively recognize who he was.
Dazzling blonde hair, blue eyes that look like they contain the vast blue sky, all combined with a beautiful appearance. The gentle aura that overwhelms his surroundings seemed like the embodiment of an angel.
“Ah, here you are. Duchess.”
Olivia came over to Elisha’s side with a smile while she introduced Elisha to Aiden.
“Duchess, this is the high priest.”
“Nice to meet you, high priest. My name is Elisha Rubellin.”
Elisha bowed out of courtesy. Then, Olivia introduced her to Aiden.
“Your holiness, this is the Duchess of Rubellin.”
“I was wondering who was the marquis’ wife’s new friend, who rarely stops by, and wanted to meet you. It’s an honor to meet you, madam.”
“It is an honor to meet you.”
Elisha smiled brightly at Aiden’s welcoming response.
‘Marchioness Beltane said the Holy Father was a difficult person.’
Olivia said so, but seeing Aiden who was kind to her gave her a good feeling that things were going more smoothly than she expected.
“We shouldn’t do this here, we should finish inside. Shouldn’t we treat the people who came for the first time in a long time to have a cup of tea?”
Aiden led Elisha and Olivia to the parlor inside the temple. After she sat down for a while and waited, a child, about ten years old, came out.
The child set their teacups down in front of each of them and walked away. Aiden smiled and complimented the child’s hard work.
“Thank you, Noah.”
The child, who was happy with Aiden’s praise, left the room with a bashful smile.
“Is that child from the temple?”
“Yes. He is a messenger of God.”
“God’s messenger?”
“That’s what we call the children that God has given to us. In fact, they are extraordinary children who are steadily doing their part in the temple.”
“What do the children do here?”
“At the age of five, they start with letter errands, and when they are a little older, they go to the mountains to find firewood. Of course, that is only for adventure-loving children.”
“Aaah…”
Elisha was deeply impressed with Aiden’s management of the temple. No matter how young the children were, they weren’t allowed to play. It wasn’t loving at all.
The temple relieves labor by giving each task to the children, and the children take pride in their existence by doing their respective tasks. Children who have done their jobs diligently grow up to be independent and have the ability to survive on their own and become good members of society. Not only feeding the baby birds in their mouths but letting them learn how to find food and live on their own. That was the ‘love’ practiced in the temple.
“You are doing a great job. It’s not like they’re just one or two children yet, you care a lot about them.”
“That’s an exaggeration. It’s a bit small compared to the madam’s job of taking care of the vast duchy.”
“In my eyes, you two are great people, so there is no reason to be humble about each other,” said Olivia, who was listening to their conversation. Aiden responded with a smile. He didn’t like Elisha and Olivia’s compliments.
‘Anyone who cares too much about the temple and children will of course accept my offer.’
Elisha was satisfied with his reaction and grabbed a moderately cooled teacup. The smell was not overpowering, and the taste was good. As she was about to put down the teacup and bring up the subject, Aiden was the first to speak up.
“The Duchess wanted to see me. For what reason did you seek me?”
“It’s nothing much but I want to make regular donations to the temple.”
“I am sorry, but that donation cannot be accepted.”
Aiden refused Elisha’s offer without hesitation. As if he knew that she would make such an offer. Olivia tilted her teacup, swallowing her sigh as if she had expected such a reaction.
Elisha, who thought he would accept her offer without a doubt, looked at him with bewildered eyes and asked cautiously.
“May I ask why?”
“I can’t give what Madam wants.”
What Elisha wants. He already knew the purpose of Elisha’s donation. Aiden was answering with the same soft eyes and warm voice as before, but there was a mild will in those eyes and voice. Elisha was speechless at that determination.
She realized at the same time. Why did Albert, who values power, not donate to the temple?
‘It’s not that he didn’t donate, it’s that he couldn’t.’
“The power I have is not something I dare to give because it is not mine in the first place. Those who believe and depend on me and the Goddess have it.”
“…”
“Please don’t try to use them.”
Aiden’s voice as he spoke was polite and gentle, but there was a sense of intimidation that she dared not refute. He defended his people in a completely neutral way. Recognizing his thoughts, Elisha changed her strategy.
“Your Holiness is right. I can’t say that the only reason I wanted to donate was a pure heart.”
“…”
“But I didn’t mean to donate just for that reason. It just overlapped my sincerity to help and the benefits I would get from that.”
“…”
“As far as I know, I’ve heard that there are a lot of orphans entering the temple because of this war. Don’t these kids need more support?”
At those words, Aiden’s brow twitched slightly. As Elisha said, the finances of the temple were not so good. The Imperial Family cut off donations due to an incident about 20 years ago, and other nobles also refrained from donating while being wary of the Imperial Family.
For that reason, the present temple was operated only by donations received from time to time from Olivia, who had a personal acquaintance with some faithful nobles. However, it was difficult to cope with the rapidly increasing number of children by that alone. Knowing that fact, Elisha continued
“If you receive Rubellin’s donation, the Imperial Family will also donate consciously of the eyes around them. Then the donations of the nobles will be a little freer than now.”
Twenty years ago, there were rumors that Aiden’s wife, Julia, had plotted treason out of nowhere, but in the end, the case ended up being an arbitrary rebellion. At the time, Aiden, who had gone to the canyon to protect the people of the Empire, was not involved in treason.
And for his merits and the virtues he accumulated over the years, he was still admired by the people. For that reason, although the Imperial Family secretly neglected the temple, they could not openly ignore it.
So, if Rubellin donated to the temple, the Imperial Family would not be able to ignore the situation of the temple anymore. Most of all, the Imperial Family wouldn’t sit still seeing how Rubellin was smoothly receiving the support of their people.
Elisha, aware of such interests, said with determined eyes.
“Use me, Rubellin’s name.”
‘This time, I am sure that Aiden will accept this offer.’
But Aiden looked at her with indifferent eyes. He just stared at Elisha and didn’t give any answers. At that moment, the priest’s voice was heard along with a knock.
“Sir, it is time for prayer.”
“I’m sorry, but I have to go first.”
Aiden stood up from his seat as if waiting.
“Then, the two of you, have a comfortable chat.”
He finally left the room without answering Elisha’s offer. Olivia, who was watching Elisha, touched her shoulder as if to comfort her with an odd expression on her face.
“That’s his original personality. Hard and stubborn, and it’s been like that since he was dating my friend. He’s quite annoying.”
Elisha burst into laughter at Olivia’s words, who intentionally insulted Aiden to cheer her up.
“I’m fine. My intentions were indeed disrespectful as the Holy Father said.”
“How many people donate with a genuine heart? And the Duchess has some truth. I will talk to him again.”
“No, you have already done enough for me. From here on, I will take care of it.”
‘And I have a plan.’
Elisha stopped Olivia with a smirk without showing any signs of feeling intimidated.
After that, the two went out to the entrance of the temple together, sharing small stories. But at the entrance to the temple, a familiar face appeared.
A handsome face that stands out even among many people, a man who is more than half a head taller than many men. It was Richard coming down from the carriage.
‘Why are you here at this hour?’ As Elisha tilted her head at his unexpected appearance, Olivia gently grabbed her arm.
“My carriage’s over there, so I’ll go. Be careful on your way home.”
Olivia winked with a playful smile. Not knowing the meaning of that wink, Elisha’s eyes were full of bewilderment, turning around at the sudden familiar voice coming from behind.
“Elisha.”
“Didn’t you say you were going to the nobles meeting today?”
“It ended early.”
“Aha. What did you talk about at the meeting today? Is there anything important?”
“…I don’t think there was anything.”
In fact, even though Richard had Thompson and Rubellin’s elite knights as escorts for Elisha, he was so anxious and could hardly concentrate on the meeting. Because of that, he didn’t have any memorable story to tell her.
But he couldn’t tell her that so he just blurred his words. Richard put Elisha in the wagon first, and as he was about to get on the carriage, he felt a gaze from a distance. His body paused, and at the same time, his eyes went cold.
Elisha, who noticed it, looked at him with puzzled eyes.
“What’s the matter?”
“No, nothing.”
Richard quickly controlled his expression and got into the carriage. Soon the wagon departed.
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