“Eithne, wake up little punk. I’m bored. Wake up——.”

The patient room was supposed to be quiet, but the patient himself did not stop rambling. The patient number one was a red-haired man wrapped in thick bandage around his abdomen. Although his belly felt hurt whenever he spoke, patient number one would rather bear the pain than shut his mouth. He wanted to jump off the bed, but his abdominal muscles refused to sit up.

The only thing that worked properly was his mouth, so the patient number one did everything he could to bother patient number two.

Patient number two was a young woman with blonde lob hair lying still on her bed. She had lost her consciousness for three days already.

“Aaaahh——“

Patient number one gave up on speaking in human language. He decided to demonstrate a wild animal’s call, while he longed for the day his freedom of movement to be returned.

Well, it was not his fault that he could never faint or sleep when he was hurt, but it was boring to lie still doing nothing.

“Haizz…”

Eventually, the young man got tired. When he was about to shut his mouth, his miraculous ramblings brought the patient number two back from her coma.

“Urgh... so noisy...”

Her face was deeply frown like a wrinkled piece of cloth. Eithne leaned her body to a side and covered her head with her arms.

This guy was unbelievable ... Who did he call punk? Who was being loud here?

“Oh, you wake up?”

The guy’s face brightened up. Hesata was overjoyed that he succeeded in finding someone else to talk to.

Eithne squeezed her arms against her head, as if she was squeezing fear out of her mind. The gaze of the High Priest was terrifying. Her mind was chaotic when she recalled that painful experience. Eithne had expected the High Priest to be strong, but the feeling of helplessness when facing him scared Eithne to the deepest in her soul.

No, she must leave this place. The High Priest would kill her!

Eithne hastily jumped off the bed, resulting in her stumbling and falling on the ground.

THUMP!

“Ouch....” Maybe not today. She thought.

“Are you ok?”

Hesata was surprised by her sudden movement. He asked, watching her climb back onto her bed.

Eithne did not answer him. Her vision was shaking with dizziness and her legs were wobbly. Climbing back onto the bed strained the very last power in her body. The priestess looked around the patient room. Everything was blurry, but she could recognize it was nighttime. Eithne heard the voice coming from the patient bed next to her.

“Do you remember what happened?”

What had happened? Eithne lightly furrowed her eyebrows.

“You almost killed me…” – She said.

“But you ended up almost killing me instead.” - Hesata sighed. “You crudely poked your hand in my stomach to steal my lunch. Because of you, I have to drink liquid meal for dinner. It’s sucks, do you know that?”

The priest had no one to complain about the nutritional supply to the patient recently. He clicked his tongue and glanced at Eithne, who was dumbfounded by his words.

“Tsk. You couldn’t have known because you fainted happily.”

“…I’m sorry.”

“Whaat?”

Eithne looked at her victim regretfully, but Hesata found it was hard to believe her.

The pale moonlight from the window lighted up a part of her cheek, while the priestess’s eyes sunk in darkness. Those irises which were lifeless had never felt so unfamiliar to him before. Hesata Ragnar doubted whether he was speaking to the same punk that shared their childhood together. Those golden eyes used to be arrogant, they would shone even in the dark, and Eithne Noceur had never been sorry for her ruthless actions before.

“…”

Hesata opened and closed his mouth several times without saying anything. It was shocking that Eithne had said sorry to him for the first time in ten years they knew each other.

“…At first, you shut yourself in your room saying you was sick. Then a weird power came from you and now you speak weirdly to me. Did something happen to you lately?”

Hesata asked. However, her sullen silence gave him no satisfying answer. The priest’s face became serious.

“You better talk to me right now, or else you will be interrogated by the High Priest.”

Eithne flinched. Anyone but the High Priest! She gulped. The fact that she was not the original Eithne Noceur should never be revealed to the world, so she made something up.

“That was my Chaos power. It is unstable lately because I have not fully controlled it yet.”

She pretended to look in Hesata’s eyes with sincerity, but she stared at his forehead instead. It was the best trick she had learnt to efficiently communicate with someone else. Hesata looked askance at the priestess.

“Chaos divine power, huh.”

It sounded legit, since the wound on his stomach did not react with potions. Healing potions were created from holy power. While they healed normal injuries at incredible speed, potions were useless in treating wounds caused by holy power. If Eithne had used her Chaos power, it was understandable that healing potions did not work on his body. Consequently, it took Hesata a long time to recover.

Hesata was still suspicious, but he would let her go this time. He was suffering from insomnia and tired, so he wanted to rest now. There was still plenty of time, he could find out later.

“…”

Seeing Hesata closed his eyes to rest, Eithne exhaled in relief. That excuse was questionable, but at least it got her through this time.

Eithne turned her back to Hesata. To be honest, she failed to convince herself of that excuse too. The strange power never appeared in the memory of previous Eithne Noceur, so she could not identify it.

However, she knew it started from the desperation within her heart.

Eithne placed her hand on her chest, where her heart was beating fast. Would a divine power… give people such hollow feeling? The moment it was activated, her humanity was gone. All she knew was fighting until death came upon one of them.

“What a monster I am…” – She murmured.

“What are you talking alone there?”

Hesata gave a huge yawn. Although he could barely keep his eyes open, his mind was restless. This incurable insomnia made him stay awake until he was completely recovered, which was quite useful on the battlefield, but at most of the time, it was more like a curse.

“You can’t sleep?”

Eithne slid down her bed to come closer to the priest. She looked down to examine his tightly bandaged abdomen. Hesata was thinking of saying something cool, but her hand already tapped him on the most painful area.

“You Devil! Don’t press me! It hurts as hell!”

__

The night was still young. In the long hall of the grand temple of War, a figure was rushing on her feet without making any sound. The ethereal beauty of the pale moonlight stopped her hasty steps for a little, and the priestess gazed upon the unreachable dominator of the night sky.

‘The High Priest won’t be here for a few days. He is going to the capital to see the Queen.’

Eithne reminded Hesata’s words. She went out of the patient room with the excuse for going to the bathroom, but she actually wanted to sneak up the High Priest Office. Her shiny golden eyes turned into dull state as she used her new dark power, the priestess went back to her original plan.

White marble tiles under her feet gleamed with gentle light. At night, they gave off an even more sacred aura to the temple. The hall was wide and empty. As the priestess dashed across the hall, her lonely shadow dissolved into the dark. Her existence was hidden perfectly.

Eithne wanted to leave this place. She was scared of the High Priest. However, she could not hide from the temple, since they would know where she was and whether she was dead or alive through a magical stone seal, which each priest had one of their own and must bind their soul on it. The stone seal recorded its contractor’s position and living status, such thing only broke when the contractor ceased to exist. Thus, it would be best if Eithne could steal her stone seal and run away.

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Those stone seals were extremely crucial to the temple, so they were kept and protected in the High Priest Office. Demir Noceur was currently absent, so Eithne used this chance to take a look around the second floor of the temple. She walked to the large doors where the huge spearhead and four holy beasts were carved. They looked so lively that they seemed to glare at the uninvited guest.

Eithne saw the light coming from the gap beneath the large doors. Her eyebrows lightly furrowed.

It was likely that the Vice High Priestess stationed at the office to guard those stone seals. There was no sound being heard from the room, but an aura of a strong existence had covered an entire second floor.

A mountain tiger taking her nap was still a fearsome tiger. Even if the Vice High Priestess was letting her guard down and falling asleep, she could still be alert to sudden intrusion into the office. With Eithne’s current strength, she was no match for the Vice High Priestess, so she had better withdraw before she got caught wandering around.

“…”

The priestess with dull eyes stepped back in the darkness again.

She then took a stroll to the front area of the temple, where the great statue of the War God and four associated beasts were placed across the main entrance.

The War God was sculpted in his heavenly armor. In his hand was a gigantic spear that pointed toward the sky, challenging the mighty pantheon in the realm beyond human world. Eithne’s eyes followed his spearhead pointing direction, but all she could see was the empty celling.

Well, since it was indoor… Eithne lightly scratched her chin. She was hoping to see something interesting at the tip of the holy spear, but there might be none.

The Noceur beast representing Chaos faction was an ancient serpent. Two long fangs like twins of crescent moons bore from its large mouth, and its scales were intricately chiseled with endless magic patterns. On the other side, the Ragnar beast raised its mane proudly. The Warrior faction’s symbol was a massive lion with a horn on its forehead, but its tail was unusually big like a boat paddle. Behind Ragnar, the Wrath was a two-headed horse breathing fire, and the Dread was a cloud-shaped monster with million eyes.

Such magnificent artwork could only be done by extremely talent sculptors. Eithne wondered how the High Priest had enough fund to build this statue and entire temple. It was not like the War God would lend him any money.

‘Demir must have earned a lot from dealing with the royals. He has enough money to feed this whole temple and statues.’

The priestess observed the statue thoroughly. She had many questions to ask the God. Like why did he take back the divine power from priestess Eithne Noceur? Why had only Eithne Noceur received this punishment? Why did ‘she’ have to be Eithne Noceur?

But the God in front of her was just a lifeless statue. They gave her no answer.

“Hm…”

Eithne had an intent to raise her middle finger to the God to test His reaction, but her back suddenly felt cold. The chilling was so authentic that she felt like she was locked in an ice dungeon. At that moment, the statue of the War God appeared to be too colossal and intimidating to Eithne.

“Eek!”

‘I’m sorry! I’m sorry!’

The priestess shivered and honestly ran to the bathroom. Going to the bathroom was her excuse given to Hesata to leave the patient room. While she repeated in her mind the apology to the War God, Eithne with her cowardice did not dare to look back at the statue.

‘Never test the God! Never again! God is real!’

__

____

Eithne was fine without any major injury, so she decided to take care of her victim out of guilt. Hesata was happy that he could boss Eithne around, but after a while, he didn’t feel right. Hesata crossed his arm, while his face frowned. Although she was a qualified caretaker, this punk ate all of his sweet desserts that were gifted by other priests. Obviously he could not consume those confections anyway, so he gave all of them to Eithne. However, the culprit enjoyed good food from the victim while the victim himself had to suffer from those disgusting liquid meals. Somehow, he felt mad.

“Want a bite?” - The priestess waved the chocolate bar at Hesata’s face.

She did it on purpose! He swore she intentionally did it!

Although she kept a straight face, Hesata knew that Eithne was laughing inside. He squinted his eyes.

“Evil.”

“Why?” - Eithne was confused, but she explained anyway. “Chocolate can melt in your mouth, so you don’t have to swallow hard chunks like peanut candies.”

“...”

Eithne was being sincere, she did not mean anything vicious. Hesata reluctantly took the chocolate and put it in his mouth, but the overwhelming sweetness made his throat sore. He held back the cough, otherwise his stomach wound might burst open.

Ah... He did not like these blocks of sugar, but it was better than nothing.

“Hm?”

Eithne confusedly looked at him. Hesata’s face seemed like he had just eaten a shit.

“I guess you don’t like chocolate. Well then, I’ll eat them all.” - Eithne shrugged.

“Hey! I should be the one who decides, not you.”

Hesata retorted.

It was lunch time, so Eithne went to pick up his liquid meal from the temple’s chemist. Hesata looked at the bottles on her hand with dead fish’s eyes. The man seemed desperate more than ever. He feared nothing but those disgusting liquid.

“What is the flavor today?” - He asked.

“I think it’s peach. It has a pink color.”

“F********@#$&*.”

The priest pulled his hair and groaned in a mysterious language.

Not peach again! When would he escape this hellish liquid meal?

While Hesata covered his nose trying to swallow the fluid, a priest came to the patient room looking for Eithne.

“Priestess Eithne Noceur. You have a mail delivery.”

After placing the letter in Eithne’s hand, the priest bowed his head and left the room.

“A letter?” - Eithne was surprised. The letter had specific sender’s name and location, so it was not trash mail. Who could have sent her?

“Paper mail? They were probably commoners then.”

Hesata glanced at the mail on Eithne’s hand after he noticed her stupefied expression. It was unexpectable, since both Eithne and Hesata had no acquaintances outside the temple to receive such mail.

Originally, they were orphans picked up by the temple from the street and had joined the priesthood since they were around ten. When they grew up and became high-grade priests, magic mail delivery devices were provided to communicate with aristocratic society. Only commoners would send their message through postal mail because they could not afford magic devices.

‘Rogers Monre... He isn’t in Eithne Noceur’s memory.’

The priestess examined the sender’s information on the envelope. This letter was sent from Isny village, located near the South border of the Lumovas Empire. The sending date was written about a month ago, since the village was far from here. Nonetheless, the most important detail was the receiver’s name, which was not ‘Eithne Noceur’, but ‘Eithne Oranim’.

The priestess’s eyes opened wide in surprise.

How did he know her original last name?

It was true that Eithne Noceur was an orphan, but she used to have a family and a proper last name – Oranim. The Oranim household used to live near the South border of Lumovas Empire, but she was not sure if their previous home was in the Isny village, since her childhood memory contained no information about that. However, the outbreak of war between Lumovas Empire and Southern neighboring countries had separated the family forever from a decade ago.

At that time, Eithne Oranim was just a child, but she remembered being sold away by one of her aunts for travel expenditure when they fled from war. Having been betrayed by her family, Eithne Noceur wanted to cut all ties with them and never tried to find them back.

Could Rogers Monre be one of the family’s old acquaintances?

Out of curiosity, Eithne opened the letter.

‘To a member of Oranim household,

I am Rogers Monre, one of the old friends of madam Nesta Oranim. Unfortunately, the Madam passed away eight years ago and left behind her son, Rigel Oranim. I have taken care of him until now, but I believe that his family dearly wished to reunite with him, so I sent this letter to let you know the boy is growing healthily in Isny village.

Please send me a reply or come here as soon as possible, as Rigel yearns for his family too. I will welcome anyone who wants to stay at my house for free.

Best regards,

Rogers Monre.’

Rigel Oranim? Rigel … the male lead !?

Right… Although she did not know who Nesta Oranim in the family hierarchy was, Eithne Noceur was still a distant relative of the male lead in the comic.

The original priestess would have ignored this letter since she did not want to involve any further with the Oranim household. Eithne Noceur and the male lead had no chance to meet each other in the plot, because the High Priest had already built her a grave when Rigel first came to visit the War temple.

The comic’s plot stated that the male lead’s father, the Duke of Solinue, had participated in the war in the South of Lumovas Empire ten years ago. He met his first love at the South border and married her. His wife was probably Nesta Oranim, who was fleeing when she met the duke. However, the Duke died on the battlefield, so his wife had to run away while she was pregnant with their child. Two years after giving birth, she passed away. Luckily, her old friend took the child in.

“What’s the matter?” – Hesata curiously asked.

“They said they had my lost family member. He’s eight.”

“Then shouldn’t you go see him?”

“See him?”

Eithne asked herself: Was that necessary? In the comic, the ducal family would eventually go pick him up two years later.

“Why? Shouldn’t family members reunite?”

Hesata tilted his head. He could not understand Eithne’s hesitance.

“But what will I do when I see him?”- She asked.

What would she do? Raise him? The priestess was poor. Merely come to say hello and leave? That was awkward. They were no different than strangers to Eithne Noceur. Having the male lead by her side could not stop the High Priest from killing her, and the male lead must join the ducal household later. They would provide him the best education and resources. So, what was the point to see him if both sides receive no benefit?

“Eh… The child must be lonely because he had no family by his side, so you can come and play with him?”

Hesata was not sure either. He had zero experience dealing with family issue.

Eithne did not expect anything from him since they were both orphans, growing up under the temple’s education. Neither previous Eithne Noceur nor the current ‘she’ knew what to do. She had never been a babysitter before.

“But you really must go to see him. Or you will regret later. ”

Hesata insisted on her going despite his lack of reason. The priest let out a deep sigh. He had never dreamt of seeing someone sharing the same blood with him. Unlike Eithne, the priest’s family did not exist from the start, even before the war. However, there was one thing he firmly believed in, that every child wished to be with their family, since it was also his personal experience.

“The child might need you, Eithne. Don’t you remember what you felt when you were abandoned as a kid?”

“Just go. I won’t be lonely without you so don’t worry.”

Hesata shooed the person whom he had acknowledged as a friend for many years. Eithne bit down her lower lip.

Just go like this?

She could not lie. She was a real coward when it came to dealing with the people in her life.

__

A day later.

Eithne held the luggage in her hand. She stepped into the large teleporting gate.

“Here goes nothing.”