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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 42
Chapter Title: An Unexpected Patron
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* * *
At Ordel’s thoughtful suggestion, Monica led her parents to the Saintess's reception room.
‘This feels strange for some reason.’
After she had become a handmaiden, Ordel’s bedroom and reception room had become one of her primary domains.
Seeing her parents, whom she hadn't seen in half a year, in a place that now felt as familiar as her own room stirred a new kind of emotion within her.
"It's tidy. And clean."
Monica watched her mother as she calmly surveyed the reception room.
Her elegant, flawless demeanor was exactly what Monica had always aspired to emulate.
"The Saintess of the Sun God must be quite a frugal person."
"..."
The Saintess had once been the very picture of extravagance, even in this impoverished temple, but Monica saw no need to correct her mother.
It wasn't a lie, since she had been living frugally after getting rid of all her luxurious belongings!
"I've only ever seen the Saintess of the Great Sea God's Grand Temple, so I must admit I'm a little surprised."
"Don't you dare compare that brat to our Saintess."
Monica’s eyes flashed as she set down the tea she had brewed herself.
It was a sharp reaction to give her respected mother, but she couldn't help it.
How dare she compare our Saintess to that brat from the Great Sea God's temple!
"...You've really become a true follower of the Sun God."
At Monica's fierce reaction, Mrs. Hindel wore a wry expression instead of scolding her.
"After making your parents weep for half a year, I never imagined we'd find you here, becoming a priestess."
"That's right! Do you have any idea how shocked I was to hear you were here?!"
The Count agreed vehemently, his voice booming.
He wasn't just angry; his face was filled with a mixture of worry and relief.
"I'm sorry for making you worry."
Monica readily admitted her fault.
"But I didn't intentionally hide the awakening of my divine power. It happened suddenly, not long after I ran away."
Her divine power had awakened when she least expected it, while she was wandering and wondering where to go after leaving the estate.
Divine power wasn't passed down genetically, nor was it something one was born with.
It manifested suddenly, like a literal blessing from a god, so Monica herself had been quite surprised.
A few days after her awakening, a priest of the Sun God had sought her out.
He told her she had been chosen by the Sun God and could walk the path of a priestess if she wished.
He never forced her, insisting she had to become a priestess.
He simply presented the path, explained it in detail, and gave her plenty of time to consider her options.
That was what moved the heart of Monica, who had never once considered becoming a priestess.
And so, she became an apprentice.
For her, who had lived as the daughter of a count, life in the poor Grand Temple was by no means comfortable.
From the moment she woke until she went to sleep, she had to do all sorts of menial tasks, yet she never once regretted it.
On the contrary, she felt a sense of satisfaction, as if she had finally found the path she was meant to walk.
"I'm going to live my entire life as a priestess. This is where I'm meant to be."
"...Monica."
"So I will not be inheriting the family title."
This was the reason Monica had run away, plunging a dagger into the hearts of her beloved family.
As the eldest child of the family, she was expected to be the heir, but she didn't want to be.
Thinking back on it now, she wondered if she had felt such resistance because it was her destiny to live as a priestess of the Sun God.
"Alex will be a wonderful head of the family."
Her younger brother by two years, Alexei Hindel.
Her brother loved their family. He cared for the people of their domain and dreamed of its prosperity.
Monica knew that heart better than anyone in the world.
That was why she had decided to gladly yield the position of heir to her brother.
He, with his passion, would lead the family far better than she, who had no desire for the title.
"...We've already settled that matter. Alex has agreed to be the heir."
Mrs. Hindel said with a sigh after listening to Monica.
Monica's face brightened.
"Really?"
"How can we make a child who ran away from home just to avoid the title our heir? Even if we forced you, with your temperament, you'd just run off again the moment you got tired of the work."
"Exactly! You know me so well!"
Monica clapped her hands, overjoyed.
My family really does know me better than anyone!
"Yes, so you're free to do as you please now, but..."
Mrs. Hindel looked at her daughter and asked.
"Even so, isn't this place a bit too lacking for you?"
Her mother's sudden jab wiped the happy smile from Monica's face.
Count Hindel chimed in, supporting his wife.
"That's right! From what I've seen, it seems terribly poor. Besides, isn't the Sun God's faith on the verge of collapse?"
Upon discovering Monica's whereabouts after half a year, the couple had first investigated the Grand Temple where she was staying.
And they had been bewildered.
To think their daughter was in a Grand Temple so utterly ruined—no, completely collapsed—that even they had never heard of it.
They might have understood if it were the Grand Temple of the Great Sea God. No, they could have accepted it if it were any other god.
But not the Sun God.
"We fail to see what benefit you gain from being a priestess here."
The couple held their daughter's talents in high regard.
So much so that they couldn't bring themselves to give up on her, even knowing she detested the idea of being the heir enough to run away.
She was so talented that they had unhesitatingly chosen her as the successor, even knowing their second child was full of passion.
How could they abandon such a precious daughter in a barren place like this?
Monica deserved a much grander stage.
"Benefit..."
But Monica's thoughts were different.
She twisted her lips into a smirk, as if amused.
"Mother, Father. I'm not here as a merchant or anything of the sort. I may still be an apprentice, but I'm a priestess who has received her sacraments."
A priestess who serves a god, hones the divine power received from that god, and bestows it upon those in need.
"Benefit? You must be mistaken because you've only seen secular places like the Temple of the Great Sea God. Originally, priests are people who live by faith alone, regardless of personal gain."
Monica knew.
The Grand Temple, where the gentle sunlight always shone; the people, who lived cheerfully despite their poverty; and the god who had never once turned away from them.
As long as the Sun God, who loved her unconditionally, was here, Monica would be here too.
"I'm here because I'm a priestess, not to gain something. The god's reputation means nothing to me."
Honestly, she was a little disappointed.
She never thought her mother, who was always so cool, rational, and intelligent, would say such a thing.
"...Pfft."
But instead of getting angry, her mother laughed?
"Ahahaha! That's my daughter!"
It wasn't a scornful laugh, either, but a genuinely delighted one, so much so that she clutched her stomach.
"See? I told you Monica would stay here instead of coming back. If she were the type to be swayed by our persuasion, she would have returned long ago."
Mrs. Hindel patted the shoulder of her husband, who was sitting beside her.
It was a starkly different demeanor from the elegant way she had treated him in front of Ordel.
"Monica, my daughter. Is that truly your choice...?"
"Yes."
Though bewildered, Monica answered the Count's question dutifully.
The Count sighed and covered his face with his hands.
"Fine, do as you wish. You were never one to need our permission anyway."
"Were you testing me?"
"Testing you? I was curious about my daughter's true feelings."
Monica was dumbfounded by her mother's nonchalant reply.
Still, it was a relief that they weren't vehemently opposed.
"However, there's something I need to correct. It's true the Grand Temple is poor right now, but we'll escape poverty soon."
Monica informed her puzzled parents about the current situation at the Grand Temple.
She explained that, under Ordel's leadership, they had joined hands with Duke Ciel and were currently working together on a potion business based on their strong healing powers.
"What? The Lumen Merchant Guild?"
"My goodness, Duke Ciel himself."
The Hindel domain was in the east, on the opposite side of the continent, so rumors of the potion business had not yet spread there.
Thus, her parents, just now learning the truth, were genuinely astonished.
"Even His Majesty the Emperor has a hard time moving the Lumen Merchant Guild..."
"Yes, and our Saintess accomplished that difficult feat. That's not all. The Saintess saved me!"
"Saved you? Monica, were you in danger?!"
Mrs. Hindel, who had been quietly relieved to hear that Monica had been living at the Sun God's Grand Temple almost immediately after running away, was now greatly alarmed.
The Count was the same.
"Who did what to you!"
Monica immediately tattled to her furious parents.
"Baron Gael, a vassal of the Kiris family, slapped and insulted me!"
She told them everything: how she had been slapped for daring to block his path when she had only asked him to wait for the proper procedure.
And how, not content with his ignorant violence, that brute had belittled her, the Grand Temple, and the Saintess!
Naturally, this was followed by the heartwarming tale of how Ordel had appeared just in time, worried for her and rescued her, and how Ordel had publicly shamed Gael for his actions.
At the news that their precious daughter had been slapped, the eyes of her doting parents instantly turned murderous.
* * *
"...Um, so."
I looked at the fuming Count and Countess Hindel before me.
"You wish to actively support our Grand Temple from now on."
That was what the couple had exclaimed as they stormed over to the four of us, who had been enjoying a tea party at a table in the middle of the dreary garden.
"Yes! We wish to become patrons of the Grand Temple!"
What is this? I didn't do a thing, and suddenly a patron has fallen right into my lap.
