"I was walking around and found this castle. I thought its interesting."
What a horrible reason. Did this man think she was a fool? She eyed his casual clothing. "You are not a priest …"
"Oh? Did I forget to introduce myself again?" He smiled and walked just in front of the window. "I am the Commander of the First Order. You can call me Mo Li."
"First Order?" Aren't those the knights protecting royalties? Why is this man here?
He nodded. "You are Princess Rhea the Priestess, right?"
She didn't answer him. Why asked question when he already knew the answer? "You can leave. You are ruining the view from that window."
He only chuckled in response. "The people outside are saying that you are a kindhearted goddess."
"I am only kind… to people outside of this place." With that, she turned her back on him and went back to her table.
"Those history books are lacking. If you love history so much, I can give you some books from the forbidden archive."
Rhea fought the urge to immediately turned towards him and asked for the book. She pretended not to hear him and started reading the book.
"You want to know about Sybills right?" he asked.
"I don't know what you are talking about."
"You don't want the book?" He made a deliberate pause. "Since you don't want them— "
"I want them." She answered before she could even think about it. Irritation flooded inside her. Since her mouth already acted on its own, it's best to just let it be. After all, she needed to maintain her face as the goddess.
"What can you give me in return?"
She furrowed her brows and approached the window again. "You never said you wanted me to give you something back."
"Isn't it customary though?" He fired back and held his chin as he stared at her. "Don't tell me you haven't heard of that before? But you are a princess… you should know that once someone gave you something, it's good to give something in return?"
"That's not my point! You offered it. Why should I give something in return?"
"So, you wanted to take without giving back?"
That shut her up. She wanted to say yes, but the amus.e.m.e.nt in the man's eyes was preventing her from saying anything else. She gnashed her teeth. "If you don't want to give, then don't!"
Without waiting for him to reply, she pulled the small fabric holding the curtains, closing it in front of him.
"Hey, are you mad?"
She heard him say on the other side of the window. She snorted and went back to her books. The Orders were actually special knights that could conjure elements. They are obviously powerful and would often participate in missions that involve the extermination of the dark ones in some places close to the gates.
Rhea thought she heard him chuckle outside. Of course, she ignored him and concentrate on the books instead. Right now, she was studying the maps of Zealandia and the location of the churches.
Right now, she knew that she was actually outside of the capital city. She was in another city far from where the pope was living. Most importantly, this is the city where the school of the priest was located.
If her guess was right, this place should be in the back part of that school.
Rhea then looked at her space and counted the talismans that she made so far as well as the things that she currently has. She called this weapon inventory.
She laughed at her thoughts.
When Rhea heard the soft knock on her door, she was already about to take a nap. Sometimes, reading can be too much for her eyes. Staying in a quiet place like this is also making her sleepy.
"Priestess… Please follow me. The head bishop wanted to talk to you."
Head Bishop? She tried to recall someone called Head Bishop. To no avail.
However, this made her curious. So she nodded and followed the woman wearing the same blue uniform outside. The smell of fresh air and flowers made her smile. She squinted at the sun before she followed her towards the pathway.
Soon, the woman took her to another castle a few hundred meters away from hers. She wanted to pretend that she was still weak, but decided against it. It would be useless. Weak or not, these people would still attempt to poison her just so they could control her.
"Head Bishop, the Priestess is here." Contrary to the stern tone that the woman used earlier, her tone now was sweet, mellowed. It was as if she was talking to a child.
The enormous door with a lot of carvings that Rhea didn't recognize soon opened. She walked inside, footsteps muffled by the red carpet that covered the huge room.
"Priestess… take a seat." That was an order.
Of course, she refused to follow it. She stopped walking and looked at the back of the man, who was staring outside through his window.
"Priestess, the head bishop is telling you to sit." The woman who stood next to her tried to touch her arm. Just as the woman's fingers touch her arm, Rhea smiled. "Ah! What — " The woman yelped and took a few steps back. "Head Bishop, something is wrong…"
"Everyone with evil intentions that would touch me… will perish," she said in a soft and clear voice. "Your skin would rot, and it will spread to your body. That is the punishment for touching someone sent by the gods." Rhea laughed inwardly when she saw the woman's reaction.
She couldn't understand it, but for some reason, seeing people fear her like this is giving her some type of happiness and satisfaction. Seeing people who wanted to harm him suffer is just… satisfying. It made her want to do it more. Was she being sadistic?
"Save her." Finally, the man spoke. He turned towards them, showing a placid expression. "Save her."
"Nope." Rhea decided not to back down. "The gods have spoken. She will die, her soul would suffer in the fire of the hell — the place where everyone who wanted to harm the Priestess would end up!"
