Chapter 73
“Come here.”
Should I? I want to, but…
I glanced at Hestia and Clovis, hesitantly taking a step toward the High Priest. Clovis flinched, as if wanting to reach for me.
“High Priest.”
Hestia simply smiled and looped her arm through mine.
“I’m only accompanying Adelina because I’m worried she hasn’t fully recovered. Please don’t be upset.”
“Your Highness’s benevolent heart is a joy to me, a shepherd guiding his lambs. Safe travels.”
The High Priest curtly dismissed Hestia’s overflowing sociability. But Hestia had navigated social circles for years. She responded smoothly, “I’ll wait and return with her. What if Adelina collapses again? I even summoned a reclusive elven mage, concerned for her health.”
The High Priest maintained his impassive expression, unmoved by Hestia’s social graces.
“Is that so? Our conversation will take some time. You may find the wait tedious. Feel free to leave if waiting becomes tiresome while Adelina and I speak in the sanctuary.”
The implication that he would remain within the sanctuary until they grew weary and left wiped the smile from Hestia’s face.
“Adelina, let’s go.”
The High Priest gave a slight nod to Clovis and Hestia, then turned toward the sanctuary, the gold-embroidered sleeves of his priestly robes billowing around him.
I glanced at the two of them before hurrying after the High Priest.
The Grand Temple’s doors are open to all citizens of the Empire, and those of the Imperial family who maintain amicable relations with the Temple are granted even greater access. However, there are only two places forbidden even to them, accessible only to those named among the divinely appointed: the sanctuary, where the Well of Blessings is located, and the High Priest’s chambers.
Inside the sanctuary, a place forbidden even to royalty, the High Priest abruptly turned to me. A clear emotion surfaced on his venerable face. It was… frustration? No, something a bit different…
“I’m about to burst with frustration.”
Yes, frustration. The High Priest was looking at me with utter exasperation.
“High Priest?”
“If one thread is cut, all threads will unravel, and the heavens hang by those threads.”
“What?”
What was this cryptic nonsense?
As I blinked in confusion at the High Priest’s enigmatic words, he suddenly pinched both my cheeks.
“Ow, ow, ow!”
“Don’t even dream of dying, because if you die, the world ends!”
“Whaaat?”
My cheeks were pulled so taut that my reply sounded like a whine, but I was genuinely shocked. How did the High Priest know I’d been contemplating death? His divine power certainly wasn’t telepathy.
“Adelina.”
Having pinched my cheeks until they were red, the High Priest suddenly pulled me into a hug. Enveloped in his wide priestly robes, I stammered. I had been hugged by him occasionally as a child, but this was the first time since I’d regained the memories of my past life. The High Priest’s embrace was warm, his pristine white robes carrying the faint, grassy scent of the sanctuary.
“I can only see the currents of the world, not interfere with them. That is my limitation.”
“But…”
“I, a mere mortal, cannot fathom why the divine would place such a heavy burden on your slender shoulders.”
“.…”
“When all is said and done, and we look back, there is always a divine purpose in the path God lays out for us. But right now, all I can do is…”
The emotion lingering in the High Priest’s fading words was worry and pity for me. His genuine concern brought a lump to my throat, threatening tears.
The hand stroking my hair was infinitely gentle. It felt as if he was saying, “It’s been so hard, hasn’t it? I know how much you’re suffering.” In the High Priest’s embrace, I wanted to weep openly.
“…High Priest…”
“Adelina, I simply pray that one day, in the distant future, you’ll be able to look back on these hardships with a bright smile.”
Would such a day ever come? The time I had left…
“Even if it’s painful and agonizing, can you please just… live?”
The High Priest’s plea was a cruel demand.
I didn’t know the extent of the causal threads the divine had revealed to him. I couldn’t grasp the true meaning of this summons, or his unprecedented outburst.
“High Priest… you once said that my will is the divine will…”
I weakly protested from within his embrace, because I didn’t want to live by utterly abandoning my pride.
“Yes. You’re right. You’re right…”
The High Priest murmured bitterly, releasing me from his embrace. Deep self-deprecation shadowed his kind face, etched with wrinkles.
“Your will is the divine will. But what if I beg you to live? Will that will remain unbroken even then?”
His words were heavy with despair, and I felt a surge of humiliation.
If I die, the world ends? Why? I can’t even choose to die? This is just too much.
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