Chapter 28
Marian sighed. Lydia had always had a temperament ill-suited to the Lumines clan, and it had been a constant worry since childhood.
But she would soon marry Peter from the clan, and when that day came, Marian hoped she could rest easy at last.
Just then, a commotion stirred outside. Murmurs carried on the air signaling that an outsider had arrived.
“Good heavens!”
Lydia bolted out before anyone could stop her. A delegation from the imperial palace stood before the settlement, bearing a large chest. Elder Olga waved them away, but they set the chest down and departed.
Lydia was the first to rush toward it. When she threw open the lid, all manner of gold and jewels glittered within.
Among them was the red ruby necklace she had seen in her dream. Lydia reached for it and clasped it around her neck.
“See, Mother! My dream was right!”
Marian, who had followed her out belatedly, wore an expression of dismay. She had been planning to lecture Lydia that such dreams were mere trifles, but now that this one had come true so precisely, she had nothing to say.
“A dream?”
“Exactly that. Grandmother, I just dreamed that gold and jewels were raining down, and that I put a red ruby necklace around my neck.”
Elder Olga struggled to suppress the turmoil in her heart.
“I see.”
“Yes, my dream was right!”
By nature, the Lumines clan did not covet wealth or treasure. They had to remain distant from worldly things to read the stars and dream their dreams. But Lydia was far too far removed from the clan’s sensibilities.
“So how did you come to possess these precious metals and jewels?”
“His Majesty the Emperor bestowed it upon us as a tribute of gratitude for offering the Saintess.”
At those words, Lydia’s expression shifted in a peculiar way.
“The Saintess must be in His Majesty’s favor.”
“That is not the issue.”
Inwardly, Lydia felt a desire stirring, a desire to see this Saintess for herself. She was confident that her own beauty was second to none.
All Lumines women possessed an ethereal grace, but Lydia had, in addition, an alluring and provocative charm.
If I had been the Saintess…
It was a thought that had consumed her mind of late.
‘I could have won His Majesty’s favor and lived in luxury far greater than this.’
An exceedingly dangerous thought. That was why she never voiced it aloud.
But she could not help the pull of her heart.
“If he’s this generous to us, I can only imagine what kind of luxury the Saintess must be enjoying.”
“The Saintess leads a life of purity in the White Tower.”
Could there be a greater waste? She had attained the rare privilege of private audiences with the Emperor, and she was throwing that opportunity away like a fool.
If Lydia were the Saintess, she would win the Emperor’s favor and live a life of splendor. She could bestow even greater wealth upon the Lumines clan.
Then she would never have to stay in this stifling, dreary place again.
“Why was she chosen as the Saintess? I was born the same year as her.”
“Because that is the path the star of destiny led to.”
Olga’s words were true. But to Lydia, they sounded like nothing more than a tired excuse. At the same time, a burning envy of the current Saintess took hold of her.
To have already won the Emperor’s heart to this degree, surely she must be living a life that would make anyone green with envy. And so, within Lydia, a sinister ambition was quietly taking root.
* * *
Clarisse entered the room and offered a brief bow.
“Saintess, a messenger from the Imperial Palace came just now with news.”
“What news?”
“His Majesty the Emperor has bestowed gold and jewels upon the Lumines clan as a tribute of gratitude for offering you as the Saintess.”
A shadow fell over Asteria’s face.
“To the Lumines clan, gold and jewels are no different from stones.”
Asteria still knew nothing of Lydia’s existence, nor of her desires. Having grown up and lived her entire life within the White Tower, she had never even conceived of harboring such ambitions.
That was precisely how pure Asteria’s nature was, and precisely why Lucian was all the more obsessed with her. Of course, Asteria herself had never so much as considered the thought.
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