Chapter 107
Nuna’s smile was truly beautiful.
That was what he thought.
With a significant age gap between them, he always wanted to make his elder sister happy and earn her praise. So he worked diligently. He followed his sister, a priestess, in performing worship and rituals, studied the scriptures, and trained to grow stronger.
It filled him with joy to know that he could protect the people of the temple with his own hands.
The boy became an adolescent, and the adolescent grew into a young man. He soon became accustomed to monastic life.
Each day, he woke at dawn, read the scriptures written in the ancient tongue, memorized prayers, and aided those in need. He was overjoyed to be of service to the temple, just like his sister.
Upon reaching adulthood, he was appointed as a Holy Knight by the previous knight, who had long taken note of his talents. This small temple had only a single Holy Knight, but the predecessor was already old and had been searching for a successor.
Laughing heartily, he had said that finding such a promising young knight in his final years put his mind at ease.
Thus, he spent his days fighting the barbarians who occasionally threatened the northern villages, offering prayers to the Goddess, and maintaining a disciplined life. Just as his sister had devoted her entire life to the deity, he, too, prayed to the Goddess.
‘Please, let me live happily alongside my sister. May this peaceful life never be broken. Allow me to protect everyone with my own hands.’
But his prayers were not answered.
Thud.
Diana began suffering from an inexplicable illness. Her strength waned for no apparent reason, and her energy gradually faded. He sought out healers not only in the northern regions but even in the capital, yet no remedy could be found.
“Nuna, please get well soon. Spring has already arrived outside.”
“I’m fine. Don’t worry and tend to your duties.”
Even as she lay in bed, she always said those words with a smile. She never missed a single prayer or ritual at the appointed times. Not until she collapsed and could do nothing at all.
He prayed relentlessly, day after day, offering up his devotion in place of what she could no longer fulfill.
‘Please, let my sister rise from her bed once more. Let her stand on her own two feet and care for this temple with her radiant smile again.’
However, years passed without any change, and her body only grew thinner. They tried every medicinal herb and treatment said to be beneficial, but none had any effect.
The priestess, who should have been overseeing the temple, remained bedridden, while the Holy Knight secluded himself to care for her. As time went on, the number of worshippers visiting the temple dwindled.
Only a few villagers, moved by their plight, would occasionally bring them food. But even that could not last forever.
Thus, they, along with their Goddess, faded into obscurity.
He did not mind, but they had no choice but to become isolated in that way.
When she was finally left gasping for breath, barely clinging to consciousness, he thought to himself.
Looking back, winter had always taken so much from him. Perhaps the Goddess held power only over destruction and stagnation. Just like winter itself.
On a full-moon night, kneeling in the now-deserted temple, he earnestly prayed to the Goddess of the Moon and Winter.
‘Lady Quies, if you cannot heal my sister, then please, at least stop time. Just until I can find a way to cure her. If you grant me this, I will give up everything.’
And his wish was granted.
Though whether it was in the form he had hoped for, no one could say.
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