Since the day he had made snow fall from a clear sky, Eliana had begun learning magic from Velkirei.
Mostly he demonstrated how to wield magic himself and she copied his movements.
When she could not control her strength properly, Velkirei would stop it for her.
Before long Eliana grew accustomed to him both pouring mana into her and drawing it away.
It turned out that the reason she could not use magic freely was because she did not know the location of the mana core.
She had tried to use magic without knowing where the core lay, so no wonder her spells failed to cast properly.
The times when magic had been used without her intent were cases in which force had accidentally reached the mana core.
Especially when she fled Mushe Castle, a mana core that had been opened all at once remained open for some time, so magic had been expended indiscriminately, regardless of intent.
Now, if she wanted to use magic she simply concentrated on the mana core and it worked fairly well.
She still lacked fine control and sometimes cast of its own accord, but she no longer caused disasters on the scale of the last snowfall.
“Try not to use large-scale magic like the snow last time,” Velkirei said.
“Why?” she asked.
“It drains a great deal of power and strains the body. Come here, Eliana.”
With those words Velkirei reached out and drew Eliana into his arms.
He meant to pass mana to her.
He had still been feeling fatigued from the day he had made it snow, and often he gave her mana afterward.
Receiving another’s mana was a sensation beyond words.
Her muscles relaxed, the tangled flow of her body steadied.
After taking his mana she somehow found herself unable to meet his eyes.
Eliana left the palace to go to the temple at Rube’s invitation.
Since returning to the capital, Rube had been staying at the Eljer temple.
A carriage for Eliana was already waiting before the imperial palace.
Eliana hesitated in front of the carriage.
She remembered how badly she had hurt the last time she rode in one.
The memory of that pain was still vivid and her heart thudded.
A man in priestly robes opened the carriage door and urged her.
“Hurry and take it.”
Eliana, who was about to take his hand and climb into the carriage reluctantly, stopped and said brightly.
“The weather is fine. May I walk?”
“The distance is quite far for you to walk, milady.”
“I like to walk. Besides, my heels are low. Is it not possible?”
Eliana flashed a pleading smile.
The priest looked slightly embarrassed and smoothed the back of his neck, then readily agreed.
“If that is the lady’s wish, very well.”
He sent the carriage back and walked beside Eliana to guide her.
The palace and the temple were quite some distance apart, and they had to pass a broad avenue lined with large trees.
Feeling sorry for the priest who had to walk because of her, Eliana began chatting about trivial things.
Before she knew it, talking along the way, they had arrived at the temple.
The priest pointed to the sanctuary with one hand as he explained.
“We have arrived. This is the Hosios Temple, the First Sanctuary of Lord Eljer.”
The temple was larger than she had imagined.
Its spires rose as if to pierce the sky, and ornate gems were set into the walls here and there.
There was no sign that anyone had stolen them, likely thanks to the paladins who stood guard before it each day.
On the highest spire, in place of a clock tower, there was a sculpted hourglass — the symbol of Eljer — which was said to tip over every hour to mark the time.
Sand continued to descend inside the hourglass.
Following the priest’s guidance, Eliana washed her hands at the basin and entered the main hall.
People came and went in the nave, some stopping to pray for private wishes.
It felt like entering a cathedral.
The solemn atmosphere of the temple made Eliana reverent as well.
She followed the priest with quieter footsteps than usual.
Scenes from the Itdeoni myths in the Eljer scriptures were painted on the inner walls.
Eliana admired the murals as she walked.
“The scale is tremendous,” she said.
“It is the largest temple in the empire. This is both the starting point and the terminus of the pilgrimage,” the priest explained.
Because the empire worshipped Eljer, the temple was vast.
The priest carefully explained why Hosios Temple was both the beginning and the end of the pilgrimage.
Eliana walked along the corridor, listening to his voice.
When she arrived at the priests’ rest area, she sat down and stared at the wall without touching the green tea the temple had prepared for her.
There were murals in the rest area too.
A golden-haired deity like Eliana sat enthroned with a halo, and below, angels and demons upheld the god.
The angels and demons took various forms, but each of them had wings.
On the right, an angel punished the sinful, and on the left, a demon punished the sinful.
In the Itdeoni myth the angels and demons were not polar opposites of good and evil.
Their roles were clearly divided.
Those they punished were called Haneph.
Fallen divine beings, the Haneph.
They had originally been angels or demons who should have followed the god’s will, but they had sinned, lost their power, and fallen.
Perhaps that was why the Haneph, depicted pierced by spears in the side, looked similar to angels and demons.
There was only one difference.
They had no wings.
The faces of the humans being punished alongside the Haneph were grotesque.
People burned by flame, people frozen, people being beaten stood in grim lines.
While Eliana scanned that strange scene, Rube entered the rest area after the service.
“Have you been waiting long?”
Eliana stared at him blankly; he was dressed differently from the last time at the palace.
Where his ceremonial robes had fit him to a tee, the priestly vestments now had graceful lines.
Wide sleeves that rustled when he moved.
A neat collar buttoned to the throat.
A stole embroidered with ancient script in gold thread draped over his shoulders.
Clothes of white with gold ornamentation matched his appearance in splendor.
Rube in papal-like robes looked very solemn.
“The temple was not at all dull,” Eliana said, and Rube smiled gently.
He moved the cold cup of green tea that had been before Eliana to himself, poured hot tea into his overturned cup, and pushed it back toward her.
“That one is cold.”
“I know.”
Rube took a sip of the cold tea without concern.
The tea before Eliana steamed.
‘Why…? Does he prefer cold tea?’
When Eliana kept staring without drinking, he said, “It tastes better warm.”
“Thank you.”
Only then did Eliana express her thanks and sip the tea.
It did taste better warm, just as he had said. She felt oddly languid.
After a brief exchange of pleasantries they discussed the items needed for the ceremony.
He carefully explained the instruments to be used in the rite and the colors to avoid or include.
Eliana diligently wrote down the notes.
She had thought there would be little to prepare since the scene in the novel had passed in a few lines, but apparently much had been omitted.
“We will send a priest later to take measurements for Eliana’s ceremonial dress.”
“Excuse me? Will mine be remade as well?”
“You will be fitted, of course, since you are to serve as the princess’s attendant.”
Rube answered as if her question were obvious.
Another change.
In the original story Hera had not had Eliana’s dress made.
She had dressed Eliana in very drab clothes so that she would not outshine the heroine Mary.
Remembering the scene where Eliana had grumbled in dissatisfaction, she could not help but ask.
“Did the Empress Dowager grant permission as well?”
“Is permission even required?”
Rube asked back as if the question were strange.
Not knowing the original, his reaction was understandable.
Flustered, Eliana stammered an explanation.
“N-no, that is not—”
“Her majesty entrusted all procedures of the ceremony to me, so Eliana need not worry much.”
“…Do I seem worried?”
Eliana asked tentatively, and Rube’s mouth twitched upwards.
“Very much so.”
“Eliana laughed awkwardly.
It seemed he had noticed that she found Hera uncomfortable.
There were other differences from the original besides the attire.
“The ceremony will be held at the Summer Palace.”
“What?”
Eliana blurted out and then hastily shut her mouth.
In the original, Mary’s ceremony had been held at the Spring Palace.
Mary, who had appeared among the fresh greenery holding a bouquet of lilies — the symbol of Owen — would no longer be seen.
The progression was diverging from the original more and more; the thought made her dizzy.
Eliana looked at him and asked quietly.
“Isn’t the Spring Palace much better than the Summer Palace?”
“No. For a baptism you need a lake, so the Summer Palace is appropriate.”
“But what if the ability that manifests is divine power rather than magic? Wouldn’t it be premature to perform a baptism?”
She was worried Mary would be humiliated.
In the original Mary’s power had manifested as divine power according to Hera’s plan, but at that moment it was taken away by Velkirei.
The demon’s power robbed her of her divinity.
Mary, already treated as a ‘mixed’ child, drew even more scorn from the nobles when her inherent Owen lineage power did not manifest.
Although they did not say so openly out of fear of Hera, many nobles sneered behind her back.
Velkirei’s revenge began when Mary’s ability did not manifest.
Later, when Duke Crombelle, the leader of the nobles’ faction, sided with Velkirei, Hera would be driven into a corner.
Rube stroked his chin for a long while, then spoke in a low voice.