The next day—
What happened to that letter envelope?
As soon as Atha woke up in the morning and discovered the envelope, she called Ruby.
“Did you call me, Miss Atha?”
Atha pointed to the envelope sealed with the temple's logo and asked, "Ruby, did you put this here?"
Naturally, a look of astonishment appeared on Ruby's face.
"No, not me.
You ordered all the mail coming from the temple to be burned, and I'm doing just that.
I'm also forbidding the rest of the maids from entering the bedroom...so...I don't know how this got here...I'm sorry, this is my negligence.
I will reveal the maid who did this without permission and...!"
Atha quickly interrupted when she noticed that Ruby's tone was starting to become very firm.
“No, there’s no need for all this.
I don’t think the Almond Pavilion maids did that.”
She really meant it.
A short while ago, three new maids entered the Almond Pavilion.
Bella, Sandy, and Katrina.
Their impressions, words, and actions all exuded innocence and kindness, to the point that they seemed a little shy.
Are they bold enough to violate the already issued arson order and sneak into a forbidden bedroom?
And here we are on the third floor of the infamous Blossom Suite?
Atha gave the envelope to Ruby and ordered her to go out.
“Continue burning any mail that comes from the temple in the future.
And that, too, throw it in the fireplace.”
Ruby politely took the envelope in both hands and left, but after a while—
Knock—, Knock—
“Miss Atha, I…I think you should see this for a moment.”
Fear was mixed with Ruby's voice.
Atha felt a bad omen that she did not know the reason for, so she went out to the living room and checked the fireplace that Ruby had pointed to.
Amid the dancing orange flames, she saw a white envelope without even a trace of soot, with the temple seal clearly imprinted on it.
She instinctively realized—
Even if you don't check that message now, the temple will somehow, sometime, most definitely, deliver the content written in it no matter what.
“Miss Atha, it's dangerous!”
“No, I think it will be okay.”
'Most likely'
Atha removed the envelope herself using the coal tongs.
As I expected, the message was not hot at all.
I immediately tore off the seal and checked the contents.
> [Hello, stranger.
>I am the ruler of this world, Isis.
>Seeing that you didn't check several messages I sent, it seems that inviting you to meet me at the temple will be of no use.
>I will get straight to the point.
> ‘Atha, the original saint’ was killed after the end of the banquet season, in the season when the crops were ripening.
>You weren't supposed to die.
>So I decided to turn back time, and in the process, you, the stranger, came here.
> Writing all the details in a message would be too long, so I'll keep it short—
> Try not to die as much as possible.
>If you're curious about the details, come visit the High Priest of Isis at the temple.
>I wish you success]
While reading the letter, Atha felt a mixture of small emotions.
He regretted that she had not seen the letters before—
And she was upset because she knew that the messages coming from the temple would be annoying—
A little upset because the governor seems to be a very careless person with his provocative tone.
These and other feelings mixed in her head.
Amid this chaos and confusion, the biggest thought that came to her mind was: 'Am I finished?'
So, am I supposed to be killed in the season when the crops are ripening?
Of course, there is a possibility that this will not happen.
In the novel “The Life of a Saint in Captivity”, ‘Atha, the original saint’ did not follow Alisto to the Crown Prince’s palace, but rather followed Cedric to d’Albert.
'Right, and then you'll be locked up in the Marquis's castle…'
Oh?
Speaking of which, how did this novel end?
Was there mention of the saint's death?
Sure enough, she almost gets locked up in the fall and then tries to escape away from Cedric's eyes...
And after that…
What?
No matter how hard she tried to think, she couldn't clearly remember what happened after Saint went to Dalbert.
Suddenly she felt a coldness running down her neck.
'Let's calm down'
Maybe because I read it a long time ago I just don't remember.
Moreover, the situation now is completely different from the original novel.
But seeing that a being like the Ruler had sent a message like this, it didn't seem like this place was completely safe either…
No, if you knew I was in the Crown Prince's palace and sent a message!
You first had to tell me whether this place was safe or not!
By the way, it would have been better if you had told me the identity of the killer who killed the 'Original Saint'!
Why is the governor doing his job so poorly?
And among this overlapping confusion, there was something truly ironic.
'Then what is the reason why a saint shouldn't die?'
What was that decisive reason that made him bring even the dead back to life?
Haven't you overlooked a very important fact?
Why would you turn back time for no apparent reason, and bring an innocent person here to risk death?
Does this make sense?!
“Ah, my head hurts”
Atha put her hand on her forehead, and Ruby, who was waiting anxiously, rushed to help her and support her.
“Miss Atha, are you okay?”
Ruby unconsciously peeked at the letter in Atha's hand.
But the message was just a white paper with no content on it.
At least, that's how it looked to Ruby's eyes.
***
Akalia Pavilion—
Alisto opened the first desk drawer, which was relatively shallow.
There were several letters sent by the temple, ones that Atha requested to be burned.
He took out a letter from the top envelope and examined the front and back.
It was white.
“You say that the saint read the letter that arrived this morning?”
“Yes”
As I expected.
'It is certain that the messages sent from the temple can only be seen by holy power.'
I've heard it before.
The messages written in the nectar of the World Tree can only be discerned by them.
So, the person who sent the message is someone who has access to the World Tree.
He must be the high priest, or the oracle priest, or one of the high priests.
“Why couldn't you intercept it?”
“…it was not a message that entered through the normal course.”
It must be so.
That's why it was too late for the intelligent Katerina.
Caterina was one of three elite 'owls' whom Alisto further placed as saint.
Although he had already chosen Ruby, a lower-level 'owl' who was an expert in maid work, he had placed an elite 'owl' just in case after expanding the scope of the Saint Movement.
But in a situation like this, all of that is useless.
'What is the content?'
What content made the saint’s face turn yellow after reading the letter?
Alisto's features hardened coldly.
He had a good reason for still caring so much about the temple.
Currently, Alisto is the first to verify the oracle of this saint with the help of the High Priest Calavis.
Of course, in order to obtain Sainthood first, he silenced everyone to ensure that the content of the revelation would not leak out for a while.
However, there was not much time left before he lost his monopoly on revelation.
After approximately ten days, the revelation will be revealed to the public, and before that its content will be circulated within the temple.
The content of the revelation may have already spread among the high priests.
The good thing is that by observing her for several days, even though it is not completely certain, there is a high possibility that the Saint does not yet know what ability she has been given.
But what if the saint communicated with the temple?
'Maybe you know the content of the revelation and turn back time.'
This was unwelcome.
From Alisto's point of view, it was better for the Saint to remain ignorant of her ability for the time being.
At least until you start trusting him.
This way, even if you thought about leaving, you wouldn't be able to leave by rewinding time.
When the temple sent the first invitation, he was told that it was burned immediately, so he thought he would not have to worry about that in the future.
But after reading a message from the temple, the saint suddenly fell ill?
Was there anything dangerous written on it?
He felt uncomfortable.
In the worst case, the content of the revelation may be written entirely in that letter.
Alisto rose from his seat.
He must go to see the saint.