“Me?”
I said in surprise, and Chartine nodded.
“If you work at the temple anyway, you belong to the temple, so you don’t need to be registered in the palace’s personal records. Also, if you register again, you have to pay money.”
I thought it was a little unusual. Floren asked gently,
“Revril, have you thought about a name for the child?”
I hadn’t really thought about it. I just hoped the name wasn’t related to Cedric. Before I could say anything, Floren suddenly said,
“Since the child was born in the temple, how about borrowing a name from Binosh’s blessing?”
This temple worshiped Binosh, the god who rules the moonlight. Binosh is known to oversee the night and melt people’s worries and troubles with moonlight. The blessing of Binosh is called Vincent. Just then, Chartine’s eyes lit up as he said,
“Vincent sounds good.”
Vincent. It didn’t sound bad, so I nodded. Floren smiled softly and told the child, “Your name is Vincent.”
Four years had already passed. Cedric kept invading the nearby countries. When he personally took charge, people around him shouted that he should marry and have heirs, but he didn’t care and only expanded his territory.
During that time, the empire was busy raising flags of victory. Since Cedric never failed in invading neighboring countries, many places provided supplies. Also, merchants who sold weapons to earn money from him increased.
Cedric sat inside the barracks, looking at a map.
“There was no Revril in the northern borderlands, and what about the west?”
“No one there said they had seen differently. Also, the coachman who brought Revril before was said to live there, but now no one knows where he is.”
“We still have to check. If not inside the empire, maybe there.”
“But there’s nothing for us to gain by moving west. No mines…”
Cedric looked up. When his assistant hesitated, Cedric calmly replied,
“We can make an excuse. Ultimately, finding Revril is the priority.”
He checked his gun. The new gun developed by the palace had a long shooting range and was quite useful.
At that moment, a soldier rushed into the barracks. The assistant looked up, and the soldier hurriedly handed over documents. The assistant stood next to Cedric with a serious face.
“It’s raining heavily now, and the soldiers’ barracks are flooding.”
This place already had weak ground and was lower than other places, so they were planning to move.
“Is there a temple nearby?”
“There is, but it’s a bit far and small.”
“Where is it?”
“A small village called Yurhen, far from Kellabird.”
“Even if it’s a small village, if there is a temple, we have to go.”
When Nancy was cursed badly, she went to the temple to try to cure him, but it was useless. The priest said he was a human with a curse that could never be broken and that death was the greatest blessing.
Since then, he hated priests and did not protect the temple. For him, it was just a place to use as a soldier’s base in this situation.
“Tell them we’re going.”
The assistant nodded immediately and left. Cedric stared at the map for a long time. It was already dark outside, and it was time to sleep, but he couldn’t. It wasn’t on purpose. Since Revril disappeared, sleep strangely didn’t come. Thinking she might be living with someone made the urge to believe she was gone return.
Cedric cursed and put his hand on his forehead. He was crazy because he was searching for Revril without proper sleep but couldn’t find where she was hiding.
She didn’t appear in the personal records, so she must not be in this empire. He decided to take her from other countries’ records by force if needed.
He could have sent spies to secretly bring her, but he wanted to go himself. The reason for making every excuse and wandering was simple: if there was a man next to Revril, he would kill him right away. Now, he wanted to show Revril exactly what would happen if she left.
As soon as morning came, I woke up early. Vincent had messed up the herbs I had sorted yesterday, so I had a lot to do. Vincent turned and closed his eyes after a little while. I kissed Vincent and quietly left the room for the herb room.
Then I met the priest. He bowed his head quietly when he saw me and said softly,
“A guest is coming.”
“A guest?”
“Yes, an important guest. We have to prepare a lot.”
The priest looked worried. I didn’t know who it was, but it seemed like a very important person. Nobles from Kellabird had visited before. Back then, both the priest and I cleaned the temple thoroughly.
“Then I’ll help after finishing with the herbs.”
The priest smiled softly.
“Thank you. Also, we probably won’t need herbs for a while.”
“Why?”
At that moment, someone ran over. When the priest turned, Chartine waved his hand and quickly came closer.
“Did you hear the news?”
“We were just talking to Revril.”
“Then shouldn’t we start cleaning right away?”
The priest nodded.
“Let’s start cleaning the entrance first. That place is the most noticeable.”
“I heard if the entrance looks good, visitors pass safely. They don’t like temples that are not well kept.”
The priest nodded and started moving. Chartine didn’t say more and hurried to the entrance. How important could the guest be? Everyone looked busy. Still, I wanted to finish my work properly, so I headed to the herb room.
I was busy tidying up the herbs Vincent had scattered but did it without thinking. I had to finish before Vincent woke, so I worked fast.
Sunlight began to shine through the window. The herb sorting was almost done. After organizing the last herbs, I put them safely where Vincent couldn’t reach. Just as I was leaving the herb room, a familiar person stood there.
“Floren, what’s the matter?”
“You were here. Since there’s a lot to do, I need your help first.”
Floren suddenly handed me a broom.
“Even though it’s a small temple, it’s been a long time since the last cleaning, so there’s a lot to do.”
People looked busy, so I didn’t want to avoid helping.
“What about Vincent?”
“Vincent is with the priest now. He’s running around the temple a lot.”
“Then I’ll go. The priest must be tired too.”
“No, leave it. The priest enjoys it anyway.”
I had nothing to say. Vincent was usually calm but sometimes didn’t listen, so it was tough.
Floren suddenly asked,
“Does Vincent still look for his father these days?”
It made me feel a little bad, but I answered casually,
“No, not lately.”
Since Vincent started playing with other kids, he often wondered about his father. He asked why his father wasn’t there and said he missed him. It was awkward every time. Cedric was alive, but I just said he was far away like he was dead.
Vincent missed his father a lot and was sad when other kids played with their fathers.
It was painful whenever Vincent was sad, but there was nothing I could do. I didn’t want to meet Cedric now. I even avoided the news and didn’t know how he was living.
At least Chartine and Floren slowly told me about the empire’s situation.
Floren looked at me briefly and said softly,
“But you should talk a little. If you don’t say anything, he gets more curious.”
I nodded.
“Of course, my ex-husband is probably not living well.”
Floren often cursed my ex-husband when bored. I thought the same and didn’t argue.
Soon, we reached the wide prayer hall after walking through the corridor.
“Where should I clean?”
“The entrance is done. Just sweep around the altar.”
I nodded and walked toward the altar.
