Chapter 140: Chapter 140: Rabiennes Invitation (I)

“Why is it so fancy?”

“Right? Everyone was surprised to see it.”

The envelope was extremely shiny, as if the paper was made of gold.

In particular, the wax was sprinkled with jewel powder, making it difficult to open.

Esther felt repulsed because it was an invitation from a temple, but she slowly opened it to check the contents.

⌜……I would like to invite Lady Esther to the 1st royal tea party hosted by me as a saint.…….⌟

Esther looked at the beginning of the invitation and tilted her head, puzzled.

“Tea with Rabienne?”

Upon further reading, it was written that only a very small number of people of the same age as Rabienne had been specially selected.

In particular, she said that she wanted to build a friendship with her, and that she should definitely attend and make the event shine.

“Suspicious.”

Esther stretched out her arm and held the invitation away, then squinted and quickly scanned it again.

She knew that it was common for nobles to hold social gatherings to create a privileged class.

However, if the host was Rabienne, the saint… It was very suspicious.

Besides, even if she didn’t host such a meeting as the saint, it was obviously an event where all sorts of personal connections were entangled.

Rabienne had sent Khalid to bring blood. Then high priests came, and now, an invitation to a tea party.

‘What day is it today?’

She was uncomfortable when she met Sharon, who was part of the Council of Elders, and on the same day, she received a suspicious invitation from Rabienne. All the happenings made her head hurt even more.

As she signed deeply, Shur came up to her side and rode up her arm, and she wrapped her arms around him.

★★★

Two hours later.

“My lady, wake up. Dinner is ready. You must eat.”

“Oh… Let’s go right down.”

Esther, who had fallen asleep with Shu, covered her mouth and yawned as she headed towards the dining room.

She was tightly holding the invitation from Ravienne.

Dinner was as amiable as ever. The main dish was steak with a hint of blood.

Esther, who would normally cut it into bite-sized pieces and enjoyed it, barely ate. Eventually, she put down her fork.

After wiping her mouth with a napkin, she picked up the invitation from the empty chair and held it up on the table.

“Actually, this invitation came from the temple today.”

Judy, Dennis, and Deheen passed the invitation around, which sparkled under the lights.

“Why do I see the name of the villainess again?”

Judy couldn’t help but grit his teeth, calling Rabienne a villainess.

“Ugh. Royal tea party is a bad name.”

Dennis was displeased, sticking the knife he was holding into the steak.

“…I thought it was an invitation not worth reading, but it really is.”

Deheen, who was the last to check the invitation, frowned greatly.

His eyebrows twitched as he tapped the table with the invitation in his hand.

“Esther, are you going to read this again?”

“No.”

Esther shook her head.

She was going to put it away immediately after showing it to Deheen.

“Then let’s throw it away.”

Deheen grinned and tore the invitation into pieces.

It was very tough-looking paper, but it couldn’t overcome his strong grip and was torn to shreds.

“Take it to the furnace and burn it.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

Esther’s plump lips parted slightly as her father ordered that even the torn pieces be burned.

“Oh, a member of the Council of Elders came to the shelter today.”

Esther recounted her meeting with Sharon to Deheen, who only knew a little based on Victor’s report of the outing.

“It’s really intrusive in many ways.”

The voice was fierce. Deheen sighed deeply and swept his bangs irritably.

In an instant, his strong forehead and straight nose bridge were briefly exposed under the light, and then they disappeared.

“Esther, what do you think?”

Dennis placed a hand on the table, intent on hearing Esther’s thoughts.

Having organized her thoughts, Esther cleared her throat and calmly said,

“I think it is suspicious. It’s a tea party on the surface, I don’t know what ulterior motives might be hidden.”

Esther knew better than anyone that Rabienne would do anything to achieve her own ends.

She was no longer a person who would fall for such an obvious trick that might be an inducement.

“What? You don’t have to accept an invitation like that.”

Listening to Esther’s answer, Judy gulped down his juice with a cold expression.

“But I’m going to go.”

At the words that followed, Judy spurted juice and jumped up.

“What?”

It wasn’t just Judy who was shocked. Deheen and Dennis’ eyes flew open at the same time.

To calm the frightened three, Esther hurriedly corrected her words.

“I’m not really going, I’m just saying it.”

“Aha, to disappoint after creating expectations?”

With twinkling eyes, Dennis asked like he knew.

“Yes. I will make up some sort of excuse as to why I can’t go later.”

Rabienne must have a reason to invite her to a tea party, so Esther decided to let her believe she was coming and be relieved, setting her up to be very disappointed later on.

“Good idea. It doesn’t matter if you don’t really go to the temple.”

The scheme-loving Dennis was intrigued and began to lean toward Esther.

“But…”

Esther paused for a moment before revealing her honest feelings.

“I want to see Rabienne take the qualification exam. Is it too much?”

From the beginning, Esther had no intention of going to the tea party Rabienne had invited her to.

What she was curious about was the qualification test Sharon had mentioned.

She wanted to see for herself the deposition of Rabienne for not passing the test, and the beginning of her fall.

“…I understand that feeling.”

“Oh. I want to see that too.”

Dennis and Judy nodded, sympathizing with Esther.

It was a very natural feeling considering how terribly she had been treated by Rabienne.

“But isn’t the qualification test held at the temple? I’m afraid it might be dangerous.”

Deheen broke the silence that suddenly formed. He spoke without hiding his concern.

The most important thing to him was Esther’s safety.

“I did think about that, but I feel that this qualification test is of utmost importance.”

Now was the right time, as public sentiment turned to destroying Rabienne. Even the temple was making her retake the qualification test.

If Esther didn’t show up to the qualification test, she didn’t know what else she would do to get over it.

She had no intention of revealing that she was a saint to the temple, but she wanted to make sure the test was done properly.

Also, if it was revealed that Rabienne had pretended to be a saint at the test venue, she would regret not seeing it.

Deheen fully understood those feelings, but he didn’t want to send Esther to the temple when he didn’t know what danger she might be in.

“Then let me go too.”

“If Dad goes, it’ll be too noticeable. I don’t want to stand out. Anyway, I will be vigilant.”

The moment Deheen entered the territory where the central temple was located, a report would be delivered to Rabienne.

“Don’t worry. I won’t go into the temple if it’s going to be dangerous.”

Esther’s eyes, which had matured further, shimmered softly with a mixture of pink and gold.

Unable to dissuade Esther, Deheen tapped the table with his finger as if he was anxious.

“Promise me you will put your safety first.”

“I promise. And first, before going to the temple, I will meet Grandma Sharon first. If things go wrong, I might come back as it is.”

Before the day of the test, Esther planned to meet Sharon again to check yet again if she really was not a supporter of Rabienne.

She also wanted to ask if she could move the test date, which was scheduled four days after the tea party date stated on the invitation, to right after the tea party.

“I get it. I’ll increase the number of escorts and attach the Shadow Unit. Only then can I let you go.”

The Shadow Unit was a special unit that escorted Deheen the closest, and was made up of some of the best and most talented people he recognized.

Although they were always around Deheen, all signs were usually hidden; they were practically invisible.

“It’s safe if it’s the Shadow Unit.”

Hearing that, the face of Ben, who was worried alongside Deheen, brightened.

It was because he knew the skills of the Shadow Unit better than anyone else.

If anything happened, it would be easy for most of those knights to attack in droves.

Even if it was the top assassination guild, the Shadow Unit couldn’t be penetrated.

★★★

The next day…

As usual, Esther got up early in the morning and headed to the shelter.

If she left Tersia for a few days, she would not be able to care for the holy flowers, so she planned to prepare as many as possible in advance.

The raising of the holy flowers, which began at sunrise, continued long after noon.

It was the first time she had stayed in the shelter’s greenhouse for such a long time and had poured so much divine power into it.

“Aren’t you overdoing it?”

“I’m still fine.”

Paras, who was helping to purify, glanced anxiously at Esther.

“Even if there is no limit, if you use this much divine power in one day, your body will inevitably suffer. Stop for today…”

“Just a little more.”

Esther smiled and poured more divine power into the greenhouse again.

She really wanted to grow as many of them as possible before she went. So that more people could be saved.

During the purification, Paras quietly left the greenhouse so as not to disturb the concentrating Esther.

“Whoa.”

Having completed all of the work after some time, Esther caught her breath and looked around.

‘This should be enough.’

With that thought, Esther, who had made the seeds of the holy flowers sprout to her satisfaction, sat down weakly on the dirt floor.

“It’s hard, it’s hard.”

It wasn’t because she lacked divine power, but her stamina couldn’t keep up with the work.

The more she used divine power, the more fatigue accumulated in her body, so she didn’t even have the strength to walk anymore.

Stretching out her feet, she could clearly see the holy flowers with large buds.

“Shall I lie down for a minute?”

Unable to resist the temptation of the subtle scent of the holy flowers and the soft soil that touched her palm, she lay down.

The gentle sunlight pouring through the large hole in the ceiling contributed to her drowsiness.

She was tired, and she felt like she could sleep right away because her body was relaxing from being in the warm sunlight.

Her eyes became half-lidded, and eventually, they closed. She was in a good mood.

“It’s peaceful.”

Esther was constantly on edge about Rabienne, but she couldn’t think of anything right now.

Perhaps because she was very tired, the tension in her body simply dispersed. She lay down on the ground and fell asleep, forgetting all her worries.

As soon as she fell asleep, the air in the greenhouse turned soft.

As if putting a child to sleep in a cradle, a cautious current filled the greenhouse.

And a little later…

The door to the greenhouse opened and someone strode inside.

The intruder found Esther in the center at once and silenced his footsteps.

He broke through the holy flowers and crept up to the side, spreading both of his hands wide open to block the sunlight pouring down on Esther’s face.

Ame: There’s no prize even if you guessed it right 😛