~ Chapter : 15 ~
When Litia turned around, Seri handed her a letter that appeared to have come from the temple. As Litia opened it to read, Seri continued speaking.
“Apparently, all the other young ladies who are candidates have already chosen the Temes who will accompany them on the journey. In your case, Miss, His Grace was still worried about you, so only a shortlist of personnel was prepared. Since the pilgrimage schedule begins in fifteen days, it would be best not to delay your decision any further.”
“Oh, right.”
She had completely forgotten about the Temes in the midst of everything.
They were almost as important as the Saintess herself—especially an essential presence for a Tenia candidate.
The Temes were holy knights. More precisely, they were elite holy knights organized specifically to serve as escorts for Tenia candidates.
“So everyone else has already chosen?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
Usually, a Temes consisted of three to five knights, and the members selected at this stage would continue to serve even after the candidate officially became a Tenia.
Young ladies who failed to receive the divine oracle would have their Temes withdrawn and would return to their original lives.
The other four candidates had already been assigned their Temes. Only Litia, who had caused problems before, remained without one.
Fortunately, Duke Mont had only delayed the assignment; he couldn’t interfere with the holy knights dispatched by the temple. In other words, he couldn’t bend them to his will.
The power of the temple—namely the High Priest and the Tenia—was said to rival the imperial authority of Atheon itself.
A pilgrimage scheduled to begin in fifteen days meant an itinerary that could last anywhere from one month to over three months. It was the period when Tenia candidates could most actively prove themselves.
Unlike the others, who had prepared at a relaxed pace, Litia was months behind, making her schedule extremely tight.
‘They said there was screaming, fainting—total chaos.’
Most Tenia candidates came from high-ranking noble families. Many had never left their own territories, let alone slept in tents outdoors. Some gave up in less than a week.
On top of that, all kinds of schemes were thrown their way—being sent to particularly underdeveloped regions, or areas where monsters appeared almost daily. Childish yet dangerous trials.
‘That’s the part that worries me a little about Roa. Though even if she tries to harass me again, I won’t just take it.’
More often than not, instead of giving up, candidates simply had their assigned holy knights do all the work while they took the credit.
The temple claimed that all of this was part of serving as God’s chosen seed, and that God would lovingly observe every action and grant the oracle accordingly. But to Litia, it seemed more like the influence of the High Priest and the current Tenias carried greater weight.
In fact, she knew that rather than focusing on service or donations, many candidates wore out the temple’s threshold trying to curry favor with the High Priest and the current Tenias.
‘It’s all pointless anyway.’
Even if there were candidates, once Kamiya appeared, they would all have to step aside for her.
Litia was growing increasingly curious herself. Now that the original story had been twisted, how would Kamiya appear?
At first, she’d wondered what would happen to her, but unlike Litia, Kamiya was in no danger of disappearing. She would definitely appear as she did in the original story.
“If it isn’t too much for you, Miss, they suggested that it might be better to receive your Temes assignment first and then proceed with donation activities afterward.”
“…That sounds right. I can’t afford to delay any longer. I’ll go today.”
“Yes, I’ll prepare at once.”
There was, however, a small problem.
The more active a candidate was in donation work before being assigned a Temes, the more capable the holy knights she would receive. Litia hadn’t even gone to choose her Temes yet, and the only thing she’d done was receive blessings at the temple. Any exceptionally talented knights would already have been assigned to other candidates.
Donation activities could involve monster encounters or unexpected incidents due to large crowds, so the abilities of the Temes were important. Still, they were selected holy knights—there shouldn’t be any major issues.
‘Then I’ll just have to make the best possible move with the hand I’m dealt.’
After some thought, Litia lifted her head.
“Could you hurry the preparations a little?”
“Pardon? Y-Yes! Understood, Miss. We’re almost done!”
So this was it—was she finally going to clash head-on with the others?
Half fearful and half expectant, Litia absentmindedly traced her fingers over the letter from the temple once more.
As soon as she finished preparing to go out, Litia headed straight for the temple.
Even on the way, she kept anxiously checking whether her power might suddenly stagnate. Just as Caliph had said, she could feel her holy power circulating smoothly.
Was it fortunate—or simply cruel?
“I suppose I should be relieved…”
“Yes, Miss?”
“Huh? Oh, nothing. I was just saying the weather’s nice.”
Soon, the carriage arrived at the temple gates.
Just as she stepped down and was about to enter, an unwelcome guest appeared.
“Oh my, Lady Mont, it’s been so long! Are you here to visit the temple?”
Roa stood before Litia, smiling brightly.
She had stepped in close, almost as if trying to press down on her presence.
Behind her were five Temes members filling the space, and Roa herself was dressed in a pristine white gown, draped in gold accessories, looking as though she had already received the divine oracle.
“Yes, we meet again here.”
“I heard you weren’t feeling well. How did you manage to come all this way?”
Litia faced her without hesitation.
This was the first time she had confronted Roa since entering this body. The last time the original Litia had met her was before she fell into the lake.
Roa was someone who rarely missed a banquet, yet they hadn’t crossed paths by chance until now. According to the original story, Roa was highly sensitive to rumors, so she surely knew that Litia had been attending banquets diligently. Still, she wore an expression of feigned ignorance.
“I’ve been better for quite some time now.”
“Is that so? That’s a relief. I was very worried.”
Roa’s gaze lingered over Litia, openly inspecting her.
Litia smiled faintly.
“Were you really worried?”
“…What?”
Roa blinked, her eyelashes trembling.
“What did you just say?”
She asked again.
“If you didn’t hear it, never mind. I really am fine now.”
“Ahem, is that so? Are you sure you’re all right? Shouldn’t you be resting a bit longer?”
Roa smiled behind her fan, her expression utterly devoid of guilt. Though her eyes narrowed with amusement, they continued to sweep over Litia.
Normally, Litia would have already been frightened, carefully watching Roa’s mood.
She’d wondered just how terrifying Roa was—but now that she saw her in person, she looked less frightening than merely flamboyant.
“Of course. Why? Were you secretly hoping I wouldn’t be?”
Roa’s eyes widened. She stared at Litia as if doubting her own ears.
“No…? Of course not. I was just worried, that’s all.”
“I see. Thank you. But I’m also a Tenia candidate. I need to start moving diligently now. Don’t you think? Everyone has such high expectations.”
Roa’s startled expression quickly smoothed over. The confusion vanished, replaced by a faint hostility.
“Well… I suppose so. But it doesn’t look like you even have a Temes yet.”
As she replied coolly, Roa’s lips curled upward again. She fluttered her fan as if showing off her Temes.
The holy knights bowed briefly when their eyes met Litia’s. Litia returned the greeting with a small nod.
“Yes. That’s why I came today—to meet my Temes.”
Holy knights could be nobles or commoners alike; as long as they believed in God, passed the proper trials, and met the qualifications, they could enter. Those with strong holy power tended to rise higher in rank, but above all, they needed exceptional swordsmanship.
Depending on skill and experience, the insignia on their shoulders differed. The knights before her bore the highest rank—a five-star insignia shaped like a pointed diamond.
‘So things are still proceeding according to the original story.’
Though she only knew them from descriptions, she could recognize the holy knight with wavy blond bob-cut hair, and the one with short dark green hair.
She didn’t remember the other three names, but it seemed Roa had chosen the same members as in the original story.
The two Litia remembered were Aro and Colos.
Upon becoming holy knights, or once assigned to a Temes, they were also called Aro Temes and Pecolos Temes.
They were renowned as the finest holy knights, possessing exceptional swordsmanship and holy power.
She remembered that Roa Cavendish had claimed them first, earning the envy of the other candidates. However, there was a problem Roa didn’t yet know.
Though things seemed smooth now, those two knights were infamous for their pride. At first, they appeared to work well together, but later clashed frequently, eventually causing desertions and other issues.
‘Especially the blond one—Aro.’
What was worse was that this blond holy knight would later publicly ask another candidate to take him in, humiliating Roa beyond recovery. The reason was simple—Roa Cavendish’s holy power was abysmally weak.
Unlike ordinary holy knights, a Temes required not only the knights’ own strength but also the holy power of the Tenia they served. The more holy power a candidate could wield, the more efficiently and powerfully the knights could act.
That was considered the most important factor.
Later, Kamiya would awaken her holy power and begin active service, capturing the spotlight and solidifying her position as the heroine—but Roa had no way of knowing that yet.
Roa’s face was filled with happiness, accomplishment, and superiority.
Which meant that if things continued as they were—even with Litia alive—Litia would eventually witness that scene firsthand.
She chose not to comment, responding only with a gentle smile.
“The pilgrimage starts in just fifteen days, you know? Will you be all right? Even the Mont family can’t make His Grace all-powerful, it seems.”
Litia set aside her thoughts at Roa’s words.
“I’ll just have to work harder since I’m late. And my father isn’t a Tenia candidate.”
“Why not just give up? You haven’t achieved anything. Do you really think you can meet everyone’s expectations? That’s just greed.”
“Give up? No. I plan to do my best. I started wondering why I lived so cautiously before. From now on, I’m going to try everything without worrying about others. Thanks to you, Lady Cavendish.”
“Th-Thanks to me?”
Roa’s eyebrows knit together, but Litia nodded innocently.
“Yes, thanks to you. That day you deliberately spilled wine on me. When I went home and thought about it, I realized how foolish I’d been to endure it. It was nothing, really.”
“N-Nothing…? Deliberately? That was clearly an accident—”
“An accident. Even though you came right up to me and poured it on me. Still, an accident. In any case, thank you. If it weren’t for you, I’d still be living like a fool.”
Roa’s face twisted even further.
