TSKSML 07

Chapter 7

The temple in the capital city of Rephia was the oldest in the Herssen Empire.

Atop the temple built of pure white marble, a golden sun effigy reflected sunlight onto the marble steps, casting a holy glow.

It had been two full years since Liriana was pushed to come here again by her stepmother, but upon seeing the sun effigy once more, she couldn’t help but feel joy.

The divine energy made her feel reverent, as though her soul was being cleansed.

However, the feeling didn’t last long.

“…I heard the Emeldia family finally went bankrupt?”
“Yes, can you believe a noble house like Emeldia fell like that…”
“That girl is the eldest daughter, Liriana, right?”
“She’s already twenty-two, and not a single marriage proposal has come in.”
“Tsk. But who would take her? Her stepmother’s completely insane. I heard she even got banned from a gambling den for assault…”
“Is she attending the temple again?”
“Who knows… Still, her being here makes me feel uncomfortable.”

As expected, morning prayers at the temple were more painful than she had imagined.

Gossip was a daily affair in noble society, but what they said about Liriana couldn’t even be called gossip—it was practically shouted.

It was as if they didn’t care if she heard them directly.

Liriana could only speak with the temple priests; she had no conversations with any of the noble worshipers.

She just prayed to the Sun God.

But a question lingered in her mind.

Why did her stepmother insist on sending her back to the temple?

If she was hoping to form social connections through this, it was a massive failure.

The nobles detested mixing with someone from a scandal-ridden family like Liriana’s. They went out of their way to exclude her from their world.

If only she had stayed quiet and out of sight, maybe they wouldn’t have hated her so much.

Still, Liriana calmly walked to her seat, acting like nothing was wrong.

***

The Grand Duchess of Rebladian was looking out the window.

The sky was clear without a single cloud, and the still lake shimmered beautifully.

The soft, slightly spicy taste of specialty black tea from Herbiant lingered on her tongue.

Her eyes and taste buds were satisfied, but her ears were not.

“The gambling is one thing, but I heard she’s also had affairs with several men.”
“Goodness, what did the Count of Emeldia even see in her?”
“Her chest, probably? When I first saw her, I thought she was carrying an armful of bread rolls.”
“Oh my, I never expected that of the Count of Emeldia.”
“Liriana pretends to be demure, but with a stepmother like that, I’m sure she learned a few things.”

The “Sun Fellowship” was a religious social gathering held after morning prayers, centered around the Grand Duchess of Rebladian and other noblewomen.

It was supposed to promote study of the Sun religion and encourage deeper faith, but over time it had degenerated into a vulgar gossip group where they discussed the private lives of templegoers.

The Grand Duchess had no interest whatsoever in such talk.

But lately, the conversation about the Emeldia family had continued for several days. She searched her memory.

Emeldia…

She remembered it was a once-prestigious house, one that had even interacted with her own natal family, the Kelso family, before she married into Rebladian.

Count Raul had even served as a royal knight. He was one of the few knights her father, a former general of the empire, had praised.

Her father had said it was unfortunate that Raul retired so young due to an accident on the battlefield.

The Grand Duchess had also thought it sad that such a respectable family had faced so many misfortunes—but it had now been twenty minutes of this chatter.

She wished the talk of Liriana would finally end.

“And did you see Liriana’s dress? A skirt without volume? That style went out ten years ago.”

The gossip began again.

The Grand Duchess sighed quietly and turned her attention back to the view outside.

But she couldn’t block out the voices.

“I saw it too. And weren’t the sleeves way too short? Does she never buy clothes? How could she come to the temple dressed like that?”

The Grand Duchess recalled Liriana’s appearance.

Indeed, the dress was an outdated style from ten years ago, lacking volume and a petticoat.

But though it was old, it was clean and well-maintained. It had clearly been ironed every morning.

These days, nobles flaunted new outfits even at sacred temples.

The Grand Duchess disapproved of such vanity and thought Liriana’s modest and clean outfit was much more appropriate for temple worship.

She also remembered catching a glimpse of Liriana’s profile as she prayed.

Despite her long presence at the temple, she prayed more earnestly than any other young noblewoman.

Whatever else might be said, her devotion seemed truly sincere.

The Grand Duchess sipped her tea again.

Strangely, it tasted bitter now.

***

Sssss—sizzle—

The sound of meat sizzling echoed through the Emeldia mansion.

While other chores still fell to the three sisters, meals were now personally cooked by Helene.

Today’s menu? Pork belly.

Helene even prepared a sweet, tangy, and slightly spicy onion pickle that even April, who hated onions, couldn’t resist.

“…Meat?”
“Of course. Meat in the morning gives you strength. Come sit down.”

For the sisters, it was their first time seeing such a breakfast.

Helene grilled the pork belly to golden, crispy perfection and plated it.

A bite of juicy pork belly, paired with tangy onion pickle…

And wrapped in a lettuce leaf found on the hillside behind the mansion—

“Yes! This is it!”

Helene always felt a rush of nostalgic recognition whenever she tasted Korean food like this, confirming her memories of her past life.

The sisters hesitantly followed Helene, trying to copy her wrapping method.

Even Jaina had to admit—

She still didn’t like Helene, but her cooking was undeniably good.

She cooked unfamiliar dishes no one had ever seen, yet each one was delicious.

“This is really good… Somehow, it doesn’t feel greasy at all with the onions…”

Liriana, biting into pork wrapped with onion pickle, was amazed.

The pickled onions cut the richness of the pork and added a crunch, making it endlessly appetizing.

Before she knew it, she was full.

Liriana thought she should be fasting before temple prayers—was it okay to eat so much?

Meanwhile, April’s plate had no onion pickle.

Respecting her dislike for onions, Helene had only given her salt and dipping sauce.

But Helene made a show of refilling the onion pickles again.

Could it be… onions were really tasty?

April checked her sisters’ plates. Jaina ate everything, but even dainty Liriana had a clean plate.

Still, it was too late to ask for onions now.

She knew this was her damn stepmother’s trap.

Using food like this—how childish.

Determined not to fall for Helene’s tricks, April stared—until a plate slid in front of her.

It was full of onion pickles.

“Is she tempting me? Mocking me?”

But Helene didn’t even look her way.

As if to say, “Eat if you want, or don’t—no pressure.”

“So, how’s the temple these days?” Helene asked, looking at Liriana.

This was one of the reasons she cooked breakfast herself.

She always asked Liriana for a daily report.

Liriana’s answer was always the same:

“The worshipers don’t exactly welcome me… but it’s bearable.”

Hundreds of whispers about her flew around, yet she summarized it all with, “They don’t welcome me.”

Just as Helene expected.

Everything was going according to plan—time for the next step.

“I see… And today is the first day of the month, so it’s donation day, right?”

The Sun Church held donation day once a month to atone for one’s and their family’s sins.

And today was that day.

It had been weighing on Liriana’s mind.

She was a sinner, and so was her family (especially her stepmother), but she had no money to donate.

Helene handed her a pouch.

“For the offering. Just do as you normally do.”

***

Liriana had said she wasn’t welcomed—but that was a huge understatement.

The harassment had only gotten worse.

To noblewomen, mocking a fallen noble like Liriana was like a sweet dessert after a meal.

They felt guilty… but couldn’t stop.

They watched her every move, waiting for something to ridicule.

And today was donation day.

The noblewomen were placing bets—how much would the ruined Count’s daughter donate, if anything?

The frontrunner was the Duchess of Dravis, who bet that Liriana would donate 5 gold coins, even staking 5,000 gold on her guess.

Normally, donation amounts were supposed to be confidential.

But if you gave the corrupt priests enough pocket money, there was nothing you couldn’t find out.

Now, who would win this ridiculous bet?

Trembling, they opened the donation ledger.

Liriana Emeldia.

They looked at the number written next to her name.

Something felt off…

Why can’t I read it? Countess Kellex blinked several times.

She was, after all, a graduate of the Empire’s most prestigious academy, yet today she couldn’t make sense of the number.

“…There are too many zeroes!”