That night, we got lucky to get the Inn's Owner to stay at the rooftop with him & his lovely stout wife persistently apologize to us. They even ask us to spare their lives and ask us to pray for their good deeds for the priestess. Deep down, I was surprised by his request. He is putting his faith in the temple to fulfil their wishes or not based on their goodwill to the temple people. I looked at the calm Kirai as she tried hard to coax the couple that they did not do wrong.
That's a new hard thing I learned that day.
How much is the god's grace does the temple hold to bestow the power of the god to its priestess & priest for people of this world to depend so much?
I moved away further from the trio until I can't hear any words from them any longer. It was awkward standing there listening to their conversation since I was not the apprentice priestess of the Grand Temple. Too much information for my tiny brain in a day gave me a headache. I looked up to the clear dark skies. No sign of any black cloud on sight. Another goo lucky for us. The glittering of the stars scattered all over the dark, clear skies looks different from my world & the moon looks super huge than the normal moon. I had been here not long, yet many strange things happen that I still trying to grasp.
"Hey, what are you looking at?" Kirai already finished with the couple and approached me with a smile. The normal confident smile she always has. Not the one she had an hour ago.
"I'm sorry."
"What are you talking about?" She let out a chuckle, gave a nonchalant shrug. I smiled at her; relief washed through my guilt. We never mentioned it any longer as we silently sit on the open rooftop watching the stars blinking away beautifully.
I was already leaning on to the straw roof of the Inn, watching the skies, when something about the stars intrigued me to ask Kirai. "You mentioned about the Goddess of the Star at the Grand Temple before. How did you know about Her origin?"
Kirai frowns at me."You never cease to surprise me, Mundane."
"Now you start to piss me. Cut the Mundane out, will you? You sound like High Priest Romou." Craps! Thinking about him give me goosebumps. Mind that he even read my head like a book. I wonder if he knew I was thinking of him this very moment.
Kirai giggled at my frustration. "Alright, I'm sorry."She leans on the straw roof beside me. "I wonder how did you get into the temple to be the apprentice?"
I let out a nervous dry laugh, awkwardly. "Don't ask." I turn away to my side. "Pretend I never ask then." Kirai was confused with my reply, mistaken my silence for being angry. She leans in closer to me for body heat sharing.
"According to legend, the Almighty God was devastated when one of His beloved creations went missing. So, He left. Nobody knows where He went. Before He left for good, He plucked the star from the sky and gave it a breath of life."
"So you're saying that the star was God Himself."
"We believe so." Kirai nodded. "More so as God representative."
"What's with the Temple of Stars?"
"We believed that the Goddess is already deceased."
"Why did you say that?"
"High Priest Romou was the last person she met before she returned to the Stars Realm. Once she gets back there, she is just a normal star. She will grow old and die as a normal star. After a star dies, her memories of the world or every tiny knowledge she had will be divided into the twelve Major Tribe Star."
"Every star tribe have the responsibility to carry out their duty to protect God's creations until He returns one day."
"Why did she return to the Star Realm?"
"Not sure. But, only High Priest Romou know more of the legend."
"What's with the High Priest Romou's story?"
"I'm not quite sure. But, old legends also say that there was another person besides the Goddess. Nobody really knows who. We only know he has the power of healing. Coincidentally, High Priest Romou also has the power of healing."
"Have you ever saw him perform the healing yourself?"
"...." Silent. Soft purring snores from the sleeping Kirai. Only the sound of the crickets and owls echoes throughout the silent night. I let out a disappointed sigh. What a magnificent night view. If only I could capture this view and share it with Ah Phung.
The goddess of Star.
Not sure what to believe since I never saw any visible signs to support the so-called power. The urge to share my world's knowledge with her was overwhelming, but the unknown fear gets the best of me. There's so much that I want to learn from the Grand Temple. Maybe the temple of stars will be the answer to my way to get back to my world. Will Kirai, an apprentice, know the legend about the invisible curtains? A moment ago, I was at the point of asking the hot question, but I doubted if she even knew it. I can't risk my identity be known. What if she doesn't know and thinks me worse than just a Mundane? I groan in annoyance, just thinking her unrelenting tease will be the pain in the neck. Plus, I can't risk my chance of getting help from the temple.
#################################
"Mi Lady, what are you doing?"
I hid the tools that I kept with me under the pillow. "Nothing." I look away awkwardly. "Do you need anything?"
"The High Priest Romou is here. He is now with his high.." She didn't get to finish it as I was already running past her to the study room with excitement. I knew it the moment I told Jacob about High Priest Romou, the priest already here to get her home. "Wait, Mi Lady! It is dangerous to run."
At the front door of the study room of brother Jacob, I stand breathlessly. The duo guards in the front room watch me worriedly.
"Is... Is the High Priest…" I shot a question to the guards without taking a steady breath.
"Yes, Milady." the first guard with flushed face answered.
There was a murmuring noise coming from the room, and it was more like an argument between them than a friendly meeting. What happened there? I was anxious and had a bad feeling about the whole noise.
"BANG!" The loud noise gave us a fright, accompanied by the door opening roughly. The person who appeared from the room excited me.
"High Priest Romou," I called out to him, but he didn't seem to hear me or turn to my way and walk hurriedly in a sour mood. What was that? I hurriedly got into the room and saw a broken ornament on the floor. "That was High Priest Romou. Why did he leave in anger, brother?" I thought he was supposed to get me out of here.
The tall man appeared anxiously and flushed, standing next to his desk, looking pained and sorrowful. He smiled sadly at the word 'brother' that I uttered accidentally. Slowly, he walked towards me and pulled me to his warm embrace. I went rigid and shuddered at the unfamiliar touch. "Brother?" I tried to pull away from his tight hug, but he won't let me.
"Stay, Coriane."
"I am not Coriane."
"It's alright, Coriane. You lost your memories, I get it, but this is your home." I stop struggling altogether at his low, pitiful plea. Home. A place that I don't have even in my own world. Will I be able to stay here as my new home?
I remembered the servants talking about the missing sister for almost a year now. Nobody actually knows what really happened to her. The day before she disappeared, she argued with her father, the former Duke of Hamdel. Brother Jacob just returned home for his summer holidays from the academy, found out about the details of the argument. He rushed out in frustration after having another argument with his father and went to comfort his sister only to find it empty.
"No. I'm afraid that's not right." I shook my head. I push him away, and this time Jacob reluctantly released me from his embrace, confused. I was scared. Scared of what will happen when one day, the owner of the name Coriane will appear. What will become of me? I'm the fraud. I'm sure to be punished. I run out of the room, confused.
A clapping noise coming from the end of the room echoes the whole room. "Interesting. Absolutely interesting."
"What makes you think so, Your majesty?"