I recognized one of the priests. He was Priest Norman, the one that lived in and took care of our chapel. A kind and elderly man, his hair was white, and his countenance mild. He gave no hint of what the others were doing here, and I doubted that he knew.
The other priest at the front was younger, but the symbol on his robe had a slightly more complicated design, marking him as a senior priest when it came to importance. He wore a confident but sly smile.
The ones following him were only apprentices, again by the design of their robes. They had likely served the senior priest on their way here, as part of their training or whatnot. At least we admitted that our servants were servants.
The appearance of these priests were definitely unusual. Priest Norman may have come to give Damian a blessing before he left, but that was no occasion to attract a senior priest. Besides, it would be an understatement to say that mages and the temple did not get along.
"Greetings to the Grand Duke of Avington and his family. I am Priest Fernandez, and I was hoping to grant the young lord a blessing for his time at the academy, on behalf of the temple."
The senior priest bowed only his head. As priests, they did not have to greet us properly, though most showed more respect than his tone conveyed. I didn't trust him at all.
There was definitely an ulterior motive. Neither scholars nor mages were part of the temple's faction, and especially not an Avington. And if he had really come to give a blessing, why had he not sent a letter to inform us beforehand, unless they didn't want people to know he was coming?
"It would be an honour. Thank you for your graciousness."
Damian's reply was curt and polite, as expected of a child of House Avington. Unfortunately, it would be considered rude to refuse a blessing.
The man went to Damian. He gently placed two fingers on his forehead and closed his eyes. In the holy language, he recited a prayer. Even though I did not understand the words, I had to admit it sounded impressive.
The priest soon finished and stepped back. Damian delivered the appropriate response, his tone flat.
"Thank you, Heavenly Priest."
He looked to Father, whose features betrayed no emotion. This was now the Grand Duke, who measured his every action carefully, in the world of politics where one wrong step could cause the demise of a family. He gave a small nod to Damian.
"Go on. Goodbye."
"Goodbye, Father, Mother, Sister."
Damian gave us one last look, then he turned and boarded the carriage. I watched as it drove away, getting smaller in the distance until it vanished out of sight.
"You must have had a difficult journey, Priest Fernandez. Please come in for a cup of tea."
Mother was warm and every bit of a cordial host, while Father remained expressionless and imposing. It was a tactic they used to lure our guests into a full sense of security, like good cop and bad cop. However, the priest merely smiled.
"I most humbly thank Your Grace for your kindness. Nevertheless, I was hoping to converse with His Grace privately."
"Ah, is that so? In that case, I shall have tea sent up to the parlour."
"Thank you very much."
In the brief exchange, there had been a swift and silent battle, in which Mother won. As the mistress of the house, she easily decided the room the priest was going to have his meeting at. He couldn't complain, since it would have been rude to oppose his host twice. Besides, he didn't know there was anything special about the parlour.
Father led the priest away to the parlour. After Mother gave the order of tea to some servants, she hurried back to her room, and I followed.
"Can't I please come with you, Mother?"
"Oh, very well."
I smiled gleefully.
Obviously, we had many enemies, which was why our castle was also a fortress. One of my favorite things about it was the fact that there was a system of secret tunnels that connected all the bedrooms to the secret rooms and emergency escape routes.
Mother went to her bookshelf. She took out and pressed down on a few books in a specific order, until there was a satisfying click and the shelf slid to the side, revealing a small door. We entered, and the shelf slid shut behind us. Slowly, runes illuminated on the sides of the walls, softly shining blue, bright enough for us to see our way.
Though I had memorized the layout of the tunnels, like every member of our family, I was not allowed to use them unless for emergencies. I knew in theory which room we were headed to, but I had never seen it, so I was excited.
Doors appeared on the sides of the walls, and Mother stopped at one of them. She took out a chain of keys and unlocked it.
It was a very small room, with two chairs and a small table that had a stack of blank paper and a pen on top. The treasure, however, was the mirror that hung on the back wall.
By the standards of my past life, it would be called a two-way mirror. I didn't know the mechanism behind this one here, but I assumed it was part magic and part technology, like how the castle somehow had functioning plumbing. The important thing was that it worked, and looked right into the parlour Father knew to take the priest into.
Mother and Father truly worked as an exceptional team. That was likely why we were so rich and why they had two marvelous children. Already, she was writing down the contents of the conversation between Father and the priest, which we could hear clear as day.
"-assume you know what I'm here for, Your Grace?"
"I do not."
The priest smiled again, an infuriating expression. Since the mirror was located right above Father's head, I couldn't see his face or reaction. I imagined him to be frowning slightly, displaying no tolerance for any disrespect under his own roof.
"The temple would like to offer its most sincere congratulations on the discovery of the diamond mine."
He was revealing his cards at last! Many nobles and merchants had come to offer congratulations and try to get into Father's good books, but I felt there was something more to this.
"Many thanks to the temple. Is that all?"
"If I were you, I wouldn't be so impatient to get rid of me, Your Grace. I presume you're familiar with the prophecy of the demon king and the saint?"
My outrage at the priest's impudence was overtaken by a chill. I swallowed.
Demons, by themselves, were just animals contaminated with mana. Their appearance may change, but they would only be as aggressive as they usually were. Unless, of course, they were roused by the demon king.
Humans, by nature, were the evilest of animals. However, their bodies were also the most incompatible with mana. Mages normally didn't have nearly enough mana to be classified as demons, and mages with absurd amounts of mana, like Damian, died because their bodies could not handle its intensity.
The demon king was an unique case. It was rumoured that as a human mage, he possessed so much mana that he was almost entirely made of it, which was why he became a demon. He wanted to rule the world, and he could control the minds of other demons to serve him with his mana. It all happened a very long time ago, but he was sealed away by a saint. All that were left were legends and a prophecy.
'When the demon king began to reawaken, the saint would appear again to seal him away.'
"Surely you're aware that demons are beginning to become uncommonly aggressive? Take the unfortunate young lady of House Finley, for example. Other cases have been happening as well, more and more frequently."
"And what does that have to do with House Avington?"
"The demon king is reawakening. Within our lifetimes, he will rise. Where is the saint?"
"I do not know what you mean. The whereabouts of the saint is the concern of the temple."
"It is also the concern of all citizens of the kingdom. How did you find the diamond mine, Your Grace?"
My blood ran cold then hot and my heart beat faster in excitement. I suspected I knew why there was a sudden change in topic from the saint to the diamond mind, and I prayed to God with all my faith that it would be as I thought.
"My daughter saw it in a dream. For her ninth birthday present, she begged me to investigate it, and I went."
The priest studied Father carefully, assessing his features to see the amount of truth his words held. I knew Father to be completely unreadable, and to my satisfaction, the priest also seemed to reach that conclusion. He twisted his teacup in his hands.
"Lady Valentina has many interesting 'dreams', does she not?"
"I do not believe that is any of your business."
The priest leaned in, his eyes gleaming like he had caught hold of something.
"Ah, but it very well might be! I know that you have consulted many priests and physicians about the visions your daughter receives, Your Grace."
In his excitement, he had slipped up. When he replied, Father's voice was cold as ice with rising anger sharp as a blade.
"Why has the temple been monitoring my family? Do you think that just because you claim to be servants of God, that you have the right to invade the privacy of a young noble lady? This is an act of the uttermost insult!"
The priest realized his mistake. He gasped sharply and sat back, eyes wide with hints of terror.
"I apologize most profusely for misspeaking, and I thank you for the forgiveness I know Your Grace is merciful enough to grant."
"..."
The priest hurried on before Father, who was momentarily taken aback by his sheer audacity, could continue.
"Have you considered the possibility that Lady Valentina may be the incarnation of the saint?"
My heart leaped from my chest and my hand flew to my mouth. Yes! I had dared to consider the possibility of pretending to be the saint, but I had dismissed the idea because of the flaws I could not cover up. But if the temple was willing to approach me first, they couldn't accuse me of pretending later.
Father was silent for a long moment.
"It had crossed my mind, yes. However, Lady Valentina is a child. If more developments occur, I will be sure to inform the temple."
It was a clear dismissal. The priest took the hint, and rose.
"I will be back, Your Grace. When the time comes, I hope you will allow me the honour of a brief meeting with the young lady."
He bowed this time.
"Good day, Your Grace."
"Good day, Priest Fernandez. A servant will show you out."
The end of their meeting, but the beginning of a thousand more possibilities. If everyone thought I was the saint, there would be no way for House Avington to fall. On the other hand, if I was found out, I could be accused of blasphemy or black magic for my knowledge of the novel.
I could fake everything, but I could not develop divine powers, nor claim the holy dagger. Not as far as I knew, anyways. I needed more information, and I knew exactly where to go.
After all, I already intended on taking everything the female lead would have. Why not her sainthood too?