"Take me to her!"
She jolted as the Saintess suddenly yelled at her like that. Grabbing her collar, Eli repeated her words loudly while shaking her. She felt dizzy but also started to be curious as to why the Saintess was so adamant about meeting her maid.
Do they know each other?
"Okay, calm down!" Mona yelled back and shoved Eli away. She fixed her collar before speaking again, "Explain first. Why do you want to meet her?"
Eli was silent. She just stared at Mona with unreadable emotions in her eyes.
"Do you know Sandra?" Mona added.
It took a while before the Saintess nodded.
Mona was already aware that the maid came from the Holy Nation, but her being acquainted with the Saintess wasn't mentioned.
'There was a time when young ladies aged from eleven onwards were being brought to the temple after their divine mana was measured and passed the required amount the temple set. I was one of those ladies.'
She then remembered Sandra's words.
Ah. They probably met at the temple. She thought.
"Were you friends with each other? Sandra told me she also participated in the Saintess selection."
Eli flinched at her words. It surprised her, but she chose to be silent. She decided to shut her mouth after seeing how troubled the Saintess was. Clearly, the two weren't friends at all.
'But why so desperate to meet her, then?' Mona wanted to ask but chose not to.
She sighed and spoke otherwise instead, "She's at the mansion. If you want to meet her that desperately, you can come with me."
She whirled and walked away. Hearing the footsteps followed her, she sighed in relief. But the silent atmosphere Mona was expecting broke when the Saintess began to speak after a while.
"She was a friend of mine."
Mona continued to walk ahead, not waving at any vacant public carriage that passed by at all. The mansion wasn't that far from the town square, but it was also not close. At most, it will take hours for them to reach it.
Luckily, the weather was so nice, it wouldn't be bad to just walk at all.
"She's an orphan my family brought as my servant when I was asked to live at the temple."
Sandra mentioned she was a street child, but that's all.
"We grew closer, almost like siblings, in fact. We had many differences, but that didn't stop us from being each other's support. Cassandra is a free soul, she's jolly and simple."
Mona raised her eyebrows when she heard those last words, but she stopped herself to comment.
"She got in to serve me, but the first high priest saw her potential. Fortunately, her divine mana exceeded the required amount, and she was allowed the same education given to those who passed. As you know, the temple doesn't discriminate. It was lucky that she was brought at the temple, or she wouldn't have been discovered at all."
Mona recalled how Sandra said she had no intent on becoming the Saintess, so she took the lessons lightly. And that she wasn't aware of the selection at first.
"When she learned what that education was for, she didn't take them seriously. While I, on the other hand, was too focused and dedicated to excel at everything. But still, I was lacking."
Mona stopped and turned back to look at her. Eli was looking down, but her expression wasn't good. It was filled with regret and… guilt?
Why though?
Why did she say she was lacking?
Eli stopped beside her and nudged her to continue walking, when she did, Eli continued. They were already out of the busy streets; few carriages were seen passing by and they were the only ones walking on that road leading to the townhouses and mansions.
Wearing their hoods, they seemed to look suspicious, fortunately, no one has approached and misunderstood them so far.
"Cassandra was… born with talent. Those circles and formulas, she understood them easily. She can be considered a genius and added her innate divine mana that could rival a priest at her age already. She was one of a kind. And I, too, believe that she'll be hailed as the Saintess."
One thing Eli said caught Mona's attention instantly. Divine mana that could rival a priest at a young age. It was different from what she saw in Sandra. The maid's mana didn't even measure to a hundredth of her, so how come…?
"She was supposed to be the Saintess, because no matter how she took the lessons lightly, her divine mana had become so immense it surpassed the priests and some of the high priests as well, it grew naturally, unlike me and the rest of the candidates who need to bask in the blessing and glory of the gods to improve. But then, three years ago just before the proclamation, she suddenly disappeared, leaving nothing behind."
"That's…different…" Mona mumbled to herself.
But those words didn't escape Eli's ears.
"What do you mean? What's different?"
She stared back at the Saintess with similar confusion in her eyes. All those times, Mona believed that Sandra was just an ordinary citizen of the holy land, lucky enough to enter the temple considering the amount of mana she felt from her.
Now she regretted not prying deeper. But also erased the thought when a somber and troubled expression of her friend came to mind. Sandra was clearly hiding her past, or finding it difficult to tell anyone.
Is it possible for mana to decrease greatly? It seems like it can really happen, though she hasn't heard of any cases before. An immense amount of mana disappeared suddenly, or was it really sudden?
Maybe it was just dormant? Sleeping inside her?
"Mona."
She blinked when she realized how long she'd been staring blankly at Eli.
"Just see for yourself." She answered and walked faster.
They entered the mansion and the servants greeted them, but Mona didn't waste time greeting back. Some knights who saw her companion became vigilant and guarded, but she ignored them too. She climbed the stairs and headed straight to her room, but Sandra wasn't there.
"Do you know where Sandra is?" She asked Lucaz, who immediately followed her as soon as she entered. Probably asking where had she been and why she just suddenly disappeared.
Although bewildered by her urgency, Lucaz took them to where Shelly's room was. Even after arriving at the capital, the head magician never stopped working, so her room was just like at the grand duchy.
Inside was messy, the sofas and table were occupied with many things, and the only space for sitting was her bed.
"What brought you here?" Shelly asked her grumpily.
"Sandra?"
The curtains on the door leading to the balcony moved, and it revealed the person she was looking for.
"What do you need me for, my lady?"
A gust of wind past her shoulders, and before she could even blink, the shadow of the person she came with was already standing before her, facing her maid in an instant.
Everything went silent. Even Shelly was too shocked to yell for her papers that just flew everywhere by the wind.
Then, a trembling voice was heard, "C-Cass…"