The room was silent for a brief moment until the boy's mother let out a weird sound. It was a mix of a heart wrenching pain, understanding and relief. The priestess went over to the woman to console her. Wrapping her in a motherly embrace, burying the woman's face into her bosom.
"Priestess, I think I… I think I understand our lady's pain now. Not completely. But now I know what it's like to lose your child… But, I lost mine from my own failure to parent him properly. Our Lady lost all of her adorable babies out of Human zealousness and desire for power. A power that will never come. I… I don't want anyone to hurt my family either. I know our lady's wrath is justified. But it doesn't hurt any less. My son is now a puddle for his actions." The woman cried, speaking into the priestess's chest.
The Priestess held the woman tighter. "As long as we support and look up to our Lady, she will never abandon us. Even if one does turn their back on her. They will be shown mercy, given a chance to repent and come back home to their goddess. But if they refuse that and raise their hand against her. Benevolence won't be shown again." She said, explaining what happened objectively. "It was the city lord who ordered the attack. And I suspect that it might have come from the Emperor himself. Rest assured that justice will be wrought upon the Empire." She continued.
"This wouldn't have happened had we never strayed away from the right path. All the Magus told us to live our lives to the fullest and enjoy what we did. To build and love. To grow. Then… How did you evade the capture, Priestess?" The woman asked, curiously.
"That's simple, the army wouldn't dare storm in one of these halls of worship. Not with the carving out there. Only a fool would dare to do that." The Priestess explained, then let go of the woman. "I've unfortunately been stuck here as a result. So I'm grateful to her majesty for coming to our rescue. And I will serve her with everything I have. I love her with all my heart. Whatever order she should give, I'll carry it out with conviction." She continued, stretching her arms out, exposing herself as the garments stopped blatantly hiding what nature gifted her.
The men looked away, some of them blushing quite hard. Even though they knew that Lady Eternia preached to be comfortable with themselves, it was still more than their hearts could handle. The priestess was a picture perfect woman. So beautiful that only the human form of their goddess could be said to be better. And it was all the result of the blessings Eternia gives to her priestesses. There was one man who didn't shy away though.
"Women truly are quite lucky to have a chance to be so blessed by our beautiful goddess. It almost makes me jealous." Ralond chuckled, calmly and then sighed.
"Oh? You must have seen Lady Eternia at some point? How did you fare in her presence?" The Priestess said, teasing Ralond a bit with a little shake.
"Ahahaha," Ralond laughed. "Oh no, I haven't been blessed with the sight of our fair and just goddess, Lady Eternia. The safe point outside the city, Lady Solaria is protecting the people there. And she seems to adore wearing even less than the priestess's garb. There are still a few men recovering from blood loss…" He explained, chuckling about it. "There were a lot of boys yet to be made men by a woman's touch. So I suspect that must have been the cause." He added.
"Pfft… That's so cute. All those timid boys have a hard time looking at me without blushing. Sometimes they'll even blush when the priestesses in training come skipping around. It's so cute. They'll get around it some day." The Priestess giggled, as the garb loosely covered her again.
Vitaliana reappeared at that moment. "Alright, I can take a few more this time. Oh? Huh, did something else happen while I was gone?" She asked, looking around the room and sensing it felt… interesting.
"Oh, nothing serious happened. Sir Ralond here was just telling me about what happened in the safe point." The priestess giggled.
"Ah! Yeah, it wasn't just the young men that struggled with my grandmother's beauty. Many women had a hard time with it too. But they'll all be fine. And the villages are the perfect place to get used to it. Apparently, they have some kind of job where… Well, now's not the time to get into it. I don't know much about them either. Only that it is the safest place in the world." Vitaliana started, then stopped once the next group was ready. "Oh, if you want to check it out, my sisters are performing synchronized magic. It looks pretty cool. I'm sure you'll learn a thing or two if you watch it. Anyways… I'm going to try and speed up the evacuation. Rapid Teleport!" She said, then vanishing with another group of refugees.
The woman who had recently lost her son, started wiping her eyes. And then stood up, looked around and nodded as if understanding what she must do now. "I'm going to strive to make up for the affronts my son and husband had made. I'll find a worthy man and get his seed. Lady Eternia, I wish to have more children and teach them of your love. The same love you've shown all of your believers." She declared, with a confidence of putting the past behind her. Though there was still the sorrow of losing her family. She knew that the only way to make things right was to continue living her life to the fullest. "The magus never lied about how we should behave in this world. But that was just the general rule. I desire to continue my devotion and love to my only goddess. The one who saved me, allowing me to bear a child. And now I must make up for the mistake I made. I chose the wrong man, I thought I could convert him. But… I was wrong, I shall work to earn forgiveness until this pain subsides. And work towards honoring your glory." She continued with a subservient tone.