Volu 3: Phantom Dreams
More than half a month had passed since the New Year.
After the ball, the palace had arrested a batch of suspicious individuals and dealt with quite a few criminals. However, Marianne had never been able to investigate the black shadows that Celitia ntioned, and ultimately could only let the matter rest.
A few days after Gorman awakened, he fell into slumber again, saying he would contact Celitia in dreams and telling them not to worry.
The delegation from the Kingdom of York completed their peace negotiations and departed gloriously.
The academy's final exams ended one after another, and when the last subject was completed, winter break arrived.
At the start of winter break, Celitia accepted Shanie's invitation to visit her ho for a few days. Besides Celitia, Sophia and Benita had also received invitations to go together.
However, due to so last-minute matters, Sophia postponed her trip by a few days, letting Celitia and Benita go with Shanie first.
Shanie's ho was in a village south of Cassia, not by the sea, with a climate that was sowhat warr and drier in comparison.
Strolling on the village's small paths, Celitia found everything looked fresh and interesting.
"Is this Lily and Benita's first ti visiting our countryside?"
Shanie walked beside Celitia, enthusiastically introducing her hotown.
"Our Paril Village ranks among the most prosperous in all of Baron Bantel's territory.
"In spring, the mountains bloom with flowers, and in autumn, the plains over there beco fields of golden wheat.
"Unfortunately, it's winter now, so you can't see such scenery. How about coming to visit again in spring..."
Shanie chattered away, describing wheat fields and pastures to Celitia and Benita, becoming more animated as she spoke, her whole person extraordinarily excited.
Listening to Shanie's words, Celitia leisurely swept her gaze over the nearby scenery, but as she looked, her eyes fell on the silent Benita beside her.
"You seem to have been sowhat absent-minded lately."
Observing Benita's expression, Celitia suddenly spoke up. "Did sothing happen, Benita?"
"No, I'm fine."
Benita was startled and hurriedly shook her head at Celitia.
"Really?" Celitia remained noncommittal. "If you have any troubles, you can discuss them with Shanie and ."
Benita hastily emphasized: "Really, there's nothing!"
As the two were talking, Shanie, who had been chattering about local customs, suddenly raised her voice:
"Hey, look over there, it's so lively! What's happening?"
Shanie always loved excitent and, without further ado, eagerly headed over that way.
"Quick, quick, let's go watch! Sothing interesting must be happening!"
For so reason, many people had gathered around a simple stone house.
An aged female voice rang out shrilly from the crowd:
"I told you to get lost! This old woman doesn't need your fake sympathy!"
It seed there was an argunt inside. Celitia thought carelessly.
Celitia had never been interested in such matters and wanted to pull Shanie back, telling her not to watch the commotion and to hurry ho instead.
But when she raised her head and casually glanced over the crowd, Celitia suddenly spotted a familiar tall figure.
She was surrounded in the center of the crowd, her deep red short hair neatly tucked behind her ears, lips slightly pursed, her face full of helplessness.
It was actually Ariel.
What was Ariel doing in the countryside instead of properly serving as the Saintess at the church?
And she was actually arguing with soone...
Celitia couldn't help but feel curious.
Opposite Ariel stood an elderly woman with white hair, her face wrinkled into a mass of anger.
"You people only know how to put on fake acts all day long. You haven't accomplished a single good deed, yet you caused my son's tragic death!"
The old woman pointed at Ariel's nose and scolded, "Now you dare to appear before !"
The old woman's hand was almost poking Ariel's face, yet Ariel didn't get angry, only silently sighing with her expression remaining calm.
Celitia had always lacked favorable impressions of the church, but she had witnessed Ariel's actions with her own eyes.
The old woman was accusing Ariel of causing her son's death, but honestly, Celitia didn't quite believe it.
Celitia frowned slightly and asked Shanie: "Who is that old lady?"
"That's Granny Monica," Shanie thought for a mont. "I rember, several years ago, her son was taken away by the church and never returned."
"What did the church take her son for?" Celitia asked. "Was it related to heretical beliefs or sothing?"
"This..." Shanie couldn't answer. "I'm not very clear about it..."
Hearing their discussion, a nearby onlooker suddenly joined the conversation:
"If you ask , Yurian brought it on himself!"
"Ah, it's Uncle Paul!" Shanie's eyes imdiately filled with curious light. "Do you know the details? Could you tell us about it?"
"There's nothing to hide, everyone knows about this."
The middle-aged man nad Paul waved his hand. "It's just that considering Granny Monica's feelings, we haven't ntioned it much in recent years."
Shanie beca even more curious: "So what exactly happened?"
Under the girls' gaze, Paul cleared his throat and slowly explained:
"This was five or six years ago. Granny Monica's son Yurian, influenced by soone unknown, joined so organization, firmly believing he could make money. It turned out to be a scam organization. Not only did he join himself, but he also convinced several others and swindled quite a lot of money from people! Fortunately, the entire organization was eventually dismantled by the church. The church took everyone away, saying they would guide them back to the righteous path and let them repent to the Goddess through ascetic practices.
But later we heard that because of the huge change, Yurian couldn't stand that kind of life and chose suicide. He owed many people money, having squandered all the swindled money without repaying any of it. So all those creditors ca looking for Granny Monica, didn't they?"
Celitia thought to herself that the organization Yurian joined sounded quite like a pyramid sche.
Though the church often acted inhumanely, they really hadn't done wrong in this matter.
She heard Paul continue:
"Just now, more people ca to collect debts and wanted to seize Granny Monica's belongings. It was that red-haired priestess who ca to stop them and drove those people away. Not only is Granny Monica not grateful, but she's been pointing at her nose and scolding her for quite a while now."
After hearing Paul's words, Celitia couldn't help but look up at Ariel again.
Having spent considerable ti with Ariel, Celitia knew very well what kind of hot-tempered person she was, soone who couldn't tolerate any wrongdoing.
Yet such a person was now standing there obediently, letting the old woman vent all her fury on her.
"Talking about coming to visit - such fake benevolence, do you think I care for it?"
Monica beca angrier as she spoke.
"You're obviously here to mock , why make excuses? Get lost, get lost now! As far away as possible!!"
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