Chapter 182: What did I do wrong?

Early Morning.

In my hand, I held three letters.

The senders were Lillian, Viviana, and my most beloved mother.

My mother and Viviana’s letters were filled with greetings, but the one from Lillian was quite different.

Her letter said that the goddess’s patience was slowly reaching its limit. She could no longer persuade me, and at the very least, I should visit a nearby temple and offer a prayer.

“What should I do…”

I was troubled.

For the sake of Mardian’s stability, I couldn’t leave Märchen right now. But at the same time, I didn’t want to trouble Lillian either.

They were both precious to me—grateful souls who loved someone as insignificant as me.

After a moment’s thought, I went to find Mardian.

“A temple?”

“Yes, I was wondering if there’s one here in Märchen.”

“There is. But this city has such diverse religions… It’s a bit different from the Empire.”

Being a free-spirited city, no single faith seemed to hold absolute authority. Still, if temples existed, surely one of them followed the goddess’s teachings.

“Mardian, would you go to the temple with me?”

“A temple, all of a sudden?”

“Actually… I like praying to the goddess.”

Mardian looked at me, a little surprised.

I’d never once mentioned religion in social circles, so to suddenly confess my faith probably seemed odd.

Honestly, even I hadn’t expected to become such a devoted follower of the goddess.

“I want to go and pray—ask her to let me live happily with you for a long, long time…”

I gently laced my fingers with Mardian’s as I made the request.

For just a brief moment, Mardian’s crimson eyes flickered strangely.

“…Alright. Let’s go to the temple together.”

Mardian said that as long as we were together, nothing else mattered, and gladly agreed to my request.

And so, our plan for the day was set: visiting a temple in the city of Märchen. After a light breakfast, we began preparing for the trip.

We also took care of a few bodily needs.

“Ah, ahh…! Ma-Mardian…!”

“Mmm… I’ll press your lower belly…”

“Ah… Aahh…! It’s coming out…”

Sshhh—

After that, I used incense and thoroughly washed myself clean.

I wore a modest dress and even put on accessories I normally didn’t use.

Since I would be seeing the goddess again after a long while, I wanted to look as lovely as possible.

We left the estate in Mardian’s carriage.

Before long, the bustling center of the city of Märchen unfolded before us. There were splendid buildings and busy merchants lining the streets.

“What kinds of religions exist in Märchen?”

I asked Mardian as I looked out the window at the passing scenery.

“There are ones that worship reincarnation, others that believe in the afterlife… There’s even a religion that denies religion itself.”

A religion that denies religion? That sounded like a contradiction, but it didn’t seem worth overthinking.

I leaned my chin on my hand and watched the scenery pass by—until, before I knew it, the carriage arrived at the temple.

“It’s quite magnificent.”

It wasn’t on the same scale as the Great Temple of the Empire, but its presence was still impressive.

Mardian and I stepped down from the carriage and walked toward the temple.

Soon, a man who looked like a priest came to greet us.

As soon as he saw Mardian, his eyes widened, and he appeared flustered.

“L-Lady Black Rose! What brings you here…”

“Why else does one come to a temple? We came to pray.”

“I never imagined Lady Black Rose held faith in the goddess.”

Seeing his delighted expression, I was reminded again of just how much influence Mardian’s name carried—even here.

“Is there a place where we can pray quietly? Somewhere private, without interruption.”

Mardian handed the priest a heavy pouch. He subtly gauged its weight, then immediately smiled brightly and gave a respectful nod.

“Of course. For Lady Black Rose, anything is possible. Right this way, please.”

The priest, whose money pouch had become noticeably heavier, hummed a tune as he led us deep into the temple.

“This temple isn’t all that different from those in the Empire. Well, I guess even temples need money to operate.”

Walking through the seemingly endless corridors of the temple, I began to feel a little bored.

“Sir Mardian, is there something you’d like to pray for?”

Mardian glanced at the priest cautiously before leaning close to my ear and whispering softly:

“No. Honestly, I don’t believe in goddesses or anything like that.”

“Uh, then why did you come to the temple…”

“Because you wanted to, obviously.”

“I-I see…”

I wanted to tell Mardian firmly that the goddess was a real, living entity.

But I stayed silent, worried it might provoke unnecessary resistance. After all, there’s nothing more annoying to an atheist than a religious sermon.

Of course, the goddess is undeniably real.

“You may pray here.”

The prayer room the priest led us to was filled with a solemn and sacred atmosphere.

Sunlight filtering through stained glass bathed the space in soft rainbow hues.

The delicate carving of the goddess statue standing tall in the center was so lifelike, it almost seemed to breathe.

Above all, the divine energy that lingered in the air convinced me that prayers would certainly reach the goddess here.

“Then, I’ll take my leave.”

As soon as the priest quietly stepped away, Mardian subtly leaned into my arms.

“Lady Mardian… Please try to behave yourself, just for now.”

I gently stroked her hair and spoke in a soothing tone.

But instead of pulling away, Mardian burrowed even deeper into my embrace, wrapping her arms tightly around me.

“You really are such a handful.”

“…Don’t like it?”

Her sorrowful crimson eyes looked up at me. I swallowed my conflicted feelings and slowly shook my head.

“No. But you have to stay still while I pray, okay?”

“Okay.”

With my permission granted, Mardian nestled even closer, looking content.

“Hehe, do you like me that much?”

I asked playfully. Mardian gave a silent nod and slowly began to speak.

“Of course. You’re everything to me—”

But she never got to finish her sentence.

Her voice stopped, and her body suddenly froze.

There wasn’t even time to be surprised.

An inexplicable energy engulfed the room.

The surroundings slowly drained of color, turning into a world painted only in black and white.

“…What?”

A surreal, incomprehensible phenomenon. I looked around in confusion.

“L-Lady Mardian…?”

Suppressing my fear, I gently touched her. No response.

I approached the center of the prayer room.

A white light descended from above. I reached up beneath it and looked toward the sky.

But to my astonishment, my hand cast no shadow at all.

“This is…”

An impossible sight. It felt like I was trapped in a world where time itself had stopped.

Only silence filled the air.

“At last, you’ve come.”

A foreign voice echoed through the frozen world.

Startled, I turned my gaze.

There stood a woman.

Her long, flowing white hair resembled mine. But hers shimmered softly like a clear gemstone.

Her appearance was otherworldly.

Radiant skin imbued with pure energy, and features so perfect they seemed sculpted by a divine hand.

Her beauty was so flawless, it was hard to believe she could be human.

That alone made it easy to guess who she was.

“…Goddess?”

The woman smiled gently.

Even that small smile was so elegant and sensual that words couldn’t describe it.

“This is the first time you’ve welcomed me like this, isn’t it, child?”

She slowly walked toward me.

“Um… are you really a goddess?”

“Yes. That’s how you all call me, isn’t it?”

There were so many questions I wanted to ask.

No one, not even Lilian, had ever seen the goddess’s true form.

Why was someone like her here? And why had she revealed herself in front of me?

“Do you want to know?”

The goddess asked, her voice as if she could read my thoughts.

“Uh, how is it that the goddess is here…?”

“Well. I came to punish my disobedient follower.”

Before her words had even finished, the atmosphere changed in an instant.

In the blink of an eye, her pure white eyes grew cold, and they pierced through me.

“Punish…?”

I didn’t even have time to realize something was wrong.

The goddess’s finger shimmered with light, and a pillar of light burst forth, engulfing me.

“Ugh…!”

The blinding light wrapped around my arms and legs in an instant.

Losing my balance, I had no choice but to fall to my knees on the floor.

“G-Goddess…!”

“I’m sure I told you to pray once a day.”

Her voice was completely different from before.

It was cold and chilling. As if she were angry.

The goddess was angry. I couldn’t shake the bad feeling creeping up inside me.

“I’m sure I told you to pray at least once a day.”

Could it be that she was angry because I hadn’t prayed?

That was hard to understand too.

How could something as trivial as my insignificant prayer upset the goddess?

“Did… did you get angry because I didn’t pray?”

The goddess looked at me and spoke softly.

“It was fine when you couldn’t pray because your mother was ill.”

Her gaze shifted toward Mardian.

She examined her without moving, scanning her from top to bottom, before furrowing her brow deeply.

“But you delayed your prayers just to be with another woman?”

“…What?”

“So I have a lecherous follower.”

My mind went completely blank.

Another woman. Lecherous. These were not words I expected to come from the goddess.

“You said you loved me, that you liked me… but in the end, you were flirting with all these other women, weren’t you?”

The atmosphere was getting more and more intense.

Her cold, deepening gaze proved that.

“W-Wait a second, goddess…! I don’t understand what you’re saying…!”

What did I…

What did I do wrong?