Chapter 11
Ivlea decided to give up on praying after seeing Paisley’s hopeful green eyes.
It started the moment Calypso had dumped her on Paisley and left earlier.
No—actually, her whole day had already been ruined from the moment she had barged into her father’s office, yelling and opening the door without knocking.
“Spring Baptism Ceremony?”
“Yes! Don’t tell me… you haven’t heard about it?”
Paisley’s excited eyes trembled slightly. She seemed flustered by Ivlea’s dull reaction, thinking the invitation must have already been sent.
“I haven’t heard anything yet.”
Of course, Ivlea was certain an invitation was sitting neatly inside Duke Kallin’s office drawer. But as of now, she truly hadn’t heard anything. Paisley, unaware of this, covered her mouth in shock.
“Oh! My lady! I’m sorry! I thought you would have already received an invitation!”
Then she added brightly, “You’ll get it soon! I must have been the first one to receive mine!”
That innocent remark irritated Ivlea. It was a miracle she didn’t frown.
Because she was starting to realize something she had been suspecting.
That girl has been subtly looking down on me from the start.
She didn’t even call her “princess” properly, always saying “young lady, young lady.” On top of that, she kept saying she got the baptism invitation first and that Ivlea would get hers soon, and all sorts of nonsense like that.
Paisley, who was supposed to be the saint representing the temple, showed no trace of humility or proper manners.
She must have gotten arrogant from being praised as a saint everywhere.
Ivlea let out a small scoff inwardly.
‘She’s not even a complete saint right now.’
In truth, no saint in history had ever possessed only one ability. Normally, Paisley wouldn’t even be called a saint until she awakened her “healing” power.
But the reason she was still called a saint was entirely because of the temple.
The temple had feared losing her to the imperial family, so despite her incomplete ability, they had declared her a saint early.
That meant the temple was responsible for her, and for everything that came with it.
So at the very least, she should behave more modestly until her power fully awakened.
But if she kept acting like this now, what would happen later?
‘Once her power fully develops, she’ll have everyone wrapped around her finger.’
Then just wait and see. I’ll cut off donations to the temple from our house, the neighboring house, the house in front, my friends’ houses, random noble houses, my mother’s friends’ houses—everything.
‘If she gets a little poor, she’ll remember manners she forgot.’
No one was immune to money. That was an unchanging truth.
Because of that, Ivlea found herself able to tolerate Paisley’s behavior a little more generously.
“What kind of couples will be chosen at this Spring Baptism Ceremony? A love chosen by the gods… how romantic and beautiful!”
Paisley’s cheeks were slightly flushed as she spoke excitedly. Her eyes were dreamy, as if imagining something happy.
“I hope my name gets chosen.”
She placed both hands on her cheeks shyly.
Ivlea looked at her with a bored expression.
‘It’ll happen.’
Because in this Spring Baptism Ceremony, Paisley’s name really would be chosen. Along with Calypso Aedas’s name.
The Spring Baptism Ceremony worked like this:
Every year, about fifty young noble ladies and fifty young noble men who had just turned twenty were invited to the imperial palace.
The selection was said to be random, but in reality, it was obvious. Every selected participant came from well-known noble families.
After strict selection, priests would give blessings on behalf of the gods.
Then came the main event: the creation of couples.
These couples were different from ordinary ones. They were said to be matched by the gods themselves.
The method was simple. Participants wrote their names on wooden plaques and placed them into a divine relic called the “Vessel of Asa.” The name plaques would disappear without a trace.
As if taken by the gods.
Then, mysteriously, two name plaques would appear again from the vessel.
One of those names would always be from that year’s participants. The other would be from either that year or previous years.
And thus, the couples chosen by the gods would live happily under divine blessing.
At least, that was the legend.
In reality, however, the couples were decided in advance every year.
The priests simply acted as if the gods had chosen them.
In other words, it was all staged.
Still, these “divinely chosen” couples were expected to maintain the image of a perfect marriage for life, even if they were unhappy or had lovers on the side.
Because of that, competition for those spots was intense.
Not only was it extremely honorable, but couples could hold their wedding at either the temple or the imperial palace, and even the Emperor would personally congratulate them. Sometimes he even attended.
But this year would be different.
Before the priests even placed their hands inside the vessel, the names would truly appear on their own.
“Calypso Aedas” and “Paisley.”
On that day, the ceremony would erupt into chaos.
The news would quickly reach the Emperor and the Grand Duke Aedas.
The Emperor, pleased, would order Paisley to stay at the Aedas estate.
Since they were officially engaged by divine selection, it was customary for the bride-to-be to stay at the groom’s house to learn household affairs.
At the same time, Paisley would try desperately to heal the Grand Duke’s nephew, who was rumored to be cursed.
The nephew of the Grand Duke’s late brother—the only family he left behind.
Half his face was horribly disfigured. There were rumors that even touching him would spread a curse.
Just before the Spring Baptism Ceremony, Paisley would barely awaken her healing power and try to treat him.
But it wouldn’t be easy. He would either revert after a few days or weeks, or even worsen.
Still, Paisley would not give up.
And eventually…
Did she succeed?
Why can’t I remember that part?
Ivlea frowned slightly, trying to dig through her memory—but stopped when she heard a voice.
“Young lady, you’re lucky.”
“Hm? What do you mean?”
“You’ll get to wear beautiful clothes for the Spring Baptism Ceremony. I always have to wear saint robes.”
Paisley spread her arms as if showing herself.
“Look. I’m even wearing saint robes today.”
Ivlea found it strange.
As far as she knew, the temple wasn’t strict about saint clothing except on official occasions.
“You don’t have to wear them for the ceremony, right?”
“Yes, that’s true.”
“Then you could just wear something else. Don’t you get monthly living expenses?”
Ivlea knew Paisley received a monthly allowance from the imperial palace.
Since she lived and ate at the temple anyway, she could easily use that money for clothes. That was what it was for.
“I can’t even buy a few outfits with that money. And it’s not just clothes—shoes, jewelry, handbags, everything costs so much. The imperial allowance isn’t enough at all.”
Paisley sighed.
Ivlea was speechless.
‘How expensive are the things she’s buying?’
The imperial treasury accountants were known for setting precise, reasonable standards. There was no way the allowance was small.
Ivlea almost said, You’re just too picky, or You could buy plenty if you lowered your standards.
“Haah… what should I do? I can’t just wear the same outfit again.”
“Then just wear the saint robe this time. It’s an official event, so it should be fine.”
At formal events like imperial ceremonies or balls, repeating outfits was considered bad manners—but saint robes were closer to uniforms, so they could be reused.
But Paisley clearly didn’t like that idea and showed her displeasure openly.
