Everyone here at the Bailia Grand Temple was one of High Priest Capuasia’s people. It was less a temple and more the high priest’s personal playground.

‘Then again, when even the chief god Solea is like that……’

In a Grand Temple rotten with corruption and injustice, this girl had unusually clear eyes.

That was what had caught Ella’s attention.

Ella smiled back warmly.

“Welcome.”

The moment Doris stepped inside, she began scanning Ella’s appearance and the air of the room. It was obvious, but Ella pretended not to notice.

After checking even the state of the water in the basin, Doris gave Molly a look.

Under her overbearing gaze, Molly’s expression crumpled like she was about to cry.

“Th, this is the garment you’ll be wearing today.”

Stumbling over her words, Molly held out something that was not a saintess’s ceremonial robe.

“I don’t believe this is meant for me, Priestess.”

A water-colored dress layered with rows of shimmering lace.

The off-shoulder design that bared the shoulders boldly was currently fashionable among the nobles of the Becarto Empire.

The dress itself was undeniably beautiful.

The problem, if there was one, was that it was far too ornate for the saintess of the Grand Temple to wear.

Now she understood why Molly had been so hesitant.

‘She knew.’

She had known that this dress was meant to torment her.

Knowing that only made Ella think better of Molly.

Doris, who had been silent the whole time, lifted her chin and spoke.

“It is a gift from the crown prince’s consort.”

From Dienne? That flower-faced piece of trash?

While Ella searched her memory, Doris added the rest.

“She also asked that you wear it to the gathering you will be attending together today.”

“The gathering you will be attending together?”

“You are invited to a banquet hosted by His Highness the Crown Prince and the Orpen duchy.”

“Ah, the Orpen duchy.”

Ella swallowed the laugh threatening to escape and stared at the dress.

Now she remembered. She knew exactly what misfortune this dress had brought Marian.

‘You want to humiliate me in front of everyone again, do you.’

The Orpen duchy was Dienne’s family home. The most powerful noble house in the Becarto Empire, a place steeped in a sense of superiority.

What kind of banquet would be held there was easy enough to imagine without thinking too hard.

“If it is her request, I cannot refuse.”

The dress was something Marian, who had lived as a saintess since the age of twelve after drifting the streets as a common orphan, had never once worn.

The saintess’s standard attire was entirely white and gold fabric, designed to cover everything from neck to toe.

Hands, feet, and face. Minimal skin exposure was permitted regardless of the season.

Even the nightgown she slept in was the same.

For Marian, who had lived that way, this dress was a malicious act of generosity.

“For the crown prince’s consort to think of me so.”

After much deliberation, Marian had worn this dress and attended the Orpen duchy banquet.

She had entered on the crown prince’s arm, but the moment they arrived he had turned back to his consort for all to see.

Marian alone hadn’t known that even that had been part of the fox-like consort‘s plan.

‘Poor Marian……’

It had been a daytime banquet, but the burden of the revealing neckline had kept Marian on edge throughout.

On top of that, the ridiculous styling done through Doris’s hands had made her the object of the nobles’ ridicule. The makeup and accessories had all been chosen to clash with the dress.

‘That was deliberate, no doubt.’

While Marian endured the nobles’ contemptuous stares, the crown prince hadn’t spared her a single glance. He had been absorbed in his affections with his consort, leaving Marian completely alone.

For Marian, who had loved the crown prince, it must have been a painful and heartbreaking time.

‘What on earth did she see in that worthless man.’

Marian couldn’t take her eyes off the crown prince as he kissed the crown prince’s consort. She stood completely alone in the lavishly decorated outdoor banquet hall.

That image had left a wound in Ella too.

‘Today will be different.’

She was actually curious to see how they would react.

She was more than willing to answer this so-called kindness in kind.

Ella took the dress. Doris smiled with arrogant satisfaction and said, 

“Since His Highness the Crown Prince is coming to escort you, allow me to take extra care with your appearance……”

“No, that’s all right.”

Ella raised a hand and cut her off.

Then she turned her gaze to Molly, who had been standing to the side watching nervously.

“Priestess Molly’s help will be more than enough.”

***

Somewhat surprisingly, Doris withdrew without a fuss. She likely assumed the two of them were incapable of doing anything worthwhile.

‘Well, she would think that.’

A saintess of common birth and a novice priest barely two years in would have no knowledge of noble banquets, or so she would assume.

Molly looked at the elaborate dress and asked with a worried expression, 

“Um…… Miss Mariella. Are you sure I’m all right?”

“Of course, Priestess Molly.”

“But I don’t know how to do anything. I’ve never even put makeup on my own face……”

Ella patted the back of her hand and smiled.

“It’s fine, Molly.”

I know how.

Thanks to Marian’s three years as crown princess, Ella had already lived through all of it. Crown Princess Marian, struggling alone in a social world that was nothing short of hell.

Those memories were painful, but they had given her perfect command of imperial etiquette, as well as knowledge of what items would be fashionable among the nobles in the time ahead.

Knowing how to do makeup that suited the dress was something she could manage on her own.

The reason she had kept Molly was because she wanted to observe her up close and decide whether she was fit to become a trusted ally.

“All you need to do is follow my instructions. You can do that, can’t you?”

“Yes! To think I can be of help to Miss Mariella…… it’s an honor. I’ll do my very best.”

Molly’s eyes were completely sincere.

Every time she nodded with both hands clenched into fists, her short brown bob swayed.

Her earnestness was so endearing that Ella laughed despite herself.

“Shall we get ready, then?”

“Yes, Miss Mariella.”

***

The reception room of the Bailia Grand Temple’s main building.

Crown Prince Zikhart sat on the sofa looking like he hadn’t yet recovered from the journey. Even his usually neatly swept black hair was slightly disheveled.

He had dismissed the attendants and senior priests who had followed him in, and loosened the tie that had been strangling his neck.

“I’m exhausted.”

Zikhart pushed the hair that had fallen over his forehead back and frowned.

Having come here directly after returning from his trip with his consort, he was in a thoroughly foul mood.

‘Your Highness, Miss Mariella is now a member of the Estrada imperial family. As symbols of unity, it would mean a great deal for the two of you to enter side by side.’

Asking him to escort the saintess to the Orpen duchy banquet of all things.

“Going out of her way to include the saintess.”

Honestly, she’s too kind for her own good.

If not for Dienne’s request, he would never have come here on his own.

Zikhart had always been reluctant to visit the Bailia Grand Temple. Part of it was the poor relationship between the imperial family and the temple, but even the sight of priests and clergy forced into lives of abstinence made him feel suffocated.

“I was hoping not to see that saintess robe today.”

Just sitting across from the stuffy saintess was a trial for Zikhart.

The saintess’s robes that wrapped her from head to toe were bad enough, but beyond that, there was simply no conversation to be had.

He had to admit that at first, her beautiful face had appealed to him. She had a pure, delicate charm that was entirely different from Dienne’s vivid, striking beauty.

But that was all.

“I wonder how much she’ll shrink away this time.”

A saintess was a saintess. The way she stiffened at his slightest touch had been refreshing the first time, but it was grating after every single encounter.

The furtive glances, and then the way she avoided his eyes the moment they met.

“Hah…… I’m already in a bad mood.”

And a commoner, on top of everything.

Zikhart was the only one in the noble and distinguished Estrada imperial family to have taken a commoner as crown princess. Granted, it was because of her title as the Grand Temple’s saintess, but it still felt somewhat unfair.

“The blood running through her veins is a commoner’s. That doesn’t just disappear.”

It was a national marriage he had accepted against his will, but Zikhart had no intention of ever fathering a child with her. His heir needed to be perfect in every way, including bloodline. Flawless, without a single blemish.

‘Which is why it has to be Dienne.’

There was no woman in this Empire who could match her.