CH 36

Pray for your Future Husband [ Hone...

The day after my stomach had healed, I received a summons from Thanasios to his office. Come to think of it, this was the first time I had been summoned. Whenever there was something, Thanasios always came to my room, so I wondered if there was some formal notice or order. I was nervous, but I couldn’t take too much time getting ready, so I hurried to Thanasios’ office.

And what I was told was surprising.

“The reconstruction of the Temple of Lethe, is it?”

I couldn’t quite swallow those words. I had heard that the temple of Lethe, the goddess of forgetfulness whom I served, was one of the few in the entire continent. However, I thought that there must be one in the Styx Kingdom, where the faith in the gods, especially the main god Styx, was strong. What does ‘reconstruction’ mean?

Thanasios nodded with a hint of implication.

“Previously, I told you that you had to report to the Goddess of Forgetfulness, Lethe, whom you served as a nun, because you were going to become the chief priestess of the main god, Styx. So, I searched for the Temple of Lethe in the capital… but it wasn’t there.”

“It wasn’t there?”

“Perhaps it was forgotten because there were few faithful visitors. I finally found a trace of it on a map from several hundred years ago in the library, but now it has become a public bathhouse for local residents, and there was no trace of it.”

I was speechless. My mouth was wide open.

Even the temple, the center of faith, had been forgotten. Isn’t that too much, Goddess of Forgetfulness, Lethe?

But Thanasios doesn’t stop there.

“So, we will renovate an available property in the center of the capital and build the Temple of Lethe in a hurry. However, the goddess of the festival, the Goddess of Forgetfulness, Lethe, has lost all descriptions of offerings and rituals in all literature, and the priests in the capital have no idea about the details. That’s why I want you, a follower of the Goddess of Forgetfulness, Lethe, to help rebuild the temple.”

No one would have thought that it had been forgotten to such an extent, but perhaps even the Goddess of Forgetfulness, Lethe, had not thought of it. Anyway, I am a nun serving the Goddess of Forgetfulness, Lethe, and I recently received an oracle that I would receive her blessing. At this point, there is no choice but to do something. Rather, I will gladly repay the favor.

I decided to accept Thanasios’ proposal.

“Understood. For the sake of the Goddess of Forgetfulness, Lethe, I will do everything I can.”

“You don’t have to be so tense. Building the Temple of Lethe has another purpose.”

“Another purpose?”

“Yes. We will incorporate the former Uranos Principality knights into the newly created Lethe Temple Knights. This way, they will be given a status to live in the Styx Kingdom and will also receive salaries.”

I tilted my head. Once again, incomprehensible words. What does it mean to attach the old to the Uranos Principality, to be incorporated into the Temple Knights, and to live in the Styx Kingdom? What events led to this, and what does it all mean? I have too little information to even imagine. All I know is that Korya, the young man I happened to meet again at the tavern in the castle town, and probably his fellow knights, are there.

Would it be wrong to ask Thanasios for an explanation? I timidly asked Thanasios.

“Um, Thanasios-sama. Why is Korya… I mean, from what I heard, the knights who should be in the Uranos Principality are in the Styx Kingdom? What is happening?”

I didn’t think it was wrong to ask, but I didn’t know if I was allowed to bother Thanasios with my questions.

What should I know and how should I act? As someone who doesn’t interact with people and is ignorant of the world, I don’t understand anything. I only know that I can’t distinguish between what I should know and what I don’t need to know. Therefore, I think I should leave it to Thanasios, who is intelligent and discerning, to handle that aspect.

But…

Thanasios also caught my confusion.

Thanasios said earnestly, “Eleni, I swear to the main god Styx that I will not lie to you.”

Oh, I didn’t want to make him say that.

I regretted it. It seemed like I didn’t trust Thanasios. Thanasios would never lie to me, and even if he did, I wouldn’t be able to tell, and even if I did, I should ignore it.

It is not allowed to tarnish the name of the wise prince of the Styx Kingdom. So I regretted it and kept my mouth shut.

“I will tell you what needs to be told. However, there is little information to give at the moment. For certain reasons, knights have fled from the Uranos Principality, and the Styx Kingdom has accepted them. Therefore, I want to borrow your power.”

If that’s all I need, the information is enough, and I accept it.

Recognizing Thanasios’ sincerity, I expressed my gratitude.

“Thank you very much, Thanasios-sama. On behalf of the knights, I would like to thank you as well.”

“Don’t worry about it. Oh, and if you’re interested, I’d like to appoint you to a key position at the Temple of Lethe. You can think of it as my proxy, and it will make things easier.”

“Well then, I’ll do my best, even though I’m just a lowly nun. Will I be able to handle it?”

“Nobody else knows more about the Goddess of Forgetfulness, Lethe than you do in this country. Well, that may not be saying much.”

I couldn’t help but agree with that. I was just a simple nun, and my faith was not very strong.

However, the Goddess of Forgetfulness, Lethe is generous.

A voice echoed in my head.

“It’s fine, but… oh, Eleni, I agree with everything you just said. Also, I’m appointing you as the chief priestess and priestess of the Temple of Lethe, so please take care of it. Don’t worry, there’s also an oracle from Styx-Okaasama confirming it.”

Snap! My consciousness was brought back to reality.

I looked around and muttered to myself.

“Goddess of Forgetfulness, Lethe just gave me an oracle.”

“What?!”

Thanasios stood up with a start, knocking his chair over and staring at me with wide eyes.

In the end, I was called by the priest and had the oracle of the Goddess of Forgetfulness, Lethe officially documented as a formal document before heading to the planned temple site.