A Villainess' Lawyer - I'll Help You Get The Palimony You Deserve

Chapter Nine: Her Past - Lady Rebecca Vanderwood, Age 10 - 15 (Part One)

Orion.

A once uninhabitable, cursed waste land filled with monsters and dark beings. A piece of land that had always remained warded off from the rest of the world... Or at least it was until a brave, yet ambitious young hero came along one day and defeated them all. He purified the land, freeing it of its lingering darkness.

That man was Arthur Dale, the great founder and first King of Orion. The man who claimed this newly cleansed land as his own.

And for a while, it had been a prosperous time for the newly established kingdom as the air was rich in mana and magic. Known as the Golden Era, Orion became the place for all magicians and masters of the magical arts to be, so it came as no surprise that it soon became the Holy Temple's main headquarters. A blessing itself for the kingdom that was starting to flourish and grow in its influence abroad.

But as generations passed, the magic in the air began to fade. The mana that people could once naturally drawl out with ease began to vanish as the people's innate affinity for magic filtered away. With only a few individuals being blessed with the ability to use magic, there was an eventual decline of wizards and magic users that appeared over the years.

A sign that magic's age of glory has passed, and that it was time to start taking action to ensure the survival of the next generation of magic users.

From then on, the Holy Temple took it upon themselves as one of their missions and duty to God to actively seek people who were blessed by the heavens with an affinity for magic in their act of kindness, and this was done through their relations with the church. Within every church, there was at least one prayer statue crafted from the Holy Temple, one with a magic rune cast upon it to react when coming in contact with a person who has magic.

In most common cases, the statue would react in a positive light – either by glowing out a halo, letting out the sounds of harmonic music, or even by smiling. It varied from person to person, but the Holy Temple was always alerted by the church whenever a new person was found. And from there, their life would begin as a disciple of the Holy Temple, where they would learn to cultivate their magical abilities.

At least... that was the case for most people.

"This is the child?"

The old man stroked at his beard, as he stared down at the young girl presented before him, their newest disciple.

"Yes, Archbishop,"

Behind her were two men clad in white robes, members of the Holy Temple who had been dispatched to pick up the child.

"And she made the Holy Maiden statue... cry 'blood'?"

The elder man did not conceal his raised eyebrow, even he was staggered by the statue's rather... odd reaction. It was a first for him, and he had seen many disciples through the temple's doors in his time.

"Yes, Archbishop..."

The man received sheepish nods in response, a confirmation from the disciple who had seen with their own eyes the result of the young girl's magic.

He let out a hum, his eyes darting back to the young child who seemed practically unfazed by it all.

'A rather peculiar reaction indeed... perhaps a foreshadowing of the future?'

But looking at the tired young girl before him, he dismissed the thought as nothing more but a foolish thought. An old man's paranoia.

'This child is no danger to us.'

If she was, she would have already been burning on the spot from the moment she stepped through the Holy Temple's gates. The product of a protection enchantment that was casted many years ago, to prevent dark beings and black magic users from entering Holy Temple grounds. But seeing as the young lady was perfectly fine, and hadn't burst into an explosion of flames yet... the archbishop would have to say that there was nothing evil about her at all.