|| ᴀ ꜱᴀɪɴᴛ ᴡʜᴏ ᴡᴀꜱ ᴀᴅᴏᴘᴛᴇᴅ ʙʏ ᴛʜᴇ ɢʀᴀɴᴅ ᴅᴜᴋᴇ || ᴄᴏᴍᴘᴇᴛᴇ ᴡɪᴛʜ ꜱɪᴅᴇ ꜱᴛᴏʀɪᴇꜱ ||

Chapters 116-120

Episode 116: When Desires Clash (X)

Since the holy items cultivated by the saint contained the same purity, equivalent to that of holy power, they were used for various purposes.

The holy flowers were utilized to create medicine, so all diseases, put aside the incurable, were easily healed.

This mounted to a significant price for the nobles who knew this fact.

Selling the flowers to collect money was also the main source of income for the temple.

"Even if there is not enough, we will send them away. This will be the surest way."

Rabienne replied while glancing around the greenhouse, bearing no greed for money.

There was no way that the few priests along the border area would be able to treat all of the patients.

If she could use the flowers to stop any rumors from spreading, so be it.

"However, half the amount must be preserved. Leave the insignificant commoners and slaves... The flowers are just too precious."

Lucas advised, his words tinted with regret. It was rather two-faced, for someone who had just spoken about consulting the imperial family to deal with the matter officially.

In the end, Rabienne burst into laughter and assured him that she would never act in any way that would result in a loss for the temple.

"High Priest Lucas is very similar to me."

"Yes?"

"I like it. I believe everyone who does not take care of their own interests is a hypocrite."

Rabienne approached Lucas, and threw the rotten flower that had consumed her venom onto the ground.

"I agree with your statement that wasting the flowers freely would not be advantageous, however. If the epidemic spreads further, such a loss would be much greater than losing them. Send at least half the amount for now. With this, we can put out the fire and save more for later."

"I understand."

At that moment, Lucas gazed at the flowers with dismayed eyes. He frowned upon noticing that Rabienne had yet to complete her task.

"Wait a minute."

It was not until he observed closely at the nearby flowers that he realized that not one had been fully purified.

"This... The conditions are not as good as I expected them to be. If flowers in this shape are sent to the borders, I'm not sure they would function properly."

The reason why the flowers changed like this was all due to the absence of the true saint. They had gone bad since no one tended to them properly.

Rabienne clenched her teeth at the hard work she wasted. It was all for naught.

"There is nothing I can do. Please send this, and have all the high priests help me starting tomorrow. Let's put aside other matters and fix the flowers first."

If the epidemic did not subside, they would require a lot of holy flowers in the future, so working alongside the high priests would serve as a better alternative.

"I understand. And I hear Khalid has returned. Did you achieve any results?"

"She isn't the one."

Rabienne slowly shook her stiff head. Lucas' face darkened as well.

"This is a problem. We must find the saint quickly in order to maintain the temple."

"...What do we do now?"