Lilian, who had been thinking about Rin for quite a while now, slapped both of her cheeks with her hands, trying to snap herself out of it.
"Snap out of it, Lia! I'm the next saintess, I can't get married, let alone be involved with a man!"
she muttered to herself.
After that little reality check, Lilian's expression sank. The weight of her position pressed down on her chest like a heavy stone. Being a saintess meant she would be forever bound to the church, her life no longer her own. No freedom, no future to choose for herself. Her days would be filled with orders to follow, people to heal, and lives to take in the name of the so called peace for the empire. The very thought of it made her feel suffocated. It wasn't fair. She wanted to live too. She wanted to laugh, run under the sun, and experience things ordinary girls her age did.
Was that so wrong?
Taking a deep breath, Lilian glanced around the old, crumbling temple one last time before deciding it was time to leave. The temple, though abandoned, always gave her a strange kind of peace. The scent of old wood, dust, and faint traces of old incense still lingered in the air. She turned to the worn-out table where she used to leave Rin's food.
Something was sitting on top of it. Narrowing her eyes, she stepped closer.
A letter.
Heart pounding, she hurriedly snatched it up and unfolded the slightly yellowed paper.
XX/XX Of the Year 702
Dear priestess Lia,
If you're reading this, I would like to meet you again to give you something in return for your help. I will wait here every Saturday night at midnight, like how we met, until you show up.
From, Rin
Lilian's eyes widened in shock.
"Wait a minute… isn't the date here from three weeks ago!?"
Did he come here every Saturday night since then, waiting for her? Even after all this time?
"Oh no… I was so busy with my high priest ceremony and training that I never came back here again. "
she whispered, guilt knotting in her stomach. Her heart ached thinking about it. She hadn't meant to leave him waiting.
But tonight… tonight was Saturday. But it wasn't midnight yet.
A spark of hope flared in her chest. She glanced at the sky through the small hole on the roof. The stars were out, twinkling like tiny lanterns scattered across the endless dark canvas above. The moon was bright, casting a gentle silver glow over the ruined temple.
"Right… I should wait for him,"
she decided.
"Compared to him maybe waiting here for the past three Saturdays, one night is nothing for me."
Without another word, Lilian took her shawl tighter around her shoulders and made her way outside the temple. She crouched by the same old tree where she had first found Rin. The rough bark dug against her back as she sat down, her hands hugging her knees to keep warm. The night air was chilly, making her shiver, but she refused to go inside. For some reason, she felt too eager to see him again. She wanted to be the first thing he saw when he arrived. Maybe she was being foolish, but she couldn't stop herself.
The minutes stretched into hours. One hour passed, then two, then three. The cold bit into her skin, making her fingertips numb. She rubbed her hands together, occasionally glancing at the moon as it climbed higher, then slowly began its descent. The air grew colder, and mist gathered on the grass around her feet.
"Maybe… he won't come,"
she whispered, her breath forming a pale mist in the dark.
Four hours… five hours…
She wanted to hold on to hope, but her eyelids were growing heavy, her body aching from sitting in the cold for so long. The old tree creaked softly with the wind. Every sound seemed to echo in the silence. The temple's broken walls cast eerie shadows in the moonlight.
"Achoo!"
She sneeze due to the cold
Just when Lilian was about to lose hope, a voice called out from the darkness.
"…Lia?"
Her eyes snapped open, and she turned her head so fast her hair whipped around her face. Standing a few meters away was a figure, tall, with dark hair and piercing red eyes that seemed to glow faintly in the night.
It was Rin.
"Rin…"
she whispered, tears instantly welling up in her eyes.
He looked a little different from before. His hair was slightly longer, and he wore a dark cloak over simple clothes, but his face was the same. His blood-red eyes met hers with a mixture of surprise and relief.