That evening.
Esther plopped on a chair and earnestly gazed at the jewelry box, which bore a numerous amount of diamonds inside.
She observed the box diligently, her appearance resembling someone who was in the middle of a snowball fight. Then, Esther slowly reached out her finger to touch the diamonds.
"Amazing. It's all diamonds."
It felt bizarre to be able to observe such glistening objects. It was as if she owned something forbidden.
However, Esther was quite thrilled.
She now owned money that she could freely use at her disposal. Money that wouldn’t disappear no matter how much would be consumed!
The more money Esther maintained, the better the chance she had to deal with Rabienne and the temple thoroughly.
Now that Esther owned her diamond mine, she wouldn’t have to ask Darwin for assistance every single time.
"Good."
Esther subsequently shifted her hand to close the box. However, just before her hand forced the lid down, she nit-picked out the largest refined diamond that Ben had deliberately packed.
"Dorothy."
"Yes?"
Dorothy, who had been tidying the room, rushed to her lady's call.
"You said your brother was getting married soon, right?"
"Yes, next month."
A few days ago, Dorothy had been apologizing to her brother as she couldn’t support his wedding fund.
Esther recalled this beforehand and held out the diamond she had just chosen to Dorothy.
“Take this and go home.”
"Hick! My lady, you brought this from the mine, didn't you?"
Dorothy fell on her knees, startled by the object.
It was such a large diamond, she was positive it would pay for at least two years’ salary.
"Gosh, giving me something like this. I can't accept it."
"Don't feel pressured. I'm giving it to you out of gratitude. If I am in need of more, I can always visit the mine again."
Esther placed the diamond in Dorothy’s hand, obliging her to receive it.
"My lady..."
Dorothy was in tears as she glanced at the diamond sitting on her palm.
"Hngh... Actually, I was troubled by the cost of my brother’s wedding. But because my lady gave me the diamond..."
"If it's because you're short on money, I'll give you all of this. So don't cry, okay?”
Esther handed Dorothy the whole jewelry box out of anxiousness. She seemed to be crying even more now.
"No! This is more than enough. With this, I can purchase the few outfits my brother wished for. I'm crying merely out of happiness."
Dorothy refused the box and urgently explained to clear Esther’s misunderstanding. Although tears were streaming down her face, her expression was bright.
"I will work better in the future. I am lucky to have such a caring lady."
"Hehe."
Esther grinned with pride.
"But... did you really mean to give me all this just because I was crying?"
"Yes. Why?"
"No, there are many bad people in the world! You can't give anyone all this!”
Dorothy rubbed away the tear tracks with her sleeves and proceeded to nag meticulously.
Esther pondered deeply as she listened to Dorothy's complaints.
‘Does she want me to give everyone only one?'
Originally, she was thinking of saving the diamonds for the times she would need them. But, seeing how much Dorothy favored being gifted one, Esther seemed to change her mind.
She believed it would be gratifying to hand a few to the attendants who had been nice to her.
** ━━━━━━━⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅ ━━━━━━━**
A few days later, during the afternoon.
The meal had ended, but it was still too early in the evening to fall asleep.
"Oh, did my lady doze off already?"
Dorothy quickly held her breath and made sure not to cause any sound. This was because her lady had fallen fast asleep.
She discreetly turned off the lights and left the room, feeling distressed for her poor lady, who must've been very tired.
However, as soon as the lights turned off, Esther’s eyes spontaneously opened.
'Is she gone?’
The small girl lingered in place for a while, then steadily crept to the door. She situated her ear against the door and listened attentively. The hall remained silent.
She carefully opened the door and peeked through. There was no one outside.
Esther then warily made her way out of the mansion.
Although she encountered the guards amid her escape, there weren't any restrictions as she explained herself to be taking a walk.
The place she was so determined to head to was the Havel Garden.
"This is a good place."
Esther nodded satisfactorily as she observed the garden. It was a spacious and difficult area to head to, making it a perfect location to rehearse her powers.
The purpose of sneaking out behind Dorothy’s back was to train her divine strength.
“I shouldn’t let my powers go wild.”
It would be difficult if her mana suddenly burst, thinking back to the incident that occurred recently.
She should've been capable of controlling the overflowing force in her body, but she was not competent to do so.
As Esther contemplated how she would initiate her mana, she noticed a nearby fountain.
"Water?"
She recalled training with water while in the temple, so a fountain this size was more than suitable.
As she approached the stream and peered through, leaves and petals could be seen floating atop.
Even if a gardener managed the garden every day, it was natural for them to tend to the water at least once a year.
"I'm going to test this."
Esther opened her palms wide and stretched them forward. After closing her eyes, she rested all her focus on her fingertips.
'Be clean!'
She hadn’t intended for this to happen.
The moment Esther deemed her request, her powers reacted and considerable energy extended from her fingertips.
Mana, much more than Esther had anticipated, flowed into the fountain. All the water inside soared up simultaneously. It was a remarkable sight, the stream of water floating within the air.
Esther inflated her cheeks, disheartened by what had happened.
"I failed to control the force once again."
Still, as Esther wished, the water in the fountain turned out very clean. It was dazzling and transparent.
"It's very clean. It almost seems like holy water... Wait, don’t tell me?”
Esther flinched and edged towards the fountain. She thought it couldn't be possible. However, just to make sure, she took a small sip by cupping her palms.
Gulp.
At that moment, holy energy spread inside Esther’s mouth, completely clearing her head. It was that very moment her doubts turned into conviction.
"I can do something like this?"
Esther murmured weakly. She rubbed the back of her arms, feeling cold shivers through her spine.
All the water in the fountain had become holy.
A high priest ought to pray continuously for a few days to maintain holy water, the size of one's palm.
That was how difficult it was to produce, but she was able to easily do so within a short amount of time.
This was impossible within Esther's common sense.
She became increasingly anxious. Her powers seemed to surpass her expectations.
'What am I supposed to do with this?'
Esther sat at the edge of the fountain, observing the holy water. She suddenly recalled one of her previous classes.
If one produced mana, they could use their holy water to observe any place they’d wish for.
It was a rare ability that could not be used without having a considerable amount of mana. Only saints of the past have been able to...
"Maybe."
Esther calmed herself and proceeded to make her attempt. She believed it would be attainable if she were to think so.
‘Rabienne.’
As Esther settled all attention upon Rabienne, her coral eyes began to change color. It leisurely converted from faintly yellow to brilliantly golden.
As if to respond to the change of the atmosphere, the surface of the water began to sway. Esther opened her eyes, expecting the outcome to be the same as her previous attempts.
‘It’s real?’
Esther stopped breathing in surprise. Astonishingly, Rabienne appeared inside the holy water.
She seemed to be feeding a woman medicine. It was an old lady who appeared lifeless.
Esther ventured, glimpsing at a closer stance. She was curious regarding her identity. In a flash, the woman turned her eyes and gazed towards Esther.
Shocked, Esther splashed the surface of the water with her hand. The water scattered, in addition to the sight she had just glimpsed, which disappeared without a trace.
Esther gripped her forehead, confused. She couldn't process what had just unfolded before her eyes.
"That person was Saint Cespia."
Her proud eyes and benevolent appearance were nowhere to be seen. She had changed so much that Esther wasn’t able to recognize her at one glance.
Now that Esther thought about it, it was most likely Saint Cespia who made eye contact with her during her visit to Noah's sanctuary. She was convinced with that fact when their eyes met just now.
It was surprising that Esther successfully applied her mana into the holy water and succeeded in witnessing Rabienne. However, Saint Cespia’s appearance was much more of a shock.
"I thought it was strange she hadn’t appeared at the official event, but..."
She was taking medicine under Rabienne's supervision. Esther was already suspicious of what Rabienne had done to her, seeing her lifeless, dull eyes.
“I don’t think I’ll be able to find out, since I’m not residing inside the temple.”
Rabienne was preparing something dreadful. However, considering the security of the temple, it seemed impossible for Esther to find out.
She tried once more to create the frame, only to fail. However, Esther was lucky enough to be able to have witnessed Rabienne.
Esther decided to leave her disappointment behind and head back. She seemed a bit drowsy, likely due to her incredible use of mana.
She brushed her sweaty hair, not feeling at all well.
'Huh? I can't see...'
Her vision blurred.
Esther blinked multiple times, and eventually fell, unable to move any further.
** ━━━━━━━⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅ ━━━━━━━**
During the time Esther sneaked out of the mansion and headed to the garden.
Judy noticed Esther from afar as he fooled around on his own.
"Oh? It's Esther!"
He beamed. As Judy headed towards her, he noticed she was significantly different from usual and decided to quietly follow.
'Where is she going alone at this hour?'
Judy wandered quietly to get rid of any sounds, and Esther had no idea he was following her.
He was thrilled at the thought of sneaking after Esther and surprising her from behind.
However, a while later, he beheld a miraculous scene. He had thought Esther only wanted to hang around the fountain, but at her strange motioning, every drop of water soared to the sky.
“Esther, who are you, really?”
Judy watched everything with his mouth agape. He had previously missed the timing, so he couldn't surprise Esther.
He leaned against the tree and was mysteriously beginning to feel tired. However, he soon regained consciousness at the deafening noise.
As Judy rubbed his eyes, he found Esther collapsed and rushed towards her.
"Esther? What's wrong? Wake up!"
Although he called for Esther, she didn’t budge an inch. Judy anxiously shook Esther from side to side, oblivious of what to do.
