Usually, all the Holy Priests would've already left now that the meeting was over, especially since all of them were feeling a bit tired. However, in the current situation, they didn't leave. They remained behind, glancing back at the door of the mansion.
"Is he going to be alright?" The Holy Priestess of Thunder asked, slightly worried. It was as if she understood what had happened.
She wasn't the only one either. Almost everyone here knew what this was about, except one person... Elora.
Elora was the newest addition to the Holy Priests. She also didn't have an extensive intelligence network like other churches. Moreover, since she was so new, she didn't know much about other Holy Priests at all. That's also why she had to take Thalia's help to arrange for the meeting of Saints.
Even Avilia was slightly down as soon as she heard the news. She didn't have any friendly relations with any Holy Priest. However, she could understand what the Holy Priest of Flames must be feeling at a time like this.
"I wonder who did it... They really invited a disaster." Avilia could only sigh. She knew what the outcome of this was going to be.
"What is happening?" In the end, Avilia could only take Thalia's help to get some information. She didn't want to be the only one who didn't know what it was about.
"Do you know what fate stones are?" Thalia asked the Holy Priestess of Water.
"I do. I have one as one. They are so rare that even my entire Church only has one." Elora nodded. "The fate crystals can be attached to a person. When that person is in danger, they can crush that fate stone and this information is then sent to the place where the core of the Fate Crystal was set."
"Of course it's rare, since the materials to make them can't be easily found. If I'm not wrong, there are only ten such fate crystals in this entire continent," Thalia agreed.
"In other words, if you crush your jade stone, the Church of Water will get that information along with your location. They can then send help. This is only used as a last resort by us since each Church only has one Fate Crystal. Only the Church of Light which has two."
"Usually, the Fate Crystal is kept by the Holy Priests of the Churches since their safety is of utmost importance for the Churches. However, the Church of Flames was different. Lerian didn't use his fate crystal for himself," the Holy Priestess of Earth also chimed in. She had been a Holy Priestess the longest.
"Who did he give?" Elora inquired, wondering who could be worth a fate stone. Who could Lerian care for more than his own life?
"He gave it to his daughter," the Holy Priestess of Earth answered. "The person he cared the most for in his life..."
"He has a daughter?" Elora asked, taken aback. She had no idea that Lerian had a family and a daughter? She wondered why she never heard it.
"He 'had' a daughter," the Holy Priestess of Earth clarified.
"Before he became a Holy Priest, he was already married," Thalia affirmed. "Not only did he have a daughter, but he also had a wife and a son. Unfortunately, his son and his wife were killed by some bandits. Only his daughter managed to survive. Since then, his daughter had been his life. A few years after that incident, he became the Holy Priest of Flames..."
"I still remember the day he introduced his daughter to me," the Holy Priestess of Earth let out a sigh, as if she remembered the past. "You might hate his behaviour and how he reacts, but he used to be really different before he lost his daughter as well. I know that on the inside, he's still the same person, but he has buried his real self in a shell for a long time."
"H-his daughter died?!" Elora exclaimed in shock. Who could've killed his daughter, especially after he became a Holy Priest? Wasn't it even worse than attacking him personally?
"How is it possible?" she asked. "Didn't she have a Fate Crystal? She could've easily alerted him! Right?"
"That's what should've happened ideally." Thalia nodded. "However, for some reason, even as his daughter was kidnapped, her fate stone wasn't broken. It was as if whoever took her knew about her fate stone and prevented her from breaking it."
The Holy Priestess of Earth further explained, "The Church of Flames searched everywhere for his daughter. Of course I also helped, along with the other Churches."
"We were all hoping to find the little girl alive, but we couldn't. After two weeks of search, all we found was her dead body, in an abandoned house... She was only twelve when she was killed. And it wasn't a merciful death either. From the wounds on her body, she was tortured before being killed."
"The entire incident had left a deep impression on all the Churches, especially on Lerian. He was so angry that he burned the entire town where her body was found in anger."
"It was the first time a Church was targeted to such an extent. That incident changed Lerian forever. I don't think anyone has ever seen Lerian genuinely smile ever since that incident. He always hides behind a fake personality from what I can understand," the Holy Priestess of Earth stated. Since she knew Lerian the longest, she also knew him the most.
"Ever since that day, he had been looking for clues as to what happened that day. We could only guess that the Dark Mages were behind this. Even though we have no evidence, only they could pull something like that off. That's why he was so eager to leave the meeting to find the Church of Darkness as soon as he heard about their return."
"That's also why he was so upset when he found out that you lost the only clue which could lead us to the Church of Darkness that rose again. So I hope you won't blame him for being rude. It's something really personal for him... And for me as well," the Holy Priestess of Earth exclaimed. "I also want to know what happened that day, and who was behind this."
"I get it... I think I understand him better now..." Elora lowered her head, gazing toward the palace. She finally understood why Lerian was so intimidating in the meeting. It was only now that she realized how little she knew about everything.
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(A/N: Some extra and important detail has been added in chapter 290 which I forgot to mention last time. If you want to read and can't see updated chapter, please try clearing cache of the app and check the chapter.
Also Important information: From 20 December, there will be a WN event where you can give your Golden Tickets to help the book. The GT will be counted double and should also help the book more than usual. So if you want to give at that time, please save your GT and don't give before 20 December.
If we reach the target, there should be two mass releases in next 30 days and something extra.)
