"Eh?" Anna was dumbfounded, watching the Saintess kiss Noel's forehead out of nowhere. There was a weird feeling that crept into her heart, but she believed it was due to the sudden action.
And that feeling soon disappeared when golden light gradually covered his body.
"This is…" Anna realized that the Saintess had to do it in order to give him the blessing. She could also see that Noel stopped moving and even closed his eyes as if he received something.
After that, the Saintess smiled and confirmed that he'd gotten what he deserved. Only then did she turn around and walk to Anna.
"Saintess." Anna politely lowered her head as if she knew she would be receiving the blessing too.
However, Layla stopped her and took her hands.
"Thank you for helping me and the city. If you are not here, I might not be standing here alive. Please close your eyes."
Anna closed her eyes, preparing to receive the same thing as Noel. But she was shocked when Layla suddenly touched both her eyelids.
A surge of Spiritual Energy entered her eyes. But she never expected that the treatment was different from Noel.
While she was receiving the Moon Blessing, Anna muttered inwardly, 'Huh? What's wrong with her? Why did she kiss Noel's forehead and the only thing she did to me was touching my eyelids? What's with the different treatment? Does she hate me or does she like Noel?'
Anna felt uncomfortable because of the difference in treatment, not knowing whether this thought came simply from the different treatment or not.
She could only remain silent for this whole process that didn't even take too long to complete. It appeared Noel had received a separate reward.
…
While Layla gave the Moon Blessing to Anna, Noel's consciousness had gone to somewhere else.
He could feel a chilling night breeze, but the cold didn't penetrate his skin. The warm light gradually illuminated this darkness, revealing the true form of this place.
"This is…" Noel was stunned because he saw something like this for the first time. He was in the middle of a flower garden. There were numerous flowers around him from white to black. All of them grew beautifully.
There were fireflies roaming around to brighten the garden.
"Where is this?" Noel looked around, wondering what he had to do in this place. But when he turned around, he saw a huge flower that could devour him easily.
And on top of that flower sat a woman with unprecedented beauty. She had long black hair tied into a ponytail and crystal clear skin that could reflect the moonlight, making her look ethereal. Even Noel never saw a woman this beautiful.
However, what shocked him the most was a pair of butterfly wings attached to her back.
With how the moonlight seemed to illuminate her brighter than anyone else as if showing its differential treatment, Noel couldn't help but mutter her title. "Moon Goddess."
A smile appeared on her face as her closed eyes gradually opened, revealing a pair of beautiful purple eyes.
"Welcome to my garden, child."
Noel never thought he would be able to see a Goddess with his own eyes.
"I'm sure that you're confused as to why I brought you here." She waved her hand as if asking him to come.
Noel gulped down and hesitated a bit, but still walked to the Moon Goddess.
No words came into his mind despite him having so many questions in his heart. He wanted to ask her many things about the spirits, but his mind felt frozen as if preventing all those questions to appear.
"Thank you for helping my children, especially this little kid." She raised her finger and projected an image of Layla.
"I… I'm simply doing my job for a reward. I don't deserve your thanks." Noel shook his head, not daring to take advantage of a Goddess' kindness. He felt that she could see through his heart, so there was no meaning to lie to her.
"You did it for my blessing. Of course, I know. I also know that your desire and the reason for you to not taking the credit for yourself."
*Gasp!* Noel's body twitched because the Goddess before him could deem his thought to be treacherous to the Saintess, so she wondered what he should do.
"Worry not for I won't get involved too much in human's matter just like all spirits."
"Huh? All spirits? You…" Noel had this doubt as soon as he saw those butterfly wings, but he never thought that the Moon Goddess actually revealed it herself.
"I am also a spirit, precisely the Dark Butterfly Spirit. But you can say that I'm stronger than those spirits. Well, let's not talk about me because the reason I call you here is to mention something about your spirits."
"My Spirits?" Noel had expected this ever since the Saintess revealed her ability to see the two spirits in his body, but it was still surprising that the Moon Goddess was bringing the topic itself.
"Yes. Aside from their name, you should know about the type of their Spirit. Your Heisk is an Ice Fairy Spirit as for your sword…" She paused a bit, showing the importance of Ardagan's identity as well as raising the tension. "Ardagan is the Pure Sword Spirit. He wasn't born but created by a Pure Fire, a fire that is so pure that it can burn everything to nothing. He receives its trait a little bit and call it Undying Fire."
"The Pure Sword Spirit?" Noel was confused by the meaning of its name. In the past, the spirits had given their own names but the humans never considered the spirit type important. "Pure Sword Spirit, Ice Fairy Spirit, Dark Butterfly Spirit… Do these name have something that differentiate them? Ah, I apologize if I sound rude by adding your name into it."
Noel hurriedly lowered his head to apologize. He wanted to find another example of spirits to make the question more fluid, but he only knew about the Dark Butterfly Spirit, so he ended up adding her name into it.
Instead of getting angry, the Moon Goddess was actually smiling.
