[Vol. 9] Chapter 39: The Divine Temple and the Holy Maiden
In the deep sea, in absolute darkness where even sunlight could not reach, a girl slowly opened her eyes.
As if sensing her awakening, another girl, who had been standing with her hands behind her back, turned around. She looked the first girl up and down for a moment, then smiled.
“Did you make the connection?”
“Yes, but that doesn’t mean much. Gaining the right to join the trial is completely different from actually passing the trial.”
“That’s already impressive. You really do have talent, you were born to carry this power. No wonder the [Eternal Winter Temple] has its eyes on you.”
Hearing those meaningful words, the first girl’s calm, quiet eyes moved slightly.
“So Miss Violet already knows my true identity?”
“I don’t know for sure, but I can make a guess. I’ve met the high priestess of the [Eternal Winter Temple] before. Your aura is very similar to hers, though not as mature and complete. I suppose you’re her heir or something like that?”
“......”
After a short silence, Moraya sighed and nodded slightly.
“The [Eternal Winter Temple] worships the God of Eternal Winter and Snow, but the one who actually founded it was Lord Sinong’s daughter, now known as the Holy Maiden, Lady Winter Sinong. She was the first high priestess of the Divine Temple. But for some reason, her descendants didn’t fully inherit the divine power passed down from the Snow God. They couldn’t even reach the level of mythical beings.
“After the Holy Maiden and the first Northern Calamity fought and both sides were badly wounded, Lady Winter realized her life would not last long. Without her protection, her weak descendants could not support the Divine Temple, let alone defend against the lingering attacks of the Northern Calamity. To keep the legacy from dying out, she came up with a solution.
“She ordered rare treasures from all over the world to be forged into a seal. Then, giving up the little life force she had left, she poured all her divine power and essence into it. This seal was called the [Divine Ice and Snow Seal]. Afterward, the Holy Maiden chose the most talented girl from her descendants through trials and challenges. That girl was given the family name ‘Sinong’ and made the second high priestess of the Divine Temple, the new Holy Maiden.
“The [Divine Ice and Snow Seal] has endless uses. It can attack, defend, help the user train faster, and even summon divine power in critical moments. If the successor can bring out its full strength, it’s as if the Divine Temple gains a new Holy Maiden, ensuring its prosperity for generations.
“But inheriting the Holy Maiden’s position isn’t easy. The most important requirement is the mysterious ‘compatibility’ with the Divine Seal. This has nothing to do with talent or bloodline, it’s completely random. If the compatibility is high enough, it can even refine the bloodline of the bearer over the years.
“That’s why every year, all eligible snow-tribe girls in the north are tested for compatibility using special methods. Those with higher scores may join the Divine Temple as priestesses, and a very small number of the best are chosen as candidates for the next Holy Maiden. They then try to bond with the seal and undergo training and trials.”
After listening to the snow girl speak at such length, a rare thing for her, Violet nodded as if everything made sense.
“Your compatibility must be very high. That’s why, even though you’re only a duke’s daughter, with the help of the seal you almost became a ‘Pure snow girl,’ a level usually only seen among royalty. That man, Lian, must be your teacher as a candidate for the Holy Maiden, either your guide, guardian, or examiner, right?”
“Yes.”
As she spoke, the priestess suddenly remembered the seal Lian had revealed on the city wall. Just as she was about to ask about it, Moraya calmly answered first, almost as if she already knew what was coming.
“The one Lord Lian has is only an imitation of the real Divine Seal. For over a thousand years, the Temple has been studying the [Divine Ice and Snow Seal], and using it as the core, they created many useful things, even building a whole special system around it. Although these copies are much weaker than the real one, maybe only one-tenth or even one-hundredth of its power, the requirements to use them and the difficulty to make them are much, much lower.”
“People like him inside the Temple have a special title, they are called [Seal Wielders]. Even among [Seal Wielders], there are different ranks, and the highest rank of them is actually the High Priestess of each generation’s Holy Maiden.”
“That does sound kind of fresh and interesting…”
Murmuring softly, Violet then asked,
“Since you’re a candidate for the Holy Maiden, you should also have your own seal, right? Why haven’t I seen you use it before?”
Moraya shook her head.
“A Holy Maiden candidate is meant to inherit the real [Divine Ice and Snow Seal] in the future. Even if we are carefully chosen, we won’t use the imitation seals.”
She pointed at the spot between her eyebrows. The eight-petal snowflake mark there wasn’t glowing now, but under the faint light from the wooden puppet, it could still be seen clearly. With just this hint, Violet understood what was going on and didn’t press further about the small details.
“This information doesn’t sound like it’s public. Is it really okay for you to just tell me, an outsider?”
“~”
Hearing that, the snow girl smiled faintly, a rare sight. Her usually cool and elegant face suddenly bloomed like a plum blossom, pure and breathtaking, untouched by dust. Even Violet was stunned for a moment, just staring.
“It’s not really a top secret. With Miss Violet’s ability, if you wanted to find out, you’d learn it sooner or later. So why not let me give you this little favor first? After all, you saved my life. Compared to that, what’s a bit of information?”
“Ahaha…”
For some reason, the priestess felt like there was a hidden meaning in those words. But for the moment she didn’t know how to respond, so she awkwardly scratched her head and instinctively changed the subject.
“Then, Miss Moraya, in the [Eternal Winter Temple], how many candidates for the Holy Maiden are there like you?”
At this, the girl’s smile faded slightly, replaced with a trace of unhidden sadness.
“To be honest, until now, there is only me.”
“?”
The unexpected answer made Violet pause, but Moraya skipped past the topic and shook her head slightly.
“To tell you the truth, I don’t even like the position of Holy Maiden. If I could choose, I’d rather give the position to someone else and just be an ordinary duke’s daughter. But now, only I can carry this responsibility. With so many eyes watching me, there’s no way to escape it. The pressure is really too much.”
“That really does sound exhausting… But they say in life, most things don’t go the way we want. Many times, we don’t have a choice. We can only grit our teeth and push forward, isn’t that right?”
Hearing the priestess say this, Moraya lifted her eyes to look at her. In her gaze was surprise, curiosity, and also a deeper, hard-to-explain searching look.
“So even someone as strong as you also faces times when you have no choice?”
"Who knows~"