Chapter 16

Chapter 16: Live To Sienna Pt.16
Kelly had a surprised look on her face. She knew that there were only a few priests who could perform prayers of healing.
Roy approached Kelly’s bedside and greeted her, “I am Roy Whist, of the Goddess of the Earth.”
“I am Kelly Grinnie. I should be getting up properly to greet you…”
At Kelly’s words, Roy put his hands up and said, “No, it’s fine. If you lie down comfortably, I will try to cast my prayer of healing from the Goddess of the Earth.”
“It’s already an honor for this old one to have been offered a humble prayer of healing. There are very few priests who can perform the healing rites. But for such a precious person to be here…”
“No, it’s alright. The Goddess of Earth gave me this ability so that I could use it to help people. It is also the Will of the Goddess to have met miss Kelly and to pray for your health.”
Roy gave Sienna a nod and took Kelly’s hand. Roy’s fingertips began to emit a bright light. The glow looked extremely sacred. Moreover, the light seemed to be moving with a sense of purpose and determination. Roy mumbled out a series of unintelligible words from a language that did not sound like human words.
The light that had begun at Roy’s fingertips became more intense and lasted for a long time. Sienna watched the rite, feeling as if Roy had been possessed.
Suddenly, the light scattered all over the room.
“Wow…”
Sienna could not even give a proper exclamation after seeing that massive and incredible ordeal.
By contrast with those who could save people from death’s door, and those who could heal hundreds at a time, the priest had said that he could only offer a bit of consolation through his power, but his words seemed to have been too modest. Though Sienna had not checked on Kelly’s condition yet, sure enough, what she had seen with her own eyes had not been a small talent.
“Sir Roy, you’re really…”
Sienna tried to tell Roy of how amazing he was, but Roy staggered and dropped down to the ground on his butt, sitting as if strength had left his legs.
“Sir Roy!” Sienna ran to him and held him in her arms. “Are you all right?”
Roy opened his mouth with difficulty and said, “With all due respect, I think I’ll… If I fall asleep like this… I don’t think I’ll get up… for a while. I leave the temple to you… by request. The key in my pocket…”
He closed his eyes at last, unable to finish his speech. He seemed to have passed out.
“Sir Roy? Sir Roy?”
Even though Sienna called for him many times, he didn’t respond.
“Miss Kelly! Miss Kelly?!”
Jane approached Kelly and looked at her, so Sienna raised her head and asked, “How is my aunt doing?”
Jane scrutinized Kelly very meticulously and told her, “Unlike before, the blood and jaundice in her eyes are gone. It’s hard to say that she is still sick just by looking at your appearance. For now, it seems she has fallen into a deep sleep. He’s really amazing… To do that for miss Kelly… She needs to wake up first for us to be certain of anything, but from what I can see of her condition so far… She seems to have made a complete recovery.”
“Is that really true?”
“Yes, that’s absolutely amazing. When miss Kelly got sick, I went around asking for who could heal her illness, but most of the people who could do it were senior cardinals of the Holy Empire… I never imagined that the young priest Roy was hiding such an ability.”
Sienna looked at Roy, who had fainted in her arms. While he was sleeping, she could see his long, brown lashes and his gentle face. He looked like strong willed boy, and Sienna was amazed that he carried such huge potential within his young body.
“I really saved such a stupendous person…”
Sienna moved Roy to a room next door and took care of him. Having said that he would not wake up for a long time, he slept as if he were dead.
“When is it that you’ll come around?”
Sienna fiddled with a ring of keys she had found in Roy’s possession. They seemed to be the keys for the Temple of the Earth.
“It seems to me that I have received a much too excessive gift from you…”
Sienna clasped the ring of keys in her hand. All she could do was take good care of the temple like he had entrusted her for a while.
“Lady Sienna, miss Kelly is awake.”
Jane took Sienna to the drawing room instead of Kelly’s room.
“Aunty Kelly! Is your body feeling OK?”
“As you can see, it’s very well.”
Kelly was sitting on the sofa, not on the bed. When Sienna came down the stairs, Kelly rose from her seat and approached her.
Just that morning, it had seemed to her that she had been barely holding out in her bed. Now, however, there was no sign of any illness.
Jane, who was standing next to Kelly, told Sienna, “Just now, the doctor came and checked up on Kelly’s great health.”
“I never thought I’d experience a miracle like this in my lifetime.”
“That’s a great relief!”
Sienna hugged Kelly tightly. The warmth felt by her arms seemed to signal Kelly’s newly renewed vitality.
“You said his name was Priest Roy Whist of the Goddess of the Earth, right? I need to give him a reward.”
“I’m sure he didn’t do it with any reward in mind, but when he wakes up, you guys can discuss it.”
At Sienna’s words, Kelly nodded.
While the two were talking, Jane served some tea. The violet tea branched out nicely in the cup. Kelly took a sip of her tea and admired it.
“I don’t think I’ve been able to enjoy this scent in a very long time. My sickness didn’t allow me to smell anything, and I felt like I was chewing dry wood no matter what I ate…”
Sienna also took a sip of the tea. It smelled really good.
She hadn’t known the true taste of tea back in Heidel. The northern part of the country was so cold that she had to slice the fat off of animals and mix the oil it made in the tea. For that reason, she hadn’t been able to enjoy any of the smells because the smell of animal fat overpowered every one of them. But, after spending five years in the Imperial Family, she learned how to enjoy tea properly.
Jane’s tea was soft, full of sweet flower fragrances and a light in taste. Tea was something about which everyone had their own distinguished preferences and tastes, but Jane’s skills were excellent.
“Jane’s tea brewing skills is quite remarkable. There are only a few people in the Imperial Family who can brew tea as good as this.” When Kelly and Jane tilted their heads while looking at her, Sienna realized the slip of her tongue and hurriedly tried to recover from the situation, “Ah! What I mean is I don’t think there could be many in the Imperial Family who could brew like this. In any case, those are just my thoughts.”
Kelly laughed at her words and said, “I feel the same way as you, Sienna. Rather than the Imperial Family’s tea brewing skills, Jane’s tea should be considered the best brewed in the world.”
“Both of you are over complimenting me too much. More than that, Kelly, do you have anything to say to Sienna?”
“Did you have something you wanted to say to me?”
“Yes. I am grateful to the priest, Roy Whist, for treating me, but I should be thanking you with a reward as well.”
At Kelly’s announcement, Sienna immediately refused, shaking her hand and saying, “You don’t need to thank me. I did nothing.”
“No. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have had the chance to have my fateful meeting with priest Roy. I want to make amends to you, too.”
Sienna said it would be enough for her to attend the debutante banquet as her guardian, but Kelly reciprocated and said that she would still reward her regardless.
“Don’t just say no, miss Sienna. Kelly is a business woman down to the marrow of her bones. She’s always lived by the motto: ‘Repay kindness in double and exact revenge by ten times the amount of wickedness done to you.’ If miss Sienna continues to refuse, she will feel uncomfortable.”
Sienna, who gave up trying to persuade the two, nodded when Kelly said that she would give her a dress and jewelry for her debutante banquet. Considering that the price of a dress worn by the nobility when attending a debutante banquet was sufficient to buy a carriage, it was by no means a small reward.
However, Kelly’s reward was much more than what Sienna could have imagined.