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“How did you two meet?”

“I approached him first. Seven years ago.”

“…”

“I wanted to find proof that Kaywhin was cursed by the devil.”

“What?”

Yelena thought she heard Sidrion incorrectly. The latter laughed wryly when she gave him a nonplussed look.

“It’s a long story.”

“…”

“And you might find it unpleasant.”

There was a short silence before Sidrion asked, “Would you care to listen?”

Yelena tightened her grip on the lantern handle.

“…All right.”

***

Sidrion was an orphan. As soon as he was weaned, he was abandoned in an old and dirty alley.

The child managed to survive on his own. The very first thing he learned how to do was beg.

One day, he was clinging to the pant leg of the most tidily-dressed person he saw, like it was a survival instinct.

“Hungry…”

“Hm?”

“I’m hungry… I want to eat.”

“Who does this dirty brat think he’s talking to?!”

“Wait.”

Sidrion had been holding on to the garment of the chief priest of the sun god Ior.

“As you can see, he is a pitiful child who seems to have lost his parents. What about taking him into the temple?”

“Pardon?”

“Child, would you like to follow us? If you come with us, you will never go hungry.”

“Chief Priest, what in the world…”

What the chief priest had seen in that dirty alley that day was none other than the child’s face. Although he was covered in soot, upon closer inspection, the boy had a fair complexion and pure blond hair that wasn’t mixed with any other colors.

The child looked like a doll…

And soon after, he really became the ‘doll’ of the temple.

“Is it true, Priest? Will our child really be able to live?”

“Of course. Through your faith, your child can be saved.”

“Oh, Priest… I will put my faith in only you, Priest. Since you said my child can be saved, I won’t have any doubts.”

The child had become a young boy who worked in the temple, donning the priest attire.

He only had one job: soothing the people’s anxiety.

The boy was tasked with putting the faint hearts of the believers, who were easily swayed by fears and anxieties, at ease.

But on the inside, the boy had a slightly different role.

“Chief Priest.”

“Oh, it’s you, Sidrion. What is it?”

“I met… Sister Aden today.”

“And?”

“She asked me if her child would be able to live.”

“And of course you affirmed, right?”

“Yes, but… didn’t the priests say that the child wouldn’t be able to live? I heard them talking before. They said her child is terminally ill, so there isn’t much the temple can do—”

“Sidrion.”

“…”

“Didn’t I tell you to devote yourself only to your own job?”

“…”

“Your job is to give the believers something to believe in. You don’t need to know about or pay attention to anything else.”

“Yes, but, Sister Aden is too pitiful. She believes that her child will be able to live and she offers a great tithe to the temple every week. But…”

“Sidrion, my child. If you continue to disobey me, I have no choice but to punish you.”

“…!”

“Take him to the basement and leave him there for 3 days.”

“I-I’m sorry. Chief Priest, I’m sorry. I’m sorr—!”

“Bring him out in exactly 3 days.”

Sidrion soothed the hearts of the believers. In other words, he blocked their doubts and suspicions.

The believers devoted themselves to the temple, clinging to a virtually nonexistent shred of hope that was hanging by a thread. And their devotion was always proven through money.

“Priest, my wife’s illness shows no improvement. What can I…”

“It’s because you aren’t completely devoted. Next time, your donation should be…”

“Priest, Priest. My mother’s eyes won’t open.”

“You must express your faith with more conviction. Come to the temple to pray, and give a tithe that matches your faith…”

People were easily deluded by what they saw.

The blond boy wearing a pure white priest’s robe looked like an angel, and it was easy for the people who visited the temple to believe what he told them. Even if what he said was absurd.

It weighed down on his conscience, and sometimes, Sidrion would say he couldn’t do it. Then, the chief priest would lock him in the basement for several days.

The basement was where blasphemers of the temple and other sinners were locked up and being tortured to death.