Chapter – 04
A Mother’s Command, Scarier Than a Divine Revelation
“What do you mean?! Why on earth are you entering a temple?!”
My father, Raymond Danier, raised both hands toward the heavens and lamented, “Oh, good heavens!”
It was a highly theatrical gesture, but it couldn’t be helped. People around here considered this level of drama to be good manners and sophisticated.
“My beautiful daughter, what could you possibly lack that drives you to enter the filthy lands of Hamilcar, hmm?!”
I flinched for a moment.
I had explicitly told him, “I wish to devote myself to Gerca, the God of Wisdom, and study to become a good wife,” but look at his faceāhe wasn’t buying a single word of it! Besides, though my father probably didn’t intend it, his words hit the nail right on the head.
I was trying to enter the lands of Hamilcar. As for Gerca, I couldn’t care less.
At the dinner table, my eldest brother, Bertrand, had seemingly lost his appetite and sat with his arms crossed. Seeing him massage his neck with one of his crossed arms, it was clear he thoroughly disliked this situation.
My second older brother, David, stood up entirely and shouted.
“We cannot send you to a country of savages!”
The Hamilcar Countship held an autonomy so vast it was practically a country in exchange for guarding the border. Thus, the people of that region didn’t think of themselves as ‘Morihen people’ but rather as ‘Hamilcar people.’ And it wasn’t wrong. If you have the right to wage war, you’re a country, honestly. In fact, the majority of people called it a ‘Countship-Kingdom.’
If this were Korea, I would have immediately snapped back, ‘Who are you to say whether I can or can’t?!’ David and I were only three years apart, so who was he to decide my fate?
But unfortunately, here, he did have that right. I was part of the Danier family’s property, and my brothers were the ones managing the Danier estate.
Sigh, what a miserable underdog position.
Anyway, an underdog must behave like one. I looked at my father, the patriarch of the familyāthe ultimate boss among bosses, the ‘Boss of Bosses,’ even if everyone else in this room technically outranked me.
Father had already resonated completely with my second brother. No, ‘resonated’ wasn’t enough. He was practically synchronized.
Should I try to win over my eldest brother to turn the tables?
I looked at my eldest brother again, and our eyes happened to meet. He smoothly shifted his gaze, pretending our eyes had never met. It meant he wasn’t going to take my side.
In that case, there was only one person left.
Turning my head, I saw Mother quietly observing me.
“Arian, why do you insist on going to a temple so far away? There is a temple of Gerca right here in our own territory.”
She was different from the males who did nothing but rage and oppose. Mother calmly pointed out the contradiction in my words first.
Heh, but Mother. I already anticipated that question.
“If I am to go to a temple anyway, a famous one will be more beneficial. Besides, doesn’t that person reside in the Gerca temple of Hamilcar?”
There lived Pythia, the temple head who supposedly received Gerca’s divine revelations. Once it was confirmed that she had a direct hotline to God in her head, she was never allowed to leave the ‘Grand Hall’ for the rest of her life. Even her noble status as the King’s sister and the eldest daughter of the late King was entirely useless in the face of the justification of ‘divine revelation.’
Perhaps the reason Hamilcar could act so arrogantly was because they held her hostage. The King probably ground his teeth in pure hatred over his older sister Pythia being in Hamilcar territory, but for me, it was a good thing.
If I studied by the side of the King’s sister and the only ‘Saintess’ in the world, Pythia, and luckily secured her patronage, my value in the marriage market would rise to a level almost fitting for a princess.
Well, of course, if the King’s actual daughter went to the Gerca temple and received her aunt’s patronage, no matter what I did, I wouldn’t match that princess’s value. But there was no way a princess would do that. Hamilcar? It was a savage’s territory, remember. To a princess who only stayed in the court within the King’s direct domain of Read, or the seasonal palaces nearby, the borderlands were far too distant and terrifying. Besides, the King was already furious every single day just because his sister was being held hostage. There was no way he’d let them take his daughter hostage too.
I had only mentioned ‘that person,’ but Mother understood my entire thought process. Of course, Mother wasn’t the only one who got it. My brothers and Father understood as well.
“What kind of flaw do you have that you must go all the way to a temple?!”
Going to a temple raises one’s value. In other words, those who go to temples are usually desperate enough to need that boost. It wasn’t a place for a legitimate daughter who had a high-ranking noble father and a mother whose bloodline connected to the ruling family if you traced it up.
It was generally a destination for illegitimate daughters, those involved in scandals, those rumored to have terrible personalities, distant relatives, or girls hated by their stepmothers… That kind of life, so to speak. And even people in those situations didn’t go as far as Hamilcar. Usually, they’d go to a temple within their own territory that possessed the most comfortable facilities.
That was why Father was screaming. Because I was acting like a flawed child.
Of course, if I actually went to the temple, Father would exert his political prowess to spread rumors that I wasn’t flawed, but rather a devout young lady. (Though honestly, girls my age would definitely think that even if there was nothing wrong with my body or status, there was definitely something wrong with my head. That was how distant and wild Hamilcar was considered. But it didn’t matter. The ones deciding my marriage wouldn’t be girls my age, but middle-aged men like my father or the Count of Hamilcar, and middle-aged women like my mother.)
Mother suppressed my protesting father with a single glare, then looked at me, tapping her fingers on the table. Tap, tap. Soon, she spoke with a gentle smile.
“You truly are my daughter. I am proud of you.”
“Dear!”
Father called out to Mother in a reproachful tone.
Who was it in Rome that said it? Men rule the world, but within the household, women rule over those rulers. Honestly, there are probably many households where that isn’t the case, but my mother perfectly embodied that saying.
“Yes, since you want to secure your own future firmly, this mother of yours will actively support you.”
“Mother!”
My second brother was shocked and tried to protest, but Mother didn’t even pretend to listen. And just like that, my departure for the temple was decided.
After completing all preparations in just ten days, I climbed into the carriage, and Mother took my hand, saying:
“Since you are embarking on this long journey with such firm resolve, this mother of yours will not worry. I trust you will return with Lady Pythia’s patronage without fail.”
…Excuse me? When did I ever say I’d get Lady Pythia’s patronage?
Does she think a saintess is a joke? She’s the one and only Saintess on the continent. Of course, if I were a princess, it might be possible. Because I’d be her niece. But I am my father’s daughter, not the King’s. How on earth am I supposed to get patronage from the Saintess?
Pretending not to see my dumbfounded expression, Mother gave a bright smile.
“Surely, you didn’t just spout nonsense just because you wanted to escape the interference of your parents and brothers, right? Do a good job and come back.”
The unspoken words, ‘Just try failing,’ were written clearly all over her face.
“No, Moā”
I was about to say, ‘Mother, of course I will do my best, but…’ but the moment I uttered “Moā”, she let go of my hand and slammed the carriage door shut.
The carriage took off. Wait, hold on! I didn’t tell it to start!
But the coachman always follows the orders of whoever holds the ultimate authority at the moment. Judging by how my father was crying “Arian!” from afar, it didn’t seem to be his order either.
Bearing a mother’s commandāfar scarier than any divine revelationāin my heart, the carriage departed.
It took twenty-three days by carriage to reach the Hamilcar territory.
From what I knew, medieval roads were supposed to be unpaved, but a significant portion of the road leading to Hamilcar was actually paved. Of course, it wasn’t like an asphalt road. However, a road laid with flat stones was certainly much more comfortable for a carriage ride compared to unpaved ground.
Furthermore, unlike the Middle Ages of our Earth, there were mages here. Though the carriage I rode lacked a suspension system, it instead had a shock-absorption spell cast by a mage. Thanks to that, I was able to travel to Hamilcar much more comfortably than expected. Since we used the inns scattered along the way, lodging wasn’t a big issue either.
The problem arose after arriving in the Hamilcar territory.
I knew that the Grand Hall was located on a mountain peak, but seeing it in person was overwhelming. Looking up at the peak soaring as if to pierce the heavens, I couldn’t even begin to estimate its height. It was truly a height that justified the saying that the gods had descended there. That peak might be closer to the divine realm than the human realm.
And oh, the snow. The snow reflected the sunlight, making the mountain sparkle. Ah, so that’s why it’s called the ‘Mountain of Light.’ Yes, it certainly looked sacred.
The problem was, I wasn’t sure if I could even climb it. For starters, it was absolutely certain I couldn’t go up there dressed in the summer gown I was currently wearing. On the first day, my escort knights and I didn’t even feel the need to discuss it; we just exchanged a single look and immediately turned back.
There were several villages at the foot of the Mountain of Light, and judging by the atmosphere of the village we entered, it wasn’t a poor place despite its small size. I could tell instantly just by looking at the children’s clothes and the condition of the houses. This meant the village was generating some sort of supplementary income. Such villages are generally easy to do business with.
Before entering the temple, I should meet the overseer of this village. I hope it’s someone reasonable.
