Chapter 4 4: An Unfriendly Encounter

"Elysia, can you open this door for me? I know my words hurt you but I didn't mean to be so harsh. It was just because Even was crying that I decided to help her out. Please forgive me."

The head priest knocked on Elysia's door in an attempt to console her. His voice was low so no passer-by could hear what he was saying.

After all, he was the head priest and he could not lower himself to bow in front of anyone. Even if that 'anyone' happened to be the child he adopted.

"Elysia? Are you in there?"

The head priest tried again before deciding to enter the room forcefully. The rooms in the church could not be locked unless it was done with magic.

So when he felt the resistance when he tried to open the door, he was left with no other means but to break in with magic.

Unfortunately, misfortune decided to strike at the wrong time and he heard footsteps headed his way.

Before he knew it, a church Sister had taken a turn and the head priest had to catch his step to not appear like an intruder.

"Head priest? What are you doing here? Aren't you suppose to be in a meeting with Brother Yohan? I saw him looking for you earlier. Are you here to scold Elysia again? Don't worry because we, Sisters, took care of it. She won't be misbehaving anytime soon."

The Sister sounded confused but also proud of her achievement. Her eyes looked at the head priest in a clear expression of - 'praise me.

"You scolded Elysia? But I never asked you to do this?"

The head priest was confused at the sudden turn of events. He had sent Elysia away to make her stay alone, not to be harassed unnecessarily by the Sisters.

"Oh, you did not need to tell us to scold Elysia. If we don't correct her bad behavior now then she will grow up to be a wicked person. I heard that she injured the crown prince as well. What if her attack was serious? After all, Elysia's magic is not like ours. It's dangerous to everyone around her."

The Sister sounded serious when she spoke. Her words left the head priest at a loss of words.

He had never realized that people around thought of Elysia like that. After all, they had never done her wrong before when he had been watching.

"Sister, are you afraid of Elysia and her magic?"

"Afraid? Not yet but I'm afraid of the future Elysia. One day she will realize how dangerous her power is and lose control. I don't want her to hurt innocent people when that time comes."

The head priest was tongue-ties again at the Sister's words. He could not say anything against the Sister since these concerns were the ones he was often plagued with as well.

But that was also why he had wanted to be calm and patient with Elysia. To show her that she had people who supported her.

"Honestly speaking, I think the head priest is too lenient with her. He didn't even punish her when she caused the incident with the crown prince. What will happen to us if the royal family took this as an insult and decided to cut us off from the funds?"

The Sister's concerns were valid. The more she spoke, the more the head priest's resolve crumbled.

Equal amounts of guilt and resignation circled inside the head priest's mind. He could not even bring himself to protest against the Sister's words.

"I guess it will be better for me to go out and take a walk. It will help me cool my mind. Anyway, Sister Rosa, make sure you give Elysia food in a few minutes. I asked her not to come to dinner but I don't want her to starve."

"Alright. I will make sure to give her dinner when the time comes."

The head priest still had doubts inside his mind but he decided to not linger any longer in the hallway.

Right now he had only been caught by one Sister so it was easy for him to get out but anymore and he would not be able to talk his way out anymore.

He still wanted to clear the air out with Elysia but there was no opportunity to do so. He would have to wait for the morning to come and then have a talk with his ward.

And who knew, maybe Elysia would forget what happened when the morning comes. Children had really small attention spans and six was an age where their minds constantly changed based on their feelings.

"Let's cross one bridge at a time. I should first address the royal family and write an apology letter about the crown prince incident. It will not be good if our funds do get cut off."

The head priest had his own concerns and responsibilities and he was sure Elysia would understand his point of view.

She was a smart child after all.

_____________________________________

The Sister gave off a happy smile to the retreating head priest. Her face was a happy mask that lasted as long as the head priest was in her line of sight.

Once he was gone, the gentle smile on Sister Rosa's face faded into an indifferent expression. Her blank eyes moved toward the closed door and a sneer appeared on Sister Rosa's face.

"I don't know what the head priest sees in a monster like you. You can't even heal anyone properly. But if this foolishness of the head-priest continues then you will end up in a high position and cause all of our downfall."

Sister Rosa sounded serious. Her eyes did no traces of deception or being controlled. She looked like a businesswoman evaluating the worth of a product and not finding it worthy.

"Even that common girl Brother Yohan brought is better than you in terms of power and personality. I would rather see her succeed. But then again, both of you don't deserve your position and will soon learn your place."

This was the scene Eve stumbled upon.

Actually, the young girl had heard everything the Sister had said and it frightened her to see such double-faced people.

She had met Sister Rosa in the afternoon when she had been trying to hide from Yohan but the Sister had a completely different attitude then.

"Who's there? Come out now."

Eve tried to contain her hiccups but she failed to suppress them. She was too scared to open her mouth but she kept her face neutral of any expression.

'I need to smile. I cannot show that I know Sister Rosa is evil.'

"Ah, it's you? What are you doing here? Do you need me to bring you back to Brother Yohan? He loves you very much."

And just like before, the attitude of Sister Rosa changed in an instant. She went from that cold-spoken lady to the warmest of persons.

Her sudden shift in personality scared Eve but she did not know how to deal with it.

"N-No thank you. I was h-here to look for E-Elysia. We h-had a misunderstanding and I-I wanted to apologize."

The more she spoke, the more stressed out Eve became. She was vibrating with nervousness.

"Oh, is that so? But I'm afraid that meeting Elysia will not be possible right now. You see, Sister Elysia did a bad thing so she's being punished right now. You should not seek bad kids out or you get corrupted as well."

For some reason, the gentler Sister Rosa acted, the more demonic she looked. The sudden personality change was also a contributing factor.

"O-Oh. Is that so? Then I-I should leave this corridor now."

"Yes, you should leave this place now. You should also make sure to seek out better company than Elysia if you want to succeed and make bother Yohan proud. I know, I will introduce some people to you who can become your friends."

The offer was tempting for someone who had no friends and Sister Rosa expected Eve to take it.

"T-Then I will like to meet them. I should get going now,"

Eve quickly felt the corridor and thanked every god that Sister Rosa went the other way. But something inside her still worried about leaving Elysia alone with Sister Rosa.

'I should check back. Just in case Sister Rosa tries anything. I want to make it up to Elysia.'

The six-year-old child had really simple and pure thoughts. She wanted to help her friend out even if it meant facing Sister Rosa.

But she lost confidence when she saw the Sister entering Elysia's room. For some reason, Eve had a bad feeling about seeing all this.

She wanted to enter the room as well and take a look at the situation herself but her newly acquired fear of Sister Rosa held her back.

'I should wait for Sister Rosa to be done with Elysia first. I don't want to disturb them.'

This might be an excuse but for the six-year-old Eve, this was the only thought that made this situation bearable for her.