In the principal’s office,
A dark-haired woman was seen writing on parchment. She occasionally reads over what she has written as if she is afraid of missing something. After reading what had been written there and feeling that there was no mistake, that woman resumed the activity that had been delayed. The atmosphere in the room was quiet, but it was to her advantage.
“Hm… it is not bad. I should quickly send a letter to Tetrha so she can let me know if anything happens to the orphanage, especially with the emperor’s envoys coming. Hopefully, they will just come and chat, but not inspect the girls’ dormitory,” muttered Aufrodine as she continued to write on the same parchment.
Someone arrived outside Orphanage Head Ztatzav’s office in less than two minutes. Without hesitation, she knocked on the door, wanting to convey something important. Meanwhile, Aufrodine still had not realized that there was a visitor, so she continued to write without any hindrance.
The person on the other side of the door had knocked three times, but when she noticed no response from inside the room, the red-haired woman wondered, then frowned. “Why hasn’t Lennya answered yet? Is she busy? I want to tell her something,” Loiston said softly.
The sharp-nosed woman looked back at the door, then repeated the same action of knocking. Inside the room, the thirty-eight-year-old woman, who was still writing on parchment, began to be disturbed by the sound of knocking. Aufrodine turned her attention to the source of the sound and placed the quill on the table. “Is that Apple? Did she come here to bring a new message if it was her? I have to find out.”
“Who is that?” Aufrodine asked as she seemed to want to confirm who the person behind the door was.
“This is me, Loiston.” The green-eyed woman replied, relieved that the target had finally noticed her.
When she heard her friend’s voice, the thirty-eight-year-old simply nodded, even though the other person could not see what she had done. “Come in, Apple!”
The owner of the name smiled as she heard her colleague’s nickname. Loiston quickly opened the door and entered the room with a feeling of both excitement and anxiety. Aufrodine had stopped writing as the principal prioritized her friend who had entered her office and must have important news for the orphanage they had been running for a dozen years.
Soon enough, the thick-browed woman sat in the chair across from the room owner. She gazed thoughtfully at her interlocutor while Aufrodine did the same, waiting to hear what Loiston had to say. “I have an idea.”
“Go ahead.” A woman who had dedicated her time to the orphanage since she was young was eager to hear Loiston’s idea, but her expression remained flat.
“How about we call Goddess Magia and ask her for help?” The thirty-nine-year-old woman said the idea she had, which caused one of Aufrodine’s eyebrows to rise, a sign that she was confused by it.
“What? Call Goddess Magia?” The thin-browed woman asked in surprise, but she did not criticize her interlocutor’s suggestion, even though it sounded strange and absurd.
“Yes, you heard me right. How about we ask for that immortal goddess’s help and protection for our place? Moreover, her beloved daughter is here, so that immortal goddess is definitely willing to help us.” Loiston replied optimistically, even though inwardly, she doubted her own idea.
Aufrodine did not want to answer yet. She turned her gaze in another direction, thinking about possibly carrying out her friend’s crazy suggestion. Meanwhile, Loiston waited for a response from the interlocutor in the silence that had fallen in the room. The two women who were the main caretakers of the orphanage had yet to continue the conversation, as one was still considering the other’s idea.
The fierce-faced woman turned back to the person still sitting in front of her. “Who dares to summon the Queen of Witches here? You and I are not her followers, so how can we do that? There is no way to contact Goddess Magia the same way as Goddess Asiles because they are two different goddesses. According to the rumors I heard, they are said to be enemies of each other.”
Indecision soon filled Madame Loiston’s mind, as she had no idea how to go about realizing her plan. For some reason, she remembered the first daughter of the couple, Tristian Varden Writh and Lavena Isolda Keira and thought that the virgin would be able to help them. “We can ask Alexa to call Goddess Magia. She should hear the girl’s cry.”
Upon hearing Loiston’s reply, Aufrodine chuckled, which astonished the woman. “Have you considered that properly, Apple? Since Alexa entered this orphanage and until she was twelve years old, we have kept the girl away from her origins as written in the ancient prophecy. I have also told Oislon to move the books about Zlatav’s history to a special section, which is not accessible to everyone unless they have my permission. If we ask the Chosen One to do that, then it is equivalent to asking for a great war to arise as soon as possible.”
A woman, who had a height of one hundred and seventy-one centimeters tall, fell silent. At the same time, the interlocutor deliberately gave time to the person sitting in front of her while seriously observing her colleague’s expression.
I guess it was also true to what Lenny had said. If Alexa finds out about Goddess Magia, then all hell will break loose, and the ancient prophecy will certainly be fulfilled sooner than we expected. What should we do? Loiston thought, fretting.
“If you even doubt your own ideas… I would like to suggest waiting for Ethnia’s confirmation first. She told us that she would ask her goddess, right? She is a senior Healer in the orphanage, although she is not the most senior among all the Healers. Besides that, Ethnia can communicate with Goddess Erie, so the information she gets is more accurate, so we do not need to do anything strange, including contacting Goddess Magia. If we do not have help or guidance to come to an immortal god or goddess, then do not try to do it. It is dangerous.” Aufrodine advised Loiston, and her tone of voice was gentle, putting the thick-browed woman at ease.
Loiston nodded. She did not feel humiliated by Aufrodine’s words and became a little calmer because of it. An adult woman who could hear supernatural voices began to regret what she had said, so she said to the interlocutor, “You were right, Lenny. I am sorry because I gave you a stupid idea. Yeah, we should wait for Ethnia’s news.”
“It is okay, Apple. I do not blame you. There are no witches in Zlatav anymore because they live in the forbidden forest. If the ancient prophecy comes true, I am sure that the witches will take this country, and who knows what will happen to us.” A woman, who had a height of one hundred and seventy-two centimeters tall, became sad as she said the last sentence and the moment made her friend sad.
“We would have been alive when it happened, Lenny. I mean, all of us in this orphanage would have survived. The witches would not have killed anyone, let alone you and I, because we have been looking after Alexa since she was a baby.” The vice chairman tried to comfort Aufrodine, but the dark-haired woman shook her head, which made Loiston become a little frightened.
“I am not sure about that, Apple. We let Alexa get bullied all this time and only defended her in public once. I have no idea about our safety in the future.” For some reason, Aufrodine was about to cry, as if she had gotten a bad premonition for herself, but as much as possible, the woman whom all the children in the orphanage feared kept her tears from falling down her cheeks.
The atmosphere in the room, which was originally serious, instantly turned sad as the owner of the place was holding back his anxiety. “Do not be like that, Lenny. We must remain optimistic no matter what happens. The future, especially regarding the ancient prophecy, has not happened yet, so what is in the present must still be lived as usual. Do not think too much. I am sure we are safe.” Loiston continued to comfort his close friend, even though the success rate was very small.
“I do not know, Apple. I hope what you say is true. At this moment, I am not sure about our safety because anyone who supports the Emperor will be killed, whereas we did that, even though we secretly defected by raising the Chosen One. After all, when he came here, we did not have any other choice.”
“Lenny, if you really think like that, then you are just allowing bad things to happen in the future. Do not think too much. We only hope with Goddess Magia’s mercy so that everyone can be safe.” Loiston tried to remain optimistic so that Aufrodine would be enthusiastic again, even though she felt the opposite in her heart.
“I hope so, Apple.” Aufrodine had run out of words and could only respond with short sentences like that.
Another idea emerged in Loiston’s mind. “How about us-”
***