The Obsessive Second Male Lead Has Gone Wild - Chapter 13

She was using crude candles made from melted candle wax.

Strange appearances came not just from the ceiling.

The floor was not a common display and none of the statues representing the gods were visible.

After preparing what she was going to say, she walked blankly into the wall.

“Oh!”

She was focusing on the ceiling and not on her feet.

Rurutia, who had lost her center, swung heavily, but Cronu held her firmly so she did not fall.

Cronu, who helped Rurutia find her center again, murmured, avoiding her gaze.

“Foot… Be careful.”

Rurutia, who held up her white wedding dress, looked at her feet.

The floor’s unevenness also drew Cronu’s gaze because he was too shy and wanted to avoid her stare.

If I don’t focus on the floor due to its broken appearance, I will stumble.

She looked at the floor and walked carefully.

Cronu standing nearby suddenly became quiet. This allowed her to focus on her surroundings.

The chapel and wedding hall, where outsiders were milling in and out, was a public space, but the inner building was a pavilion for only priests.

The temple seemed to be poorly kept.

They had no money to pay for it, so they sold all the statues and the chandelier pieces.

The Paladins was one of the temple’s most important buildings.

According to the book’s description, the imperial family tamed a temple that had become a lair of evil.

Recently, the believers of the goddess Crescentia had decreased. The temple, where donations had fallen, had become far less luxurious than it used to be.

At this time, the emperor, who needed a paladin, secretly proposed this: “I’ll give you a grant so that you’ll be working for the imperial family.”

The temple accepted the imperial proposal to fill the private interest.

But there was no word to describe how poor they had become.

“If I’d become that poor, I would have accepted any suggestion.”

Rurutia looked around her. Cronu, who was ashamed of the temple, opened his mouth. “It’s not as bad as it looks.”

“How did you get in this mess?”

Cronu smiled as he scratched his neck.

“Since we made wrong prophecies for the last few decades, the number of believers have shrunk, and we can’t do business. We do receive some donations, but we don’t have much revenue coming in these days.”

It was a group of self-serving individuals, but they needed money. The temple, which was unable to do business, was operated by donations.

The devotion of the Crescentia denomination was based on prophecy.

The Pope, the head of the denomination, had the ability to communicate with the goddess.

Once a year, he communes with the goddess and predicts many major natural disasters, such as typhoons and droughts.

Based on his prophecies, the believers who were able to grasp the weather patterns in advance were thoroughly prepared. The devotees donated large sums of money in gratitude.

But lately, whenever a prophecy was given, the predictions were wrong. This new trend created unrest and division among the people.

As the weather forecast continued to deflect, the temple was blamed, and they were called “Kura Cheong.”

The farmers who farmed the land and sailors who sailed the seas even began to resent the temple.

Here the imperial throne intervened.

They will take care of the victims of major natural disasters.

From then on, the imperial power was strengthened, and the priesthood was left on the floor.

It was an old religion, and even though there were still many people with deep faith, it seemed there were many others who have defected.

“The failure to receive prophecy may be due to the disappearance of the Prince of the Holy Kingdom.”

“That’s right. The prophecy continues to be wrong due to the Prince of the Holy Kingdom being cursed by the gods since he has been taken down and has long since disappeared.”

Before Rurutia was born, the young prince of the Holy Kingdom, who had the lineage of the goddess, was kidnapped by monsters.

The Holy State doubted the empire but found no evidence. They all said the prince was dead.

Because of the death of her only son, the empress was completely destroyed by the goddess’s immediate wrath.