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Episode 122: When Desires Clash (XVI)
“Is that true?”
“Oh my gosh… Father, can I go to the garden for a while? I feel like getting a drink.”
“Judy, I’ll go with you when you go.”
The twins were shocked. So was the usually nonchalant Deheen. As for Ben, who was standing behind him… he slapped his forehead, exclaiming that the question had finally been answered.
“Oh my God, that’s how it was!”
“What do you mean?”
“Don’t we reuse the fountain water for the garden?”
Ben was so excited that he started rambling.
“I’ve heard the workers often wondering why the plants in the garden grow so well, and now I know why.”
After Esther turned the fountain into holy water, the flowers and plants in the garden grew at an unusual rate.
It was the moment when the mystery, which everyone only whispered in amazement about as they did not know the secret, was unraveled.
“So far, precious holy water has been used solely for growing flowers…”
“Haha.”
Esther laughed, cutely sticking out her tongue. She did not realize they were reusing the water in the garden.
‘Would everyone faint if they found out that even holy flowers are blooming here and there in the garden?’
The water fountain alone surprised them a lot, so she decided to talk about the holy flowers next time.
At that time, Judy, who raised his thumbs up to indicate that she was amazing, removed his butt from his seat.
“So, it’s over now, right? A long time has already passed.”
The same couldn’t be said about other things, but Judy was always on time when it came to exercise. He was in a hurry, preparing to dash off.
“Wait a minute.”
But Deheen grabbed Judy again and sat him down. The conversation wasn’t over.
“I have something to give you three. Take a look.”
“What is it? Is it a new sword?”
“Is it a new limited-edition book?”
Judy and Dennis’ eyes immediately lit up at the statement.
It was a reaction that reflected the things they recently had their eyes on.
“Huh? No.”
Deheen blinked rapidly in bewilderment for a moment, but no one noticed it.
‘I should have known about it beforehand and bought it for them.’
The gift he prepared was actually for Esther, so the twins’ tastes were not considered.
“First… Follow me.”
Thinking that he should prepare gifts for the twins right away, Deheen got up and took the children to a room on the first floor.
“This is a room that was originally empty.”
“Open it.”
Curious Dennis was the first to grab the doorknob and turn it. He narrowed his eyes in surprise the second he saw the stuffed snakes that filled the room.
“Eh? What is all this?”
“Wow, aren’t they all snake dolls?”
Judy, on the other hand, smiled as broadly as if he couldn’t like it more and ran into the room.
Esther’s thoughts were what Deheen was most curious about. The girl looked into the room without much reaction, only letting out gasps of admiration.
“You don’t like it?”
“It’s just that I’ve never seen so many snake dolls. It’s amazing.”
The room was filled with snake toys of various sizes and shapes.
“Oh? That’s like BamBam.”
Spotting a large green doll, Esther ran into the room with a bright smile. It was very nice to see a doll that looked exactly like BamBam.
“How is it, do you think she likes it?”
“Yes. But it seems that Master Judy likes it more than the lady…”
“Dennis doesn’t look too collected either.”
The twins’ reaction was a little shocking. Deheen thought they wouldn’t be interested in dolls because they were boys and were all grown up but he was wrong.
Soon after entering the room, Judy was struggling with a snake doll. It seemed more like a fight with a snake than a doll play.
Dennis was examining each of the various ‘breeds’ of dolls to see if they were made exactly like real snakes.
“Well, this isn’t bad either.”
Deheen smiled at the children playing happily.
Then he went inside, settled down on a giant snake doll like a chair, and said calmly.
“We’re having Esther’s birthday party in July.”
“Ah, I’m fine.”
Was there any doll that looked just like Shur? Esther, who was searching here and there, widened her eyes and shook her head at the announcement.
“You said that last year too. I’m going to have it very grandly this time, so please don’t refuse.”
“…Yes, Dad.”
Esther felt mushy as she fiddled with the snake dolls.
‘It’s my birthday.’
For some reason, she thought that a birthday party didn’t suit her. Perhaps it was because she had never celebrated her birthday before.
But when she heard that her father wanted to do it, the corners of her mouth went up.
…Probably, in her heart, she had a hidden desire to celebrate her birthday like everyone else at least once.
“But why did you choose July? Every year in July, a big event is held at the Central Temple. They will overlap.”
Dennis tilted his head and asked, recalled the event at the temple at the word ‘July’.
“It doesn’t matter if it overlaps. July is Esther’s real birthday.”
Esther’s lips parted slightly at the mention of a real birthday.
“Huh? You said you don’t know when Esther’s birthday is, right?”
“I found the record this time.”
Esther realized that Deheen found out the month she was born when he was investigating her mother.
Even with all the repeated lives, this was the first time she learned her month of birth. Amazed, she kept and reflected on the word ‘July’.
“Great. So our Esther was born in July? What is the birthstone for July…”
“I’m going to like July best out of the twelve months.”
Judy and Dennis couldn’t contain their joy. It was as if they had discovered their own birthdays.
“Then it’s the number seven for me. If someone asks me what my favorite number is, I’ll say seven.”
Deheen chuckled lightly when Judy raised his voice, saying he would not lose to Dennis. Then he turned his warm gaze back to Esther.
“Think about what you want to receive. Whatever it is, I’ll get it for you.”
But after coming here, Esther lacked nothing. There was plenty of everything in the house.
Still…
Esther’s head tilted slightly to the side. Her particularly long eyelashes also slowly went up. Which made her appear worried.
“There’s something?”
Quick-witted as always, Dennis noticed the change and grinned.
“Well…”
Ready to buy Esther anything she wanted, Deheen loosened her legs and focused.
Esther kept thinking about whether to say it or not. Reasonably so, for she had never asked for anything before. Finally, with great courage, she said,
“A cake.”
“Cake?”
The twins and Deheen looked downcast and asked if that was all.
In contrast, Esther appeared more excited than ever, as if she was already thrilled just by thinking about it.
“Not just a cake, it’s a big three-tiered chocolate cake. Bigger than me… Just like the one during Brothers’ birthday.”
Esther did not forget the jealousy she vividly felt when Judy and Dennis got to cut a three-tiered cake together on their birthday.
The twins and Deheen’s heart melted when they saw Esther with her pink eyes wide open, saying ‘Please.’
Her flushed cheeks and sparkling eyes were so lovely that they couldn’t help but listen to whatever she asked for.
“A three-tiered cake is not a problem. I’ll order a cake so big it’ll hit the ceiling.”
“Father, why don’t we just fill the entire party hall with cakes?”
“We can do it outdoors. Since there would be no size restrictions, it could be made bigger.”
Listening to Deheen’s serious discussion with the twins, Esther shook her hand shyly.
“I don’t need that much.”
“Don’t worry. I will prepare a cake that is bigger and more colorful than any other cake.”
Esther couldn’t bear to say that made her more concern. She could only nod.
“By the way, Dad, can I take this snake doll to my room?”
“Of course. Everything is yours.”
After poking and choosing from a pile of dolls, Esther found one that looked just like BamBam.
‘Shur will like it.’
She wanted to bring it quickly to Shur, who had been separated from his mother for a long time.
A smile automatically formed on her face when she thought of how cute Shur would be wrapped around snake doll.
★★★
A few days later…
Rabienne hastily summoned the high priests to the meeting room. This was because she kept receiving news of temples closing.
Rushing into the meeting room, Kyle asked with a white face.
“Is this true? Twenty temples have already been closed…”
“What is the fuss in front of the saint? Please take a seat.”
Lucas, who reached first, calmed Kyle and sighed.
Soon after, Crisper, his face gaunt, stepped into the meeting room. His reaction was no different from Kyle’s.
“Now that everyone has gathered, let’s begin.”
Ravienne, who had been sitting in the middle and clasping both of her hands as if in prayer, slowly raised her head.
“As you may have heard, news of the closures of temples started flying in yesterday evening.”
Far from shock, a calm voice escaped her red lips.
“It’s an absurd situation. How could they do so without telling us anything?”
“Yes. It makes no sense. The imperial family is deceiving us.”
Although Rabienne’s words were forceful and strong, no one denied it.
Their friendly relations with the imperial family were certainly broken as more than 20 temples had already been closed.
“Huh, we got hit in the back of the head pretty hard. They must be laughing at us. Tsk tsk.”
“Saint, even though it is sudden, we cannot just go through it like this.”
“Yes. The temples might have closed, but we can open it again. We will file a formal complaint with the imperial court and come up with countermeasures.”
The high priests unanimously expressed the injustice of this work. This was a matter directly related to the honor of the temple.
“Don’t worry. I will never let it be. I will somehow bring all the temples back.”
Ravienne murmured, her face shadowed and with malice.
‘The power of this temple comes from the other temples that support it. I can’t lose a single place.’
“Which ones are closed?”
“Most of them are in small territories, but the problem is that many of them are in the border area. And… the temple of Tersia.”
“The borders…”
Rabienne frowned again and brushed her hair at the thought that things had gone quite awry.
“It’s a big deal. The contagious disease has not yet been controlled. The flowers that were sent might not be used.”
“Yes. All nearby temples are closed, so there is no way to stop the epidemic in the border area anymore.”
“In order for the imperial family to be afraid of us, there must be some kind of stimulant, but considering how we haven’t found the owner of the revelation, we have no choice.”
Rabienne clenched her teeth when she noticed that Kyle was talking back and blaming her.
She wondered if there was any way to turn the situation in her favor. Soon, she gently raised the corners of her mouth, having just come up with a good idea.
“There is a method.”
“Oh, oh! Is there really?”
The high priests were very happy and waited for Rabienne’s next words.