GLBB18

Chapter – 18

Tap.

Someone suddenly grabbed her wrist.

“Ah!”

Rona groaned as her wrist was yanked painfully.

“What is this?”

Frowning, she turned around. But when she saw who was holding her wrist so tightly, she froze.

The woman wearing a white robe was a beautiful adult with mature eyes. Red hair fell from beneath her hood, the ends bleached white. Her unusual and unfamiliar appearance made Rona instinctively study her.

She was about to shake her off and demand an explanation, but she stopped. The woman gripping her wrist with both hands was trembling violently, her fingers turning white from the pressure.

Rona stared at her blankly.

That was because in the woman’s brown eyes she could see a storm of emotions—deep longing, shock, joy, and sorrow all mixed together.

Could it be?
Does she know the owner of this body… whose memories I don’t have?

“D-do you… know me?”

Instead of asking what are you doing, Rona asked hesitantly.

At that, the woman’s tears fell as she answered in a trembling voice:

“M-Miss… I’m Iris. Don’t you… don’t you… remember me…?”

Rona didn’t know what to say.

She couldn’t sympathize with or comfort the woman who looked at her with shock and hurt. After all, she had absolutely none of the original owner’s memories.

Still… she was curious. She wanted to know.

Living here without any proof of identity was inconvenient. And if she could find people she could call family, then even if she could never return to her original world, maybe she could find another reason to live here.

“H-how could you forget me… how could you…”

Iris looked so devastated and disappointed that Rona stayed silent.

As if afraid Rona might run away, Iris held her wrists tightly and stood there crying like a pillar rooted to the ground.

Meanwhile, two men wearing the same white robes approached.

One looked to be in his late twenties, slightly older than ILeon. The other seemed about Iris’s age. Though they were men, they both had long brown hair with bleached white ends just like hers.

“Lady Elysia?”

“Elysia.”

They too looked shocked when they saw Rona.

Seeing her stand there without reacting, they couldn’t approach or speak, and an awkward silence followed.

Iris spoke through tears:

“She… she doesn’t remember me.”

“What?”

The older man’s face hardened. The younger one stared at Rona in disbelief.

“We shouldn’t do this here. We should move somewhere else.”

As people on the street began to stare, Rona ended up nodding without thinking.

The sanctuary located within the Grand Temple of the capital—Hadunsha.

Hadunsha was a sacred place where priests capable of hearing the voice of the gods were trained.

Those who dedicated themselves to Hadunsha did so voluntarily from a very young age.

The Constance Empire had been founded when knights blessed by five main gods assisted the first emperor, Oder Constance, in stopping a great catastrophe.

After his death, Emperor Oder ascended to godhood and became the sixth god.

Since then, the temple received divine revelations directly from the gods, which influenced human lives both greatly and subtly.

Children who entered Hadunsha were different from birth.

No one taught them to go there. No parents forced them.

It was said:

“Because the gods exist, their voices guide these children to Hadunsha.”

In other words, they entered through divine guidance.

Did they truly hear the gods?

Regarding that, there was said to be a secret passphrase handed down since ancient times within Hadunsha.

Before his death, Emperor Oder left this passphrase to the first High Priest. Only the High Priest knew it, and it was passed down orally.

Every child who arrived at Hadunsha claiming divine guidance had a private meeting with the High Priest.

There, the child had to say the passphrase they heard from the gods.

If it matched the one known by the High Priest, they were accepted.

Sometimes rumors spread about what the passphrase might be, but they were usually false. Still, since some children were accepted and others rejected, the existence of such a test seemed real.

Among them was one particularly famous candidate for future High Priest:

Elysia Uther, known as the Jewel of Hadunsha.

Elysia Uther was famous for many reasons.

First, she was the only daughter of the prestigious Duke Uther family.

Second, she was extraordinarily beautiful.

Hadunsha had both priests and devoted followers who supported the temple.

Elysia entered Hadunsha at age three.

After completing her training and becoming a priest, every prayer service she led became overcrowded.

Some came out of curiosity just to see her beauty.

But what amazed people even more was her powerful divine sensitivity.

Those who heard her prayers would reflect on their sins and mistakes and weep in repentance.

People who came out of curiosity often left as true believers.

It was rare for nobles to enter Hadunsha.

If an only child joined the temple, the family line would end. So even if they heard divine voices, many chose not to go.

And hearing the gods didn’t mean you had to become a priest. One could simply live faithfully as a devout believer.

Thus, a duke’s only daughter entering the temple had caused a huge stir.

And afterward, she continued to be surrounded by rumors.

Rona sat inside a sanctuary chamber waiting for the High Priest.

It was said outsiders could not enter this place.

“I’m… Elysia?”

The moment she asked, she regretted it.

She understood Hadunsha was the Grand Temple. But from the entrance to here, everyone she met reacted emotionally—crying with joy or sorrow like she had returned from the dead.

When she asked Am I Elysia?, they all looked like they might burst into tears.

It felt unreal, like a hidden camera prank.

Still, seeing so many people sad because of her made her feel strangely guilty, like she was playing a villain.

Rona slowly stood up.

Everyone’s eyes followed her.

“Um… I’m not Elysia. I should probably go back now.”

Iris looked like she might faint.

“Where do you think you’re going?! This is where you belong!”

Well… that would only be true if she really was Elysia.

“I might not be Elysia though.”

Roben and Esho—the priest brothers—looked troubled.

“I’d stake my divine power that you are Elysia.”

“Me too.”

Then something amazing happened.

A small spark flashed like a halo behind their heads.

Rona stared in shock.

Iris sighed in frustration but then noticed Rona’s expression of someone seeing this for the first time.

“You really don’t remember…”

Rona nodded earnestly.

The sun had already begun to set.

ILeon must be worried.

By now his seizure should have stopped. She had planned to return around this time.

“I want chocolate. The one from Café Cardinal.”

She was still clutching the chocolate package tightly. Her sweaty hands had made it damp.

He said he wanted it.

“I’ll be back quickly, Lord ILeon.”

She had promised.

But the people surrounding her didn’t look like they would let her leave easily.

They had even closed the door, as if afraid she might run.

“Then how about I go back today and we talk again tomorrow?”

They looked stunned.

“Go back where?! This is where you belong, Lady Elysia!”

Just as Iris shouted emotionally—

Bang!

The door burst open.

A middle-aged woman rushed in, breathing heavily.

She had golden hair and violet eyes.

The moment Rona saw her, she felt an indescribable pull.

The woman’s appearance looked very similar to the face Rona saw every day in the mirror.

The woman burst into tears and embraced her tightly.

“Oh… my child… my baby… how could you…”

She touched her face and body as if confirming she was real.

Their eyes met.

And Rona finally thought:

Am I really the Elysia they’re looking for?

Unlike before when she insisted she might not be Elysia, she now felt a strange bond with this woman.

Their faces and expressions were too similar to deny it.

Rona sighed.

She had been thrown into this world with nothing. No support, no rope to hold onto, not even a piece of straw.

She felt sorry for ILeon waiting for her, but these people clearly wouldn’t let her go easily.

And from a long-term perspective, finding family wasn’t a bad thing.

It might even be good.

“Is there any proof… that I am Elysia?”

Meanwhile—

The pain tormenting ILeon finally subsided.

After screaming as if his throat would tear, he caught his breath.

This time he had truly thought he might die.

Sometimes the pain he experienced felt alive, as if it had its own will.

As if something inside his eye was devouring him, violently resisting whenever a possible cure approached.

Otherwise how could it hurt more whenever someone tried to treat it?

He tried not to show it, but since this episode lasted longer than usual, he was becoming anxious.

What if one day he told Rona he’d rather die?

Rona already blamed herself whenever he suffered, thinking she had made the medicine wrong.

If he said he wanted to die, he felt like Rona might collapse before he did.

“How are you feeling?”

asked Bernard, the butler.

“I’m thirsty.”

Bernard skillfully brought a small spouted teapot and helped him drink.

After drinking for a while, ILeon sighed.

“This is strange. It has never lasted this long before,” Bernard said.

“Maybe… this really is the medicine we’ve been searching for.”

The pain reacted violently for days because of the medicinal tea.

When its effects faded or treatment stopped, the pain subsided.

But since he had taken it once and suffered for six days, he couldn’t help noticing the difference.

After steadying his breathing, ILeon asked:

“Where is Rona?”