Early in the morning, the rosy dawn light filtered through the glass of the bedroom window, spilling over the bed against the wall and casting a soft crimson glow onto the cheeks of two beautiful, sleeping girls.
As their eyelashes trembled slightly, accompanied by the faint snoring of the pink-haired girl, Penina slowly woke up.
She opened her weary eyelids, her eyes still blurry with sleep.
Without needing to look at the alarm clock on the nightstand, Penina, as the Saintess of the Church, had long since developed an extremely regular routine.
Just like always, she woke up promptly at 6:20 AM, propping herself up to regain her senses for a brief moment.
The neckline of her thin, loose nightgown slipped from her shoulder, revealing the fair and delicate skin beneath, as smooth as a peeled boiled egg.
Penina’s unfocused eyes stared blankly at the white ceiling.
Through the gap in her neckline, one could catch a fleeting glimpse of the beauty hidden beneath her clothes — a canyon as deep as an abyss and the white snow of magnificent mountains.
About ten minutes later, Penina’s scattered consciousness finally gathered, and she blinked with awareness.
Colloquially, she had finally booted up.
Beside Penina, the pink-haired girl, Hualí, was still sleeping soundly, showing no intention of waking up.
Perhaps waking up at six in the morning was an impossible task for the perpetually lazy Hualí.
Hualí’s sleeping posture was truly bad; in fact, it could even be described as terrible.
Most of the thin quilt that should have been covering her had been kicked off the bed, leaving only a small corner pinned beneath her body.
Her nightgown had been hiked up above her stomach, and of her two fair legs, one was stretched straight while the other was bent, splaying them both apart.
Her pale belly was exposed without any cover in Penina’s line of sight, and the girl’s small hand resting on her stomach scratched it unconsciously.
The edges of the skin-friendly, pinkish-white fabric were trimmed with pure white lace, tightly wrapping the girl’s inviolable and delicate sanctuary.
Penina forced herself to look away and shook her head.
‘I should get up soon and complete the daily routine of prayers. I also need to check on the knights’ injuries and see if they’ve improved.’
Her soft, rounded toes lightly tapped the cold floor as Penina stepped into her slippers and climbed out of bed.
She helped Hualí pull down the hem of the nightgown that had been hiked up over her belly, picked up the quilt from the floor, and covered the girl again.
Since there was nothing for Hualí to do this early in the morning anyway, it was better to let her sleep a little longer.
Having finished this, Penina finally left the bedroom and headed toward the bathroom.
Soon, the sound of splashing water echoed from within.
***
After tidying her appearance, Penina left the living area where she slept and stepped into the holy Cathedral Sanctuary to begin her daily morning prayers and listen for an Oracle.
The circular dome of the Cathedral Sanctuary hung high overhead.
Sunlight refracted through the hundreds of thousands of pieces of colored glass embedded in the dome, falling upon the massive Statue of the Goddess of Light in the center of the sanctuary, bathing it in a holy, multicolored radiance.
The statue faced the entrance of the sanctuary in a kneeling position, with pure white wings on its back.
Its eyes were shrouded by a light veil, and the gaze beneath was like a mirage, making it impossible to see clearly.
Its palms were pressed together tightly in front of its chest, as if it were sowing faith and blessings.
Changing into her Saintess Priest Robe for prayer, Penina looked serious and solemn as she knelt before the massive stone carving representing the Goddess of Light in the same posture.
Every movement she made exuded holiness and piety.
With her hands clasped before her chest, her moist, pink lips parted slightly.
As she recited the prayers, a faint golden halo gradually emerged on the surface of her body.
“Source of light and life, Mother of all things, your devout believer offers her prayers to you. May your brilliance, which cleanses all and dispels the long night, forever be like the fire of compassion, nurturing the weak. May it always be like the rising sun, scattering the darkness and bringing the dawn…”
Time passed slowly.
As the prayer concluded, the Goddess of Light descended a holy Blessing, just as she always did.
Penina’s body glowed with a faint golden light.
However, as the Saintess of Light, her morning work was far from over.
Following that was the session where Penina, acting as the Agent of the Goddess on earth, listened for an Oracle as the morning sun rose.
“Great Mother of Light, your devout believer implores you to guide her footsteps. Let every step she takes become a path to spread your grace. I pray that you grant the voice of wisdom, so that your believer may distinguish good from evil and truth from falsehood amidst confusion…”
Penina closed her eyes and maintained a listening posture for a very long time.
However, just like usual, the Goddess of Light did not grant an Oracle today.
Penina slowly opened her eyes.
There was no look of disappointment on her face; after all, the absence of an Oracle was the norm.
Since she had officially become the Cathedral Saintess and gained the qualification to listen for Oracles, the Goddess had only ever granted three.
Among those three, two of them were related to the Hero girl, Hualí.
Once everything was finished, Penina could finally carve out a brief moment to enjoy breakfast.
“Ma’am, could I have a vegetable salad and a cup of milk?”
Penina arrived at the Cathedral Kitchen and asked with a gentle, healing smile directed at the old nun who was busy working.
The Church was different from other places.
To ensure that one would not be tainted by the scent of blood or slaughter during devout prayer, the Church’s breakfast did not provide any meat.
The only things available to eat were usually light, vegetarian foods with little flavor, such as vegetable salad.
“Saintess Miss, of course! No problem at all. Just wait a moment while I finish up what I’m doing here.”
Upon seeing that the newcomer was Saintess Penina, the old nun’s face lit up with joy, and she quickened her pace in dicing the potatoes.
Under normal circumstances, there were not many male clergy members within the Church.
Aside from the Sunshine Knights who stood guard to ensure the Cathedral’s safety, most trivial matters, including cooking, were handled by the nuns.
Penina stood quietly to the side and waited patiently, a gentle, sun-like smile always hanging on her face, showing no sign of impatience.
Only after she finished dicing the potatoes on the cutting board did the old nun set down her knife.
She wiped her damp palms on her apron, served a bowl of vegetable salad for Penina, drizzled it with dressing, and finally pulled a bottle of Fresh Milk that had just been delivered this morning from a bamboo basket under the counter.
“Here you go, Saintess Miss.”
“Thank you, Ma’am — “
Penina took it with both hands.
The milk was even lukewarm.
Right then, the old nun suddenly remarked casually, “By the way, Saintess Miss, you must have rested well last night, right? Your complexion looks much more radiant than it did these past two days. I told you long ago to rest early and stop staying up late — “
Penina’s movements stiffened.
She asked as naturally as possible, “Is… is that so?”
“It certainly is! You’re becoming more and more beautiful — “
“Haha, really?”
Penina gave an awkward smile.
“Perhaps it is. Thank you for your concern, Ma’am.”
‘Perhaps it isn’t just an illusion. When I prayed this morning, it really did feel much easier than usual.’
‘Maybe… maybe it’s because my mood is better, so my body feels lighter?’
‘Does that idiot Hualí actually have a use like this? How… interesting.’