T/L: Yurika

E/D: Castle

3rd POV

My apologies, sir, for keeping you waiting. (Priest)

A small, fat, mild-mannered-looking priest came hurrying over. Suddenly, he stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Ekaterina, and stared at her.

What is it, I wonder?

Well Im sorry about this. I mean I thought the goddess had manifested. (Priest)

Ekaterinas POV

Oh, youre good.

Oh, so Im not the only one who thinks so. (Alexei)

Big Brothers mood meter went up a notch. Im sure hell be offering a lot of money to this palace in the near future. Congratulations.

Oh, by the way.

I am afraid I am not the manifestation of the goddess, but it was my honor for you to think so. Big Brother, why dont you dedicate the Heavenly Blue pigment to this shrine? If you give it a beautiful blue color befitting the Queen of the Night, she will surely be pleased with you. (Ekaterina)

I thought that if we could make the palace beautiful and worth seeing, it would attract more visitors, and it would also help advertise the Heavenly Blue. I hope the offering will pay for itself in advertising Im sorry, Goddess.

Thats a good idea. I would like to make an offering to this goddess, if that is alright. (Alexei)

That would be much appreciated But you are his sister, arent you? I thought you were the wife. (Priest)

What, no, its not like that!

Dont worry about it.

The fat priest seems to be in-charge of this shrine. He showed me the statue of the goddess, which is not usually open to the public. It was a small wooden statue about fifty centimeters high, but it was a very beautiful carving of a figure looking up at the heavens.

It is said to be the most beautiful statue of this goddess in the Imperial Kingdom.

3rd POV

Shes beautiful. She looks like you, after all. (Alexei)

Alexei smiled, but Ekaterina felt heartbroken. She believed she looked like her mother.

Alexei immediately noticed her expression. Gently, she hugged Ekaterinas shoulders and whispered.

If you wish, I can welcome the goddess to our mansion. (Alexei)

No, wait, Big Brother.

Does that mean youre going to buy this statue or something? No. It may not be a world heritage piece like the treasure the High Priest had shown me earlier, but its still worth something like an important cultural asset. Im not sure if its a good idea to take it for private use. I dont want it to be wasted.

I think that this goddess should belong to all the people who visit the temple. (Ekaterina)

Ekaterina shakes her head, and Alexei smiles.

Well, you really are very considerate. (Alexei)

Ekaterinas POV

Ah, siscon filter activated.

Anyway, Alexei offered to let the chief priest and the little fat priestess make a copy of this goddess statue.

There is no portrait of my mother Anastasia in the Dukes residence. There used to be a portrait of Anastasia in the room where the portraits of successive dukes and their families were displayed, but after my grandfather Sergei died, my grandmother burned it down.

As a replacement, he wanted to display a copy of the statue.

Thats Big Brother requesting to have a duplicate is practically just a drop in the bucket.

Thats a wonderful idea. Im sure Mother will be very pleased. (Ekaterina)

Ill display it in front of the portrait of my father, the man she fell in love with so much.

She should be a strong and beautiful goddess who could defeat even the Sun God, and she should elbow my father in the face who was a Hikaru Genji incarnate, a scum. But my mother wasnt that kind of woman, but if she were ever to be reborn, I hope she would be that strong.