Chapter - 8

Four days…Four days have been passed, I am being locked up inside my house with Astrea… She just couldn't let me go outside because of Adrestia. She kept wandering around my apartment , standing outside windows, Banging the doors… But couldn't step inside the house as Astrea had put her protective spell all over my apartment. These four days might be the most stressful days in my life. Finally the night earlier the day of leaving to Namiseon arrived, Astrea was sitting in the hall deep in her meditation , she looked weak today.. She had used up all her energy in stopping Adrestia outside the house.

"Astrea… Are you not feeling well? You look so pale and weak…Will you be able to come with us tomorrow?"

I was worried about her. If she doesn't come with us , there's no meaning visiting Namiseon as Adrestia would never let me reach Ancient temple.

" It's okay Arin, I'll get better till morning, This meditation helps me worship the Almighty…I will get my powers back soon. You and Hongseok will leave sharp at 5 am, I will follow you back but keep in mind I cannot reveal myself to Hongseok. I will be in disguise around you…Maybe at some point only you will be able to see me. So it's better to keep our conversations in eyes. Did you call him?" She woke up from the meditation and walked near the window.

"Yes, I called him a while ago, But 5 am? Doesn't it seem a bit early?" I asked her.

" 5-6 am is the only hour when Adrestia goes into relax mode, she needs that time to connect with the almighty just like me. While she's meditating you both will leave Seoul, So sharp 5 am! Not a minute early and not a minute late!!" Saying this Astrea went back in the meditation.

I was feeling a mixture of emotions. What should I get excited about? Exactly what? Me getting off diamond core and turning into a normal human being, or Me breaking my virginity in a whole damn Temple!! Or Adrestia leaving me forever…A women I've chased for last 4 months…A magician who has hypnotized me in her tempting trap…A pretty ,innocent Bestie I had in my past life who turned into my lover with whom I shared my first kiss…An annoying, weird and irritating brat in my present life who would appear out of nowhere… Or…

A Goddess, who wants my soul by all means, who's willing to kill me just for that diamond soul… Evil, Demonic, Lustful ADRESTIA…

I slept on the sofa in front of Meditating Astrea with all the thoughts jumbling around in my head.

"Arin!! Arin-ah!! It's 4:30 am , you need to get ready!! Hongseok has called twice already" Astrea's voice woke me up. " Oh.. It's 4:30 already? Wait, you look better though.. Your face is glowing again. Good to see you back , being a Goddess." I said while lying down on sofa.

"You have exact 28 mins to get ready!! Get up!!" She dragged me and pushed inside the bathroom.

I came out of the bathroom and went inside my bedroom just to see that Astrea had already picked up my clothes. "You bought me clothes? New clothes?"

"Hmmm, This was the latest design in my boutique" She said. But the dress was so pretty, also it fit me perfectly. Light peach colored with red tiny floral prints, short dress.. Simple but sweet. In next fifteen minutes my mobile rang , it was Hongseok. He had reached near my apartment. I rushed out with my hand bag and keys, but Astrea called me from behind, " Arin!! Take this with you and use it when you reach inside the temple…" She handed me a small glass bottle of perfume. "I have my perfume , it's okay" I smiled at her. " Fool!! This is not perfume, it's a special Pheromone scent I've ordered last night from God of Love, Okuninushi-no-Mikoto. It will help you to attract Hongseok and consummate , or else he would never do that inside a temple. Make sure you both do it behind my stone idol, I'll be guarding the temple from Adrestia. You can Leave now, 4:55 am… Come with me and hold my hands till you sit inside Hongseok's car. I will put my protection spell on his car."

She held my hand and we stepped outside the house after 4 days. I took a last look towards my house cause I didn't know when I would get to see it again.

We reached near the car, Hongseok was waiting for me leaning on the it. "Good morning!! I hope you've not waited for long…" I said while opening the door of car. He nodded sideways and smiled at me. He looked behind me… " By the way…Can you see the lady standing behind me holding my hand?"

" You think I'm blind or what? How could I not see her?" He laughed at me. He bowed to her, " I guess you are Arin's friend, Nice to meet you." She smiled at him, "Hmm I'm Arin's Best friend, Kim Jihyo, we live together. Nice to meet you." Astrea looked at me, and pointed towards my watch. It was 4:59 am. I sat inside the car, She left my hand and placed her index finger on top of car and murmured some words. Hongseok started the car and Astrea said, "Hongseok-ssi tell your Grandfather that he's is serving temple very well." He looked at me , " How does she know that he serves the temple?" I didn't say anything just smiled.

"Hongseok-ssi, it's 5:30 am already…We need to reach there as fast as possible till 6:00…" The fast running time worried me. " Don't worry Arin we'll reach there before 6 am, Grandpa is very excited to see you!! Actually you're the first girl who will be seeing my native place and our palace. This palace has been built since Joseon Dynasty. My family belongs to Goddess Astrea, All my ancestors until my Grandfather has served the temple. But my father moved to Seoul and Grandpa lived alone since then." He said.

"Oh.. I thought you didn't know much about your family history…"

"You were right, I got to know this from Grandpa.. Last night, as I told him that we will be visiting temple."

Finally, the clock went 6:00 am and we entered Namiseon harbor. Hongseok parked the car inside the parking area and we bought regular ferry tickets. Hongseok kept staring at me suspiciously , I kept avoiding his eye contact. I looked all around me to check if anyone of the Double A's is present there.

"Arin, tell me the truth now, What is the real purpose behind this sudden visit to ancient temple? Why do you wanna go with me? You think I cannot see your restlessness ? There is something that I don't know about…." Hongseok said while staring at me.

"You'll know about it soon…very soon…For now just hold on with your curiosity, Please…"

We boarded on the ferry boat , it took 20 mins to reach Island. As we went down the harbor, I saw an old man with car waiting for us. "Grandpa!!!" Hongseok ran towards him. So he's the Yang family senior, He didn't even look that old to be honest. Maybe serving Astrea and living on this beautiful island gave him good skin. I went near him, bowed down and greeted him with smile.

He drove the car through gorgeous roads of Island.

Nami Island was the height of the specific winter beauty in South Korea. The ancient Redwood trees were standing on both sides of roads. They turned into beautiful ice cones of nature after snowfall. The beauty of Nami Island mesmerized me. The cool ice breeze pleased me, It was not freezing like Seoul and full of urban vibe… Rather it felt more relaxing and laid back , the rural feel into the atmosphere just so much what I needed the most.

I didn't turn my eyes away from window until we reach the Palace. To my surprise , Palace was more grand and a piece of great architecture than I actually expected. It was constructed mainly of wood and white stone decorated with various designs , scriptures , red pillars…Numerous rooms…I had never seen such a grand place ever in my life. I kept going round and round looking at the palace.

"Arin, Grandpa's calling us inside the dining room. Let's go in, I'll show you the whole palace after breakfast." I followed Hongseok inside the palace. We had traditional Korean rice cakes and sea weed soup. I went towards the flower garden behind the palace… Sat on the large wooden swing, and looked beside me. Astrea stood beside me.

" Wow…this isn't fair!! It took me almost 3 hours to reach here, and you just teleported yourself in few seconds!!" I nagged at her.

"Arin, you know right that only you can see me ? So stop talking with me or people might think you've gone insane. Just keep listening to what I'm saying and follow my instructions. Adrestia is done with her meditation and in few hours will know about this place. So get out of this palace with Hongseok in next 30 mins. Anyways the temple is situated on the cliff of mountain so you'll require almost whole day to reach there. And.. Take that pheromone along with you. I'll be waiting for you outside the temple." Saying this Astrea disappeared.

I went inside the palace, searched for him. "Hongseok-ssi!! We need to leave now…"

"Now?? Arin-ah I am so tired of the long journey…Let me take some rest, Do you even know we have to walk to the temple which is on the topmost cliff of the mountain." Hongseok entered the room with his half buttoned up white shirt.

" No we need to leave now!! Just as you said it's so far away and we have to reach there before the sunset!! And…wait…Why are you roaming around like this? Naked?" I frowned at him.

"Naked???!! What ? I'm wearing a shirt Miss Arin and it's okay if you look at my muscular body….Don't be shy…" He smiled at me slyly.

"Why would I look at your abs? Are you for real? We're getting late!! You can rest and sleep once we reach there!!"I pressed my lips just when I realized what I've said.

"Sleep?? In the temple?" He was surprised

"Sleep? No…I said SIT.. you can rest and SIT there!! Can we please leave now!!" That was a terrible cover up for my slip of tongue.

Finally we took the temple keys from Grandpa and left the palace. I placed the pheromone bottle in my purse.

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We walked between the Redwood trees, it was extreme cold outside.. even my overcoat seemed proved to be useless in this village. Hongseok pulled me towards, held one of my hands and kept inside his pocket. My face turned red even with this simple gesture of his. I didn't know how I'm going to handle the situation inside the temple, my heart was bouncing hard… My final journey towards my past life had begun and the last farewell to my diamond core….to Adrestia… Will she able to reach here in presence of Astrea? What if she comes here? Will this be also the final journey of Arin's present life?