AND THEY MET

Veronica closed her eyes the moment the strong white light hit her eyes. She had never seen such a pure light before. She felt as if her body was being purified by the light. She began to feel lighter. She could even see the light through her eyelids.

When she finally noticed the light starting to fade away, she opened her eyes. And then she was awestruck by the enormous beauty standing in the middle of the room. She was entirely covered in a cream colored dress. Her long curly blonde hair was shining. Her blue eyes were unmoved. Her pink lips were sealed. Thirteen candles were placed in a circle around her. She seemed to be glowing, just like Goddess Juvena.

Her pink lips opened shortly and a honey dripped voice floated to her ears, "Welcome to Rosemary Temple, Veronica."

"…" Veronica was in a daze. That woman's voice was ringing in her ears.

"Ahem!" The Head Priest loudly cleared his voice. This expression of hers wasn't new to him. Everyone would be dumbstruck in the presence of the most beautiful woman in the kingdom.

The high pitched sound was so unnatural in this place. It broke her trance. Veronica dumbfoundedly looked at the Head Priest before realizing who she was standing in front of.

She quickly bowed and said in a quivering voice, "Saint Ava, may the Goddess bless the light upon you. I cannot thank you enough for taking me as your disciple. I'm honored to have you as my mentor." She was so excited that her legs were shaking. She never felt this kind of strong presence before.

"Mentor?" Saint Ava confusedly glanced at Veronica before shifting her gaze to the Head Priest. She questioned him, "Didn't you tell her?"

The Head Priest scratched his head. "I didn't have that much time to explain."

Veronica looked up and asked, "Explain what?"

"I'm not your mentor. The palace isn't ready for another healer. Also, the presence of your power is too weak to let senior healers take you under their wings. Therefore, we decided to let you live for the time being. You can practice using your power whenever it's needed."

"My… my power isn't strong enough…" Veronica turned into a statue. She couldn't believe it. When the Head Priest was talking to her yesterday, she thought she had some great power and it made her feel like she was the king of this world.

"Your power is so weak that I could barely sense it. I couldn't track where the power came from. All I could find out was that the healer was you…"

'No way…" the Statue of Veronica started to disappear. Just as she thought, she was expecting too much and got hurt. It was a huge blow from the person she admired. It hurt like hell. Her pride was torn into millions of pieces.

"You don't have to be hard on her," the Head Priest defended the newbie seeing her poor state. He felt a bit sorry for her.

"No, it's fine. I can take this harsh truth. It's good to know my ability or else I would get hurt later." Her pride was tarnished, and yet Veronica was able to speak up for the righteous path. After that, she mumbled, "So, this is what they call cruel fate. This is absolutely a tragedy."

"…" The Head Priest and Saint Ava were speechless. They wondered from where she learned such unique words.

Unlike her, they weren't fortunate enough to meet anyone who could lend them romantic fiction. Even if someone did lend them those books, they wouldn't probably read them.

Veronica clenched her fists and looked at Saint Ava with determination. "I promise I will work hard under your care and become the healer you want me to be."

"'I want you to be?'" Saint Ava repeated her words and smiled faintly. "Your name is Veronica, right?"

As Veronica nodded, Saint Ava continued, "You shouldn't promise so randomly when you can't keep it. The way I see it, it will take at least a hundred years for you to be able to become the healer I want."

"What?" Veronica's heart dropped.

She couldn't think of anything before she heard Saint Ava adding, "Well, it might take fifty years or so if you keep practicing without eating, sleeping and bathing."

Veronica cupped her head and shouted, "No way!"

"Cough! Cough!" The Head Priest butted in. "I don't think she is that bad. She first used her power when she was eight and she frequently healed animals."

Being supported by him, Veronica glanced at Saint Ava with expectation.

"Animals inside the temple?" Saint Ava questioned him. "Those animals couldn't possibly get injured by an arrow or experience anything close to a severe injury."

Veronica's shoulders slumped. Saint Ava was right. Those birds and animals weren't severely injured. 'What was I expecting? There is no way I could be better. I only used my healing power on a man for the first time.'

The Head Priest placed his hand over her head upon seeing her downcast face. "Don't lose hope. There were many healers worse than you. You see her," he signaled her with his eyes at Saint Ava, "she started to have healing power at the age of 30. She was the oldest healer in her class and everyone mocked her for it. Even if she was a late bloomer, she surpassed all the tests and became the Saint we all respect."

Saint Ava calmly spoke, "It only happened because I hated to lose to those who mocked me. It's not that I'm special."

"That's not true!" Veronica objected. "When I first saw you, I felt pure light going through my veins. I felt lighter. Yes, you might have worked hard. It's admirable. However, if you didn't have a pure heart to begin with, you would never become a Saint. You could never shower us with your pure light."

The Head Priest smiled kindly at her words. He then stole a glance at Saint Ava.

Saint Ava's eyes met his and she averted her gaze. "It's almost time. Since you walked here from the temple, you must be hungry. Let's have some breakfast."

Growl~