Reading

"What if the Pope is worshipping the Demon Lord?" Bonnie proposed. "It would be very clever. Infiltrate the church as a priest, climb his way up and become a Pope, then proclaim a false Saintess. He can do way more damage as a devil worshipper if he's masquerading a holy man."

"That makes perfect sense, but how do we confirm that?" Dixie asked.

"The next time our family goes to church, we can do some snooping. The Day of Prayer takes place once a month and the Del Montague family always attends. We just missed it." Bonnie answered.

"Felicia hasn't been attending church in the past 4 years." Dixie noted, absentmindedly. "How unfair. To think she was restricted in that way as well."

"For now, let's go through the books we have on the history of the empire and Goddess Kartara. If we learn more about the kinds of powers the previous Saintesses possessed, then surely we'll find a flaw within the claim surrounding Helena's magic. We both know it's not from the Goddess, so where did she get it? And why was she only declared a Saintess 3 years ago as opposed to the moment of her birth?"

Dixie agreed. There was so much that did not fit surrounding Helena's claim to divinity. How many within the church have figured it out, but are too scared to voice it?

They rose from their seats and went back inside. Dixie showed Bonnie all she had wrote and asked her if she understood the references and abbreviations. She nodded. Naturally, as sisters they were harmonized in their way of communicating. Placing the parchment in the safe, Dixie turned the dial to lock it and joined her sister in Moniqua's little library.

The late Duchess had her own private collection of books inside her bedchamber. A tiny shelf consisting of about a 100 books filled with information which she deemed to be either important or entertaining. Perhaps, both.

Seated on the plush red carpet, the sisters began to go through each one meticulously.

Hours passed.

They dismissed the servants when they knocked on the door asking them if they wanted lunch.

More time passed.

Eventually, Helena who could not bear the thought of Alex spending so much time alone with Felicia decided to interrupt.

Dixie did not glance up from reading and let Bonnie get rid of the fool. Her sister was very curt with her words, letting Helena know that she was busy training Felicia to become smarter in order to impress the Crown Prince. She did not open the door all the way when speaking and closed it before Helena could respond.

Sputtering in outrage, Helena stomped her foot furiously and immediately went to whine to her mother about being bullied by Alex. 

Another hour passed.

Finally feeling fatigued and not willing to read in candle light, the sisters headed downstairs for dinner.