A pleasant surprise (5)

She quickly found out that among the two strings that connected the two closest spaces to hers, one of them was glowing.

The string that glowed was still red, but of a more vibrant color. Adelaide thought her brain might be seeing things after witnessing too much blood earlier, but the other red strings still looked the same.

'I wonder why?'

The dreams in front of Adelaide were based on how far she was from the people who were sleeping geographically. For instance, Alfred's dream was closest to her last time since he was sleeping right beside her. However, now that he had gone back to the academy, his would be too far away for Adelaide to visit.

She could try walking in this galaxy-like space, but Adelaide did not like the idea of getting lost. Going a little further would be fine, but if she got lost, her physical body would not be able to wake up.

'Teleportation comes in handy. It's better to just teleport next to that person and get in.'

She looked carefully at the two strings. Her eyes naturally wandered to the other end. Two places covered in fog were there.

'Aside from Baron James, the other nearest person to me should be his wife, Baroness James. Her room was right across the hall. They're sleeping in separate rooms today.'

It was normal for noble couples to have their own private bedrooms aside from the mutual one. The husband, also known as the lord of the land, sometimes slept in his bedroom when he was working late, or when the pair needed space.

Private rooms were a necessity, especially in situations when the madam was not the only wife.

'The one that's shining should be Baron James'. I wonder why... Even Alfred's didn't shine like that.'

Adelaide tapped lightly on the shining string. The entire string bounced up and down lightly to her impact.

"Should I check out the Baroness' dream first before going to this glowy one? Abnormal things could cause trouble…" Adelaide pondered before shaking her head decisively, "No, this is stupid. What's there to see in her dreams? The one directly involved in this matter is the Baron himself."

"Doing otherwise is nothing but a waste of time."

Ly, now Adelaide, had always been a decisive person. Once the decision was made, she would no longer hesitate.

The girl grabbed onto the bright red string. Gray fog swallowed her 'body' in whole as she got in.

Adelaide squinted and stood still.

"Something's wrong.", she mumbled to herself.

This place wasn't like the other dreams. The dreams Adelaide got in before were ongoing until she, an outside invader, appeared. Each dream had its own concept and the person who was dreaming was the main character.

Their thoughts made up the dream, their subconscious' will was the dreamworld's will, and although they did not know it since their mind was hazy, the dreamworld worked in their favor. Even nightmares were the same. That was why if you were in a lucid dream, it was no exaggeration to say that you were wielding the power similar to that of a god's.

But this one was different. There was nothing, absolutely nothing.

White fog was all it got. Adelaide thought the Baron's dream may be different since it was glowing. She thought maybe she did not get in completely yet and was still in some type of 'middle area', but the fog remained even after she walked further in.

'Fortunately, the red string is still here.'

The glowing red string was the only highlight within the vast area of gray fog. It was like a compass needle showing her the way out.

It was also eerily quiet. Adelaide wanted to mumble to herself to break the seemingly everlasting silence, but she refrained from doing so. She did not want to be caught in a dangerous situation just because of her little unsettled whim.

She'd rather walk with her heart beat loudly inside her chest. Not that her physical heart was with her at that moment.

'Where am I? Should I go back? No way, I've gone this far.'

'I've always thought of myself as a coward, but turns out, I'm quite brave.'

Adelaide praised herself internally before turning her head around for the nth time. She needed to confirm that the string was still there.

Fortunately, she could still spot the glowy red string. Just as Adelaide was about to wrap up her little adventure, she heard noises.

"I…please…y-"

"My…fau-"

Rather than noises, they sounded more like murmurs.

Her eyes naturally shifted towards the source of the noise. Adelaide could see a faint silhouette covered in fog. As she squinted and got closer with careful footsteps, the familiar Baron James kneeling with his head down came to view.

'Found you.'

Adelaide's face relaxed. To prevent herself from being spotted, the girl decided to stand behind the Baron to see what he was up to.

'This is my first time seeing such a dream.'

Baron James was so focused on whatever he was doing that he did not spot her. His head was still down, and he was praying. His determined face showed his confidence. It was as if the Baron strongly believe something would definitely happen if he were to continue.

The previously hard to listen murmurs became as clear as day to Adelaide once she stood behind him.

"Goddess Avalina, please guide me. Please guide me towards the eternal light."

"Your despicable, trivial child is lost. I don't know what's right and wrong anymore. Your graceful oracles have led people to the right path. It was thanks to your grace that the Holy Empire stood strong until this day. What should I do to become worthy?"

'He's praying to Avalina, even in his dreams. How pious.'

A look of realization dawned upon Adelaide's small face, then quickly followed by a mixture of doubt and unsureness.

Similar to how the dwarves worshipped Frioy, goddess of the seasons and successful harvests, Empirians mainly revered Avalina. Even the nation's capital Avarua was named after her.

Unlike most churches that believed greed was something despicable and material wealth was short-sighted, the Avalina Church was within the few orthodox churches that thought differently.

To them, as long as wealth was something one attained by themselves rightfully, it wasn't something to be ashamed of; as long as one's desires did not lead one towards the dark side, it was not ugly greed, but driving force and motivation.

'It's similar to the phrase 'do what thou wilt'.'

The church's teachings were unique and got Adelaide's interest at first, but there was one thing about the Avalina Church that got her uneasy – Pope Da'rion, the supposedly First Pope of the Church, was someone she believed to be a transmigrator.

Despite her rapid thoughts, Baron James' prayers continued.

"At first, I believed what I wanted and did was within your teachings. However, now, I don't know anymore. I think I've gone too far, but I can't turn back now. Not when the James' future prospect is in my hands."

"Please forgive me, Goddess Avalina. This lowly servant is nothing but a human with ugly desires. Forgive me and give me a chance to return to your arms."

"…"

"Please give me an answer. I swore myself to you, so please don't turn your back against me."

"…"

The Baron's body slumped down slightly when there was no answer from the gray fog. His dejected look gave Adelaide an idea.

With her limited authority, Adelaide commanded some gray mist over to cover her features.

She could only do this when people were hazy in their own dreams. If it was someone knowing they were dreaming, Adelaide doubted she would be able to do anything.

'Of course, no one would answer you.'

Adelaide took a breath and was about to reveal herself when the Baron got up all energized again as if he had just received a real oracle.

'What the…'

"I understand now. Do you demand a sacrifice, Mother Avalina? Yes, that makes sense. The bible has clearly stated that 'those who only talk shall never get what they wanted'. Actions are always the core, not meaningless words!"

"A sacrifice, a sacrifice…what would be the best sacrifice…? It would be the first time the goddess receives one, so it mustn't be something ordinary…"

Adelaide was dumbfounded at Baron James' self-interpretation and crazed words.

'…he interprets the bibles like that?'

'The Avaline Church is on orthodox religion, not some shady cult, right? What orthodox religion would demand a sacrifice?'

In her past life, she had seen news about crazed believers who understood their religion's beliefs wrongly to the point of becoming terrorists, but it was her first time seeing the making of one.

'But I guess the situation right now isn't bad. I could take advantage of this.'

'I can't believe that I'm being grateful to the stepmother bitch for making me cram religious studies. She wanted to tire me, but I ended up using it well.'

Her eyes shone with a resolute light before the girl opened her mouth and spoke.

"Do not send the Goddess a sacrifice, my child. Such act is nothing different from straying out of the path of light."

Baron James froze in his acts and turned back slowly. Someone covered by mists was standing in front of him. He had no idea what the person looked like except for her rather small figure. Fog surrounded her, following her every action as if waiting for her command.

The mysterious figure took a step towards him. Gray fog drifted aside, creating a path between them. The Baron felt his heart beating faster with her every footstep.

He had learned the Avalina Church's Bibles by heart. Avalina was the Goddess of resolve, determination, and perseverance. She was one of the five most revered gods and had seven angels below her.

Six of them were named. The seventh was said to be mysterious. The only thing known about her was her gender. No one saw her face – not even the Goddess was sure what this angel of hers looked like.

Her deeds were not mentioned like the other six. Her existence was barely recalled. She was not the type of saintly existence as she represented balance. Even some of the priests prevented from talking about her. A High Priest once doubted her to be a product of fabrication due to chaos during the Empire's founding, but had no evidence to prove.

Like how every religion in this fantasy world had its forbidden territory, she was one.

The Unnamed.

"Par…pardon my rudeness…"

"Yes, what you're thinking is correct. I am the Unnamed, and I came not to deliver the Goddess' message, but to deliver mine."