Chapter 2

When she heard that voice, Annie's gaze dimmed, as if during a dream…

– Come on, come on! – Daina quickly ordered Annie again.

Without realizing the situation, Annie, on command, released all her strength through her hands, sending them to Daina, who bit her tongue.

Daina didn't hesitate, because she was looking forward to this moment. The girl squeezed out all her strength and bit her tongue hard. For a moment, Daina was seized with unbearable pain.

'Well, that's it,' – a barely perceptible smile appeared on Daina's detached face.

– Oh, my God! Annie! What did you do?!...!! No! Quickly call the Holy Mother! – Rachel screamed, realizing what was happening to Daina.

Helen staggered, instantly pouring out her divine energy to heal the wound, however, it was useless.

Mainly due to the fact that Daina could not use her own and someone else's divine power, because she had previously connected her body with the sphere she had created.

Daina's condition quickly spiraled out of control. Yes, it didn't take long. After a few seconds, the Saint's breathing stopped completely.

– It doesn't make any sense anymore, it doesn't make any sense... – in confusion, Rachel sank into an empty seat.

Helen also looked at Daina thoughtlessly, trembling and not knowing what to do.

Daina was cooling down under their gazes, sitting on the cold prison floor.

A lonely and miserable death.

The death of the real 14-the Saint who was completely hidden.

***

– Daina? – the voice calling her woke Daina up.

As she blinked, trying to focus her vision, the voice calling Daina came closer.

– Daina? Are you all right?

Daina slowly turned her head towards the voice that was disgusting to the very depths of her heart.

– Rabien! – the moment Daina saw her, her heart almost jumped out of her chest.

The one calling her was none other than the young Rabien. As soon as Daina checked her face to make sure that everything was really like that, an indescribable anger seized her entire body.

– So…

It didn't take Daina long to realize that she was back in the past. Suddenly she felt sick, and the girl covered her mouth with her hands.

– Daina, are you sick? Do you want me to take you to the doctor? Rabien looked at Daina with great concern, and the girl's face paled.

Rabien's appearance, calm and friendly, was completely different from what Daina had seen her in prison.

– Oh, no. It's just a little upset stomach. Thank you for your concern, Rabien, – Daina said with difficulty, her lips did not want to move.

– Daina, I'm sad to hear that. We're friends, aren't we?

–Friends, – Daina smiled bitterly when she heard Rabien's words.

At the same moment, an old memory of what happened in prison flashed in her head.

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– Rabien! Please help me, we're friends, aren't we?

– What? Ha. Friends? Are you crazy? How can I be friends with someone like you? Do you really think so? There's a limit to stupidity, you know.

– But... before that, you were my friend.

– Daina, listen to me. I didn't think of you as a friend for a second. How can you, an orphan, and I, the most beloved girl in the temple, be friends? You and I live in different worlds.

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'Everything that Rabien showed was just a deception...' – Daina felt disgusted, because she knew the real Rabien very well.

– As expected, you're weird today. Why don't you talk to the new Lady and go get some rest?

'I'll do it!' – Daina didn't want to answer Rabien, so she forced a laugh to avoid questions.

When Daina looked around, she saw that it was time to practice with divine power, the adult female candidates who had trained with them since they were children were already there.

– I don't understand why Young Rabien is talking to this child…

– Yes, because there is such a thing as sujun among the candidates.

· Sujun – is a standard or criterion of the level.

Daina could hear their chatter from afar, but the girl looked at them with such an expression on her face as if she hadn't heard anything.

'Rabien de Brion.

The only daughter of the House of Brion, which has produced the largest number of saints in history.

Rabien is not only a noble girl, but also the owner of divine powers, who is considered one of the best candidates for the role of a Saint.

Those who were born under God's love have no doubt that Rabien will become the next Saint.

Absolutely everyone wanted her to become a saint in the name of peace and prosperity of the Temple....

And I was one of them, considering Rabien, a kind girl who took care of me, a simple orphan.' – Daina stopped thinking about it and got up from her seat.

When the girl approached the new Lady, who was watching the other candidates, she turned sharply:

– What do you want?

– I have a bad headache. Can I leave?

– I already told you that you are not talented, so you should try twice as hard as all the other children.

– I'm really sorry.

– Tc. Go.

Daina's heart trembled at the sight of the new Lady, who was displeased, as if she had seen a bug.

It was a familiar look to Daina, who was not only an orphan, but also a saint, often being ignored.

Silently bowing, Daina left the room.

As soon as she was in the hallway, Daina's legs began to tremble. And all because she belatedly relaxed.

– Ha, ha... – Daina stood, holding on to the wall, and gasping for air, which she had been holding all this time.

When her sense of reality returned, Daina was angry.

'I'm back to life again! I wanted to die so much, but again I couldn't…'

Every time Rabien caught Daina and put her in jail, the girl faced the same end: she bit off her tongue and died.

Not understanding what this meant, Daina was resurrected again and again, and again, and again…

– Ha… – Daina closed her eyes and tried to calm her anger.

'I've learned a lot in my past lives, especially that anger can't change anything. All I can do now is go back to the room.'

– I need to find out the date, - with humility in her eyes, Daina walked heavily.

***

Returning to her room, Daina closed the door tightly. The room she had seen for a very long time was still narrow and overflowing with mold. Like all the oldest rooms of the temple, it seemed about to collapse.

And yet it was the only place of rest available to Daina. All she could do was live it many more times.

– ... – Daina stopped looking around the room and went to the table by the window. In the only drawer was the diary that Daina kept every day.

Daina's small hand began to carefully flip through the pages and soon stopped where the last words were written.

[«August 4, 381 according to the Radon calendar.»]

– 381? – Daina's look was not so shocked even the first time she saw the young Rabien.

That's just the date recorded in her diary was different from what she expected to see. All the rebirths that Daina has had so far have been exactly the same.

April 382, the same year that Daina turns 13, the same year and the same month. Daina was always reborn at this time.

At that time, she could no longer afford to escape from the temple, because the saint was on the verge of death.

However, this time the rebirth was a year earlier, which had never happened before.

'Has something changed?' – Daina clutched her diary tightly. Her expression didn't change, but her lips trembled.

'This may be the last time I was reborn…'

A little hope was about to blossom in Daina's heart. However, she immediately shook her head.

'I had so many expectations, but I had to go through so much despair that I don't want to go through this pain and suffering again…

Am I not a fool?

It's better not to expect anything from the very beginning,' – Daina threw her head back and stared at the ceiling.

'The dark ceiling looks so much like me. So dark, as if there was no such thing as light…'

When Daina cried, she felt some relief, but this time there were no tears. It seemed that they had dried up due to the fact that she had spilled a huge amount of them earlier.

– What did I do so bad? – Daina said the contradictory words out loud.

Daina, who now looked like a twelve-year-old girl, spoke in a voice that was too gloomy and sullen for a child of that age.

Daina stared at the ceiling for a long time, and then clenched her fists, as if she had decided something, and left the room with a frozen expression on her face.

The place where Daina went was the temple of the goddess.

The temple was empty. Even the tombs, the entrance of which was always guarded, for some reason were empty.

The temple is a place where only people who have received permission can enter. Daina, the junior candidate, couldn't go in there right now.

'In the past, I observed all the taboos of the temple, afraid of being punished by God. However, I don't care about the temple taboos anymore. This God doesn't answer to his Saint anyway.'

Daina, with an impassive expression on her face, was rapidly approaching the statue of the goddess. When she reached the place where the statue was clearly visible, the girl raised her head.

The statue of the goddess stood high and seemed to be proud of her noble figure.

Daina looked at the statue with an empty gaze, in which it was difficult to find anything. Feelings of longing and despondency pierced her heart.

– I was happy just to be here…

'I, an orphan, entered the temple when I was five years old, and until that moment I was a beggar.

I used to beg for food, and it was common for me to starve.

And then I accidentally crossed eyes with the new temple knight. After learning that I possessed sacred power, God's Soul bought me out on the cheap and brought me to the temple.

The people in the temple were not kind to me, but I was grateful that I had a place where I could live. Every day was happiness for me.

Until the moment when my Saint power woke up.'

– Why was I born?

'Nobody loved me. I was betrayed by everyone to whom I opened my heart.

Rabien, whom I valued and respected, and even Khalid, whom I loved…

I realized that I was in this world not on a fishing boat, but overboard...

If I have to live like this, then I'd rather never be born.'

– I want to stop this.

'I don't want to be used anymore, despite the fact that for Rabien, life is the fate of God. But for me, this situation is not so promising.

I tried to commit suicide many times, but all my attempts were unsuccessful.

Every time I tried to hurt myself, immediately after returning, I was instantly healed, completely deprived of the opportunity to die.

No, it seems my body is not capable of killing itself.

The only self-inflicted injury worked when I was locked up in prison and tied to a sacred instrument.'

Daina never tried to die at someone's hands, she only harmed herself.

The resurrection period always coincided with the period of restricting the entry of outsiders, so people inside the temple were forbidden to kill

– I can't leave the temple…

'Despite the fact that I have a whole year left, I still face an important problem.

Orphans are forbidden to leave the temple until they reach the age of majority. This is called the protection of temple property.'

– Wait, – after much thought, Daina raised her head, and her gloomy expression became a little lighter. – Soon there will be a holiday!