Grant Me Your Grace

✨

Remembering the red-eyed stranger, Dahlia asked Bertha.

“Who was that man, the one who appeared with the light?”

“Well…”

Bertha bit her lip, unsure of what to say. 

‘Please tell me everything,’ I begged, and she spoke cautiously, blinking her round eyes.

“A gift from the gods, Your Highness.”

A gift from the gods.

The pain in her left chest intensified as she heard the words. Swallowing hard, Dahlia crouched down to the ground.

“Your Highness, are you all right? Shall I summon the imperial physician?”

“No… no, I’m fine.”

Dahlia took a shuddering breath.

It wouldn’t do any good to call for an Imperial Physician. This was something she would have to bear alone.

Dahlia swallowed hard and asked again, “A gift from the gods… do you mean the ‘gift from the gods’ of the oracle’s prophecy?”

Bertha nodded gleefully.

“Yes, Your Highness, the prophecy has come true, the Goddess Nuit has indeed sent a gift from the gods for the nation of Bahran!”

Dahlia’s mouth gaped open in disbelief.

The first oracle to descend upon the land of Bahran was long before Dahlia was born. 

In the distant future, a gift from the goddess Nuit, forged from her heart, would come to save the nation from chaos. Many similar oracles followed.

And finally, on this day, the day of the anointing, the prophesied gift of the gods appeared in Bahran.

“Truly… the man is a gift from the gods.”

“Yes. The High Priest says it’s just as the prophecy stated.”

Long ago, a divine prophecy had been announced by a certain prophet through the high priest. 

It spoke of a day when a gift from the gods would come, and it detailed his appearance.

A red-eyed man with skin as white as linen and burning red like a flame would come as a gift from the gods on the day of the princess’s coming-of-age ceremony and Maksru.

The high priest announced that it was a gift from the gods. It was hard to believe, but I had no choice but to accept it.

“A gift from the gods… The prophecy was true.”

Dahlia muttered softly, remembering the beautiful man with red eyes. The pain in her heart pressed painfully against her chest.

Once she had spoken, Bertha had told her everything she had seen and heard all day.

“The Gift of the Gods was taken straight to the temple, and they’re going to keep the gates of the temple and the capital open at night for a month, starting tomorrow, so that as many people as possible can visit him.”

“For a month?”

Dahlia’s curiosity about the ‘Gift of the Gods’ flared for a moment. Her face quickly flashed with disappointment.

Forbidden to have any contact with outsiders, Dahlia was not allowed to leave the palace grounds at will. 

The gates to the temple chambers on cloudy nights in the name of cleansing the unholy were the only freedom she was allowed.

But the temple was open not only during the day but also at night, for an entire month, which meant she would not be able to step outside the palace at all this month.

Looking at Dahlia’s heartbroken state, Bertha asked worriedly.

“Your Highness, do you think we could find Rayrion at the temple and bring him back?”

Rayrion was a stray cat that lived in the temple. Despite her wary demeanor, Dahlia had given her the name because she had been so loyal to the Princess.

But Dahlia shook her head slightly.

“She lives freely on the streets, how stifling it must be for her to come here.”

It sounded like she was lamenting her situation in the Princess’s palace.

“Your Highness…”

Seeing Bertha’s eyes glaze over, Dahlia gave a weak smile and comforted the young maid.

“Don’t worry about it. You’ll only have to wait a month.”

“Yes, Your Highness, it’s getting late, how would you like to eat?”

“Perhaps you could bring me some hot tea, since dinner is ready?”

“Yes, Your Highness, please wait for a moment.”

Soon, Bertha served the fragrant sweet fig tea. She watched Dahlia’s movements for a moment, and then offered her a gracious congratulatory gesture.

“Your Highness, belated congratulations on your coming of age.”

“…Thank you, Bertha.”

Dahlia forced a smile. She regretted that her coming-of-age ceremony hadn’t gone as well as it should have because she’d been knocked unconscious, but with all the attention focused on the gods’ gift, no one would fault her for that.

At best, it was the coming of age of a deserted princess.

After Bertha left, Dahlia took a few sips of tea and crept closer to the large window. Opening it, she let in the cold, dry air of the desert at night.

Soothing her throbbing heart once again, Dahlia stares off into the distance. In the darkness, she could see a temple, the only light in the distance.

“A gift from the gods… I wonder what he’s like.”

Dahlia stroked the splotches on her right palm and gazed at the temple.

A red-eyed man appeared with the light. A divine gift from the Goddess Nuit, the one who had made the whole empire tremble.

“I… I’d like to meet him.”

Dahlia muttered wistfully as she lowered her gaze.

The goddess’s gifts are granted only to the worthy. The impious, who dared to steal the divine power reserved for the heir to the throne, would not even be allowed to see the gift of the goddess.

‘Even if it was not of my own volition.’

Soon, the hazel eyes turned away from the temple, and sank deeper into the darkness.

✨

The temple’s lights did not burn out until late into the night. 

The Emperor, Bahran Otthar Khankundra, did not leave the temple until the wee hours to see the gift of the gods.

After a full day of watching, the emperor still gazed with wonder at the beautiful red-eyed man.

“The day will come when I will see the gift of the gods with my own eyes… truly, the goddess Nuit loves our Bahran Empire.”

The Emperor’s admiration was echoed by everyone as they chanted ‘Manra,’ which means ‘as the Goddess will’.

The man called the Gift of the Gods remained silent, his lips curling in a way that made him seem even more mysterious, as if he had seen it all before.

The emperor asked for the gift.

“Did you say your name is Hissin?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Can you remember anything else about it besides its name?”

“I am afraid so, sire.”

Gift of the gods, Hissin could remember nothing but his name. He couldn’t remember how old he was, where he had come from, or even how he had ended up in the temple of the nation of Bahran.

When she awoke, all he remembered was that he stood in a strange place, and the only thing he knew was his name.

“But isn’t that proof that this is a gift from the gods, Your Majesty?”

Aaron, the high priest beside him, said, “The Goddess Nuit must have sent you the cleanest, most virtuous creature, so surely it must be the purest of all.”

Aaron pointed to the glowing red eyes of Hissin.

“Above all, those red eyes are just like the prophecy I heard from the Oracle long ago. Those eyes are undeniable proof.”

“The High Priest is right.”

The Emperor nodded.

The red eye burned like a blazing flame. It was an eye unlike any other in the land of Bahran, or anywhere else on the continent of Missylan.

To suspect anything more would be to deny the Goddess’s favor. The Emperor erased all doubt and took Hissin’s hand.

“You have come with the will of the Goddess Nuit, and you shall be the master of this temple and bring forth the blessings of the Goddess to us. Nothing shall be impossible for you within this temple.”

Everyone at the Temple was astonished that the Emperor would grant such unlimited power to a mere mortal. Not just power, but the possession of the temple.

Yet the Gift of Heaven, Hissin, seemed unconcerned by the magnitude of this, and simply accepted the honor with a gentle smile.

“I come to offer my body so that it may be of service to the nation of Baran.”

“I am touched by your sincerity.”

Hissin stretched out a beautiful, strong hand and prayed to the heavens.

He smiled like an angel from heaven.

“May the grace of the Nuit Goddess be upon the nation of Bahran.”

“Manra!”

.

.

.

A temple from which everyone had fled.

The chill of the sunless desert filled the temple. Darkness crept up the pillars of the temple’s sanctuary, and the dreary moonlight illuminated the statue of the goddess in all its darkness.

Plop, plop, plop—

Through it all, Hissin walked in silence.

His eyes gazed up at the sky, and unlike the daytime visits with the Emperor, he seemed worn out. His face, now devoid of its benevolent smile, was still graceful and exquisite, but it also exuded a vaguely sinister air.

Like that of a fallen angel who had sinned and been cast down into the human world.

The starry gaze seemed to embrace all of its light.

“Master, thou art come again.”

A shadow emerged from the darkness of the night. The figure leaned deeply toward Hissin, his face rendered pitch black by the lack of moonlight.

Its brilliant red eyes turned dark at once.

“The day has come.”

Gone was the benevolence of his midday gaze, and the cold of the desert night seeped into his eyes.

“I will move according to your will. Command whatever you will.”

As he spoke, the shadow showed no fear, even for one who had been promised paradise. 

Turning to his faithful servant, Hissin spoke softly.

“Go to ‘there’ and dig up the buried grudges. The tattered remains will pave the way.”

“Yes, I will.”

The shadow figure bowed, a grim frown on his face.

“Glorious.”

Raising a fist to his left chest, the shadow disappeared into the darkness. Hissin glanced up at the sky again.

The night of the Bahran nation was sinking further into the depths of the gloom.