Chapter 6: The Attendant Nun

The cold from the stone slab floor seeped into Bai Jin’s bones.
The cross-shaped chains still bound her body coldly.

The marks from the bindings left deep red imprints on her fair skin.
Every movement brought a lingering numbness and stinging pain from her nerve endings.

Last night’s tragic screams had left her throat feeling as if it had been rubbed with sandpaper.
Every swallow brought a fiery pain.

‘Plaything…’

Lilith’s cold words still echoed in her ears.
She closed her eyes, trying to escape this cruel reality, fantasizing that it was all an illusion.

But every part of her body was a reminder that this was reality.

“Your Holiness, are… are all of these to be sold?”
A noisy clamor came from outside the door, along with the conversation of several people.

Lilith’s familiar voice came through, tinged with impatience.
“What else? If it weren’t for putting on this ‘deep sisterly love’ act, we wouldn’t have squandered a month’s funds in just three days!”

“If we don’t sell some things, are we going to drink the northwest wind for the rest of the month? Hurry up!”

Bai Jin heard the sound of heavy objects being moved outside, and the creaking of various chests being opened.
They were clearly clearing out the room to sell off belongings.

So those three days of noble life, along with those exquisite tea snacks and luxurious utensils, were nothing more than bait carefully arranged by Lilith in front of the cage.

Now that she was trapped, these decorations had become a burden.

“Creak—”

The heavy wooden door was pushed open without warning.
Bright morning sunlight streamed into the room, and fresh air, carrying the dust from the corridor, rushed in.

Lilith’s figure appeared in the doorway.
Silhouetted against the light, her expression was unclear, but her appraising gaze fell on Bai Jin like a physical weight.

Bai Jin instinctively flinched, her body tensing.
The fear from last night’s experience had not yet subsided.

Being openly scrutinized by Lilith now, a phantom pain began to appear on those old wounds.

What she couldn’t deny now was that she had truly become a plaything completely in Lilith’s grasp.

Lilith’s gaze lingered on her for a few seconds, from her messy silver hair to the tight chains, then to the wrinkled, blood-stained plain dress, and finally settled on Bai Jin’s terrified eyes.

The corner of Lilith’s mouth curved up slightly, as if it were an illusion.

“Change her clothes.”
Lilith turned sideways and ordered the young nun following behind her, her tone as placid as water, as if she were dealing with the items being sold off.
“Just put her in a novice nun’s habit.”

The nun acknowledged the order and quickly and efficiently changed Bai Jin into a nun’s habit.
The wide robe covered her body, concealing the marks left by the chains, but it also brought a new sense of restraint, one of identity.

“Very good.”
Lilith sized up Bai Jin, who was now dressed in a nun’s habit.
A strange light flashed in her eyes, as if she were admiring a piece of her own collection.

“From today on, you are my attendant nun. Remember your identity. I am the Saintess of the Royal Court.”

She slowed her speech, her tone laced with a mocking playfulness.
“Don’t even think about running away. You know the consequences.”

Bai Jin bit her lip tightly.
Resistance was futile and would only invite crueler torture.
She was now like a butterfly caught in a spider’s web; the more she struggled, the more hopeless her situation became.

“Tidy this place up too. Today is Sunday. The prayer cannot be delayed.”

Bai Jin remembered that mountain of flesh.
It was hard to imagine that the believers here were actually worshiping such an existence.

‘To pray for hope before such an… existence, what a great irony.’

Just then, two nuns beside her were trying to move a rather heavy, carved wardrobe.

“Wait!”
Lilith suddenly called out, her voice carrying an undeniable urgency.

She strode forward and stopped the nuns’ actions with her hand.
“Not this one! This one… cannot be sold!”

The nuns were stunned, looking in confusion at the suddenly nervous Saintess.
Bai Jin also raised her head, looking towards Lilith with some surprise.

Lilith opened the wardrobe, protectively clutching the pretty little dresses and various undergarments inside.

“If you’re going to sell something, sell the few dresses she wore before.”
Lilith pointed at Bai Jin.
“The fabric of those dresses is good, and the style is decent. They can fetch a good price on the Merchant’s Contract trading house. But mine, absolutely not!”

As she spoke, she took out a roll of parchment from her wide priest’s robe.
This was the communication and trading tool of this world, similar to the Little Smart phone on Blue Star.

However, in this world where contracts were a source of power, the Merchant’s Contract was also a source of power.

The Merchant’s Contract floated in front of Lilith.
Her fingers tapped and swiped quickly on it, muttering, “The title will be… ‘Private Attire (Three Sets) Worn by Saintess Lilith Lancaster,’ in perfect condition, imbued with a holy aura, a rare opportunity, highest bidder wins!”

Hearing Lilith’s words, the corner of Bai Jin’s mouth twitched.
‘Lilith really makes the most of everything…’

‘No, I don’t feel any regret at all!’

Lilith seemed to have thought of something, and a calculating curve appeared on her lips.
“By the way, isn’t there a certain young lady who’s always wanted to collect my merchandise?”

“Hehe… I’ll send her the link privately, give her priority bidding rights. She’ll definitely offer a good price.”

Thinking of that fervent admirer, Lilith seemed to think selling Bai Jin’s clothes was a good idea.

“Let’s go.”
After finishing this, Lilith put the Merchant’s Contract back into her robe.
Her voice carried a barely perceptible trace of fatigue.
“Time to preside over this tedious ceremony again.”

Twilight Church, Main Chapel.

Completely different from the terror of the flesh-and-blood hall in her memory fragments, this place was crafted to be holy and solemn.

The towering dome was painted with murals of holy angels and divine miracles.
Stained glass filtered the sunlight into colorful specks, scattering across the marble floor.

The believers, dressed in simple clothes, sat on long benches with their hands clasped in deep prayer, their faces filled with piety and longing.

A melodious hymn echoed under the dome, chanting praises to the Holy Blood.

Lilith stood on the pulpit, her small frame completely unable to fill out the wide priest’s robe.
The hood covered half her face, and the hem dragged on the floor.

“When darkness fell like a tide, drowning Zetcruyheim, when living beings were plunged into misery and all things withered, it was the God of Holy Blood who, with supreme power, tore apart the curtain of darkness and gave light to the world.”

Lilith’s words had no intonation whatsoever.
‘This must be what they call reading from a script,’ as if she were completing some kind of task.

“With His holy body, He bore the suffering of the world. With His immortal blood, He washed away the sins of all beings, redeeming us from eternal damnation and despair…”

Bai Jin, as the “attendant nun,” was forced to stand in the shadows behind the side of the pulpit.
Her position was not high, but it was enough to see most of the believers below.

Listening to the high-sounding, truth-twisting “holy history” from Lilith’s mouth, watching the believers moved to tears by her words.

Knowing the true face of the Holy Blood, Bai Jin felt a strong sense of absurdity churning within her.

She looked at Lilith’s profile, which was made to look incredibly holy under the holy light, and only found it nauseatingly hypocritical.

From beginning to end, Bai Jin had never seen through Lilith, whether it was the innocent little loli who clung to her calling her “Sister,” or the frenzied provocateur in the dungeon.

Who knew if this holy appearance now wasn’t just another one of Lilith’s faces?

Bai Jin suddenly saw a small, furtive figure by the side door.
Seeing that everyone present was immersed in the holy atmosphere, she slowly walked towards that door.

She saw a little girl of about seven or eight, peeking from behind a wall, watching the nuns busy moving various sundries.

Bai Jin looked at the little girl before her, dressed in a faded white dress with many crooked patches.

‘This must be a poor child, yet she still comes to this hypocritical church to seek spiritual comfort. How pitiful…’

Bai Jin then thought of her own current situation.
‘It seems I’m even more pitiful…’