Hilda looked up at the white statue of Iyomelka, which towered over her. It felt like she was getting judged by the Goddess for forgettingher prayers. She took a deep breathand tried to recall what she did when practicing back in the palace.

'Um! Um!... I-I remembered the I need to put my hands together, but I need to have my right hand slightly higher than my left?'

Hilda proceeded toput her hands together and bowed her head.But that's when she remembered that it was the other way around.

'Ack!... It was the left hand that was supposed to be higher than the right!'

Hilda blushed red as she fixed her hands,but followed her left fingers over the top of her right fingers.

Rya noticed one of the five sets of glowing words lit up bright. It seemed like she was the only one who could see these words or commands.

'Huh? Rub hands together and fold left fingers over the prayer's right fingers...' Rya thought as she read one of the commands that Hilda achieved. 'What hell? Did Hilda get that by luck?...Butthat is not what I practiced?... I wonder what happens when you get all five commands to light up?'

Mother Astra and a few of the other Priestesses noticed that Hilda wasn't doing theprayer the correct way. But none of them corrected her, but some of them glared at the panicking Princess.

'Okay, okay. I got it now. I need to do something with my feet... No! I need to kneel on one leg... But which one—Ah! M-Mother Astra is glaring at me!'

Hilda's nervous tick kicked in, causing her to cross her legs involuntarily, which triggered another command to glow that Ryacould only see. The Dark Elf was dumbfounded that Hilda had accidentallycompleted another command without anyclue.

Mother Astra watched with a mixture of disappointment and concern as the Foreign Princess flailed awkwardly during the ritual. Every movement seemed to stray further from the grace expected in this sacred moment. Deep down, Astra longed to intervene, to guide Hilda back to the path of reverence. But she knew it was not her place to interrupt a ritual dedicated to winning the Goddess's favor.

She couldn’t help but recall the time Queen Rianna stumbled during her own prayer, falling to one knee in a moment of vulnerability. Instead of censure, that mishap had sparked the Idol’s eyes to shimmer with approval, blessing the young princess in an unexpected twist of fate. Astra steeled herself, knowing she would have to wait until the ritual concluded to offer Hilda the guidance she so desperately needed. For now, all she could do was hope that the Goddess would show mercy.

Hilda regained some composure before getting back on track.

'Okay... Okay, okay, okay... What's next? That's right! I kneel down on my right leg!'

Hilda quickly uncrossed her legs and remembered the rest of the prayer. Then she went down on her right knee, kneeling like Rianna did all those years ago, as all followers do now.

But Hilda wasn't looking at the floor to notice a very small Pebble that one of the acolytes missed when cleaning up.

Hilda's right knee landed directlyon thepebble.This caused pain to shoot upher right knee.

'Argh!'

Hilda bit her lip as she tried not to make a noise.While standing up again.

'Owie! Huh? Is that a stone? Ack!'

Hilda hurried back down on her right knee when she saw the Priestesseswere looking at her. Shemade sure not to kneel on the pebble again, but the pain still bugged her. Shetried to hide her pained face by pretending to pray.

'Ack! Ouch!I wish I didn't have tokneel.No!... I'm stronger than this! I need to finish this prayer withoutembarrassingmyself!... Too much...'

Rya watched as two more commandswere achievedwhen Hilda knelt on the pebble.

'Tap your right knee once before fullykneeling...And bite your lower lip for five seconds?... Are these really things you had to do to pray to Iyomelka?... This is the most asininething I've ever read. I would be embarrassed to be in charge of this... And there is one more command left... Dammit I can't read it with the other four lit up so brightly.'

Hilda recalled the last part of the prayer. She slowlylooked up at the Idol andprayed.

"Oh, mighty Goddess, please show me balance... For Ishall be the balance for the people and for my Kingdom. Grant me your blessing... for I need it."

Rya's brow raised when the fifth command on the base of the Idol glowed red instead ofblue like all the rest.

'Huh... So?... Hopefully that's a good thing for me. I mean, there was no way she was going to get the last one. Hell! Not even I would say that in a room full of worshipers. They probably kill me,' Rya thought to herself as she watched the four sets of glowing words absorbing into the idol. 'What the?... Don't tell me—'

As Rya watched the glowing wordssink into the Idol. Therest of the congregation stared at Hilda with mixedlooks.

Duval was sinking into his giant chair, embarrassed by Hilda's performance.

'Goddess be damned!... You better come through for me Alaric!... Or are fucking agreement is over!' the Marquess thought as his wife, Isabella, look at him like he was a child.

Alaric was too busy formulating new plans to take down Rya and thought this ritual was a lost cause because William dropped the ball. Quinus felt a mix of relief and pity. For one, this might kick her out completely from being his future wife, but on the other hand, she looked so lost and confused that his heart went out to her.He wouldn't want to be made a fool of in front of everyone.

Lastly, there was Mother Astra's disappointedand annoyed look.

'Goddess help us... She can't even get the simple stuff right.'Astra thought. And when she and her fellow Priestesses were about to usher her off the circular platform, that is when it happened.

Everyone'seyes wentwidewhen the Goddess's Idol started to glow blue from her eyes.

"Th-The goddess... She's...Shownher favor!" Mother Astra shouted as the glowing spread throughoutthe whole Idol. "Gather the Priests and Priestesses! We mustrecord everything that Princess Hilda has done,immediately!"

"Y-Yes,Mother Astra!"

Hilda looked around, and her sorry demeanor morphed intoa cocky smirk as her eyes started to glow bright purple.

'Haha! Yes! I did it!Now I can save the Prince from that foul creature,'Hilda's mind raced.The platform under Hilda's feet began to glow as well, and a wind came from underneath her and blew her long flowing skirt up and around, showingoff her wide hips and pink pantiesto the crowd.

"Ack! Hey!?Why's it so windy all of a sudden?" Hilda yelped as her hands went down in hopes of covering her pink panties and keeping her skirt down.

Duval stood up from his seat, and he watched as the Idol glowed brighter than he had ever known. He thought Alaric's plan worked,and they'd havethe support of everyone now that they thought Iyomelka favored her.

'You crazy son of a bitch... You pulled it off!... I take back most of the bad things I've said about Alaric! You're still an egotistical piece of filth... But you're an honest piece of filth...'

Duval turned around to look at Alaric, who couldn't believe his own eyes. And when the Duke noticed the Prime Minister staring at him, he put on his stoic face and looked at him as if this was all a part of his plan.

Duval gave him a slight nod before turning back to witness the Goddess's Idol in allof her glory.

Alaric was shocked. He had his doubts about Iyomelka favoring Hilda.But fate seemed to finally smile upon him after so many yearsof his plans failing.

'Finally... With this, I'll be able torid myself of that annoying pest!... But she won't go down without a fight... Unfortunately for her... The nobilitywon't dare go against the will of the Goddess. And now I can question both my brother's and his son's mental stability for suggesting that we give this Dark Elf a chance to pray to our Goddess.Haha! Victory will be mine, brother!... You are just too stupid, like your son, to realize it.'

Alaric was enjoying his victory until William chimed in.

"I told you my inside man wasreliable. Hehehe...Do you think I can demand more gold from—oof!" William got the wind knocked out of him when Alaric elbowed him in the stomach.

"A moment ago, you said that he failed us, and now you have the galltotake all the credit?You're an idiot," Alaric whispered as William tried his best not to fall over.

Over on the other side of the aisle, where the Royal Family was sitting. Quinus was shocked at the sudden appearance of the goddess.He felt a pit forming in his stomach. He was going to be forced to marry Hilda, and then the nobility would try to force Rya to leave the kingdom, or worse, try to kill Rya. This was his worst nightmare, and he felt powerless for the first time in a while.

Rianna saw the worried look on her son'sface and held her hand on his.

"It'salright, son... We'll find out a way to keep Ryahere with us," Rianna said in a soothing voice.

Cyndre looked at his son with a bit of pity in his eyes, "Rianna... It's become impossibly difficult now to convince the nobility to accept Princess Rya... I'm sorry, son... My plan backfired on us..." He said in a somber tone.

Quinus was about to curse out loud, but then he saw Rya looking back at him with a smile on her face.

'Huh?... Rya?'

The Dark Elf silently mouthed, "Don't worry. I got this."

Quinus's worry quickly shifted to relief and then intrigue.

'What does she know?... Just have faith in her, Quin... She'sthe smartest person you've ever met,and you love her. Have faith...' Quinus thought to himself.

Quinus smiled and nodded.

Rya smiled back and then turned her head to watch the High Priestessinterrogating Hilda, who stood there confidently.

"D-Did you see Goddess Iyomelka!? Did she tell you anything about what her followers should do!? We are tired of making our own decisions!" Astrayelled.

Hilda didn't flinch as she stared down at Astra. She was raised to never tell a lie, and that's what she will do.

"Ididn't see the Goddess... But it's clear that she shows favoritism towardsme to be the next Queen," Hilda said confidently.

Mother Astra didn't show it, but her heart broke when Hilda said she didn't speak to the goddess. She always towed the line set by her predecessors that Goddess Iyomelka doesn't speak to her faithful because she doesn't want to rule over their lives, but she was always scared that she wasn't serving her goddessproperly.

"Are you sure that you didn't hearher voice?" Astra said with a hint of desperation in her tone.

"Yes, Mother," Hilda said.

Astra sighed in disappointmentbut kept up her holy facade, "Thenpraise be to the Goddess, who has made herselfknown."

Mother Astra turned to the congregation, "Hear ye!Our beloved goddess favors Hilda Stoneworthhand has the blessings to lead our people into prosperity."

"Praise be to the goddess!"

Duval had a shit-eating grin as he walked up the stairs of the altar and turned to the congregation.

"This proves that Princess Hilda should be married to the Crown Prince! And shows us that this Dark Elf shouldn't belong amongst our—"

"Let Rya pray to the Idol!" Quinus'svoice cut off the Prime Minister.

The Crown Prince's voice rang throughout the cathedral, and the crowd was shocked by his demand.

'What is the Prince thinking!? She's a dark elf!'thought most of the Minor Nobles. Tayna noticed the looks on the faces, and she whispered to Johan.

"We need to help Rya and the Prince..."

Johan looked around and he swallowed the lump in his throat before standing up, "I secondthe Prince's proposal!LadyRya deserves a chance to prove that she to has the blessing of the Goddess."

Duval's smirk turned to annoyance as he looked at the young noble of a Major House.

"You don't have the authority to secondthe Prince's proposal, Lord Dule!" Duval sneered.

Earl Nathaniel didn't like how the Marquess was talking down to the two future leaders of the kingdom.

'Haah... This better not backfire on me...' Nathaniel thought as he stood up.

"Then I second thatthe Dark Elf be allowed to pray to the Idol. What do you say, Prime Minister? Would you deny your own King a chance to find out if she truly has the blessing of the Goddess?"

Murmursstarted to arise among the congregation,and Duval was losing his edge.

"But— But she's a Dark Elf!" Duval yelled, and the Minor Nobles flinched at the Prime Minister's words.

Cyndre was surprised that his friend was going out on a limb for him and his son. Usually, it would look bad to challenge someone who gotthe Goddess' blessing, evenwith him being a loyal friend to the King. Cyndre looked at his son, who showed a confidence that wasn't there a second ago.

'The things I'll do for my son... Screw it... They probably think I'm crazy for allowing Ryato pray to the Idol... Might as well let her do it,' Cyndre thought as he stood up to speak.

"She may be a Dark Elf, Prime Minister... But she's saved my boy's life multiple times... It would be a shame not to let hertry, right?" Cyndre asked as he looked around the audience who started nodding.

"But—"

"I fourth theproposal, so let's get on with theritual," Baron Eamonsaid withauthority. He didn't want to lose the trade proposal that he had with the Earl, and the Dark Elf healed his knee, which made his life so much better already. And on top of that, he was losing faith in the Prime Minister after he had ignored him for the last four days. He heard from the grapevine that Duval was actively looking for someone to replace him as Minister of Trade. If he was going to lose his position, he might as well make a good impression with theCrownPrince and his friends.So they might give him the position in the future.

The murmurs grew louder when one of Duval's allies also backedthe Prince's proposal. Duval was sweating as he tried to come up with a counterargument, but he didn't have anywhen someone who was his ally thirded the proposal.

'How did things get so bad? If I let her pray to the Idol, then she might touch it and like it up like what we did for Hilda... She must have seen what Alaric did... Damn, elves and their ungodly eyes and ears... It's no wonder that we humans are afraid of them.We are insects compared to them. They could hear and see us coming a mile away,and they would have an advantage if the humans had a mage with them... The elves are a threat to our existence if they ever get united. Thank the goddess thatthe Dwarves are here and are willing to work with us.'

Duval's mind was racing, and Quinus picked up on it. The Prince turned to his father and whispered."Father... I believe in the goddess that she willbe the one. We just need to give her a chance.We need to convince Duval to back off."

Cyndre nodded and looked over at the Dark Elf and saw her smiling. He wondered how she was so calm, but he was willing to help out in whatever way he could.

"Prime Minister... If you allow Princess Rya to do the ritual and the goddess doesn't favor her, then I'll marry Princess Hilda Stoneworthh to my son immediately after the ritual,"King Cyndre said.

Duval perked up, but he was worried that Rya would touch the Idol to make it glow and foil his plans. This is when he came up with a simple idea.

"I will allow it on one condition,"Duval said.

"Go on."

"I wish to stand next to the Idol so I can watch her and make sure she isn't going to cheat or use some kind of trickery," Duval said.

King Cyndre's brow raised. He didn't know whyDuval wanted to do that. But he figured that the Prime Minister had some sort of trick up his sleeve and if he did try something then he would have the grounds to reprimand him. But until Duval acted, Cyndre was going to allow the Prime Minister his request.

"I will allow it, if it is allowed by the High Priestess... The altar is sacredand is not to be defiled."

The room fell silent aseveryone looked at Mother Astra. It was sacrilege to allow anyone near the idol who wasn't part of the clergy.But Mother Astra knewwhat the Prime Minister was getting at. And if he could spot foul play,then it couldsave the kingdom, even though she was an ally of the Royal Family.

"You may stand off to the side,but you are not allowed to interfere in the ritual, or you will be excommunicatedimmediately. Do you understand?" Mother Astra said.

"Of course. I don't wish to interfere in the ritual, and I will not touch the idol... I'll only be an observer from this angle. If you have no objections,then I will allow the Dark Elf to do the ritual."

"Very well... Prince Hilda... You may stand or sit where you please. But I ask that you please do not interfere or speak out in the ritual."

"Of course... I wouldn't want to offend your religion," Hilda smirked as she walked off the circular platform and passed by Rya. She looked at the Dark Elf triumphantly and whispered to her, "I will give you one chance to leave with your life. And that's if you walk out right now."

Rya couldn't help but smirk at the cocky Princess, "You don't see fail, Hilda?... Come on... It will be even sweeterif you're here when I do succeed."

"Hmph...Keep using that sarcasm of yours... It won't save you when all the knights will be coming for your head...I'll enjoy watching the look of disappointment on your face when you fail."

"Oh, I bet, Princess... I hope you enjoy the show," Rya smiled as she watched the smug Princess walk off and sit next to theCrown Prince, who had mixed emotions. For one, he got a good look at her butt when the wind blew up her skirt, and it was hard for him to deny that she was beautiful. She was also socially awkward, which made her do adorable, yet embarrassing, things that made him want to know a little more about her. But his heart was Rya's, and he wasn't going to betray her, and it annoyed him that Hilda would sit next to him when his lover was in eyesight of each other.

Hildawas oblivious, and shecouldn't help but glare at the Dark Elf's back.

The Idol's glow faded as the High Priestess summoned Rya to the platform.

'Alright! It's time to put that Princess in her place... And maybe I'll give her a spanking for sitting next to my man. That'll teach her to steal the Prince of my dreams,' Rya smiled as shesteppedforward and looked at the Prime Minister, who was frowning at her.

"Well, I hope you're ready to be amazed," Rya smirked at the Prime Minister.

He didn't answer while Astra approached Rya with three other Priestesses.

"I know this might be unfair, Princess Rya. But can you repeat what Princess Hilda did when praying to the Idol? Mother Dyana and the Sisters wrote down everything that the princess did. It is what the Goddess wants now. I hope you understand."

'Oh please!... I will crush this stupid praying Ritual, no problem! Hell, I'll even get that last requirement that Hilda missed. That should make this stupid statue light up so bright that it might blind everyone. All I had to do... is... read the five commands?... What the what!?'

Rya's smile faded when she saw four new sets of commands appear on the base of the Idol. The only one that didn't change was the last one on the right that Hilda didn't do. And after reading it, there was no way anyone, not even a follower of the Goddess, could have guessed these new commands would light up the Idol. They weren't even close to what Hilda did.

'What the hell!?...So, it gets replaced by a newcommandwhen you get it once?... That's some crazy ass bullshit. It wassheer dumbluckfor Hilda to get four of these by accident. And the one she didn't get makes me question why a goddess would make such a thing.'

Rya was lost in thought while reading the new commands,and she was completely unaware of the murmuring that was happening in the crowd.

"Ahem... Princess Rya?... Did you wish to review how to pray?" Astra asked while the other four priestesses stared at the elf.

"Hm? Oh!... No thanks... I think I got it. Just tell me when you wish for me to start."

The four priestesses frowned at hernonchalantattitude.

"Are you sure, Princess Rya?" Astra asked again.

"Positive," Rya smirked.

"Very well... Stand on the holy platform and wait for us to finish the call to the goddess," Astra turned towards the crowd and began her speech.

Rya did as she was told and stood in the middle of the circular platform, reading off the commands in her head again. All she needed to do was light up the Idol more than Hilda, and everything should be good.

'Ho boy... I'm going to look ridiculous... But fuck it... I'm going to upstage that bitch... Even if the Priestesses are going to get mad at me... Focus Rya... You got this...'

And with that, Rya prepared herself while the Priestesses began the chanting and praying in the new way Hilda had discovered.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by lotustale.com