Those who were favored had nothing to fear, and those who weren't wouldn't even get the chance to voice their grievances.

Rosalie smiled bitterly, deciding to let the matter slide. She was used to it anyway.

"I've never left Zolt, Brad. Can you show me the world now that I've left the Sandharan Order?" Lola clung to Bradley and shook his arm, turning on the charm.

He looked at her tenderly, his voice oozing affection as he said, "Alright."

He was supposed to be Rosalie's fiance…

Rosalie's heart twisted painfully. She lowered her eyes, not wanting to see them flaunting their love, and turned to leave.

However, Lola stopped her. "Rosie, you and Brad are getting married in a week, right? Where's the wedding being held? Can I attend?"

Rosalie stopped, unable to take another step forward. Bradley had left the Sandharan Order five years ago, claiming that his inner plane was affected by matters of the heart. He said he could no longer focus on serving Sandhara.

However, she knew for a fact that he hadn't broken his vows for her sake. He hadn't left the Sandharan Order because of her. Their engagement was still valid, but she would never have his heart.

"Is there still a need for the wedding?" She turned to look at Bradley with sorrow. There was a second half to that sentence, but she didn't say it. It was, "It's not like I'm the one you want to marry."

He frowned, his usually stoic face showing a hint of anger. "Don't spout nonsense."

He didn't answer her. Instead, he told her to keep her sorrow and resentment to herself. Everyone but her could harbor resentment, purely because she'd fallen for a man of the monastery like him. She'd already sinned by tainting him with her selfish love. What right did she have to resent him?

Rosalie smiled self-deprecatingly. She turned to leave again.

Behind her, Bradley said coldly, "Since you and I have a promise to marry, I will honor it and marry you."

She'd heard him say that before. When she was younger, she'd cried and asked him, "Are you going to call off our engagement and not marry me? Is that why you're not leaving the Sandharan Order?"

The monks at the monastery didn't have to change their appearances while serving Sandhara. At that time, Bradley had only been 12 years old. He'd never left the monastery, and he sat cross-legged underneath a tree with his hair cascading past his shoulders. He'd been so handsome.

"I won't call anything off," he'd said. "You and I have mortal ties, and I owe you a marriage. I have to marry you in this lifetime to clear my debt so I can serve Sandhara completely."

Rosalie had only been ten years old then, so she was innocent and naive. All she'd understood from his words was that he wouldn't call off their engagement. That had been enough to make her laugh happily. He'd made it clear that he would marry her and that they would be together forever.

How silly. How could she have been so dumb? How could she not tell that Bradley hadn't wanted to marry her at all? All he wanted to do was cut whatever ties there were between them so that he wouldn't owe her anything. Then, there would truly be nothing linking them.

…

Rosalie took a flight home that night. She usually spent as much time at the monastery as possible each time she visited—solely because she wanted to see more of Bradley. Even an extra glance would be enough to satisfy her.

But this time, she came and left on the same day.

Bradley called her the following morning, telling her to meet him for her wedding dress fitting. She didn't want to go—she wouldn't be his bride in six days. She would return to Zolt and become the new Sacred Goddess.

But after some thought, she still decided to go. He was right about one thing—one could only truly serve Sandhara after severing all mortal ties.

So, she would go through the motions of marrying him, allowing him to repay the debt of love he owed her. Then, they would no longer have anything to do with each other. Neither would owe the other.

Rosalie headed to the wedding dress boutique with that thought in mind. But when she arrived, she saw Lola wearing a pure white wedding dress and twirling happily before a mirror.

The wedding dress looked familiar. Rosalie recognized it to be the one Bradley had had tailored for her.

Bradley had changed out of his monastic robe. He wore a black suit as he stood beside Lola, his gaze affectionate and doting. They were the very embodiment of love and tenderness.

Even Rosalie felt like they were the ones who were about to get married, let alone others. She felt like she wasn't even needed.

"Rosie, you're here!" Lola spotted Rosalie and stuck out her tongue, looking embarrassed. "I'm sorry, Rosie. I've never seen the wedding dresses that you guys wear here. I couldn't resist trying this one on because it was so pretty."

She blinked innocently, looking uneasy. "You won't be mad at me, will you?"

Rosalie smiled. "Of course not. You can have the wedding dress if you like it so much."

"You're talking nonsense again." Bradley glared at her. "Is this something to joke about?"

She looked at him, wanting to tell him she wasn't joking. As long as he and Lola were willing, she could let them have her wedding, let alone her wedding dress.

However, Bradley had an ugly look on his face. She didn't want to provoke him further, so she held her tongue and kept her words to herself.

"It's all my fault. I shouldn't have tried anything on," Lola said, looking apologetic. "Don't be mad, Rosie. I'll take the wedding dress off and return it to you right now."

Then, she hurried to the dressing room.

"Do you have to be so forceful?" Bradley shot Rosalie an icy look. He looked at her like she was a sinner he was judging and punishing on behalf of the gods.

She shut her eyes, feeling tired. Her intention had been to step down so Lola could take her place, yet he said she was being forceful. Sure enough, a person who wasn't loved and favored would be in the wrong, no matter what they did.

Whatever. She didn't want to explain anything—she would be joining the Sandharan Order in six days anyway. For those who renounced the world, all joy and sorrow would turn to nothingness. All in the world was emptiness. So, what was there to explain?

Soon, Lola was done changing out of the wedding dress. To stop herself from appearing "forceful", Rosalie entered the dressing room without saying anything. She tried on the dress Lola had just taken off to find that it was a size too big for her.

She was taller than Lola but much skinnier. The wedding dress had looked perfect on Lola, yet it was too short and wide on her. It wasn't meant for her, no matter how she tried to adjust it.

Rosalie laughed inwardly. It was normal for the dress not to fit her—she wasn't the one Bradley wanted to marry, after all. That was why he'd remembered the wrong size and inadvertently had the designer tailor a dress for Lola. It made perfect sense, didn't it?

Rosalie took off the dress and changed back into her own clothes. Then, she walked out of the dressing room.

"Rosie, why did you come out without the wedding dress?" Lola furrowed her brows and asked nervously, "Are you still mad at me?"

"No." Rosalie smiled faintly. "I tried it on, and it fits perfectly."

"Then why—" Lola started.

Rosalie cut her off, "Because there's a saying that there will be bad luck if a groom sees his bride in her wedding dress before the wedding. That's why I didn't show you guys what I looked like in the dress—it's fine as long as it fits."

Lola believed her and nodded as the realization dawned on her. "Oh, I see."

Meanwhile, Bradley gave Rosalie a pointed look. His face was devoid of emotion, so she couldn't tell how he felt. Then again, who could read the mind of a man of the monastery?

…

After the dress fitting, Rosalie headed home and retrieved the scripture Stanley had given her. She sat down in the study and started reading it.

Her study was filled with scripture, and all the texts were written in Zoltian. Many of them were priceless collectibles.

She'd initially started collecting them to close the distance between herself and Bradley. She'd wanted to understand his inner world and ensure they had something in common. She'd even desired to have their souls resonate with each other.

However, he'd told her off for being insincere, even saying that she was disrespecting his religion.

Rosalie had been indignant, and she'd started learning about the Sandharan Order on willpower alone. Gradually, she found herself truly falling in love with the religion. Whenever she read scripture, it would calm and save her shattered heart.

She'd agreed to be the Sacred Goddess not only because she wanted to forget about Bradley. It was also because she believed the Sandharan Order was where her soul would finally find peace.

She was so engrossed in studying the scripture that she didn't notice Bradley entering the study. She was reading a text when it was taken from her hands.

"Why are you reading this?" Bradley looked at her imperiously, his gaze cold. "Didn't I warn you about this? The Sandharan Order won't accept people with impure senses and lingering emotions. Why bother putting on an act for me when you can't cast aside your worldly desires?"

Rosalie bit her lip hard. She didn't want to argue with him, but she couldn't hold herself back this time. She looked up stubbornly and retorted, "What about you, then? Can you cast aside your worldly desires?"

Could he let go of Lola? He wouldn't have left the Sandharan Order if he could!

Bradley was furious. He was a man of the monastery, and they weren't supposed to be influenced by worldly desires and emotions. Everything in life was supposed to be empty to him. Suffering and joy alike were meant to pass him by without leaving a trace.

Rosalie had never seen him get mad before. He was always calm and stoic, almost as if he wouldn't even bat an eye if the sky crashed down on him.

Yet that night, he flew into a rage. He emptied Rosalie's study of all the scriptures and tossed them carelessly into the yard.

"What are you doing, Bradley? Stop it! Stop it right now!" She tried to stop him, but to no avail.

He looked crazed as he threw all her precious scriptures onto the ground, as if they were trash. He even forbade her from picking them up. The sacred texts lay strewn across the ground as he got a lighter from the living room.

Rosalie's eyes widened as she realized what he was going to do. Her breathing turned ragged, and she cried, "What are you doing, Bradley?"

She didn't even have time to stop him. As soon as the words were out of her mouth, he ignited the lighter and threw it onto the scriptures.

They instantly started burning. The sacred texts she'd treasured for years went up in flames just like that.

Rosalie couldn't stop herself from slapping Bradley hard across the face as she screamed, "Have you lost your mind? Why did you do this?"

The flames illuminated her face, which was streaked with tears. Did Bradley hate her so much? Did he despise her to the point that he felt it was an insult for her to read scripture? Was that why he'd burned her texts to her face?

"You and I both have impure senses and lingering emotions. Neither of us can genuinely serve Sandhara." Bradley calmed down after a long silence. He put his hands together before clutching the rosary around his wrist.

Then, he shut his eyes and said, "What's done is done. Neither of us is destined to serve Sandhara, so don't read scripture anymore."

With that, he turned and left.

The flames continued burning. Rosalie stared at them before abruptly bursting into laughter.

Bradley had admitted it—that his senses were impure and that he had lingering emotions. He was supposed to be a man of the monastery, yet he could renounce the Sandharan Order for Lola's sake.

He claimed he wasn't destined to serve Sandhara, yet he still kept a rosary with him at all times. How could there be a perfect choice in this world—one that betrayed neither the Sandharan Order nor the one he loved?

He couldn't find that perfect choice, so he'd chosen to disappoint Sandhara rather than let Lola down.

Rosalie kept laughing as she reached up to wipe the tears at the corners of her eyes. This was fine. She kept telling herself that even though Bradley had disappointed Sandhara, she wouldn't.

She only had five days left. Once the time was up, she would cease to be Rosalie Stone. She would become the Sacred Goddess, who only thought of serving Sandhara.

She told herself not to be sad. Women of the monastery had pure senses. They wouldn't cry over matters of the heart.

…

When Rosalie saw Bradley the following day, he'd already taken off his rosary. In its place was a bracelet woven from fine red and blue cords, colors that symbolized love in local tradition.

The red cord represented the woman, and the blue cord represented the man. They were intertwined tightly, symbolizing that they would never be separated. Threaded between the cords were a sapphire and a red agate.

Rosalie remembered that red agate stood for eternal love.

"I have to go out to deal with something," Bradley said. "Would you mind looking after Lola for me? She's not familiar with this place, so don't let her run off by herself."

Women of the monastery should be kind and always willing to help. Rosalie tried not to let her emotions influence her, and she smiled while saying, "I don't mind."

Bradley took a closer look at her, perhaps not expecting her to agree so readily. However, he didn't say anything while staring at her. After a while, he turned and left.

Lola soon woke up. She stretched endearingly and yawned while greeting Rosalie. "Morning, Rosie!"

Her sleeves slipped down as she stretched, revealing a woven bracelet on her wrist. It wasn't hard to tell from the design that it was a matching pair with Bradley's.