Chapter 42

To bestow blessings, when I went to the temple adjacent to the castle of Orsain, I had an unexpected encounter.

"Lady Alette, do you remember me?"

I'm sure it was the girl I took care of when she stayed at the Central Temple.

She wasn't from this region, was she? Did she get married?

"My name is Lylis Habane Andrea. Before I married, I was Lylis Dwo Garbo. I was a songstress until last year."

Right, Lylis.

I thought she would have been a good candidate next, but she had a fiancé, so I wondered if she would accept the candidacy. She did get married, after all.

When I asked why I was called even though there was a proper songstress, Lylis smiled wryly and said it was because of her deep devotion to the shrine maiden.

I still can't understand.

There is a properly trained songstress in the region, so why isn't she valued?

Moreover, she is only in the second team of the choir.

What a waste!

"It's nostalgic. I'm happy to meet a songstress here."

"Me too. When I heard that a priest from the Echua Temple was here, I persuaded my husband to come. I really wanted to see Lady Alette."

Oh, you knew I was in Echua.

"Yes. There's nothing a songstress doesn't know. The New Year's festival performance was also very famous. I wanted to see it too."

I wish I could have shown it to you, but the next time will be during the shrine maiden's tour in autumn.

Moreover, when the songstresses visit Gyl Ganzena, the region will be overflowing with the visiting songstresses and the gathered people, and it will probably be impossible to secure accommodation.

"I performed at Gyl Ganzena during the spring festival this year. Lord Carving seems to like it, so I think I might perform again next spring. If you like, you can come then."

Lylis answered happily, "Yes."

"How is Diva?"

Lylis stopped being a songstress after this year's spring festival.

She was a songstress until very recently.

If that's the case, she must know the atmosphere inside the temple well.

She quit because she wasn't chosen as a shrine maiden candidate.

She is 18, so she could have waited another year or so, but she quit being a songstress and got married because she had a fiancé.

It's a good age, so if she wasn't chosen as a candidate, that's what would happen.

"Lady Diva isn't coming to the temple now."

"Oh. Did she have a baby?"

This New Year was so busy that I couldn't even contact her.

To begin with, I didn't know how to meet her since she got married.

I used to send letters to the temple.

Lylis denied that Diva was pregnant and looked sad.

Diva hasn't come since last year's spring festival.

Without a singing instructor, the songstresses have to teach each other, but the shrine maiden, who should be directing, is not enthusiastic about teaching, and the priests are busy with the newly arrived songstresses, so the songstresses take turns being instructors.

This is unprecedented.

The lack of instructors also affects other skills. Instrumental performances are still maintained at a certain level because there are priests, but there is no one to repair or tune the instruments unless you seek individual instruction.

The most devastating is the composition.

"There are no enthusiastic composers like Lady Alette, and the shrine maiden does not request new songs. This time, there is only one new song by the new shrine maiden."

The shrine maiden dedicates a few new songs to the goddess in her generation.

Not only the shrine maiden, but the songstresses also create them.

In the previous generation, there was a composition call every six months, and the selected songs were performed during the tour.

I thought the flower song I requested for Carving, which was never performed in the temple, could be arranged for a choir and dedicated as a new song, and then performed during the tour, but with this, the hope is slim.

I was a bit disappointed by the bad news. I really wanted this song to be performed.

With Diva leaving the temple, the former songstresses who competed with Lady Alicia at the Central Temple are gone.

Why have so many people left?

Lylis started to mention something that was bothering her.

Almost all the shrine maiden candidates who remain in the temple after the selection are going to marry abroad.

"I was also approached. But I had a fiancé, so I declined. It was right after Lady Alicia was chosen as the shrine maiden."

Even after two years, she didn't become a candidate. Lylis thought that maybe only those who promised to go abroad, even if they had to abandon their fiancés, could become shrine maiden candidates. Even younger girls who didn't get selected for years are being approached. We don't have anyone of high status like Lady Cecilia, so I don't know how far down the list it goes, but it's mostly similar up to the lower baron. There are no commoners.

And recently, no commoners are being selected as songstresses.

"Actually, my younger sister is aspiring to be a songstress and is going to try for the selection this year. I'm trying to stop her, but she wants to try just to be selected. However, if she is selected and enters the temple, we won't be able to see each other much. I'm worried that during that time, she might be approached and agree to go abroad. I've hinted to my parents, but they aren't as perceptive as Lady Alette. Of course, they aren't..."

What I thought of was that the temple might be using the songstresses for its own diplomacy.

It seems that Lady Alicia's tour schedule includes foreign countries. This is the first large-scale tour within the country.

The donations from foreign countries have been increasing continuously since my time. There is no return for the donations, but if the songstresses are offered as brides, it could be a form of return.

The popularity of the songstresses, known as the pinnacle of lady education, is high even abroad.

The elegant and beautiful music of the songstresses is in high demand, but marriage is only possible if the songstresses agree.

They don't force matches on those who are unwilling.

Therefore, the local lords who desire the songstresses try hard to woo them. The only chance to meet them without connections is at evening parties.

The temple only introduces them, but from there, it depends on mutual feelings. This is no different from ordinary marriages.

Whether the feelings are pure love or a consideration of status and family is a personal matter.

But that is not where the temple intervenes. The temple only introduces the young ladies, acting as a guardian.

As a guardian, the temple thoroughly checks the backgrounds of both parties, which should be more thorough than meetings at evening parties or introductions by young friends.

That's why the temple's introductions are trusted.

This is not the temple's original job, but I think it is a system that cannot be avoided due to its establishment.

"I have also been approached about the songstress selection."

After the shrine maiden's tour, I intended to start this work, but after hearing this suspicious story, I cannot recommend anyone.

"I will write a letter to the High Priest."

Lylis looked relieved.

"Thank you. I am not a caretaker here, so I was wondering what to do. I am a bride here, and my real home is in the neighboring region, so it's hard for me to speak up."

"Yes. But the Echua Temple, which oversees the southeastern region, might be able to do it. And I am a delegate from the Central Temple."

The rank of the temple often reflects the power of the region. Although Gyl Ganzena is important now, it has been a key region of the kingdom since ancient times, so the Echua Temple is one of the oldest and most prestigious temples in the kingdom.

"Yes. And there is one more rumor that concerns you, Lady Alette."

At that moment, footsteps approached us.