Metafiction (BL)

5. face

"Welcome, my child." Dressed in simpler robes than Dan expected was the high priest of the temple, come to greet him personally from his seat in the study. He was old and graying with a long beard—kind of like a grandpa Gandalf. "Come, have a seat."

He led Dan to a comfortable-looking armchair and dismissed Jonathon, who shouted something about checking the offerings before running back out the door. Dan sank into the sofa cushions gratefully—who told the head priest to have his quarters on the top floor? Or that there'd be so many winding stairs to climb up to it? He wondered how the movers had gotten this armchair here, for starters.

"I am thankful that Our Light Most Holy made it here unimpeded," the high priest went on while pouring them both tea. "I was afraid that the grand duke might have delayed matters when Jonathon didn't show up, and asked my priests to help. Though surprisingly, General Merill arrived instead...nevertheless, it did the trick."

So he knew about that? Dan's estimation of the man grew as he accepted the tea, only to cough at the high priest's next words.

"While it isn't uncommon for the Saintess to wed, this humble priest asks that Our Light Most Holy dedicate his heart to the Goddess for a portion of his years first. Aleria is sorely in need of Her blessings."

"Wed—I, what?" Dan asked between coughs.

The high priest's expression grew grave. "I do not mean to alarm you, Saintess. But the grand duke's intention in seeking me out before the ceremony was precisely to ask for the Saintess' hand in matrimony."

So soon?! While Dan knew the Author would've prepared such things in advance to write a loveline into the story, wasn't this a bit too fast?

"I thought the grand duke's family only married Oldstuz or Elweruan nobles," he managed after a breath.

The head priest's eyes widened. "Why yes. Naturally the grand duke wasn't asking for himself, but on behalf of the Sun of the Elweruan Empire, the emperor."

Cough! Old man, why didn't you say that from the start?! Dan's heart, which had stopped beating for a second, started pounding furiously in his chest at the ridiculous turn things had taken once again.

"That's...I don't understand. I've never met His Imperial Majesty." I don't even know what he looks like besides his golden eyes!

The high priest affectionately patted his hand. "The grand duke quotes the emperor as saying it was, 'love at first sight.' He is not a man who chooses to speak lightly, my child."

That's even more impossible!

True to Window's claims that this world had "no plot," Dan had been dropped into it literally by falling out of the skies right over temple grounds. Some unseen force had slowed his descent until he landed harmlessly in a fountain, though the shock of the experience had caused him to pass out. By the time he regained consciousness, it was to learn that the head priest had declared him the next Saintess for his miraculous existence!

You tell him how the emperor an entire ocean away could've seen him during the last 48 hours!

Sensing the incredulity in his gaze, the high priest coughed and went on, "I am most likely to blame. You see, at the time I was speaking with the grand duke when the commotion at the fountain occurred. Valia is quite skilled at magic and we were communicating through a Mirror Pearl. When I came to investigate the noise, the Pearl followed and must have caught you in its sights. There is no doubt the grand duke would have sent or reported the footage to His Imperial Majesty."

One again, Dan touched his cheek—still the texture of paper—in doubt. "So you saw my face?" he wondered. Scribbles and all?

"How could we?" the head priest murmured. "It was wreathed in so much holy light at the time that neither I nor the physicians could see a thing." He took a pointed glance at Dan's veil. "I suppose the Goddess is waiting for the blessing ceremony to reveal you to the world for the first time."