Meeting the Mysterious Stranger

Twelve years later...

In front of the modest altar, there was a young adolescent woman kneeling in prayer while she closed her eyes in her deep meditation.

She was wearing a long, flowing robe made of soft, white fabric, with an intricate lace of golden thread work along the hem and cuffs. As a headdress, she wore a golden circlet, symbolizing that she belonged to the clergy of the goddess of light.

The hooded cloak, a staple of her modest attire, fell gracefully over her shoulders, embroidered with delicate golden symbols. Her belt was simple, made of leather that held small various pouches containing medical herbs in case of an emergency and some important trinkets, and she wore sturdy boots and a golden pendant shaped of a sun.

When her golden long eyelashes fluttered opened, her crimson eyes locked on the statue of her goddess in a few meters away, and she stood up while she dusted off her clothes.

She finished her 12 o'clock prayer, and it was time to do her next duty: foraging herbs for their dinner.

How fortunate that sister Margaret handled the children whilst she continue her duty in their humble church.

Lucille was lucky that the previous priest saw her potential to have the light attribute, and she felt delighted that she could use her power to help the people and repaying the Willowgrove church that kindly took her in after her parents passed away because of the unfortunate accident.

Even though she wanted to be an artist, the thrill of creating something beautiful within the canvas and the sketches of papers was fulfilling, but she gave up her dream for the sake of the Willowgrove village.

Her skill as an artist never went away, though, because she used her talent as a hobby to create her creation in her spare time whenever she had the chance in her alone time.

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The Willowgrove village was small yet peaceful, and they lived in the countryside near the borders of the vampire territory. 

Their livelihood was harvesting crops, foraging, and hunting wild animals for either to craft useful items for a living or selling the animal's hide to the traveling merchant, but their specialty lies on deers because they were always in demand, and it helped their village's economy.

Their population may be small, but they work unitedly in their quaint community.

The Willowgrove church was the only church in the village, doing their responsibilities such as taking care of the orphans, preparing their upcoming sermons, healing the sick, and other clerical duties.

Their church's location was in the forest, so that they have peace to be out of worldly things in life.

Unfortunately, there were only a few workers in the church. They only have a priest, three nuns, and the orphans living in the church, and having holy powers meant not to be chosen by many. Only the goddess of light knows whom she had chosen.

Lucille was the youngest of the nuns, as she was nineteen years old while sister Margaret, a thirty-eight old woman, was the oldest. The second oldest was sister Maryann, being a twenty-five-year-old young woman, while brother Eric was a newly appointed priest, and he was only twenty years old. Their predecessor, named brother Alphonse, was a fifty-two old man, but he returned to the capital for personal reasons.

As Lucille exited the church while carrying an empty brown basket, in the distant, she saw many children playing tag and other games that they enjoyed. 

She stopped for a moment to watch them having fun while she smiled at them gently and fondly. One child noticed her, and she waved at Lucille eagerly and enthusiastically.

Lucille can't help herself but to smile back at her brightly while she waved in return.

After acknowledging and greeting the child, Lucille continued to walk deep in the forest, going in a twist and turn with a destination in mind.

She was not afraid of wild monsters and wild animals because she can protect herself from her holy powers.

The golden-haired woman preferred support and defensive magic, as most the cleric did, but they learned a few offensive light elements such as holy light and turn undead for the undead monsters.

Lucille heard the flowing water ahead, knowing the familiar creek was nearby, and she hurried along until she entered the place.

Instead of being alone, she felt horrified that there was a wounded person lying on the ground pooled in their own blood in the nearby brook.

"Sir!" Lucille shouted in concern, and she let go of her basket on the ground carelessly while she ran towards the mysterious stranger without hesitation, not minding that her white robe getting caked by the dirt and blood as she knelt down beside the unconscious person.

'Oh, goddess of light, let this person be alive and be alright,' she prayed inside her thought desperately.

The bleeding young man was lying facedown on the ground, and Lucille gently turn the man over to face her properly.

The young, unconscious man was handsome with short black hair, fair skin, and high cheekbone. He wore a pristine, high-collared black dress shirt. The fabric was expensive, made of satin, and he wore fitted black trousers made with wool. He wore a polished black leather boot, knee-high with intricate stitching.

Lucille knew he belong to an aristocratic family because of his get up and handsome appearance. 

The unconscious young man's features looked otherworldly.

Even though the common folk usually avoid the nobles since they mostly brought trouble if they got involved with them, but Lucille was determined to help the poor wounded person.

On his shirt, even though he wore a dark color, she could see the source of the suspiciously wet stain of blood on his abdomen when she was closed enough. 

The young slumbering man was instinctually pressing his hand on his deep injury to stop the flow of blood from coming out of him.

He almost looked dead, but she knew he was alive after observing his long red-stain fingertips were twitching around the wound. He wasn't breathing, though, but she assumed he belonged to the dark and undead being. 

Since her village was near at the boundary of the vampire territory, she guessed he must be from a noble vampire.

Even though most of the humans have a strong prejudice against the dark creatures, Lucille's viewpoint was not the same because she believed there was kindness in whatever species they were, and she wouldn't hesitate to reach out her hands to them.

Since her holy powers were harmful toward the undead species if she used her heal on him, she quickly picked up her ready-made or homemade medicine in one of her pouches.

She immediately removed his shirt after apologising to the unconscious man sincerely because of her inappropriate action, but his life was at stake, so she applied the ointment, and dressing his wounded stomach with a bandage gently and carefully.

Lucille felt glad that she always prepared her ready-made medicine in some of her pouches because others ridiculed her not to bring any since she had holy powers to rely on, but she didn't listen to them to fulfill their satisfaction, and she only prepared her homemade medicine because of her act of sheer will and stubbornness. 

After dressing his wounds, she moved their position underneath the tree to give them shade against the bright sun, and she wanted to wait for him to wake up.

Lucille placed the slumbering man's head on top of her lap to make him comfortable, and her hand played his soft and silky black hair locks gently while she hummed with a soft lullaby to pass the time.

She wondered who this person was and who injured him badly, but she will pry some answers from him when he wake up.