☀️ Arselia and Akonia

- There was a time when I wanted to marry him, but fate had other plans... Dwelling on it wouldn't lead to anything but chaos within and around me.

Neither Beata nor Guion said anything in response to this sudden revelation, only offering understanding nods and encouraging smiles. They knew perfectly well whom Eugene had chosen as his wife – after all, they had contributed to it. In any case, any words seemed superfluous to them, and Bazella herself had obviously come to terms with the fact that her desire would not be fulfilled.
"Funny, but I didn't even think about simply seducing Eugene and sleeping with him, no matter how handsome he was," Beata thought. "It seemed... wrong. I wonder why. However, I don't judge those for whom such thoughts arise; the Patriarch is definitely very good-looking and a pleasant person."

- His Holiness has not yet regained consciousness, so for now, we can only guess whether he will recover or not.

😢 😢
Beata felt the anger boiling within her again. If that bastard who wounded Eugene were here now, he would be in trouble, and she didn't care that he had taken down several guards and, well, wounded the Patriarch; she would tear his throat out in pure rage and stubbornness, even if it meant taking a huge hit to her own health.
She clenched her fists, bit her lip, and exhaled. Guion squeezed her forearm encouragingly.
"I hope that... unpleasant person who attacked him... gets what he deserves," she said, carefully choosing her words.
"We are very sad to hear that he has not yet regained consciousness," Guion sighed. "Thank you for sharing this information."
More than anything, he wanted to help Eugene. But what could he, a mediocre medic, do? Apply a plantain leaf? The Patriarch is now surely in the hands of the best doctors and priests of Margel. No matter how much he wants to, he won't make a difference. Useless...
As if in response to his thoughts, Beata patted him on the shoulder encouragingly, but her gaze was stern – she realized that he was falling into self-flagellation again, and she predictably didn't like it.
"It's a pity that we can't help... We can only hope that Mother Anuzish will be as merciful to him as he was merciful to us," the adventuress said, tilting her head. "I'm sure that the best doctors and healers of Margel are already fighting for his life, so everything is in the hands of the gods."
"Yes... We still hope that he will marry us at the end of the month," Guion said with an awkward smile, trying to somehow lighten the mood, because Beata looked as if a black storm cloud was about to materialize above her.
It worked – Beata smiled slightly in response and raised her head. But her spirits weren't much improved.
"The church was also destroyed," the ex-bandit sighed. "So..."
"Yes... But I hope everything will be alright."
"Me too, Guion. By the way..." Beata thought for a moment and turned to Bazella, "and indeed, who is now in charge of church affairs? Of course, Margel doesn't have time for weddings and the like right now, but there must be somewhere to go to pray, confess, lift curses and ailments, and seek support from higher powers, especially in light of what happened... Is that all up to you now? Or do you only deal with aliens, as in the advertisement?"