A fluffy rabbit hopped and played at his feet, completely unafraid.
Brightly colored birds landed on branches and sang melodious songs.
And all of this—the grass, the flowers, the trees, the animals, and even the faint dust floating in the air—
was enveloped in a faint, warm golden light.
"Hmm?" Suddenly, a soft voice came from behind him.
The voice was very unusual, seemingly composed of three different voices perfectly overlapping each other.
One was the clarity of a young girl, another was the tenderness of a mature woman, and the third was the hoarseness and wisdom of an old woman.
"Child, you are special... different from the mortals I know."
"Your talent, your potential... I can barely see the limit, and your future..."
Karl was shocked to his core; the voice had sounded right behind him.
He immediately spun around sharply, but behind him there was nothing except the frolicking elk and the swaying flowers and plants.
The moment he turned around, the subtle feeling of spatial transformation returned.
When he subconsciously turned his head forward, what he saw made him gasp.
At some point, a humanoid apparition had silently appeared before him.
The apparition was enveloped in a warm and dazzling golden light, and he could barely discern its outline.
The outline was not fixed, but slowly melted and intertwined,
sometimes displaying the grace of a young girl, sometimes the fullness of a pregnant woman, and sometimes transforming into the shaky form of an old woman—this was the trinity form.
Although he couldn't clearly see the specific face, Karl distinctly "felt" that the other party was "looking" at him with infinite love and a slight interest.
The apparition slightly tilted its head, as if contemplating something, and the golden light spots around it flowed with it.
After a short pause, it once again showed Karl that incredibly loving smile.
"Return, child. I have heard her prayer."
The soft sound of the triple superposition echoed again directly in Karl's mind.
Karl's heart was filled with countless questions and shock; he opened his mouth, eager to ask:
Are you the goddess Melitele? Can Raymond's illness be cured? What did you just say about my future?
However, before he could utter a single syllable,
the golden trinity apparition gently but irresistibly shook its head.
Immediately after, the scene in Karl's eyes blurred and turned again, and he was overcome by a strong sense of detachment...
When he suddenly felt a jolt and his consciousness re-anchored in reality, he found himself standing behind the temple.
He still maintained the posture of looking at the statue, the candlelight on the altar flickered slightly, and Nenneke's prayer seemed to have just ended.
It seemed that everything just now—the secret realm of birds and flowers, and the dialogues that touched the soul—was just a short and extremely realistic illusion.
But Karl knew it was not an illusion; his super senses and memory abilities clearly told him that what had happened was real.
At that moment, the soft voice of the triple superposition echoed for the last time directly in the depths of his consciousness, with a detached and warning tone.
"Child, I know you have many questions... because of 'her.'"
At the mention of "her," the voice paused slightly, as if the pronoun indicated a special being, one that even the goddess had considered.
Then the voice continued, its tone becoming solemn: "The future is not predetermined... beware of those... unpredictable people or whatever!"
The words dissipated like ripples from a stone thrown into a lake, finally returning to calm.
Only this warning phrase was imprinted in Karl's heart.
"Karl? Child?" Nenneke's gentle call sounded in his ear.
Karl suddenly came to and found that Nenneke had finished her prayer at some point.
Nenneke stood before him with the same kind smile as always, and an expression of fatigue that couldn't be hidden.
She didn't seem surprised by his brief distraction just now.
"The prayer ceremony is complete." Nenneke said quietly.
Her gaze turned to Raymond, still weakly leaning against the altar, and her eyes shone with calm confidence: "Now we need to wait and trust in the goddess's grace."
Above the altar, without warning, a trace of pure and warm golden light seeped from the void.
It was not dazzling, but possessed an indescribable vitality and sanctity, like the benevolence and life force of the entire world.
This ray of light floated slightly in the air, as if it had a spirit of its own.
Instantly, it plunged into the chest of Raymond, who was leaning against the altar, dying.
In an instant, a soft golden halo faintly emanated from Raymond's body, enveloping his entire being.
Under Nenneke's calm gaze and Karl's expectant eyes, a miracle occurred.
Raymond's pale face, originally from the illness, faded at a speed visible to the naked eye, and soon a healthy rosy color appeared.
His eyes, once cloudy and dull from pain and weakness, became clear and bright again, regaining their luster.
The withered yellow and gray streaks on his head, which had grown early due to illness and worry, quickly turned black and shone from the roots.
The dullness and pallor on his face, the back of his hands, and the redness caused by the illness also quietly disappeared; his skin became firm and regained the luster befitting a healthy man in his thirties.
The only issue was that his figure was still a bit thin, which was caused by long-term illness and consumption; it would take time to recover.
The light slowly dissipated, and Raymond blinked, looking around at the unfamiliar place.
Finally, his gaze fell on Nenneke and Karl before him. He subconsciously supported the edge of the altar with his hands, trying to stand.
This action had been extremely difficult for him in the past, requiring the support of others.
But at this moment, he felt a long-lost strength surging from his body, and he stood up with unusual ease and confidence.
He lowered his head in bewilderment and looked at his hands, which were still thin but had a healthy skin tone and strong knuckles, not trembling.
His voice trembled with surprise and uncertainty: "I... am I... my illness... cured?"
With a relieved and calm smile on her face, Nenneke stepped forward and said softly: "Raymond, the goddess's grace has shone upon you."
"But regardless of whether your body has fully recovered and the disease has been completely eradicated, you still need to stay in the temple for observation and recuperation for some time. Only after confirmation can we draw conclusions."
Raymond quickly nodded. He felt a surge of vitality in his body, completely unlike the feeling of life passing before him.
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