“Oh my, how polite this gentleman is. Very well, I shall answer. I am the goddess of the spring.”
“A goddess?”
“Goddess of the spring, if I may be so bold, could we perhaps postpone this conversation for another day?”
“Oh? Why is that?”
“Lotta is still very young, and such complex matters may be difficult for her to understand. As for myself, I am merely a lowly knight and not in a position to hear such important matters. I believe it would be better to discuss this again with Earl Cremora, who governs this land, and Lotta’s mother present.”
“Hmm, well, I have waited two hundred years already, so another day or two won’t make a difference. Very well, I shall wait for you to prepare the proper setting.
…Now, Lotta, will you pray for me?”
I closed my eyes, clasped my hands, and intertwined my fingers as I began to pray.
“May the heart of the goddess be filled with beauty, like the water of the spring.”
The words flowed naturally from my lips.
“Oh my, oh my, oh my!”
When I opened my eyes at the sound of the goddess’s voice, the light blue lump had transformed into a beautiful woman clad in a light blue dress.
“Oh, Lotta! I’m so glad you’ve returned.”
The goddess smiled, tears brimming in her eyes.
The following day, the knight conveyed the events to Earl Cremora, and my mother and I were invited to hear the goddess’s story.
After the greetings from Earl Cremora and my mother, the goddess spoke.
“Earl, this land has long been barren and lacking, but now that Lotta has returned, it will begin to prosper. Hilda, you too are of the bloodline of the maiden of the spring. Welcome home.”
And with that, the goddess began her tale.
Long ago, there was a spring here, and a settlement formed around it. The people cherished the spring, valuing the water and offering daily prayers of gratitude for its blessings.
“I am not a mighty goddess who descended from the heavens. I was born from the prayers of the people to this spring.”
One day, a girl with a special power was born into the settlement. When she prayed to the spring, the water would glow, crops would flourish, and people were healed.
The girl’s power was passed on to her daughter, and then to her daughter, and the land thrived. But one day, someone who knew of her power took her away.
“Even if the maiden of the spring is taken to another land, she cannot bring prosperity there. If there is another god in that place, then there will be another person who holds the power suitable for that god. So, I waited. I waited for the day the maiden would return.”
The goddess explained that while she had the power to make the land fertile, it could not be channeled without the maiden’s prayers. Without a praying maiden, her blessings could not be bestowed.
“You are descendants of the maiden who was taken away. Sometimes, people with the ability to sense special powers are drawn to individuals like you. Perhaps the former king, without realizing it, was instinctively drawn to Hilda, which is why he chose her as a consort.”
My mother had always been considered of ordinary appearance compared to the other consorts. People wondered why the king, with no political support to gain from her family, had taken such an interest in her.
“I wish to use my power to make the land prosper, but at the same time, I want the maiden to be happy. You must not make your work so well-known that it becomes a rumor. You should secretly bring prosperity to the land while safeguarding your own happiness.”
“Secretly?”
"Work quietly, and live quietly in happiness. That’s just the right way to be."
Following the goddess’s guidance, we decided to live a quiet, modest life.
Even after meeting the goddess, we continued living in our small house. According to the earl, this land had always been surrounded by stone walls, and the small house had existed for a long time. Although the place didn’t repel people, no one seemed to settle here, and strangely, wild animals never ventured inside the stone walls.
"Perhaps it was the goddess’s will," he remarked.
A land quietly, secretly protected by the goddess.
From then on, Earl Cremora himself would occasionally join the knights in providing protection and support. Although my mother and the maid were overwhelmed by his presence, the earl brushed it off casually.
"Today, I’m standing in for the knights, so just treat me the same," he would say.
Without hesitation, I would take the earl to the spring, where we would talk with the goddess and go on walks together.
"Hilda, your cooking is delicious."
Every time, the earl would happily enjoy my mother’s cooking. By the time a month had passed, my mother had started joining us on our walks, making it the three of us.
"Hilda, if you’re willing, would you come stay with me?" the earl asked three months later.
"To cook at your mansion?" my mother inquired.
"No, that’s not what I meant…" he hesitated.
"Mother, I believe the earl is asking if you would marry him," I interjected.
"Well… yes, that’s it," the earl admitted.
My mother’s eyes widened, but she quickly lowered her gaze and replied timidly, "If I’m acceptable…"
"Hilda."
"I'm so happy! I'm going to have a father!" I exclaimed.
The earl lifted me into his arms with one hand, and with the other, he embraced my mother’s shoulder. I decided to erase from my memory the face of my biological father, who had long faded from my thoughts.
After the upheaval in the royal capital following the king’s deposition, reports were sent that the former fifth consort and the former princess had succumbed to a local disease and passed away in the unfamiliar land.
We moved to the earl’s mansion. The spring’s land was designated as a training ground for the knightly order, and the knights rotated in shifts to guard it.
Even after moving, I visited the spring every day to pray and hear the goddess’s stories. Eventually, the goddess gifted me a pendant made of light blue stone. She told me that on rainy days, I didn’t need to go to the spring; I could simply hold the pendant and pray from the mansion.
The spring’s water flowed throughout the entire estate, healing the people, enriching the soil, and blessing the land with bountiful harvests. However, we couldn’t draw too much attention. To avoid attracting the kingdom’s gaze, the earl’s domain prospered quietly under the goddess’s protection.
A year later, my mother gave birth to a brother, the heir to the earl’s family. Despite the fact that we didn’t share the same blood, our father loved both my brother and me equally.
Once I had grown enough that my parents no longer had to worry about me falling off a horse, I declined the carriage rides to the spring. It was faster to ride in front of one of the knights, and it required fewer people to help.
I always asked for Topias, the knight with whom I had discovered the spring. We were close friends. Although my father was reluctant, my mother put in a good word for me, and he agreed to let me ride with him.
When I turned sixteen, I proposed to Topias myself.
"Please marry me!"
At first, Topias seemed bewildered by my sudden approach.
"Do you not love me?"
After all, Topias had always treated me with care, carrying me on horseback with such tenderness.
"I am prepared to serve as your knight for the rest of my life," he replied.
"Can’t you be my knight and marry me too?"
Topias looked troubled, as if he was thinking hard.
"Before I give you my answer, there is something I would like to ask the goddess."
So, we went together to the spring.
"Oh, you’ve both come together. You two always seem to get along so well," the goddess remarked.
"I have something to ask you, Goddess."
"Ask away."
"Well... regarding the maiden of the spring, is her virginity of any importance?"
Topias blushed furiously, but he asked with sincerity, knowing it was an important matter. I felt a bit embarrassed, realizing I hadn’t even thought about such a thing.
"Is that true, Goddess?" I asked, feeling flustered.
The goddess looked back and forth between the two of us, then burst into laughter.
"Being called a 'maiden' is just a title. I don’t have any old-fashioned obsession with virginity. Don’t worry about it. Such things don’t affect the worth of the maiden. However, when the two of you have a daughter who is able to pray, the role of the maiden will be passed on to her."
"I see. Thank you for answering my question," Topias replied.
He then turned to me and knelt on the spot.
"Lotta, I swear to protect and cherish you for the rest of my life. Will you marry me?"
"With pleasure!"
As he embraced me, the goddess created many small rainbows around us to bless our union.
Eventually, we had a daughter, and by the time she was old enough to understand the world, the power of the spring maiden was passed on to her. Though I was no longer the maiden, I still occasionally visit the goddess with my daughter to pay our respects.
For now, the earl’s domain continues to prosper quietly. Let’s continue to live happily and discreetly, so that the nobles of the capital, who look down on the countryside, never notice us.
[The End]
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