Betrayed By The Hero, Loved By The Lord-Chapter 247: Grave mistake (5)

In the end, Cassandra chose to restore her faith. She was confident she could show Phillip she could still work with the church and had not failed him.

Cassandra was only concerned about how Phillip planned to help her.

It wouldn’t be the first time someone needed to get their faith back, so for a while, they would stay in rooms where only the priests would enter to pray for them. When they returned, they were silent, never making a mistake again.

"All I need to do is pray," Cassandra said.

"If that is all you think it will take to find yourself back on the right path, then there is much more work for us to do. I will personally see to it that you are saved. You’ve been around a vampire too long, so you have been led astray," Phillip said, seeing this as a test for himself.

Saving Cassandra would show the others that he was leading them on the right track. Only he could save everyone.

In the end, it would be Phillip who ruled the kingdom as the head of the church.

Cassandra played with her fingers out of nervousness. "I know there is much for me to do. Still, you will need everyone to help with the war. I can continue to train whilst praying and finding my way."

"No, you will not. You were easily overpowered by that man, and you will face the same outcome with the others. You weren’t prepared well to fight vampires," said Phillip.

"No, I was prepared to seduce them. My beauty was used," Cassandra said, angry they were leaving her out.

Wasn’t it the church who was losing faith in its own?

"Cassandra, you are already on thin ice. I suggest you be careful before you collapse and be left to die. You should be thankful the church is merciful. We forgive those whose hearts have been tainted. Concern yourself only with finding your faith," Phillip suggested.

Phillip took out a cloth from his pocket to clean the blade once more. His holy weapon worked well on humans just as it did on vampires.

He couldn’t have Cassandra running around worrying the others and leading them onto a dangerous path.

If Cassandra could not be saved, the church had to kill her to save her soul.

Cassandra clutched her dress. She had never noticed before how the church forced you to obey or be killed. It went against everything Cassandra first learned when she arrived at the church since they were to save their kind, yet Phillip was quick to kill their own tonight.

"Do you pray after you have hurt our kind? I filled that home with humans so I could feel comfortable. They would have followed me instead of Gabriel. If others were to hear we killed our own, they would fear us," said Cassandra.

"Are you trying to say that I have also lost my faith? Are you trying to say that I am evil though you ordered Bryce to kill an innocent woman? I know it all. I see all," Phillip revealed.

"That," Cassandra wanted to explain, but she didn’t have an excuse.

"You hated Lucinda Valor, so you had her killed. That had nothing to do with our plans. I must make difficult decisions, yet I can keep my faith. You, on the other hand, are breaking. You are giving into the darkness around you, but I am here to save you," Phillip promised.

Cassandra shook her head. She didn’t think anything was wrong with her. It was the church that kept lying.

The church filled her head with how she could get revenge for her parents only to throw her Gabriel’s way to use her body to keep him distracted.

Phillip noticed Cassandra was not heading on the right path. Instead, she was going further and further toward the darkness. He had taken a liking to her before, but she had ruined that with her behaviour now.

The ride to where the others were hiding was silent. It was only when they arrived that there was chatter coming from outside the carriage.

Phillip was the first one to exit, gaining the attention of the others since he was their leader. He was the one who remained true to his faith.

"Help Cassandra out of the carriage and out of that dress. She will need to get changed into the right garment. Take her to the prayer chamber," Phillip instructed the others.

Phillip handed off his weapon to another priest for it to be placed somewhere safe. "Bring Bryce to me. I want him here by sunrise. Do not be late."

Bryce also seemed to be losing his faith with the accusations he made against the church lying about holy water. freewёbnoνel.com

So many of his followers seemed to be losing sight of what they were meant to do. His gentle approach wasn’t working anymore.

Phillip walked to the chamber where Cassandra would be placed, thinking of his plans on the way there.

Cassandra kept her head down to avoid meeting the gazes of her peers. This wasn’t how she was meant to return. She was to come back here with good news of how she killed Gabriel and got the priests into the palace.

She was taken to a room where the same priest who held her helped her out of dress while Phillip waited not far away. It was strange for her to get undressed before them. Before Phillip since she viewed him as a second father.

Phillip motioned to one of the priests when they were finished dressing Cassandra. "Don’t be scared, Cassandra. I am not a man tempted by a woman’s body. I have devoted my body to the church."

"This is where you will stay during the time you find your faith. I will have a priest visit you five times a day to pray for you and listen to you pray. Before that starts, you must cleanse yourself," Phillip said, watching as buckets filled with water were brought in to fill a barrel.

Cassandra was confused. "His blood was only on my dress, and I can wash my hands. You did not need so much water. Wait!" She yelled, startled by the priest holding her hands and forcing her towards the water.

"It is not that kind of cleanse, child. You have been surrounded by vampires and laid with one. For all we know, you might be carrying one inside of you. We shall get rid of it, but first, you will need a proper cleanse," Phillip explained.

"Place her down under and pray for her until she is cleaned of all touch from that man. Do not stop before then, or we shall lose her. Inform me when you are done," Phillip said and then proceeded to leave.

Cassandra tried to reach for Phillip as he walked by her, but the other priests wouldn’t allow this. She didn’t want to be forced under the water over and over again. "You sent me to sleep with him. This was your doing."

"Yes," Phillip agreed. "And now I am making you pure again. To be cleansed with water is better than to be burned with fire. Do not fight it, Cassandra. It would pain me to see the fire consume you."