Grace and Helen were clearly seeing this item for the first time as well, though the twin sisters had some guesses about it.
So Shade gave them a detailed account of what the two elderly twin women, who seemed to know of his connection to the Red Butterfly Sisters, had said in the corridor outside the church washroom.
When they heard the words, "The Cult has wronged them," neither Grace nor Helen showed much change in expression. Even after Shade had repeated everything, their expressions remained unchanged, as though he had merely told a dull joke.
Shade knew their feelings toward the Church of the Twin Gods, the Old God, were complicated, so he said nothing more and handed them the beautiful red bead:
"This is for you. It was probably left behind a long time ago. I'm not sure what it is."
The older Grace reached out to take it. After examining it for a moment, she passed it to her younger sister. Helen held it up to the sunlight, shook it twice, and then pressed it to her ear to listen. Finally, the bead returned to Shade's hand.
"If we lied and told you this was merely an ordinary keepsake, or only said that it could purify our power and further suppress the revival of the Whisper Element within us, you certainly wouldn't doubt us."
Grace sighed softly. A girl of fifteen or sixteen should not have had so many worries:
"But we don't want to lie to you, so please make the decision for us—this is a holy relic left behind by the god we encountered, the Twins God. Or rather, it would not be an exaggeration to call it a 'divine artifact.'"
"What?"
There was no divinity within it.
"She" seemed to immediately know what Shade