Tears streamed from Eloy's eyes, and she remained silent. The Saint stood up and took her by the hand. "Come with me inside the Church of the Candles. We'll look for some food for you."

Eloy put a hand on her stomach, which was gnawing at her with hunger, and went inside with him, full of joy and delight.

The Ecclesia was full of candles hanging on the walls and placed on long tables. The glass of the Ecclesia was colored blue, red, and green, and engraved with the most important faces of saints and monks throughout history.

The monks and nuns advanced in their long blue robes with cloaks and hoods and bowed in respect to the Saint. He told them to take Eloy, feed her, bathe her, dress her in a new outfit, and then bring her to him.

The nuns sat in the hot spring of the Ecclesia, bathing the dirty Eloy, whose dirt had become part of her skin. She suffered and grumbled at them, trying to wriggle away time and again to no avail, until despair overtook her and she sat in the water with a sullen face. Once they finished with her, they began to wash her hair and apply herbal substances to it to repair it and increase its softness. They cleaned her, dressed her in the finest clothes, and then brought her to the Saint, who was standing in front of a candle, clasping his palms together and praying. He looked at her and found that she had changed amazingly. She had become as beautiful as the shining stars of the universe. She looked at him with annoyance and said, "Do you like what they did to me? That was painful."

He smiled at her and said, "That is how one feels when one desires to cleanse one's soul of sins. Cleansing it is not easy or simple, but requires patience and enduring pain. That is why many souls remain clinging to their sins and filth, because cleansing them of corruption and rot is painful."

Eloy nodded her head foolishly and said, "It doesn't matter. What matters is that the food was delicious. I haven't eaten like that since my mother died. Will you leave me in the streets again, Saint?"

She looked at him with sad, gentle features, so he picked up a nearby candle and gave it to her, saying, "Rather, you will be the youngest servant of the Lord. But when you grow up, help as many poor people as possible."

She smiled a wide smile and held the candle in amazement, the sparkle of its blue flame shimmering in her eyes.

The Saint went out in the following days, and Eloy accompanied him against his will, walking with him in the village, distributing sweets, food, and money to the poor, a smile never leaving her small, gentle face. The villagers were surprised by her presence because Saints do not marry or have children, but dedicate their lives to the Lord. But they later learned the story of this poor girl and became indignant at her relatives who had kicked her out of the house, and all the villagers boycotted them until they became like outcasts. They came to her asking for her forgiveness and pardon because the Saint used to give them alms as well, but he cut off the alms from them after seeing Eloy's condition. Eloy continued to turn away from them whenever they came to her asking for forgiveness and pardon. But the Saint told her that forgiveness is the greatest of qualities. And that they had wronged her, but she would be liberated if she forgave them and forgot what they had done to her. So she yielded to his opinion and agreed to forgive them on the condition that she never see them again.

Jean Dark loved Eloy immensely because he had no children and had always envied the simple villagers for their family lives, their children, and their wives. He knew nothing of these lofty meanings and had never felt the warmth of family or the love of children. But he felt this feeling for the first time with Eloy, who accompanied him like his shadow everywhere he went, listening to him as he advised and taught her. She also felt that he was like the father she had lost.

One of the monks came sweating profusely one day and said, words choking in his throat, "Saint! The Philosophers' Revolution has spread everywhere. It's a massacre. They are slaughtering all the monks and nuns, destroying the Churches of the Candles and looting them. They are killing the King's men and his entourage. I heard that General Darleon, who betrayed the King, killed five of the Nine Knights. His fierce men killed three, and only you remain. No doubt they will learn of your location and attack this village, for you are the last of the Knights."

The Saint swallowed hard, dismayed. He looked at the monks and nuns who were looking at him with overwhelming fear and pleading. The Saint said, "Do not fear, for I will not let anyone harm this village. Besides, we are in a village far from the capital, and they will not trouble themselves to come to it. But I did not expect them to succeed this quickly. They are moving fast and systematically. These wretched atheists want to bring strife to this planet and overthrow the religion of the Lord. We must remain on alert until the situation calms down. Send men to monitor the situation and bring us news."

The monk nodded and went back.

The Saint sat worried about what was happening to his fellow monks and about the strength of this so-called Darleon, who had managed to kill five of the strongest knights of the Franks alone. It appeared that he had fierce men with him who were no less strong than him and had managed to kill the rest of the knights. Eloy approached him and sat next to him, fiddling with her fingers, then said, "Are we safe... Father?"

The Saint felt his worry lift when he heard the word "Father" for the first time. He placed his hand on her shoulder and hugged her to him, saying, "Don't worry, my sweet. Your father is the strongest."

She smiled and closed her eyes to bask in this fatherly affection she had missed for so long.

Only a few days passed before a crowd of revolutionaries carrying rifles arrived. They stormed the village at night while its people were asleep and began to burn its houses with torches and kill everyone they saw in front of them with their rifles and daggers. Panic spread through the village, and its people came out screaming, pleading, and fleeing outside. The revolutionaries attacked with ferocity, brutality, and unparalleled hatred everyone they found in front of them, especially the monks and nuns, whom they abused, dragged through the streets, and slaughtered in the most heinous ways.

The Saint woke up to the sound of screaming and wailing. He carried his sword, put on his clothes, and looked out the window. He found the revolutionaries rushing like a mighty army and a sweeping torrent, having gone mad as they killed and destroyed everything. The Saint saw the simple people of his village being killed and slaughtered, their poor souls violated. He felt his blood boil and jumped from his window to the ground. He saw the nuns at the door with Eloy, tears of fear in their eyes. He gestured to them with his hand, saying, "Hide inside."

The nuns carried Eloy inside, and she began to resist them, calling for the Saint.

The Saint rushed between the burning houses, brandishing his sword. He saw a group of revolutionaries who had gathered a crowd of villagers, aimed at them, and began to shoot them dead one by one. The Saint raised his sword angrily and said, "You monsters! The curse of the Lord be upon you!"

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