Chrysos Heirs and Faith: Aglaea
I want to preface this by saying, I am not going to do one of these mini, informal breakdowns for every single Heir. For some there simply isn't enough info on their ties/feelings towards the religions of Amphoreus to properly do so, and I want to stick as strictly to whats explicitly shown/written in game as possible. With that said lets begin! Aglaea's ties with faith began at her birth. As her family had extremely close ties to the temples of Mnestia. She grew up surrounded by the doctrines of Romance and readily took them to heart even at a young age. As is described in her character stories.
There is little info to be found about the tenants of Mnestia, but we can see through Aglaea that it's not just about simply praying or believing in something. Devote followers of Mnestia worship them proactively by trying to bring more "beauty" to the world. Many choosing to do so via perusing the arts with Aglaea's being dressmaking. Which she did not choose on a mere whim but because she wanted to create that which is both beautiful and practical. A thoughtfulness that was not pressured onto her either. It was entirely her choice to fully dedicate herself to this form of worship from a young age onward. Eventually tragedy struck, Aglaea's family was killed during the Chrysos War with her and a maid being the only survivors. The loss of her family threatened to take away her dedication, only for her maid to help her claw her way out from depression.
But the loss of her family came with another consequence. Aglaea began to become hyper aware of all the "ugliness" in the world around her. How all too often people regard those who are outwardly beautiful highly while failing to notice/ignoring how rotten they are on the inside. Whereas those that are truly beautiful on the inside are shunned due to things often outside of their control.
It is unclear exactly when and how Aglaea joined the Flame-Chase. Similarly the details of how she ascended into the Demigod of Romance is never explained. However we can safely presume that Mnestia willingly surrendered their Coreflame to her considering Cerces actively assists the Flame-Chase. I highly doubt they would've aligned themselves with their lover's killers otherwise. What we can confidently say is by that point Aglaea had started to become disillusioned. Only then is she able to truly see how ugly and broken the world is.
However instead of losing her faith, Aglaea seems to cling tighter to it. Transitioning from weaving garments to the threads of destiny. Doing so borderline obsessively. She becomes so dedicated to weaving the beautiful future that is the promised Era Nova that she willingly martyrs herself to the cause. Nay, she outright plans around martyring herself during the quests. Perhaps having decided to do so long before we ever met her.
I personally believe Aglaea used her faith as a coping mechanism to deal with the loss of both her family and later on the Chrysos Heirs who fell before her. As if it is for the salvation of Amphoreus then their deaths were not pointless but had a greater meaning. Their sacrifices became one of the many threads that would weave the future together.
This would also help explain why Aglaea has such a bad relationship with Anaxa. As he openly undermines the Flame-Chase, the prophecy, and Era Nova. Perhaps in Aglaea's eyes he is not just dismissing divine decrees but also belittling that which is keeping her going.
There is honestly more I could probably go into, but I would say this covers the gist of how important religion is to Aglaea. It's not something she openly broadcasts but her faith is a core part of her motivation and even influences some of the choices she makes.
