The long-neglected villa was a complete mess. That made sense, really. Her parents preferred mountains over the sea, and Cynthia had never left the capital since birth. For that reason, this villa sitting lonely and isolated near the seaside had become a place no one visited. But now it would be Cynthia’s home for about a month.

Cynthia, the precious only daughter of Count Dernier. She had never failed to obtain what she wanted, never given up on what she wished to do. So why had such a Cynthia ended up stuck in this seaside villa that wasn’t even properly maintained? This was a kind of self-abandonment. 

To put it nicely, it was organizing her feelings; to put it harshly, it was the end of social suicide.

As a result, she had left behind the arranged marriage three months away and the ten-year history of unrequited love, abandoning all the rumors that had heated up the capital to come to this wretched villa!

There was one thing that Cynthia, who had boldly seized everything she desired, could never obtain in the end. It might sound strange to call it a “thing”… but that was the Pope.

Pope Ezekiel of the Grand Temple, who served Goddess Lena, said to be the origin of the empire. Hair black like the night sky contrasting with his white skin, dark eyes that seemed to pierce through to the abyss, and a sensual beauty mark that was hard to believe belonged to a messenger serving God.

How could anyone not fall for such a face? It was only natural that ten-year-old Cynthia fell in love at first sight. Until then, Cynthia had never tasted life’s bitter flavors, so she followed Ezekiel around annoyingly. 

Attending mass every week was just the basics, and she went from staging chance encounters to gift offensives and even physical advances. But Ezekiel’s faith in the Goddess was so firm that he didn’t bat an eye.

Ten years passed while she followed him around like that, and Ezekiel still wouldn’t spare her a single glance, while the capital’s nobles looked at Cynthia with pitying eyes.

Well, those things didn’t matter much. The reason Cynthia finally gave up wasn’t such trivial matters. There was one trigger that made Cynthia think she should end this long unrequited love. 

Despite ten years of romantic advances, Ezekiel, who had never shown her even a laugh, let alone a smile, had shown a bright smile to a duke’s daughter he was meeting for the first time.

Well… additionally, hearing those nauseating and cringeworthy words about liking someone and confessions played a part too. But more shocking than that was Ezekiel’s bright smile. That scene was beyond shocking—it was earth-shattering. 

Even the love that had remained unwavering and solid for ten years crumbled the moment she saw that scene.

Her heart, which had been racing toward Ezekiel like a racehorse, sent out a surrender signal. Huh, something’s wrong right now? I can’t run anymore? If I keep running like this, I think I’ll die? From that day, Cynthia finally realized.

To Ezekiel, Cynthia’s existence truly, not even a little, not even as much as a speck of dust, held any meaning.

When she realized that fact, she thought she might die. Her heart didn’t just shatter into pieces—it turned to powder and scattered. After that, she cried quite a lot, hurt, and felt upset. 

Denying the feelings she had carefully protected for ten years was never easy. It was like everything that had composed Cynthia’s childhood collapsed in an instant.

Still, Cynthia endured all of that process. Meanwhile, her parents subtly suggested there was a decent man they could introduce her to. The man was from a wealthy marquis family based in the provinces. 

They said his family had a tradition of not being interested in central politics for generations, satisfied with staying in their territory and caring for their people. Moreover, their territory was so rich in resources that they had no reason to ask the capital for help or receive interference from the capital.

Really? Though she had given up on Ezekiel, how could human hearts flow only according to thoughts? 

To abandon even the slightest lingering attachment to Ezekiel, it seemed necessary to distance herself from the capital. She also wanted to escape from high society, which had been turned upside down by her marriage story.

Then should she go down to one of the villas far from the capital? 

She had always wanted to see the sea someday, so a villa near the sea would be perfect. The location had to be the farthest from the capital, with minimal accompanying maids and knights. 

Helen and Rihart, who had been blushing and being conscious of each other lately, seemed perfect. She wanted to organize her feelings and thoughts while looking at the sea. She wanted to sit by the seaside, watch the incoming waves, and let even her lingering attachments be broken into pieces and carried away.

When Cynthia said she wanted to organize her feelings before marriage, her parents simply nodded and agreed. When she said she would go down for about a month, her parents were the first to pack her luggage. 

She knew that while Cynthia had been anguishing, her parents had also suffered together. Their daughter had been clinging to one man for ten years, and that man was even a pope who couldn’t marry.

Seeing her parents spend nights in tears, Cynthia forced herself to get up and dust herself off. She firmly decided to truly organize her feelings and start a new life. That was the minimum courtesy to her parents who had believed in and waited for her all this time.

The day she decided to leave for the villa, she ran straight down without telling anyone where she would stay. She felt that if she said goodbye to friends and such, her heart might weaken. 

It seemed best to go down immediately after making up her mind. As a result, she went down to the villa without informing anyone except her parents.

That determination brought her here just yesterday. Riding in a carriage all day on unpaved roads was much more painful than expected. Even though she had hired the finest carriage with a skilled coachman. 

It was much more arduous than anticipated, so Cynthia fell asleep for a whole day as soon as she got out of the carriage. And when she opened her eyes, it was right now. Looking out the window, darkness had fallen.

She collapsed as soon as she arrived, so she hadn’t even properly seen the sea. Her stomach churned with regret over the completely wasted day. According to books, the night sea was supposed to be so beautiful.

Wait, night sea? 

For a moment, Ezekiel’s black hair came to mind. This wouldn’t do. She needed to quickly let even her small lingering attachments flow away with the waves. Just thinking that, she was getting up from bed when—

Bang bang bang.

Someone was knocking on the door. Ah, using the villa alone, huh? Making such noise in the middle of the night. Wait, thinking about it, this villa was indeed for Cynthia’s sole use. Then who was this unidentified person frantically pounding on the door in the dead of night?

Cynthia carefully came down the stairs. She couldn’t hear any other human presence in the villa besides herself. Where did Helen, the maid who came with her, and Rihart, the guard knight, go? Thinking about it, she realized the two weren’t currently at the villa.

Come to think of it, just before collapsing yesterday, she had sent Helen and Rihart, who came down to the villa together, to the village. The main reason was to buy food ingredients and necessities needed while staying at the villa, and the next reason was that she didn’t want to see the two awkwardly acting despite having feelings for each other.

Since there was quite a distance from the villa to the village, she thought she had told them to stay overnight safely and return. Because the villa was located on private property, and in the innermost part of that private property. 

The entrance to the private property was guarded by hired soldiers, so there was no way anyone could break into the villa. The sight of the two people, who refused stubbornly but eventually left with blushing faces, was quite entertaining.

She had tried to play cupid like that, but this happened. Why didn’t the soldiers stop them? Could something have happened to the soldiers? Even though it was private property, sending even the guard knight to the village might have been too reckless.

While Cynthia hesitated, the knocking became more violent. Now it was almost ready to tear down the door. The first to strike wins, so Cynthia grabbed a porcelain piece decorating near the front door. She planned to smash the porcelain on the head of whoever came in.

With that thought, she opened the door. She opened the door and…

“Cynthia.”

She opened the door, but why was Ezekiel standing before her? Cynthia began to wonder if she was still dreaming. Because there was no way Ezekiel would come looking for the villa where she was staying.

Could it be someone else with Ezekiel’s face? 

With that thought, Cynthia involuntarily stepped backward. Every time Cynthia moved her feet, creaking sounds came from the wooden villa.

“Are you running away from me right now?”

‘From you? I ran away from the Pope?’

Cynthia felt like laughing from bewilderment. She must still be in a dream. There was no way Ezekiel would ask her such a question. It had always been Cynthia’s role to cling, and Ezekiel’s role to run away. This was an undeniable truth like apples falling and the earth turning, which even Ezekiel couldn’t refute.

“Don’t you even want to speak with me anymore?”

“…Your Holiness?”

“Your Holiness?”

What were the odds that the person before her wasn’t Ezekiel versus the odds that she was dreaming right now? Otherwise, there was no way Ezekiel’s voice would be trembling so pathetically.

Who was Ezekiel? Wasn’t he God’s messenger sent from heaven, a priest walking the righteous path, the Pope called the empire’s pride? Ezekiel never frowned at anyone, never said a harsh word to anyone. Why? Because Pope Ezekiel was equal before everyone.

But Cynthia had ignored such courtesy toward the Pope and called Ezekiel by his name. It was natural to want to call the name of someone you love. And Ezekiel had given permission to call his name—though it was when Cynthia was ten years old. 

She didn’t even want to use the title “Your Holiness” that everyone called him. It was just that given the circumstances, she called him Your Holiness unlike usual…

“Is it because I’ve been acting like sh*t?”

“…Excuse me?”

“Because I’m sh*t, you don’t even want to say my name anymore?”

“…Excuse me?”

“So, you abandoned me and came to the seaside to marry another man?”

“…What?”

“You said you’d like to visit the seaside for your honeymoon if you ever got married.”

At Ezekiel’s incomprehensible words, all Cynthia could say was “Excuse me?” Ezekiel closed the distance between them with a cold expression. Startled, Cynthia dropped the porcelain she was holding in both hands. 

The clear sound of porcelain shattering into pieces filled the space between them. Even so, Ezekiel didn’t blink and only looked into Cynthia’s eyes. Somehow, saliva began pooling in her mouth.

Ezekiel reached right in front of Cynthia’s nose, stepping on the pieces without caring about the broken porcelain on the floor. The sound of pieces crunching and crumbling could be heard. 

The scent of cold wind came from Ezekiel, who was getting closer. Like someone who had run frantically through this cold wind…

“Then let me show you what really being sh*t is like.”

“Are you really His Holiness…?”

“Close your eyes.”

Her eyes? Why? 

At the puzzling words, Cynthia just blinked. Then she saw Ezekiel’s large hand slowly approaching. Soon Ezekiel’s hand carefully covered Cynthia’s eyes. As her vision was dyed in darkness, Ezekiel strongly pulled Cynthia’s waist toward him. Cynthia was helplessly drawn to Ezekiel.

And… instantly something warm descended on her lips. When startled Cynthia stayed still, whatever had descended on her lips touched between Cynthia’s lips, requesting her to open them. So… Ezekiel’s lips…

Her lips, too shocked to have any will to resist, allowed the invasion as he requested. Ezekiel’s thick tongue penetrated between Cynthia’s lips. 

Ezekiel acted like a conqueror who had seized Cynthia’s lips. First he lightly bit and released Cynthia’s lips, then tickled her palate, and soon entangled Cynthia’s tongue. Ezekiel lewdly rubbed the captured tongue.

Every time their tongues touched, wet sounds were made. It was so obscene that Cynthia had to squeeze her eyes shut. Her whole body seemed to have become a heart. 

She could feel throbbing wherever sensation existed. Ezekiel held Cynthia’s waist even more firmly when her legs gave out and she was about to collapse.

And finally, with a pop sound, their lips separated. Cynthia exhaled the breath she had been holding and slowly opened her eyes. She saw a silver thread connecting between Ezekiel and herself. So, so right now Ezekiel and her…

“You’ve shaken my faith in the goddess herself…”

“…”

“Leaving without a word like this—do you think it wouldn’t drive me mad?”

“…”

“Then let me give you my c*ck to suck.”

“…Excuse me?”

“Exactly as you wished, Cynthia.”

Ezekiel’s face, smiling brightly like he had finally achieved what he wanted, was so beautiful. More than the first day they met, more than when he stood under the sparkling stained glass of the temple, more than when he smiled at the duke’s daughter…

So Cynthia couldn’t ask any questions of Ezekiel, who was lifting her up. She could only think with her dazed mind:

…Was this her first kiss?