Chapter 3 (Part 5)

The cold sensation traveled down her spine and spread throughout her body. The water was so cold that it shocked her heart, making it feel as though she might go into cardiac arrest.  

“Oh my, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to. I just lost my temper for a moment.”  

She didn’t look sorry at all. A smile lingered on Lady Pirus’s lips, though she pinched her nose as if she found the situation unpleasant.  

Seeing this, Cecilia was certain. She had done it on purpose.  

She had thought it was strange that things had been quiet for a while, and as expected, these young ladies weren’t ones to sit still.  

“Why are you doing this to me?”  

Even though Cecilia had been doing her laundry, she couldn’t understand why Lady Pirus was treating her so rudely. If all her garments were ruined, it would put Lady Pirus in an awkward position, so why was she acting this way?  

“You dirtied my clothes, so I’m returning the favor. If you ruin my clothes again, I won’t let it slide.”  

Still pinching her nose, Lady Pirus leaned in closer and whispered in a low voice. Then, as if she hadn’t said anything, she put on a surprised expression.  

“Oh my, you need to wash up.”  

“A towel will do.”  

Cecilia was angry but held it in. She didn’t want to escalate the situation late at night.  

“You’ll feel sticky, though.”  

It wasn’t until Lady Pirus mentioned it that Cecilia realized her body felt sticky. She had been too preoccupied suppressing her unpleasant emotions to notice the smell.  

Now that she could smell the sour odor coming from her body, it was clear the water wasn’t just plain cold water—it must have been mixed with something else. Fortunately, the smell wasn’t so bad that it made her grimace, but the idea of going to bed without washing up felt uncomfortable.  

She wanted to go to the bathroom and clean herself immediately, but that wasn’t easy given the current circumstances. At this late hour, the bathroom doors were locked, and she would have to find the priest in charge to get the key.  

Seeing Cecilia hesitate, Lady Pirus spoke as if doing her a favor.  

“You know the bathroom is locked right now, don’t you? Priest Gilbert probably has the key. His room is the third one from the end.”  

“I’ll ask Priestess Anna.”  

Lady Pirus’s insistence that Priest Gilbert had the key, even though Cecilia was sure Priestess Anna had it, was too suspicious. So Cecilia didn’t want to follow her suggestion.  

“She’s probably not in her room right now. She’ll be in the chapel all night.”  

“Got it. Thanks for letting me know.”  

Not wanting to continue the conversation, Cecilia gave a curt reply and went back to her room. Even after changing her clothes, the sticky feeling didn’t go away, so she wrapped herself in a cloak and left her room.  

Leaving the dormitory for worshippers, she headed toward the priest’s quarters to find priestess Anna. Lady Pirus had said she wouldn’t be in the quarters, but Cecilia couldn’t trust her words. She needed to confirm it with her own eyes.  

“What brings you here?”  

“I urgently need to wash up, so I came to see Priestess Anna.”  

“She’s on duty tonight and isn’t here.”  

The guards at the entrance of the priest’s quarters politely informed her of Priestess Anna’s absence, confirming Lady Pirus’s claim.  

So it wasn’t a lie.  

Cecilia had assumed Lady Pirus was lying, so realizing her words were true left her feeling empty.  

Who should I ask for the bathroom key now?  

Cecilia didn’t know which priest stayed in which room, nor did she know who held the bathroom key. In this situation, the only person she could turn to was Priest Gilbert, whom Lady Pirus had mentioned.  

She could ask him, but the fact that Lady Pirus had specifically told her about his room made her uneasy. She didn’t want to knock on his door in the middle of the night.  

“Could you fetch the key from Priest Gilbert’s room for me instead?”  

“We cannot fulfill personal requests.”  

After some hesitation, Cecilia cautiously asked the Holy Knights standing guard, but they refused her with a stern expression. Their response was firm, even to what seemed like a reasonable request.  

Isn’t this too much?  

While she understood their policy of not accepting personal requests, their attitude left her feeling unsettled.  

Should I just not wash up?  

She felt uneasy about going to Priest Gilbert’s room, so it seemed better not to go at all. But the sour smell clinging to her body would likely keep her from sleeping properly.  

Well, there’s no other choice.  

She didn’t like Lady Pirus’s suggestion, but there was no other option but to follow it.  

It’s just to get the key—what could go wrong?  

Cecilia cautiously made her way down the hallway of the priest’s quarters. Only her footsteps echoed in the silent corridor.  

Which room was it again?  

It was supposed to be the third room from the end, but it was so dark that she couldn’t clearly see the room’s location. The rooms were spaced far apart, which added to her confusion.  

After wandering for a while, she arrived at the third room from the end and knocked. She knocked twice, then three times, but there was no response from inside.  

Is Priest Gilbert not here either?  

Unconsciously, Cecilia reached for the doorknob. She had assumed it would be locked, but to her surprise, the door suddenly opened. And what she saw inside was….  

***

Oh my God. Priest Ian is… m*sturbating?  

Cecilia froze, unable to take her eyes off the unbelievable sight before her. She couldn’t do anything but stare blankly, her throat dry as she swallowed the saliva pooling in her mouth.  

“I locked the door… Strange. Uh, just close the door for now.”  

Hearing Ian’s voice finally brought Cecilia back to her senses.  

“Oh, yes.”  

Hurriedly, she closed the door and stepped inside. Only after closing the door did she regret her decision to enter.  

Now, in the silence of the room, it was just the two of them, and the situation felt unbearably awkward.  

“Why are you here? Did the guards let you in?”  

Priest Ian, too, looked visibly flustered as he stared at her. Of course, he would be. It was already an embarrassing situation for anyone, and to have been caught m*sturbating made it even worse.  

“The b-bathroom door was locked, so I came to borrow the key from Priest Gilbert, and they let me in. But why wasn’t the door locked?”  

Cecilia answered, keeping her gaze fixed downward. She wanted to act as if she hadn’t seen anything and maintain her composure, but her heart was racing, and she couldn’t calm herself.  

“Priest Gilbert?”  

Instead of answering her question, Ian repeated her words, his expression darkening instantly.  

“Yes.”

“Oh, I see. It would be better not to go there at this hour. I also have the bathroom key, so I’ll give it to you.”  

“You have the bathroom key as well, Priest?”  

Cecilia tilted her head. Lady Pirus hadn’t mentioned this.  

“Yes. All priests have one. Take the smallest key hanging next to the door.”  

Looking where Ian pointed, Cecilia saw several keys hanging by the door. She grabbed the smallest one as he had instructed.  

“Thank you. And I’m sorry. I was trying to find the third room from the end, but I must have made a mistake in the dark.”  

Having gotten what she came for, Cecilia apologized and tried to leave the room quickly. But she couldn’t when she heard something unexpected.  

“That’s correct.”  

“Pardon?”  

“The third room from the end is my room.”  

“Then…?”  

“It seems someone wanted to put you in a difficult situation. At this temple, the word ‘key’ is also used as a euphemism. Knocking on someone’s door late at night and asking for the key is a signal that you want to spend the night together.”  

“W-what?”  

The lecherous gaze of Priest Gilbert, Priest Ian’s flustered expression, and the Holy Knights’ stern refusal when she asked them to fetch the key—all of it started to make sense to Cecilia.  

She realized that Priest Gilbert often called women to his room in this way late at night.  

Lady Pirus must have known all of this. That’s why she had sent Cecilia to the priest’s quarters and deliberately given her the wrong room number.  

It didn’t seem like Lady Pirus knew it was Ian’s room. She must have thought Cecilia would get caught by someone and face humiliation.  

Normally, a priest would never let a woman who asked to spend the night with him go unpunished. He would either firmly tell her to leave or shout loudly, which would cause a commotion and draw the guards over.  

But there was one thing they hadn’t anticipated. They didn’t know the room they directed Cecilia to was Ian’s, nor could they have predicted that he would be in the middle of m*sturbating.  

“…”  

Cecilia clenched her fists and bit her lower lip.  

Did they go this far just to mess with me? Why?  

She was momentarily furious, but….  

That anger quickly subsided the moment she recalled the sight of his er*ect member. Her embarrassment outweighed her anger.