Chapter 4 (Part 1)

“Bathroom key!”  

It wasn’t until she entered her room that Cecilia remembered she had gone to the priest’s quarters to bathe. She had left the key on the desk while helping Ian.  

Cecilia raised her arm and sniffed it. The sour smell she had momentarily forgotten about hit her again.  

“Did I really stay in the same room as him smelling like this?”  

Realizing she had been with Ian in this state made her feel utterly embarrassed.  

Why was it always Ian Beaufort who saw her at her most shameful moments?  

She wanted to crawl into a hole and hide. While Ian had also shown her his vulnerable side, that didn’t erase the embarrassing things she had done.  

At that moment, Cecilia suddenly felt too exhausted to care. A moment ago, she thought she wouldn’t be able to sleep without bathing, but now she didn’t care.  

Even the sour smell seemed to fade into nothingness as her mind became consumed by memories she wanted to forget.  

Cecilia crouched in a corner of the room and buried her head between her knees.  

Forget it. Just forget it!  

She tried to force herself to erase the events from her mind and attempted to sleep in her uncomfortable position. She drifted in and out of light sleep, unable to rest properly.  

The next morning, Cecilia woke up early and finally retrieved the bathroom key to wash. Though she washed away the sour smell, she didn’t feel refreshed.  

As she returned to her room, she heard the excited voices of noble ladies chattering in the hallway.  

“Do you think the commotion last night was real?”  

“It must be. She probably went to get the key because her sticky body was uncomfortable. Didn’t she smell sour?”  

“She might not have gone at all.”  

“I saw her change clothes and walk down the hallway myself.”  

“Then she must have gone to that room last night.”  

“Of course. Now we just have to wait for news about what happened.”  

They were chatting away, unaware that Cecilia was in her room. They must have assumed she had been dragged to the punishment room early in the morning because of last night’s incident.  

So they really did this to humiliate me!  

Cecilia bit her lower lip and slammed the door open with a loud bang.  

“Huh? Oh my, Miss. You’re up early.”  

The noble ladies looked startled to see Cecilia emerge from her room. All their gazes turned to Lady Pirus, silently questioning her.  

Lady Pirus looked flustered and confused before scowling and asking Cecilia,  

“You didn’t go to bathe last night?”  

“I went to the priest’s quarters but came back. Like you said, Priestess Anna wasn’t there.”

When Cecilia maintained a calm expression as if nothing had happened, the young ladies looked at her with half-lidded, suspicious eyes.  

“Ugh. How filthy. Don’t tell me you slept like that last night?”  

Among them, Lady Pirus, who trusted Cecilia the least, probed her with a question.  

“The sweat dried quickly, so I didn’t bother washing in the middle of the night. I got up early this morning to bathe instead.”  

Once they confirmed that Cecilia hadn’t gone to Priest Gilbert’s room twice, the young ladies’ expressions hardened.  

Seeing this, Cecilia was now certain that they had deliberately orchestrated last night’s absurd situation to humiliate her.  

“So, is there anything you’d like to say to me?”  

Cecilia asked sharply, her gaze piercing through the young ladies.  

“N-no, not at all. Let’s go. It’s time for breakfast.”  

Fearing that their plan from last night might be revealed, Lady Pirus hastily signaled the other young ladies with her eyes to leave. After exchanging hesitant glances, they quickly left the hallway.  

Once they were gone, the noisy corridor fell silent.  

Unbelievable.  

Watching Lady Pirus and her group disappear, Cecilia tried to figure out why they had attempted to pull such a nasty trick on her.  

But no matter how much she thought about it, she couldn’t pinpoint a reason. 

Surely, it wasn’t just out of boredom, was it?  

As Cecilia pondered for a moment, Lady Orkney suddenly called her into her room in a cautious tone.  

“Lady Bucklew, may I have a word with you?”  

Sensing that Lady Orkney wanted to share something secretly, Cecilia checked to make sure no one was around before entering her room with her.  

“Last night, you almost found yourself in a troublesome situation, didn’t you? I’m relieved to see that nothing happened.”  

As soon as the door closed, Lady Orkney let out a sigh of relief, as if she knew something.  

“Do you know what could have happened to me last night?”  

“I have a rough idea. They deliberately poured some strange liquid on your head and told you to go find Priest Gilbert, didn’t they?”  

“Yes. How did you know? Did you hear everything because the hallway was noisy?”  

“No, that’s not it. After the evening service, I was about to go bathe when I heard the sound of scissors.”  

“Scissors?”  

Cecilia’s eyes widened.  

“Yes. The sound came from Lady Pirus’s room. So, I peeked through the slightly open door, and guess what? Lady Pirus was cutting up her ceremonial robe with scissors!”  

Lady Orkney still looked incredulous, even though she had seen it with her own eyes.  

“She cut it herself?”  

She had made such a fuss about the robe being ruined, yet she was the one who had cut it? 

Cecilia felt so dumbfounded that she almost laughed.  

“Yes. It was so strange that I decided to keep an eye on her afterward. I saw her take the torn robe and head to your room. I wanted to step in and expose her as the culprit, but if I did…”  

Lady Orkney trailed off, unable to finish her sentence. She must have felt that revealing what she had seen would put her in a difficult position.  

“You don’t have to feel bad about it. In fact, I’m grateful that you told me now, even if it’s late. So, if there’s anything else you know, could you share it with me?”  

When Cecilia gently asked, Lady Orkney nodded.  

“All right. Actually, I overheard them talking this morning. From what I could gather, they want to meet Priest Ian, but there are too many competitors, so they think they need to eliminate the competition.”  

“So, they decided to start with the easiest target—me?”  

“Yes. It seems they wanted to disgrace you and drive you out in shame.”  

“But they also make me do their laundry. And they still wanted to kick me out?”  

“They only need one person to do the laundry.”  

To think they’d try to drive someone out of the temple for such a trivial reason… 

The more Cecilia heard, the angrier she became, but she could only let out a hollow laugh.  

“Hah. This is too much. I’ve never even applied to attend Priest Ian’s confession sessions! And yet they still wanted to get rid of me?”  

“They don’t know exactly who applies, so they probably decided to eliminate anyone they considered a threat.”  

All this over Priest Ian? That man who requested such perverse things?  

Do they even know what I went through because of him yesterday?!  

Cecilia was furious, but she had to suppress her anger.  

“Hurry and get ready for the service!”  

Just then, Priestess Anna arrived, urging her to prepare quickly. Ending her conversation with Lady Orkney, Cecilia rushed back to her room.  

With little time left to prepare, she needed to move quickly, setting aside her anger for now.  

***

Ian’s eyes snapped open. He had only slept for four hours.  

Although the time he slept was short, his mind felt clear. It was thanks to the sweet slumber he had managed to get.  

I’ve finally found the solution!  

The joy he felt was fleeting, as guilt and shame quickly followed. He felt humiliated, and his torment only deepened now that he had found the answer.  

“This is ridiculous!”  

Ian clutched his head in his hands.  

He had suspected it, but to think his insomnia could only be cured by engaging in such lewd acts…  

As much as he didn’t want to believe it, he had no choice but to accept it as reality.  

Ian looked down at his hands and thought of Cecilia. He was convinced she must have been sent by the devil.  

Thanks to her touch, Ian felt as though he had experienced heaven last night. That’s why he knew—Lady Bucklew was a dangerous presence.  

She was a sweet temptation that Ian should never get close to. Yet, despite knowing this, a part of him wanted to see her again.  

Pathetic fool.  

He berated himself, but that didn’t make those feelings disappear.  

At times like this, Ian knew he had to steel his resolve.  

He had asked for her help once, and that was enough. Now that he understood the cause of his insomnia, he had to solve it himself. Last night would be the first and last time.  

Resolving his thoughts, Ian made up his mind. He would no longer meet Lady Bucklew. He would not seek her help again!