4.4

“Are you all right?” 

Fred asked.

“…I’m fine. What’s the matter?”

“You were nowhere to be seen… Did that woman do something to you?”

Fred, breathing heavily and ready to confront Helena at any moment, was met with Isaac shaking his head. Thinking that it was he, not Helena, who needed to confess, Isaac pushed his junior priest toward the hallway.

“She was helping me clean the confessional, but the lock broke, and we got stuck for a while. Thanks to you, we got out. Thank you. Oh dear, it’s already time for the evening prayer. I’ll finish cleaning up here, so don’t slack off and go prepare for prayer.”

Though Fred found the situation suspicious, he reluctantly nodded and headed to the prayer room, as he always faithfully carried out Isaac’s instructions. Once Fred disappeared down the hallway, Isaac returned to the confessional to wipe away the lingering traces of lust left on the shelf. Then he stepped into the space where believers confessed their sins, closed the door, and sat down. The thought of Helena confessing her feelings to him in this very spot made his heart swell. His clasped hands began to tremble again.

“May the holy name of the Goddess be with me. As the Goddess illuminates my darkness, I confess the sins I have committed under her love.”

The moment he opened his mouth to confess his sins, Isaac found himself overwhelmed, unsure where to begin. He thought back to the moment he first saw her, when even breathing had felt impossible.

“As a servant of the Goddess, I dared to fall in love with another woman at first sight. At first, I mistook it for admiration, thinking she resembled someone I once revered. I blushed at her meaningless touches and playful antics… I didn’t realize it was love.”

Isaac took a short, shaky breath before continuing slowly.

“I have sinned repeatedly in my dreams by violating her. I wanted to dismiss it as a late-blooming lust born of youthful impulses. I thought it was due to my lack of faith.”

He had believed that returning to his training and discipline would resolve his feelings. However, when he heard rumors that she had been with another man, the pain that shattered his heart made him realize it was not mere lust.

“But then I found myself smiling at the thought of her smile. And…”

Even as he was attacked by a vampire and his consciousness faded, the one thing he could not let go of was his lingering attachment to Helena. So when he woke up in her home, he could no longer suppress the desire to hold her.

“For the first time, I dreamed of a life not as a servant of the Goddess, but as someone who could share a future with her. Today… when I heard her confession, my heart raced, and I wanted to deny her words when she called it a lie.”

When Isaac came to his senses, he realized he had already done something to Helena that he should never have done. However, instead of stopping, he became consumed by the desire to hold her as he had in his dreams. If Fred had not arrived, he would have undoubtedly continued his actions to the very end.

“I should have told her that I love her too… but as a servant of the Priesthood, I could not.”

Even as he spoke, the weight of his sins surged within him, and Isaac bent over, burying his face in his hands. A sweet scent lingered on the liquid that had stained the edge of his sleeve. Instinctively, he recalled the image of Helena, disheveled by his touch. The unresolved yearning and love made him feel the blood rushing to his lower abdomen. In such a state of mind and body, he could no longer worship the Goddess.

“…I confess the sin of no longer being able to live as the servant of the Goddess. Merciful Goddess, you forgive those who believe in you and cleanse the sins spoken from my lips. May light replace the darkness.”

Although he could not immediately resign from the Priesthood due to formalities, at the very least, he could confess his feelings to Helena and ask her to wait for him. He wanted to tell her that he felt the same way she did.

After completing his solitary confession, Isaac left the confessional, feeling a bit lighter as his thoughts became clearer.

Clack—

The sound of the door handle echoed in the now-empty confessional after Isaac had left. The place where Isaac and Helena had nearly consummated their feelings, which should have been empty, now had someone walking out, their footsteps echoing through the deserted hallway.

“Who’s there?” 

Johann, who had been tidying up the treatment room before attending the evening prayer, spotted the man and called out. The stranger had short black hair and golden eyes resembling those of a lion. The sharp aura emanating from his lean figure made Johann instinctively step back.

“I was looking for Dr. Helena, who volunteers here… but it seems she’s not around.”

“…Ahem. Dr. Helena doesn’t treat patients from other villages unless it’s a severe injury. If it’s a minor wound, I can take care of it.”

Johann glanced up and down at the man, who didn’t appear injured at all. The man responded with a picturesque smile.

“I’m not a patient. I’m her long-time lover.”

The man’s expression, filled with affection, and the word “lover” brought Isaac to Johann’s mind.

‘…Falling for a woman who already has a lover. Poor guy.’

“Dr. Helena finished her volunteer work and returned home earlier.”

“Ah, I see. Thank you.”

Johann, who had been about to give the man directions to Helena’s house, chose to remain silent. For some reason, he doubted the man’s claim of being her lover. The man gradually distanced himself from Johann and exited the chapel.

Once outside, the man glanced back at the chapel and let out a mocking laugh.

“A mere pet, daring to insolently love its master.”

The man, Dennis, who had overheard Isaac’s confession, sneered as he turned his attention to Helena’s presence below the hill.

“What is a master supposed to do when they indulge the whims of an unruly dog?”

As the night descended upon the hill, his golden eyes glowed eerily bright.

* * *

At the break of dawn, Helena woke from a light slumber, her delicate brow furrowing. She could sense Dennis moving outside, deliberately not hiding his presence as if he wanted her to notice. Unable to ignore it any longer, she rose from her bed and threw the front door open with a bang. Standing there, Dennis greeted her with a sly smile.

“Good morning, Lena.”

The moment she saw his smug face, Helena grabbed him by the collar. Her clenched fist trembled with suppressed anger.  

“Are you out of your mind? Do you have a death wish?”

She was filled with the urge to throw him against a tree or slam him into the ground, but she held herself back, not wanting to cause a commotion so early in the morning. Despite her threatening actions, Dennis smiled nonchalantly.  

“Wow. Our Lena is as fiery as ever.”

“Fiery? Should I make it fiery for real this time? Didn’t I warn you that if you messed with this village, I’d tear you limb from limb?”

“I didn’t know. I was outside the village, so how could I tell? It’s not like your pheromones were marked on the place. How was I supposed to know they were from this village? Besides, I stopped attacking once I saw them heading back to the village. And for the record, I got hurt too. Look.”

Dennis pointed to his left eye, where a faint scar remained. Judging by the rumors she had heard from the villagers, it seemed Isaac had inflicted a serious wound on him. For a vampire with excellent healing abilities, the fact that the scar was still visible days later meant the injury had been significant.  

“Your little brat was tougher than I expected. I almost killed him by accident.”

Dennis had apparently restrained himself, even after being injured, to avoid killing Isaac. If he hadn’t, neither of them would have walked away with just minor injuries. Isaac, too, was no easy opponent.  

“Still… I didn’t think you’d remember vervain.”

Vervain. A plant that didn’t suit Dennis well. Helena had added it to the ammunition she had prepared. Dennis seemed genuinely delighted that she remembered something about him, smiling brightly. The grip on his collar gradually loosened.  

“Lena, be kind. We’ve known each other for 254 years, 3 months, and 9 days now.”

“Crazy bastard.”

In the end, Helena let go of his collar with a dismissive shove. Clearly, there was something between them that had built up over those long years. But this was the first and last time she would let him off.  

‘No one died, after all.’  

Moreover, Isaac had fought back and retaliated, so she decided to let this incident slide for now, planning to repay it tenfold in the future.  

“Next time, there won’t be any mercy.”

“Still, thanks to this, your little brat seems even more smitten with you.”

Dennis spoke as if he had been watching from somewhere, knowing far too much. Leaving him by the door, Helena turned and went back inside. She pulled some dried horse chestnut fruit from the cupboard and began boiling it in water as she spoke.  

“You’re shameless. And you killed my prey again.”

“They dared to lay a hand on my Lena.”

“I don’t recall ever giving you permission to use possessive terms with me.”

Despite her sharp remark, Dennis simply smiled and sat in the kitchen chair as if he belonged there. Watching his brazen behavior, Helena thought of the hunter she could barely call her prey.  

“There was no need to kill him.”

“Lena, why do you keep acting like a human? They’re just food or pets at best. That’s all they are. We’re superior beings, and we’re allowed to act accordingly.”