This was an unexpected statement that even he, experienced as he was, couldn’t anticipate. Could she possibly be saying that she was shocked by what just happened and wanted to give up becoming a saintess and go home?

Of course, he had no intention of letting her go no matter what she said.

“……What do you mean?”

He lifted his face from beside her ear and stared at her. Her clear violet eyes were as clear and transparent as a lake, in contrast to his dark inner thoughts. And then, with a pure face without a trace of doubt, she said,

“Earlier, when I said I hated it, I didn’t really hate it. I was just too surprised and embarrassed…… Your, well, teaching method…… I didn’t hate it. Um, are you angry?”

Ah. Ludwig almost burst out laughing.

His gentle bride was truly too soft-hearted. This kind girl, after experiencing such a thing from the priest she trusted and followed, was only worried that he might have been hurt by her saying she hated it.

Indeed, I cannot give someone as lovely as you to anyone else.

Not even to that precious God.

“Of course, Laura.”

On her round forehead.

On her cute nose bridge.

On her still-flushed pink cheeks and plump lips.

Ludwig left small kisses here and there on her lovely face that still retained its girlish charm. Florencia’s eyes were reddish from crying and she was still shy, but she didn’t dislike his actions and remained still.

“I’m sorry, I should have considered that Laura has no experience with such things. We’ll proceed with the lessons more slowly from now on.”

Yes, thank you, Father…… Her small voice answering from within his embrace was so cute that he pulled her closer and patted her. The hand patting her back gradually moved to the front, grasping her soft br*ast from the outside. The pleasant sensation of the soft bare skin filled his hand. For a moment he felt her slender back stiffen with tension, but he calmly spoke while rolling her tiny n*pple between his fingers.

“You said you were embarrassed by being seen, so it’s alright if I just touch without looking, right, Laura?”

* * *

The saintess education in the sacred lake continued until late afternoon, after considerable time had passed.

“Ah, hnngh…… Father……”

Ludwig exercised priestly self-control and never rushed. He only kissed her deeply and delicately caressed her br*asts and n*pples until the shy girl became accustomed to his touch and was enveloped in a sensual heat.

“Shall we go inside now, Laura? Even if it’s holy water, staying wet for too long will give you a cold.”

He spoke kindly and lifted her in his arms before she could answer. Striding across the lake, he lightly picked up his shoes and the bundle of books Florencia had brought with one hand.

They returned to the white Byzantine-style building. The lights were on along the walls, but the inside was somewhat dark. He lit candles to brighten the surroundings.

Though it was summer by season, the evening was rather chilly due to the temperature difference. Ludwig lit the fireplace, saying she would be cold after being in the water for so long. As he said, Florencia was shivering with pale lips in her thin dress that clung to her from the water. In contrast, Ludwig looked as if nothing had happened. His priestly robe wasn’t wet by a single drop, still looking neat and ascetic, and his face remained peaceful and beautiful as usual.

“Laura, you’re completely soaked. Are you cold?”

He could easily control fire and water with his power. In fact, he could have easily dried her wet clothes, but he deliberately chose not to.

Instead, he handed her a large, soft towel big enough to cover her entire body.

“I won’t look, so take off your clothes and wrap yourself in this.”

“……”

“If you keep wearing wet clothes, you’ll catch a cold. If you catch a cold, I’ll have to give you that medicine through your rear hole again.”

Florencia, who had been hesitating to undress, started taking off her clothes in a panic when Ludwig made this threat. The wet clothes clung to her body and were difficult to remove, taking a long time, but Ludwig patiently stood with his back turned, not moving an inch.

“Are you done?”

“What? Y-yes……”

As soon as Florencia wrapped her n*ked body in the towel, Ludwig turned his head. The sight of Florencia standing awkwardly with the large towel wrapped around her entire body was truly adorable.

“You look just like a fluffy baby chick.”

Her snow-white calves peeked out from under the large towel that covered down to her thighs. The desire to unwrap the towel enveloping her body, spread it on the floor, and lay her soft white n*ked body on it to ravish her boiled within him.

Instead, he picked up the wet clothes she had removed and began hanging them in front of the fireplace.

“Father, that…… I’ll do it……”

Florencia regretted leaving her wet dress as it was, being too preoccupied with covering her body with the towel. Ludwig was wringing out and hanging each piece of her undergarments—her petticoat, underpants, and even the thin underwear covering her private parts. She didn’t know what to do and scurried about trying to take the underwear from his hands, but she couldn’t move too much for fear that the towel wrapped around her body might come undone. Seeing this, Ludwig smiled and stroked Florencia’s hair.

“The floor is slippery from the water. Sit quietly by the warm fireplace. If you move around like that and the towel comes undone, are you going to cry and blame me again for seeing your n*ked body?”

Florencia’s face turned red at his words, which clearly contained teasing. In contrast to his mischievous words, his actions were extremely kind; after hanging all the wet clothes, he appeared with a tray of evening food from somewhere.

After eating everything—bread with olives, savory fried sea bass, and even veal stew—he seated her in a comfortable chair by the fireplace.

He held Florencia tightly and told her various stories from the Bible as they sat in front of the crackling, warm fireplace. Some of the stories were ones Florencia already knew, and others were new to her. But Ludwig’s quiet voice was pleasant to hear like a dream, and he explained difficult content in an easy-to-understand way, making all the stories very interesting.

“……Do you like the stories, Laura?”

Throughout the evening, Ludwig never left her side for a moment, and he didn’t forget to leave kisses here and there on her body from time to time.

Florencia felt, unlike her initial feelings of fear, that she didn’t dislike the priest’s unique teaching method.

* * *

Certainly, she hadn’t disliked it. But when she opened her eyes the next morning, complicated emotions rushed in chaotically, impossible to express. She felt embarrassed, as if she could never face Ludwig again, and yet she kept recalling the events of that day……

At such times, her temperature seemed to rise by several degrees, and her heart pounded.

‘How, how could I…… do such things with Father Ludwig……’

While worried about meeting him again, feeling she could never show her face, at times she also wondered about his well-being as if she hadn’t seen him for ten years. The emerald eyes that had looked down at her kindly, the long eyelashes that had brushed her cheek, and his handsome, sharply defined nose bridge shimmered before her eyes like rising heat waves.

That summer’s rainy season arrived earlier than usual without warning. Looking out the window at the rain that had been falling steadily for days, Florencia was worried, but also felt somewhat relieved.

‘If it rains like this tomorrow too, the lesson with Father will be canceled, right……?’

Ludwig, who still treated her like a ten-year-old child even though she was now of age, wouldn’t allow her to walk to the temple in the rain. It was obvious he would say it was dangerous even by carriage. He would probably send someone from the temple to inform her that this week’s education was canceled.

“I’ll be quite busy with many things to handle for the next few days. We’ll have our next lesson in a week.”

On the day of their first education session, Ludwig had clearly said so. And the promised date was tomorrow. For the past few days, Florencia had been constantly worried, engulfed by concerns that had suddenly rushed in like the early summer rainy season that had begun without warning.

How will I face Father?

Could Ludwig Father be…… unbothered after doing such things with me?

Perhaps that day’s experience was too intense for Florencia, who had never even had light contact with the opposite s*x.

Whenever she ate soft cream, soufflé, or custard pudding for dessert, she couldn’t help but recall their kiss. His lips, which had tasted sweeter than the surface of sweet crème brûlée, and his tongue, which had opened her more moistly and softly than pudding and entered inside……

Eventually, just thinking about Ludwig’s name made her feel as if her body was floating, and she became frightened that something was wrong with her.

What Father and I must have been what people call a kiss……

An intimate act where a very special couple mixes their breath and exchanges saliva.

Not only that, she had even shown her br*asts, which she had never shown to anyone, to the priest……

Recalling the strange sensation she felt when his long fingers rubbed the tips of her n*pples, she felt dizzy and her throat went dry. She hurriedly brought the cup beside her to her lips. While gulping down the sweet fruit juice, when her thoughts reached the point that his saliva had been sweeter than this, Florencia truly thought she had gone mad.