V. Confession

“Hey, have you finished the history assignment due tomorrow?”

The next day, when she attended classes after several days, Eriendna came up and immediately picked a fight.

“What? You haven’t done it yet? You promised to do mine too!”

“……I’ll do it for you, Eriendna. Today.”

Florencia silently worked on the assignment throughout lunch and gave it to her without much reaction. Even when Eriendna immediately demanded two more assignments for her friends, she did them without a word. She didn’t feel like eating lunch, nor did she want to argue with Eriendna who was picking unnecessary fights.

“But what’s wrong with your face?”

Since the red marks all over her body wouldn’t fade after just one night, Florencia wore a long dress that came up to her neck despite it being summer. Still, her swollen lips couldn’t be hidden, and Eriendna looked at her suspiciously for a long time.

“You missed classes and went somewhere for several days? Did you get permission from brother Joseph?”

“I did.”

“Where did you go? What place could someone like you possibly have to go to……”

“……”

Eriendna persistently tried to pry information out of her, but Florencia gave no answer.

* * *

During Ludwig’s absence, she visited the Temple faithfully after classes ended. Though she didn’t know when he would return, Florencia waited diligently, praying every day.

The b*ttocks that had been severely spanked by his large hand gradually subsided after a few days, but her heart continued to ache. She missed him unbearably. Even his frightening gaze when he was angry and the hands that had struck her painfully were desperately longed for. Though he had mercilessly hit her and made her cry in the end, somehow she felt that his heart must have been as pained as she was in that moment.

During that seemingly eternal time waiting for Ludwig, Florencia finally had to accept it.

I, Father Ludwig…….

* * *

Several more days passed. At last, she received news from apprentice priest Andrew, whom she met after a long time, that Ludwig would return tomorrow night.

The next day, Florencia finished her classes and waited for night to come.

“Dormitory supervisor, I…… don’t feel well, so would it be alright if I stayed at home just for tonight?”

“Hmm, Lady Hazel? I understand you’ve missed several days of classes recently due to personal matters…… Are you unable to attend tomorrow’s classes as well? If you speak to the infirmary, they can call a doctor from the city.”

She visited the dormitory supervisor and said she was ill, requesting a pass to go out. The original supervisor, Mrs. Burns, had been suffering from an unknown rash for several months, so someone else was in the supervisor’s office. Though it was fortunate that it wasn’t Mrs. Burns who openly disliked Florencia, her heart pounded at attempting such an unprecedented bold action.

“I, I think it would be better to be examined by my family’s physician……”

She looked at Florencia with somewhat suspicious eyes, but since a contagious cold was currently prevalent in the capital, she granted Florencia’s request.

After walking for some time through streets covered in evening dew, Florencia arrived at the Temple. Instead of knocking on the closed main gate, she entered through a side door connected to the garden.

She knew where Ludwig’s room was. This was because he had once laid her down on his own bed when she fell asleep at the Temple. But now, she had neither the owner’s permission nor had she contacted him in advance about her visit.

Though she was an illegitimate child, Florencia had grown up in a count’s family and studied at the Imperial Academy, and had heard countless lessons about the proper conduct of a noble lady since childhood. She knew very well that her current action was very wrong.

Even for a thoughtless twelve-year-old lady, this would be unacceptable. Though still young, she was now 18 and an adult who had to take clear responsibility for all her actions. Florencia was prepared to take responsibility for her actions today.

His room was at the end of the corridor on the second floor. Finally reaching it, she took a deep breath before knocking on the door. For some reason, the second floor seemed to be wrapped in a calm silence, as if no one was using any room except his.

Knock knock, she knocked on the door after taking a deep breath. Though she had steeled herself, she couldn’t help trembling. When there was no answer from inside even after a long time, she carefully tried turning the doorknob. The door wasn’t locked, so she gently opened it and went inside. The brass doorknob turning as the door closed behind her sounded unusually loud.

Ludwig’s room remained the same. It had a structure where a spacious study that doubled as an office connected to a bedroom, with furniture that was antique but somehow gave an empty and lonely feeling. On the bedside table next to the well-made bed was a sculpture representing the symbol of the order and the image of their main deity. On one wall hung the neat, ascetic priest’s robe that he always wore.

Judging by the sound of water coming from the bathroom, Ludwig seemed to have just returned and was washing himself. Florencia sat in a small chair in front of the table and waited for him to come out. Over her shoulders was the jacket that Ludwig had put on her when they last parted.

She instinctively understood what it meant to visit a man’s bedroom in the middle of the night. Just thinking about facing him soon made her tremble, so she pulled his large jacket tighter around herself and held it firmly.

A moment later, the sound of water from the bathroom stopped.

Ludwig, who came out of the bathroom wearing only comfortable indoor pants with his upper body bare, looked somewhat tired but was still beautiful like a sculpture. He immediately noticed her sitting in the room and stopped. Florencia somehow felt that he had already known she would come.

“……Laura?”

Florencia rose from her seat and slowly approached him. The platinum blonde hair that still had moisture left in it wet her small shoulders as she drew near. Forgetting even the thought of embarrassment, she simply embraced his firm bare chest and whispered.

“Father…… I was wrong.”

Sometimes, there are moments between people when no words are necessary. This was exactly such a moment.

As those unfathomably deep lake-like blue eyes and pure violet eyes like violets blooming by the water met and entwined, they shared the same emotion that could be felt without needing to be expressed in words.

The gaze of the girl who had known nothing now had the appearance of a shy woman who had just realized love. But because everything was still awkward, she felt embarrassed belatedly and hurriedly tried to escape from his embrace.

“……Father, just a moment.”

Though she had been embraced many times before, this was the first time she had directly touched his bare skin with his upper body undressed, so she felt embarrassed despite being the one who initiated the embrace. She tried to push away with force, but his firm arms wouldn’t release the small body that had nestled against him. Instead, the jacket she had been wearing slipped off and fell to the floor as she moved to escape. Giving up her attempt to flee and trapped in his arms while facing him, Florencia whispered.

“Father, I came to return the jacket you lent me.”

“I see.”

“……And I want to receive education from you again.”

Though she had many things she wanted to say to him, Florencia swallowed them all. Instead, she simply looked at him with violet eyes full of sincerity. Ludwig’s eyes, looking down at her, contained many complex emotions accumulated over a long time.

“Laura.”

“Yes, Father Ludwig.”

“Welcome back.”

Though his answer was brief, it contained many implied words that couldn’t be fully expressed. A warm, large hand cupped Florencia’s smooth cheek. Ludwig, calling her name once more, Laura, slowly lowered his lips. At the same time, Florencia closed her eyes. Soft lips overlapped as he entered her mouth. The emotions that rushed in like a tide along with his hot body temperature swept through her like a tsunami.

“Haa……”

As their lips parted slightly, slow and hot breath flowed between them. Today, he seemed to be rushing yet was more careful than ever before. He kissed her slowly and delicately, like someone trying to remember every part—her neat teeth, the soft inside of her cheeks, and every fold of her palate. After a long while, his lips, which had moved slowly to her ears and neck, traveled further down, tracing her delicate collarbone and shoulders.

He caressed Florencia’s cheek as she exhaled small breaths and looked down at her with affectionate eyes. Ludwig’s fingertips gently brushed over the neckline that had risen slightly above her dress. Pop, pop…… Florencia silently watched as he unbuttoned her dress one by one.

Finally, as the clothing was pulled down, the room’s air touched her bare skin. The sound of the dress she had been wearing until just moments ago lightly falling onto the carpet floor seemed incredibly loud.

With that as a signal, Florencia’s vision changed as if the scene were rotating slowly. Ludwig had embraced her preciously, like easily breakable porcelain, and laid her on the bed.

As her shoulders, back, and head slowly touched the bed, the soft and plush elasticity of the sheets enveloped her small body clad only in underwear. The pillow supporting her head and the bedding smelled of him. Inhaling the familiar scent of lime mojito, she felt the tension in her heart melting away.