Unlike usual, she looked extremely urgent. Ludwig appeared calm, as if this wasn’t the first time Elisabeth had visited in such a manner, but Florencia was so startled that she tripped over the bed and fell backward.

Ludwig immediately grabbed her hand to help her up, and since the bed sheets were soft, there was no way she could have been hurt, but she felt embarrassed as her skirt had half flipped over when she fell. Neither Ludwig nor Elisabeth who witnessed the scene seemed to care about it, however…….

“Ludwig, I think we need to leave for the Temple now. Hurry.”

“Ella, let’s talk outside.”

Her beautiful black hair was scattered over her shoulders, which trembled slightly. Ludwig, who had been whispering something as if to comfort Elisabeth, finally turned to Florencia.

“Laura, I’m sorry, but would you wait here for a moment?”

She couldn’t possibly make a fuss at the gentle imperative. The two must have immediately moved elsewhere to have an important conversation, as no sound could be heard from outside.

‘I thought I was the only one who could enter Father’s bedroom……’

‘Saintess Elisabeth came to tell Ludwig to leave for the Temple together.’

‘And…… Father didn’t seem to be hearing this for the first time. It was as if he had been preparing to leave in advance……’

In the end, this is how it turns out. Since when had he been preparing to leave without a single word of consultation with Florencia? She felt ashamed and sad for having momentarily deluded herself into thinking they were the closest people in the universe. The distance between the noble priest and Florencia was actually as vast as the time from when the first scripture was written until now.

‘Even if I become an official saintess, I can’t be like Saintess Elisabeth……’

Moreover, Elisabeth wasn’t surprised at all to see Florencia on his bed. Perhaps for Ludwig, allowing someone into his bedroom, an extremely private space, wasn’t such a special thing after all.

Finally realizing this fact, her eyes and throat stung. Unable to bear the pain in her heart, Florencia firmly pressed her small fist against the left side of her chest.

“I’ll go with you, Ella.”

“Really, Ludwig? Can you leave now?”

“Yes, but I need a moment. I need to explain so she can accept it.”

Walking down the empty corridor, Ludwig frowned his neat brow.

‘His Holiness the Pope has suddenly collapsed.’

He had anticipated that something had happened from the moment the air around him subtly trembled before Elisabeth appeared. Spatial movement using holy power risked disturbing the flow of the atmosphere, so it wasn’t often used unless in urgent situations, and high-ranking priests or saintesses capable of it were rare.

From now on, he would have to go to the Elysium Temple and completely take over the Pope’s duties. It was earlier than expected, but he wasn’t particularly worried about the work aspect. However, the fact that he couldn’t take Florencia with him right away bothered him.

Until His Holiness the Pope departed for God’s embrace, it would probably take about three months. After the enthronement mass ended, he would be given some time, so he could return then and take her with him.

When he returned to the room, Florencia was standing by the window. Seeing her small back turned away made even a brief farewell feel more poignant. It had never been possible for him to part with her forever. Ludwig felt that the countless nights he had agonized over whether to give up Florencia had all been in vain.

To think he had felt such childish jealousy, falling for the provocation of that mere boy who would soon not be able to see even a strand of her hair. Of course, he also felt a mischievous desire to punish and make his young lover cry for cutely deceiving him, but the situation was different from before. Now, with barely enough time for a farewell kiss, such matters could be postponed.

“Laura.”

However, when Ludwig, who had become extremely sentimental, tried to embrace her, what he received was a cold rejection.

“Don’t touch me!”

“Why are you angry, is it because I treated you frightfully earlier?”

He reached out his hand again, trying to soothe her affectionately, but Florencia sharply brushed him off and avoided him this time as well. That wasn’t what she had intended to do, but as she reflexively avoided him, her nails grazed his hand, accidentally leaving a small cut on the back of his hand.

“Laura.”

He didn’t care about such a wound at all, but his voice took on a sterner light than before.

Though it was her own doing, Florencia swallowed nervously, but her once-twisted heart stubbornly maintained its edge. The wound piercing her heart and stirring her emotions was incomparably deeper than the nail mark.

“Laura, why are you acting like this?”

Florencia didn’t answer. There was much she wanted to ask him, but she was afraid that Ludwig might actually admit that everything she thought was true.

“Don’t call me Laura anymore.”

“……Then what should I call you, Lady Hazel?”

“I mean don’t address me with a nickname that comes easily to anyone!”

Unlike her inner feelings of wanting to cling to him crying, begging him not to leave her, what came out of her mouth was a sharp voice that even she thought could make someone fall out of love. Ludwig was so dumbfounded that he said nothing for a moment.

“Who says I easily call anyone by a nickname?”

“……”

“Isn’t it rather you who allows any man to use a nickname?”

It was unimaginable for her usual self to confront and get angry at Father like this. But right now, if she didn’t express her upset feelings somehow, she felt like tears would burst uncontrollably. To prevent the tears that seemed ready to pour down at the slightest opportunity, she had to keep speaking whatever came to mind, even knowing she shouldn’t.

“What does it matter to you, Father, who I allow to do what?”

“Florencia.”

“……”

“Just because you’re in a bad mood doesn’t mean you can say whatever you want.”

Are you testing my patience right now? His low tone contained a hint of anger.

“When I graduate, won’t the education end too? So please don’t interfere in my personal matters.”

……Just as I have no right to say anything if Father calls someone else by a nickname, allows another woman into his bedroom, or decides to leave alone without consulting me.

“I appreciate that you’ve cared for me in many ways out of pity, but you’re not my father, Ludwig.”

“Of course not.”

As soon as the words ended, her wrist was seized with strong force, and she was pulled into Ludwig’s embrace. His firm arms tightly gripped her slender waist and wouldn’t let go. When she resisted trying to escape, he instead applied more force, pressing her body more tightly against his.

“……Mmph……!”

He seemed genuinely upset. Ludwig, who devoured her lips in one breath as if to bite them, pressed his firm knuckles against her cheek, forcing it open and entering. He roughly pushed her while exploring inside. His large hand, which lifted her clothes and strongly gripped her br*ast, scratched her n*pple, but with her body firmly pressed, she couldn’t move at all. From his rough movements, unlike his usual gentleness, she felt an oppressive force as if being pinned down.

“……Ah, hmmph……”

His hand that went down entered under her skirt, half pulling down her underwear and firmly pressing her cl*toris. She twisted her body at the touch that enveloped her entire p*ssy, but with her slender waist firmly held, resistance was meaningless. The long finger that had only partially entered to violate the entrance of her v*gina now fully penetrated, tapping the tender inner wall. The vivid sensation of her lower part, quickly becoming wet, gripping and tightening around his finger stimulated Florencia’s sense of shame.

“……Do you do this with your father?”

“Haa, ha……”

Florencia barely breathed, her shoulders heaving. She tasted the metallic blood from her swollen lips, and her waist, firmly gripped, began to hurt badly. Tears welled up involuntarily as the large hand twisting her wrist applied more force, preventing her from closing her disheveled clothes. Ludwig glared at her with frightening eyes.

“I must leave for the Elysium Temple immediately.”

“……Why are you telling me this? You and I…… aren’t anything to each other.”

Their undefinable relationship went round and round. Her bursting heart poured out spiteful words on its own, hurting the most precious person. Those words caused the same tearing pain to her own heart as she uttered them, but she couldn’t stop. His eyes, which had been filled with intense anger, suddenly cooled down. Ludwig asked again in a much lower voice than before.

“Do you mean that?”

“……”

“Laura, you’re now……”

“……”

“Are you trying to say that I am nothing to you?”

“……But, it’s true that there’s nothing between us, isn’t it?”

You are my everything, but I am neither your wife, nor lover, nor anything to you…….

With her heart aching as if being torn apart, Florencia sadly whispered in a barely audible voice, deliberately avoiding his gaze.

“I understand.”

He released his strength from his hands, setting Florencia free. With her legs unable to support her, she barely managed to lean against the windowsill for support.

“Today I finally hear your true feelings.”

“……”

“Do as you please.”

With those final words, Ludwig left, opening the door and leaving without showing even the slightest lingering attachment. She stubbornly refused to look back until the end.

Finally, when even his presence had completely disappeared, Florencia at last burst into tears.