Did he figure it out that quickly?

As he hit the mark, Rarien’s face flushed a deep red in an instant. Now that she had shown such agitation, she couldn’t even deny it.

“I thought you looked familiar. You’re from the temple, aren’t you? Why are you following me?”

“M-Me?”

“Is there another Rarien Claude besides you? You followed me that day, and now you’re here again.”

His gaze was filled with contempt.

So right now, Rarien was being completely treated as a stalker by him.

It was unfair. She was just coming out after attending to Sera Evotte, and Nicholas Reinhart was the one who came this way. She had to say something in her defense.

“It’s not that, I work here, so….”

“I don’t need excuses. Just watch where you’re going. Don’t be a nuisance to others.”

He didn’t seem interested in listening. Leaving behind his cold words, he pushed Rarien aside and got up.

“Don’t follow me again. This is your last warning.”

“N-No, I…”

“If you keep this up, I won’t stand by. I’ll report you to the temple’s Ethics Committee, so be aware.”

Nicholas cut her off as if there was no point in listening further, and he shook himself off as if he was brushing away something dirty before leaving.

‘What do I do….’

Her mouth was frozen, and she couldn’t say anything. Rarien could only stare blankly at his receding figure.

***

I want to die.

Earlier, she felt it was unfair to be cursed with a having a limited. But now, she just wanted to die quickly.

Late at night, Rarien lay in bed after finishing her tasks, unable to sleep, tossing and turning.

Whenever Rarien felt down, she had a habit of drawing Nicholas.

Today, she tried to draw ‘Nicholas’s Holy Profile While Praying’ with conté but failed. It was because the cold eyes that had glared at her came to mind.

Rarien gave up on drawing and flopped onto the bed.

She was too upset to sleep. Even the healthy zinnia pot looked withered for no reason, so she got up to water it. On the pot was written 87, the number of days Rarien had left.

The plan was grand, but she ruined it after just 13 days.

‘He must despise me.’

She was so troubled that she couldn’t sleep. Until yesterday, she took comfort in the fact that Nicholas didn’t know of her existence, but now even that thin hope was gone.

Her glasses, which had flown off, were cracked. The pitiful sight mirrored her situation, making her heart heavy. Just as broken glass can’t be put back together, she couldn’t undo what had happened.

“Rarien Claude.”

“You’re the rude woman who kissed me at the masquerade, aren’t you?”

Even with her eyes closed, his sharp voice buzzed in her ears.

He had asked for her name. She should have given a pseudonym. Why did she give her real name? No, even if she had told an obvious lie, it would have been found out quickly.

“Don’t follow me again. This is your last warning.”

This part was a bit unfair. Sure, she did follow him to the masquerade…, but she went to the annex for work, and she never intentionally followed Nicholas around or acted like a stalker.

Oh, of course, it was true she joined the temple because of Nicholas.

She sat in the front row during his services, actively participated in events he attended, and even volunteered as staff.

She often created reasons to go to the main building where he worked, and if someone had to go, she volunteered to go in their place.

She wore her glasses properly and kept her hair tidy, hoping to run into him by chance.

‘Come to think of it… I might actually be a stalker.’

When she placed her hand on her heart and thought about it, she was at a loss for words.

‘How did he recognize me with my face covered by a mask?’

Their eyes had met directly. Just as she had recognized him, Nicholas might have recognized her by her eyes and voice.

Why did she assume he wouldn’t know at all? Even after committing the foolish act of kissing him. It was driving her crazy.

‘How can I even suggest having s*x when he hates me so much?’

She couldn’t even dare. To make matters worse, Nicholas threatened to report her to the Ethics Committee if he saw her again.

Seeing His Excellency, who was always kind and compassionate, so angry, it was clear she was despised.

‘I want to cry.’

Her nose tingled, and her vision blurred. Rarien, who had been shedding tears like chicken droppings for a long time, rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand and sat up.

She couldn’t sleep at all. Lying in bed crying only made her feel worse and made her want to die even more.

She would die soon anyway. Continuously thinking about wanting to die felt so sad.

‘Yeah, crying won’t solve anything.’

If tears could solve it, she was willing to cry and wail all night, but reality was harsh. Lying down only made her feel more depressed.

‘Let’s move around for now.’

That way, she could organize her thoughts and maybe fall asleep.

Rarien remembered that she was on duty to clean the grand bath in the morning. It was a task she took on to help her friend Kate, who always struggled with waking up early.

There was no one else who’s as gullible as her, but she was a close friend, and people say changing suddenly could kill you.

‘Yeah, I’ll clean the bath and come up with a plan for what to do next.’

Cleaning was the best way to organize her thoughts. Rarien sprang up from the bed and took out the key from the drawer.

God only gives hardships that one can overcome. With not much time left, she couldn’t just despair.

***

In the grand bath at night.

A man who least suited the place stood n*ked. It was Nicholas Reinhart.

“Disgusting.”

A curse slipped out naturally. Under normal circumstances, he would never visit a public bath, but today he had unavoidable reasons.

His er*ect c*ck had refused to settle down since earlier. More precisely, ever since that woman had climbed onto his body. Nicholas had no choice but to cancel all his appointments. This was a serious issue.

He hurriedly left, fearing she might notice, but his p*nis, which had risen to his navel, made his lower abdomen ache, making it difficult to walk.

“F*ck, this is f*cking….”

He was already prone to foul language, but he lived hiding it thoroughly. However, he couldn’t hold back. There was no other way to express this absurd and filthy feeling.

Nicholas looked down at his ominously er*ect p*nis and let out a long sigh.

m*sturbating was shameful, but he couldn’t function otherwise. He had to shake it out himself for it to settle down.

But the thought of defiling his own sacred bath with s*men made him so annoyed he felt like he was going crazy.

Just as one throws trash into a trash can, dirty things should be discarded in dirty places. That’s why Nicholas sneaked into the public bath he never wanted to visit, even if it killed him.

It was the dead of night, so it wasn’t operating hours. No one would come here at this time. Just in case, he locked the door. So today’s incident would remain a secret until his death.

She must be a demon. Pretending to bump into him and then climbing onto his body. The sweet scent that wafted over him the moment their bodies collided was etched into his brain and wouldn’t leave. Her soft br*asts pressed against him, and when her hips rubbed against his center, his damn c*ck stood er*ect as if it had been waiting for it.

Wasn’t her name Rarien Claude?

Her slightly drooping eyes on a fair face were despicable. A perverted stalker pretending to be a victim with a deceitful face.

So she wore glasses at the temple. Nicholas now understood why he felt a familiar déjà vu back then.

The nun in the fourth row, dead center.

He didn’t know her name, but Nicholas Reinhart distinctly remembered that nun. He often looked at her while preaching for a natural eye line.

She always listened intently to God’s word, responding well without being excessive. Perhaps because she wasn’t burdensome from a preaching standpoint, his eyes naturally gravitated toward her.