The young lady would eventually return to the temple, so everyone was in an uproar trying to install a proper lady who would bear an heir and manage the castle affairs until the end. How wonderful it would have been if the young lady weren’t a priestess, they said.

Evelyn awkwardly smiled at Jile, who covered her mouth in shock at her own final words. Jile apologized repeatedly for her slip of the tongue.

“Tsk tsk. And she calls herself a priestess. Ugh!”

While comforting Jile that it was fine, Evelyn encountered several elderly vassals at the fork where the path from the lobby led up to the bedroom. 

Some openly displayed hostility toward her, looking at her like they’d witnessed something disgraceful, while others gave her unpleasant glances that scanned her from head to toe.

“I thought the volunteer group only gave opportunities to commoner children. Which temple are you affiliated with, priestess?”

“…I belong to the volunteer group.”

“Tsk tsk.”

Evelyn stood tall despite the unfair scrutiny. She had indeed healed the Border Count and had taken over his bedroom, so she had nothing to be ashamed of. Yet she couldn’t hide her sense of humiliation from their blatant stares.

The religious devotion and honor she had steadfastly maintained since childhood were the only beliefs that had sustained her life. Being denied even that was unbearable.

Only Jile, who was bowing before the nobles with her eyes fixed on the ground, fidgeted uncomfortably.

“Helping with His Excellency’s healing was certainly a commendable deed. Had you stopped there, you could have left with the generosity of Norton territory’s vassals. Isn’t giving in to greed contrary to God’s will?”

“What do you mean? I have never been greedy.”

“I’ve heard that today’s priests are promiscuous, but I never knew they could be this brazen.”

“You would do well to refrain from such excessive remarks. Insulting someone is like spitting in your own face.”

The elderly gentleman, composed entirely of noble pride, turned bright red at her direct gaze and unyielding response.

“Such impudence! In the end, you’ll just bear a child, pocket some money, and return to the temple. Indulge in that greed all you want. The Border Count’s illegitimate child will grow up just fine among the abundance of healing priests.”

“…”

However, Evelyn too fell silent in the face of shame and the obvious reality.

“Let me warn you out of concern. It’s not that being a priestess is bad, nor that having an illegitimate child is wrong. But you should leave that bedroom. You will eventually return to the temple, so should you thoughtlessly occupy the position meant for the lady who will manage this castle? There are many other rooms available in the castle, so stop pretending to be the lady before rumors spread further among the nobles. Think about those who will remain in this land. Ah, perhaps a wandering visitor cannot understand this meaning.”

Behind the elderly gentleman, faces mocking her overlapped. Evelyn met their gazes directly, though she knew it wouldn’t particularly affect them.

“This land is sacred ground that protects the beginning of the empire. As someone who follows God’s words, you should know this better. Do not seduce the Border Count, who knows little beyond protecting the territory’s people and land, and defile this place. I fear what the knights undergoing rigorous training and the healing priests might learn from this.”

“Hahaha.”

They criticized among themselves, laughed among themselves. They passed by Evelyn, acting triumphantly after confronting a young priestess. It was Jile who weakly grasped the arm of Evelyn, who stood frozen in place.

“Miss.”

“Yes. Let’s go up.”

“What concern? He’s just trying to marry off his daughter. Don’t be hurt. Okay?”

“Well, he’s not wrong.”

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have repeated those things. I’m truly sorry.”

“It’s not your fault, Jile.”

She had sensed for some time that others’ gazes toward her were not kind. But only after hearing the reasons so explicitly did Evelyn feel empty about what she had been doing.

She must have let her guard down too much because of how he warmly embraced her whenever they met and reminded her that she was special. She had never lived that way before, but had fallen for a moment of temptation.

She was just a healing priestess with ordinary abilities, the longest-serving priestess in the volunteer group, and would continue to be so. If she had only remembered that, Evelyn would have lived well, faithful only to her duties.

If only she hadn’t melted into the warm affection the Border Count so generously offered.

That day, Evelyn took out the scripture she had read thousands of times and read it again and again.

She needed to remember who she was.

* * *

Evelyn opened her closed eyes at the heavy weight settling on her waist while tossing and turning.

The large body was hot and comforting. The warmth felt so much like her own that she could hardly tell there had been any cold.

The firm muscles seemed like they would protect her from this world, and the arm embracing her waist even in sleep made her feel like she would never be lost or abandoned.

The sun was gradually rising behind his back, lying sideways facing her. Outside the window, darkness was lifting into a bluish hue, and the steady breathing of the peacefully sleeping man kept making her languid.

She wanted to stay like this just a little longer. It was a luxury and laziness she had never experienced in her entire life.

Though she knew it was wrong for a priestess, once experienced, such laziness was difficult to escape. If only he had been a little less affectionate, if only he had embraced her a little less.

Finding herself amusing for constantly blaming the man, Evelyn touched the short beard on the Border Count’s chin and felt her love growing even in moments like this. Forcibly swallowing a dry gulp, she pondered what constituted greed.

Was it clinging to his side until she left the territory? Or was it, as others speculated, staying in the territory to bear an illegitimate child before leaving?

However, her mind became troubled by why things permitted to others had to become greed for her. It’s because she was a priestess, she thought. 

Moreover, just an ordinary healing priestess with little energy manipulation ability, useful only to the Border Count who needed her.

Yet facing the slowly rising golden sun, Evelyn couldn’t help but smile gently. Because the sun smiled at her first.

The sun, which pulled her closer into its embrace, let her breathe in the scent of flesh deeply, and kissed even her disheveled hair with delight, grabbed her voluptuous flesh with hot hands.

Her br*asts, distorted and squeezed at will by his large hands, fitting perfectly for him, instantly turned red with marks.

“When I touch these, I don’t want to get up. I could spend all day just kneading you and still find it entertaining.”

His voice, cracked from sleep, already carried enjoyment. The pain from her flesh distorted by his strong grip was turning into pleasure.

Evelyn endured the sensation and winked one eye.

Norton, pleased even with such an expression, bit her cheek before suddenly climbing over her body and biting the br*ast he had been squeezing.

“Ah…”

The thick sucking sound broke the morning silence. Evelyn moaned as she pushed her fingers into the Border Count’s hair. Everywhere he touched was hot and rough. 

The feeling of him filling and engraving himself all over her body made her remember the man even when he wasn’t there.

“Your Excellency.”

He spread her thighs with his knees and rubbed his groin against her lower abdomen.

“Yes.”

“…Hold me tight. Harder.”

Norton released her n*pple and burst into laughter at her mumbled confession. He continued laughing even while pulling up her face and inserting his tongue into the whimpering Evelyn’s mouth.

“I shall obey my lord’s command.”

“Oh my!”

Evelyn gasped at his playful words, but tightly closed her eyes at the thick tongue pushing in. Every place he rubbed became hot like fire had been lit. 

With his violent kiss taking away even her barely exhaled breath, Evelyn felt like her body was melting, his tongue seemingly touching her entire body.

The long-lasting kiss, which melted and melted her until she became water, ready to evaporate into steam, went down to her er*ect br*asts only after licking everything inside her mouth.

“Haah…”

Her vision kept blurring at the tingling sensation of him biting her n*pple. Even amid this, the touch that spread and rubbed her inner flesh was clear. 

The thick finger digging into her opening to create a water path, his unreasonably strong force blocking her thighs with his knees so they wouldn’t close, the heavy breathing pouring over her glistening, wet br*asts.

Despite her dizzy mind, Evelyn clearly felt everything of his that touched her skin.