The Priestess's Embarrassing Day and Resolve (1)
#
"Huh?!"
Reni woke with a start.
He wasn't in the bed!
She looked around in alarm, but his belongings were all in their proper places.
Reni sighed in relief. She shook her head a few times to clear it, and the room gradually came into focus.
On one side, her neatly folded gown. In contrast, the bed still bore the traces of a fierce night. The sight brought back memories of the evening before.
Reni clutched her head.
"Ah... agh... ugh..."
She felt like she might die of embarrassment.
Thinking back, she'd done something unbelievable.
She'd pounced on him, tied him up, made a bet, and at the very end, even resorted to sheer stubbornness.
Of course, Reni hadn't intended to push things that far. She simply hadn't been able to stop herself from talking. Whenever she had sex, she lost control of what came out of her mouth.
-Thump, thump.
In embarrassment, she repeatedly buried her head in the innocent pillow.
If she kept replaying yesterday's events, her head felt like it would burst, so Reni decided to focus her attention elsewhere.
Where had he gone?
As her thoughts reached that point, Reni felt a pang of disappointment.
He'd left without even saying where he was going. He hadn't even woken her up. Before, he'd always wake her with a kiss in the morning...
Could it be... that he was angry because she'd acted selfishly during the night? Or had Reni done something even more infuriating afterward?
Her memory of the end was hazy. It couldn't be helped.
She'd stayed up all night worrying when he didn't come back the night before, wandered the dungeon since morning looking for him, gotten an earful from the Witch, gone along with Yuri's decadent shopping trip, and then ended up having sex on top of it all.
She'd used Cure spells intermittently, but that still couldn't completely prevent the fatigue from building up in her body.
How had it ended, again?
Reni retraced her memories one by one.
She clearly remembered making the bet with him. Even that she'd been unable to hold back in the end...
Embarrassing as it was, that much was fine. But what came after was the problem.
After that, he'd tied her up as if she were a nuisance and knocked her unconscious more violently than ever before.
Even when she briefly woke in between, she lost consciousness again soon after.
Before, when he desired Reni, he'd always taken his time and put a great deal of care into it, but yesterday he'd toyed with her so roughly. Almost as if his goal was to make her pass out as quickly as possible.
He'd never treated her that roughly before.
...Why?
Had his feelings for her cooled?
"..."
Of course, Reni had taken their future together as a given, but looking back, he'd never confirmed it in words.
He'd mentioned children and the future, but now that she thought about it, they were all just roundabout expressions...
'I can't let this happen...!'
Reni pulled her sinking heart back together and began to pray.
# # #
It was already afternoon.
Reni put on her gown and crept out of Yoo-jin's room.
Though Reni did have a tendency to let herself go a little at night, she wasn't so clueless as to wander around in broad daylight in nothing but a bathrobe. Whatever she did, she needed to get back to her own room, wash up, and put on proper clothes.
Fortunately, the stiff-faced butler was nowhere in sight. That sharp-eared butler's ability to appear and disappear was beyond description. Her ears barely even moved; how on earth did she hear so well?
In any case, being caught by her in this state would be mortifying.
So she returned to her room, shuddered in embarrassment at the snacks the butler had prepared, washed up, and put on her clothes.
"You're awake."
"Eep?!"
The moment she stepped out, the butler appeared. Trying to calm her startled heart, Reni asked her most pressing question first.
"Ah, um, excuse me. Wh-where is Yoo-jin...?"
"Yoo-jin is..."
Yoo-jin had left around noon, saying he had business with Ariel. It was a previously arranged appointment.
Reni hadn't heard about this.
Yuri had gone out without saying where she was going. The Holy Sword was with Niniel.
Having finished speaking, the butler glanced at the door.
"Have you eaten?"
"...Pardon?"
"If the cold food is not to your liking, I could prepare something fresh now..."
"Ah, no, it's fine! You don't need to do that!"
Of course, the butler didn't seem to have any such intention, but Reni couldn't shake the feeling that she was nothing but a freeloader who only ate.
Spending the night lost in carnal desire, waking up late, eating, then spending the night again.
...It was a shameful way to live.
Even Reni herself thought so.
"I-is there anything I can help with? L-laundry or something..."
"I cannot assign such tasks to a guest. If you don't mind, I would be grateful if you could visit Niniel."
"Ah, yes..."
Casting Cure on Niniel. It was something she always did when staying at the mansion.
"Thank you for your consideration. Excuse me."
Rebecca disappeared with quick steps, as if she had nothing more to say, or as if she were busy with work.
Toward Yoo-jin's room.
"...!"
Reni covered her face with both hands. Even though she'd used Purification before leaving, the butler was now going to clean up the traces of their lovemaking!
No, now that she thought about it, all this time...!
Clutching her face that felt ready to explode, Reni headed to Niniel's room. She needed something else to focus her mind on.
# # #
Niniel looked well. She usually spent her days half-reclined on the bed, but now, different from her usual self, she was sitting upright in a chair.
Beside her, the Holy Sword lay on the table, snoring. Around them, half-read books were scattered about.
Reni felt both shame and guilt. Looking after the Holy Sword was her responsibility, but she'd been so wrapped up in Yoo-jin that she'd practically neglected it.
"I-I'm sorry. We're supposed to take care of the Holy Sword, but..."
"It's all right. Spending time with the Holy Sword is fun, so I'm not bored. And you've been busy with all sorts of things, haven't you?"
Busy, she said.
Of course, Reni had been busy. Performing Amplification with Yoo-jin, spending nights together, having sex, plotting to monopolize him.
Reni wanted to crawl into a hole. She would have preferred ridicule, but that kind tone that truly seemed to hope she wouldn't worry pricked at her conscience.
Reni wanted to escape this situation quickly.
"Um, please give me your hand. I'll cast Cure."
"Thank you always. But I think you may rest today."
"...Pardon?"
Niniel blushed slightly, as if embarrassed.
"I heard. That Yoo-jin and Ariel did that... Amplification, I mean. Perhaps because of that, the mana I receive from Ariel has grown stronger. I was startled when it cut off in the middle, but... anyway, thanks to that, there's no need to trouble you today, Reni."
"..."
Reni felt a small shock.
Niniel no longer needed Reni's Cure.
That wasn't the only reason Reni was shocked.
Her condition improved this much just from an indirect increase in mana. Then what would happen if she directly did the act with him?
Reni herself had told Yoo-jin to do it, but now that the reality was before her eyes, she grew uneasy.
Niniel, with her beautiful elf-like features. Unlike the expressionless Ariel, she was always smiling, considerate of others, and had a kind heart that even looked after the Holy Sword.
There was no avoiding the comparison with Reni, who was always making demands.
Reni left the room, feeling even more depressed.
# # #
Back in her own room, Reni sat by the window and spent the time blankly.
Just waiting for him to return, endlessly staring out the window.
Reni had nothing in particular to do.
She'd offered to help the butler with the housework but had been refused, there was no need to nurse Niniel, and the Holy Sword had separated from her. Nor did she have Yuri's habit of wandering outside alone in search of amusement.
"..."
No, Reni did have things to do. Quite a lot, in fact.
But she hadn't accomplished any of them.
She'd said she'd learn new Holy Magic at the Church but hadn't, and she'd said she'd investigate the Holy Sword and the Apostle of the Goddess, but she hadn't done any of it.
Of course, there were reasons she couldn't. But even Reni herself knew it. That they were nothing but excuses.
Reni had relied on the Divine Power Yoo-jin gave her and done nothing—nothing at all. She'd clung to him and lived like dead weight.
A worthless burden. That was what Reni was.
Feeling her mood sink further, Reni stared vacantly at the mansion's front gate.
...
He crossed the gate with Ariel around sunset. Reni was shocked by the sight.
The two of them looked splendid, as though they'd just returned from an elegant outing.
That wasn't all.
Yoo-jin was escorting her as if afraid Ariel might fall, or that a branch from an overgrown garden tree might snag her clothes. Like a knight protecting his lady.
The truth was that Yoo-jin had completely ruined Ariel's underwear, so he was being considerate out of guilt, but to Reni, who didn't know the reality, it looked like Yoo-jin had completely fallen for Ariel.
"..."
That would not do. It was pointless jealousy.
Trying to shake off her dark thoughts, Reni headed to the mansion's entrance.
Yoo-jin, Ariel, and the butler. The three were chatting about how well things had gone, in a warm and friendly atmosphere.
"O-oh, you're back?"
"Ah, yeah."
But unlike with them, for some reason Yoo-jin was avoiding Reni's eyes. As if he was hiding something.
Not long after, it was dinnertime.
Yoo-jin was so absorbed in talking with Ariel that he barely paid attention to Reni. Yuri had also returned, but received similar treatment.
He was clearly angry about last night.
Reni spent the meal without knowing whether the food was entering through her nose or her mouth.
After dinner, Yoo-jin stopped the two of them.
Unlike his usual slightly silly smile, his face was a little stiff.
Yoo-jin spoke in a somewhat firm tone.
He had something to say to Reni, so he would spend the night with the two of them.
It was different. The atmosphere was different. It was so different from his usual self. Yuri also seemed to pick up on it, quietly gauging his mood.
Reni tried to steady her pounding heart.
What on earth was he going to say?
'Don't tell me...!'
As Yuri had said, had he truly gotten sick of Reni?
He had every reason. There was much about Reni to be displeased with.
Jealousy, butting in, tying him up, not doing the laundry.
But the biggest problem seemed to be yesterday.
Other times, she could make excuses—to gain Divine Power, because she was sleepy, because she wasn't in her right mind.
But last night, hadn't she pounced on him purely to monopolize him!
Yes. Reni had crossed the line.
Now she couldn't even beg him not to abandon her. Because Reni was useless! Useless, and she'd crossed the line on top of it.
Yuri had egged her on, but it was clearly Reni's own desire. Reni's selfishness!
If only he would get angry. But he had never gotten angry at Reni. That very fact made her even more uneasy.
Reni knew it too. When a person who normally didn't get angry finally does, that was when it was truly over.
He would no longer put up with her. Because, just as Yuri said, he'd finally gotten sick of her.
'Please, please don't abandon me.'
Reni followed him, struggling to hold back her tears.
Finally, they reached Yoo-jin's room.
For some reason, he was biting his lower lip. As if suppressing something.
Well, abandoning Reni after all this time would burden him too. But it was bound to happen.
Reni felt the corners of her eyes grow blurry.
"Reni?"
"Y-Yoo-jin. I-, I'm... hic... fine. sniff..."
No. I mustn’t cry.
Because she'd been so selfish, punishment was natural. It was only natural punishment, but Reni still couldn't stop the tears from coming.
"R-Reni. What's wrong? Just calm down for a moment..."
"Yes. sob... yes... sniff..."
"..."
"sniff... snuffle. sob... hic... sob"
"Reni. Will you look at me?"
"Sniff... sob..."
"Reni, I said, will you look at me?"
"sniff... Y-Yoo-jin... I-, I'm... sob..."
"Reni!"
"Eek?!"
Startled by the shout, Reni looked at Yoo-jin.
In Yoo-jin's hand was a small box,
and inside it
was a ring.
"...Huh?"