Chapter 220: Lainella's Fate is Decided by Lainella (13)
Chapter 220: Lainella's Fate is Decided by Lainella (13)
The Saintess spent the previous night drenched in tears.
Though she had been the center of countless people's attention throughout her life, her actual knowledge of romance was meager.
In the first place, she had never even imagined herself falling in love as a Saintess. To her, most humans were nothing more than tools.
She had felt pity for others, but never love.
If a Saintess were to speak of 'love,' it was strictly expected to be of the religious variety. Her sense of chastity, as required by her position in the Holy Church, was that steadfast.
But after meeting a certain man, the Saintess's world was turned upside down.
For the first time in her life, she had developed romantic feelings for the opposite sex.
It was a strange new reality.
She would laugh and cry because of a single person, waiting for each day with a fluttering heart. Just like any other girl experiencing her first love.
It was proof that even a Saintess was a human being with emotions.
Because of this, it wasn't an exaggeration to say she was a blank slate when it came to dating.
She didn't know how a man and a woman closed the distance to become lovers, nor did she know how things progressed once they were together.
That was why the story she heard yesterday had struck her with such intense shock.
A 'pump and dump'—was she really one of those pitiful women?
Of course, it had only been three days since Ian last visited.
Given Ian’s track record, the possibility that he had approached her with malice was slim. He might have been unable to visit due to some unforeseen circumstances, and it wouldn't be strange if he showed up this very day.
Rationally, that was the case.
However, the human heart does not always follow logic.
The Saintess, caught in the throes of her first love, felt tears welling up at the mere possibility of being abandoned.
As anxiety filled a corner of her heart, she tried to soothe herself over and over.
She was so terrified of a breakup that she decided it was better to let go of her expectations altogether.
Right. Let’s not expect anything.
There were plenty of men in the world. Ian was just one of them.
Yes. Only one.
The one and only first love of her life.
The logic of a woman in love was always like this.
The Saintess had no choice but to burst into tears once again. This was the full story of how her pillow ended up soaked the night before.
Still, returning to her duties under the morning sun the next day made her feel a bit more composed.
She sat there all day with a gloomy, hollow expression, but she felt better regardless.
Come to think of it, the Saintess was a woman who lacked for nothing.
Men who showed romantic interest in her were a dime a dozen. It was just that she never approached anyone with interest herself.
And objectively speaking, her qualifications were extraordinary.
She held the status of the Saintess of the Holy Church and possessed a beauty often praised as a masterpiece sculpted by God Himself.
She wasn't someone a decent-looking second son of a rural viscount family could dare to aim for.
Well, Ian wasn't just decent-looking; he was also righteous, brave, and dependable.
No, no. He also possessed a consistent and strong willpower, and he was a young man who cared for the weak.
Eventually, dew began to form in the Saintess's pale pink eyes once more.
You jerk, you trash, how could you do this to me?
She felt like slamming her head onto the desk and wailing right then and there.
It was at that moment that sudden news reached her ears.
"I-Ian disrupted Sister Elsie’s engagement?"
"I'm telling you! Those guard knights from the Lainella family were no match for him. He was so strong..."
The Saintess usually made sure to use the respectful title 'Brother Ian' in front of others, but she was so shocked that she forgot her own rule.
The person delivering the news was one of the servants working in the dormitory.
Having worked at the Academy for twenty years, she was someone whose mouth always itched to share student gossip.
Even though she had come to treat a burn she received while cooking, she couldn't help but spread the rumors.
It just so happened that the rumor was the biggest incident of the morning.
The Saintess froze in place.
"But the funny thing is, do you know what Lady Lainella said after that? Pfft, she said 'woof woof.' She called herself his pet! That prideful Lady Lainella!"
The middle-aged woman burst into a fit of laughter, but her voice didn't reach the Saintess's ears.
It was the same even after the woman left.
The Saintess sat there, dazed.
A faint sob escaped her lips.
"He... he didn't even care about me..."
He hadn't visited for three days, and during that time, Ian was busy with another woman.
How could he?
He even touched her chest!
The Saintess went beyond sadness; she was now indignant.
She quickly wiped her eyes, hurling all sorts of internal insults at Ian.
Womanizer. Enemy of women. Human trash.
But no matter how much she cursed him, she couldn't stop her heart from aching. She wanted to leave work early and just sob alone in her room.
It was right then that Yuren’s voice pierced through her thoughts.
"Sister, Ian is here to see you."
"I'm not in the mood to see... No, no! W-who did you say?"
At first, the Saintess almost reflexively issued a gloomy expulsion order.
Fortunately, she snapped back to her senses just in time. She wondered if she had misheard, but the truth Yuren delivered was plain and consistent.
"Ian is here! The one you've been waiting for every night while crying—"
"A-ahhhhh! Okay, I get it! Just wait a second!"
The Saintess quickly muffled Yuren’s mouth before he could expose her embarrassing secret and began checking her appearance.
First, she wiped away the tears.
Only after tidying her hair and clothes did she manage to regain some semblance of composure.
Right. As if someone like him could ever leave me.
I am the Saintess, after all.
The dramatic turn of events made her feel a bit smug. With a haughty smile on her lips, she was finally able to speak in her usual voice.
"Tell him to come in."
Soon, the door opened.
It was the man with black hair and golden eyes.
She had seen his face countless times over the past few months, but today, she was so glad to see him that she almost shed a tear.
Ian Percus—the cause of her heartache for the past few days.
Unlike the Saintess, he seemed to have nothing on his mind.
He simply let out a few sighs with a dazed expression. She was curious about the reason, but she deliberately didn't ask.
Now that the initial joy of seeing him had faded, her resentment toward him returned.
How dare he tease a pure virgin's breasts and only show up now?
It was a serious crime worthy of a religious trial.
At least, that was what the Saintess thought. She put on a cold expression and cleared her throat.
"...It’s been a while, hasn't it?"
Her words were laced with subtle thorns.
She was making it very obvious that she was upset, but Ian, who was sitting there blankly, failed to notice.
He simply let out a deep sigh and uttered a single sentence.
"I suppose it has."
It was a short answer.
However, that faint, heavy voice, combined with the golden eyes of a man filled with anguish, created a melancholy atmosphere.
The Saintess's heart suddenly throbbed.
He’s so handsome. Should I just forgive him?
With the magic of love filtering her vision, everything Ian did looked cool to her. Her firm resolve almost wavered, but she barely managed to steady her heart.
No matter how ignorant she was about dating, she had heard things.
If you start forgiving someone unconditionally just because you like them, it only leads to ruin. She needed to balance the relationship from the moment they started closing the distance.
It was a trap that lovers often fell into.
If he did something wrong, she had to let him know. However, the Saintess was too embarrassed to admit she was upset because she hadn't seen him, so she hoped he would figure it out on his own.
The Saintess's eyes, which had been momentarily dreamy, hardened. She cleared her throat again.
"I suppose you've been busy?"
"Well, various things... I'm not quite sure, but it seems things happened."
It was a textbook excuse.
How could he not know what he himself had done? It was nonsense.
There was only one reason to give such a blatant excuse.
It meant he didn't want to reveal the details.
This made the Saintess feel even more hurt.
She wanted to close the distance between them, but it felt like Ian didn't.
Pouting, she let out a snort.
"Hmph. Is that all you came for? Just to say hello after all this time?"
She had only been with him for a very short time.
It was far from enough to satisfy her lingering resentment. In fact, even if they spent the whole day together, her anger wouldn't fully dissipate.
To be honest, would her heart only be at peace if they stayed together forever?
But the Saintess lacked the courage to voice that truth.
Internally, she hoped Ian would deny her words and scramble to make amends. It was a natural expectation for her.
She had never been in an inferior position in a relationship with a man.
She was a woman who had been in a superior position her entire life. It was hard for her to imagine herself being clingy or hanging onto someone.
If the person she loved had been an ordinary man, her wish would have come true.
But there was a problem.
The person was Ian Percus, and he was currently not in his right mind.
He had suffered a massive mental blow from the 'Elsie Lainella Woof-Woof Incident' earlier that morning.
He didn't have the mental capacity to read someone else's feelings.
"...Yes, that's all."
"Hmph, as if that could be— Wait, what?"
The Saintess asked back in shock at Ian’s indifferent reply.
Her wide-open pale pink eyes were the picture of disbelief.
But Ian’s answer remained the same.
"I came to say goodbye. It will be difficult for us to meet for a while."
The Saintess was so stunned she couldn't say a word.
Was he really leaving just like this?
Without having done anything?
Without even knowing what they were supposed to do with each other, the Saintess swallowed hard.
"Y-you mean you're going back to your hometown...?"
"Yes, so I came to say goodbye. Thank you for everything."
With those words, Ian gave a polite bow and stood up.
The Saintess's expression turned frantic.
The reunion she had been expecting wasn't like this.
She thought it would be a more intimate, bittersweet meeting.
She thought that, as usual, her heart would naturally soften, and they would laugh and talk, and things would be resolved.
But now, Ian was saying he was leaving without a hint of lingering attachment.
The Saintess was so flustered she almost burst into tears.
"I, uh... is that really all?"
That was the only sentence she could squeeze out in her desperation.
The man's reaction was simple.
He just nodded a couple of times and bowed deeply.
"Yes. I had to say goodbye one last time. I am truly grateful."
With that, the man left the examination room.
The Saintess couldn't say anything to this unprecedented situation. While many men had been desperate to talk to her, she had never imagined herself being on the opposite side.
Didn't it look like they were absolutely nothing to each other?
As soon as she realized this, moisture returned to her eyes. The possibility she had been denying reared its head again.
"Was I... really just pumped and dumped...?"
The Saintess eventually had to swallow her tears.
Ignorant of the ways of romance, she didn't know.
That sometimes, you have to be clingy and persistent to achieve your true goal.
In the end, the Saintess had to admit it.
It was ridiculous and absurd, but she was currently in the inferior position.
Specifically, in the power dynamics of a relationship.
The Saintess finally had to make a choice.
"Am I... am I really being abandoned...?"
Of course, this was a story for after the tears of her first heartbreak had dried.
The road was both long and short.
In truth, my thought process was currently paralyzed. My head was filled with the disaster that had occurred just a few hours ago.
There was no need to even ask 'what should I do?'
It was over.
Senior Elsie’s marriage prospects were completely blocked.
Even if we were considered lovers, no family would want a woman who claimed to be a pet. If such a family existed, there was only one possibility.
The Percus family.
For better or worse, I had to take Senior Elsie with me.
That was why I could only give dazed answers even when I met the Saintess.
My mind hadn't returned to normal, and I couldn't think of anything to say.
But in that brief moment when I met the girl with dark blue hair...
"...Woof, woof!"
I could only let out a sigh.
"Your Highness, do you hear that you're tactless often?"
The girl immediately became dejected.
This was the day before Senior Elsie and the Saintess started acting strange.