"Alright, Arch-Nun Rose, go back. Tomorrow, if I have nothing else to ask, I will personally send him to the convent."
"I will certainly give the Pope face."
"..."
When leaving the reception room, Rose's killing intent was at its peak.
Whether it was the hand shamelessly clutching Silas's arm, or the legs in white silk pressed close, or the breasts. She wanted to take a knife and peel it all into a bloody mess.
So.
She didn't say anything else and immediately wrote a personal letter to be sent to the Church where her sister was.
[To Erina]
[Many things have happened, but among them is a very major event that has forced me to kill the Empress.]
[Please, while leaving the Church, write a letter to tell Leah not to return to the Holy City. We will meet in Gnan Town outside the border, which doesn't belong to the Duchy of Igna.]
[...]
The letter wasn't sent immediately.
Rose thought of a meticulous plan. After killing the Empress, she had to ensure within two days that the people around Elisa were under her control and couldn't send feedback to the Holy City in time.
That way, her sister, herself, and Silas would have plenty of time to escape.
That must be it.
After all, she was the Empress, royalty; whatever she said, the current Mr. Silas could not refute. Mr. Silas didn't know the sister behind her was Erina, the Pope.
The first step of her plan was to wait for Silas to return from Elisa's place and take him from the stable to the safety of the convent.
But she waited until dawn and didn't see him return.
What was he doing?
Gluck, gluck.
That sound.
"Hah..."
"Highness Elisa's breasts are very beautiful, and very cute."
"..."
Through the crack in the door, Rose saw it.
The Princess was stripped down to just her pushed-aside bra and white silk stockings, lying almost naked on the bed. Her feet were held high by Silas. Her buttocks slightly deformed with each impact.
Charming gasps.
He came inside.
They kissed, too. Then, he went back in. He came so many, many times.
"..."
Rose's mind went blank.
So strange.
Mr. Silas had come to the confession booth at the convent and said it. He at least vaguely remembered her.
But what was he doing now?
"You... you did this to me."
"You'll come back to the Holy City with me, right? I can't marry anyone else now."
"Of course I will."
"Mmh. Do you... want more? Although I haven't done it... after getting used to it, it doesn't hurt as much."
"That's enough. Highness Elisa, sleep if you want to."
"..."
That warm, erotic scene.
Sticky tentacles unconsciously seeped from the Arch-Nun's sleeves. Her teeth were almost ground to pieces.
But soon, they were dejectedly withdrawn.
Seeing the two sleeping in each other's arms, her body began to tremble.
Right.
The maid lady said he had lived a very bitter life. He wasn't the same Mr. Silas she knew. He had a long period of new life.
Such a version of him didn't like her; he liked the Empress.
Rose became unable to think.
She ran into the busy maid lady.
"Eh? Isn't this the Arch-Nun? Your... your face is a bit..."
"Did that brother of mine do something immature?! Is he unwilling to acknowledge you as his sister?"
"..."
Rose shook her head, unwilling to say more.
How could she be mistaken for a sister? No, she was his wife.
It was her own problem. Before, they only had a slight degree of fondness; they hadn't "done it" yet.
Ah.
Why was she so certain? She had only been here a short while, but that Empress had been here for half a month.
She wanted to escape.
Going anywhere was fine; she didn't want to accept the truth.
In other words.
Was she really suitable for Mr. Silas?
Her body was this kind of thing. The Empress looked very beautiful and had power. But if she was just playing... No, what a shrewd person Mr. Silas was. On the bed, it wasn't the Empress riding him; rather, she was flipped over and pressed down to receive pleasure. Their status was obvious.
So strange.
She had clearly found him, yet there was already a new woman by his side. What did Mr. Silas call that thick white stuff? She couldn't remember, she only knew he said he would only be like this with her. He would only ejaculate so much because she was cute.
Mr. Silas was a liar.
The Convent.
"The Merciful God Noye above, may you grant us blessings and remove our pain..."
Except for a few young nuns piously performing evening prayers before the divine statue, the other nuns were asleep.
Rose stared dully at the stone statue. That wasn't Noye; it was gradually renovated and changed to look like him.
She wasn't a Saint with divine power either; she was just a monster.
There were clearly many ways.
In the past hundred years, she had done many things where she almost died. She didn't feel like the coward who wanted to escape and shift responsibility whenever something happened back then.
Could she really be that generous?
To hand over the man she loved to someone else?
The one lying on that bed should be her. She was first.
"..."
But if Mr. Silas didn't like her, why would he be so gentle with that woman?
What she really should do.
Is barge in.
Then say: She isn't a good woman, I am. I am your wife.
She didn't know anymore.
Rose didn't pack anything, nor did she say goodbye to anyone.
She left the convent and wandered alone on the terrifyingly quiet main road. She had no destination.
Gazing at the starry night sky.
What were living corpses?
She had experienced too, too many of those things. The knights said that according to their investigation, Silas had wiped out those mutated bandits alone.
Alone... still so powerful. Even in a new life, he hadn't forgotten his skills.
"!"
Don't be like this.
I'm unwilling.
Rip!
The nun tore the letter she intended to send to her sister into shreds.
She couldn't bring herself to quietly disappear. She could never be reconciled.
She wanted to ask him personally. If he really liked that Empress. If he did...
"Is being a concubine that strange?"
"As long as he still remembers me..."
"..."
She couldn't endure this mental anguish. Especially after seeing it, she could never return to before. She was willing to do anything.
As long as she didn't have to continue living in a daze, pitifully, with a Mr. Silas who didn't exist by her side. As long as he could admit personally that he truly remembered. Even if he only remembered a little bit.
So.
She went back to the convent and pulled out the rod from the disassembled statue in the confession booth.
"Arch-Nun Rose, are you in the confession booth?"
"..."
A nun asked.
"I am."
"Ah, I heard noise in the confession booth just now, I thought it was a thief."
"..."
"Get some rest early."
The nun left.
"..."
Rose thought. Let it be whatever.
Taking this thing meant for masturbation, telling him the statue was him, and that she would use this thing to masturbate.
There were no other lines. It was that simple.
Rustle...
Gradually, Rose began to feel there was someone else in the confession booth.
She didn't move, but she heard the very light sound of clothing rubbing outside the small window of the confession booth. Like someone standing up.
She slowed her breathing and could feel a breath that didn't belong to her.
"I'm very sorry for visiting Arch-Nun Rose at this time."
It was Silas's voice.
"..."
The Arch-Nun was frozen.
Why did he come? Wasn't he still with the Empress?
That scene—even if it continued until dawn, she wouldn't be surprised. And for that very reason, it was unbearable. Why could that woman be so comfortable while she had to escape like a stray dog?
"In the Count's reception room, I felt... perhaps I wasn't respectful enough to the Church, or to Arch-Nun Rose. So I came specifically to report on the living corpses. I had no intention of disturbing the other nuns."
"I didn't realize the Arch-Nun was here. I felt that sneaking in was indeed impolite, so I hid in the confession booth, intending to leave. I didn't expect you to enter through the back door."
"..."
Living corpses?
He didn't come to talk to her about anything else. Rose again remembered Elisa lying on the bed after pleasure, with "Silent Night" flowing from her slit. Her breasts being gently sucked and licked.
To help the Empress by not offending her, helping the woman he liked by not offending his wife...
It felt like a knife twisting in her heart. She gripped the stone rod in her hand.
So what?
If he liked that kind of thing, he could do it with her as much as he wanted...
Why, after all these years of seeing him... did she have the feeling of being afraid of being abandoned as soon as she spoke? Ah, she understood. The Mr. Silas in her memory—even after becoming intimate and confirming their relationship, he had many opportunities to cheat. But he never did.
The nun didn't believe Silas didn't know about Fiona's feelings for him. He was a husband who seemed very flamboyant but, on principle... would never betray her.
She was almost unable to breathe.
The more she realized Silas had come to plead for Elisa, the more stifled her chest felt.
"That's about it. I don't know what the living corpses are. The name is temporary."
"..."
Rose's palms were full of sweat.
Her body was also trembling.
She wanted to say it. In her capacity as his self-appointed wife... to beg. Don't leave her. Endure, she couldn't cry.
Otherwise, wouldn't she become that kind of character? After being looked down upon by Mr. Silas, begging would be useless.
She had to explain it clearly.
"Also, there's something I care about. It's regarding my last confession at the convent."
"I said I had a blurry dream. Recently, after seeing Arch-Nun Rose, it's become clearer and clearer."
"..."
Eh?
Rose was about to speak but was cut off.
"I'll just say it straight."
"The nun I mentioned, who brought two sisters along. She looks just like Arch-Nun Rose."
"If I've offended you, please ignore what I'm about to say."
"..."
"So, Rose."
She could hear Silas outside taking a deep breath. Then he spoke calmly, "Is it you?"
"..."
The Arch-Nun stopped trembling.
The stone rod she gripped fell onto the stool, then rolled to the corner and shattered.
She had almost—because she was too terrified that even if she were remembered, she couldn't compete with the Empress—planned to escape?
Then she realized it was impossible to go back to how she was after having hope, enduring that pain... thinking that begging to be a concubine was okay. She came back. She was going to take that stone rod and say personally that she would use that thing to masturbate. To make him understand what kind of Bishop she truly was.
"Aren't you... going to report on the living corpses?"
"I've finished reporting."
"You dare take something you thought of in a dream to desecrate the Arch-Nun of the Church..."
"Then I've probably done too much desecration."
"...You still..."
Rose pinched her hem, trembling with fear, "Want me?"
"..."
No answer.
At the small window of the confession booth, footsteps approached.
"If it's my nun lady, do I have a reason not to want her?"
"...Ugh."
The Arch-Nun really couldn't hold it back anymore. She just stood there, tears falling in large drops.
"Hah... I-I'm not a concubine... I am... the one who came first!"
She was so sad.
Silas had clearly told her himself that he only wanted her. Everything was still so clear in her memory, yet a woman who was second to none had appeared. Lying on that bed ahead of her, doing those things.
"Who said you were a concubine?"
"I am... your wife. You said it yourself, the ring you put on... remember? I-ugh... I've kept it safe even now."
Rose was terrified that Silas didn't know anything. That he just took her as a strange nun.
"Mmh. Of course I remember."
"Everything... you remember?"
Without a hint of hesitation, she immediately got a response. Of course he remembered.
But that wasn't enough.
Just the ring wasn't enough. There were so many, many things.
"..."
She didn't hear any further response.
Click.
The Arch-Nun didn't know when Silas had slipped away from the partition in front of her and entered the interior of the confession booth directly from the back door. He hugged her from behind. Then moved to her front.
He observed her for a long time.
"Rose, your breasts seem to have gotten bigger."
"..."
The back of her head was held, her face buried in Silas's collar. She was still sobbing.
Her breasts were touched, kneaded. It didn't bring any particularly strange feeling.
She just discovered that this person was the same as before. He preferred direct action over verbal comfort.
She hugged Silas's waist tightly, smelling Silas who still smelled a bit like sweat. A small murmur was caught in her whimpering.
"Then just... knead them."
In the end, it was like this.
He was clearly about to die, yet he was still saying that breasts can stop pain.
"Is the first thing you want to do after meeting me to be kneaded by me?"
"...Didn't you say it could stop pain?"
"That was a joke."
"I think it's true. So... knead them again."
Rose hugged him tighter and tighter. She didn't want to think about anything anymore, she only wanted to continuously confirm that what was happening now was real.
He didn't lie; kneading breasts really can stop pain. Look, it doesn't hurt as much as it did just now.