Published: July 26, 2025
The place where the gray-clad priest took me was clearly not the infirmary for the poor, but a proper guest room. It was a beautifully furnished room, and judging from the waiting room at the gate, it seemed like a place meant for wealthy nobles or merchants being introduced.
The cause must be this outfit...
You can roughly gauge a family's income by how much fabric is used in the clothing and how well the embroidery matches in color and thread.
It's one thing for everyday clothes, but today's outfit is an unusually frilly and fluffy one, with embroidery only on the hem, adorned with small flowers woven from thread—it's luxurious. The hair ornament is also special. At first glance, I think I would be judged as rich as Frieda.
But... there's no need to go out of my way to correct myself by saying I'm poor, right? It was the priest's assumption to begin with, and I can't imagine what kind of treatment I'd get if they suddenly changed their attitude. So it's best not to honestly tell everything, right?
“Excuse me.”
As I frowned in thought, the gray priest gently made me sit down on a long chair.
When my body wobbled slightly, I steadied myself by grabbing the armrest, and almost simultaneously, my hair ornament was quietly removed, and my shoes were politely taken off.
Huh!?
I was startled by how natural and matter-of-fact this treatment was. It was like when Yutte took care of me in Frieda's house. The gray priest was clearly used to taking care of people.
I forgot to refuse and just stared wide-eyed, but the priest stood up, prepared the bed, and carried me princess-style to the bed.
“Ah, um, really, I’m fine.”
“Lying before the gods is not good. This is the temple.”
But it’s not a lie...
They laid me down on the bed and carefully covered me with a blanket. Then, the priest placed the hair ornament on the bedside and lined up my shoes in front of the bed. The priest acted more like an experienced attendant than a priest, which felt somewhat odd.
“Rest now. I will come to check on you later.”
“...Yes.”
With a click, the door closed and the priest left the room.
It was true that I still didn’t have much strength in my body, so I waited to recover while lying in bed.
I was sure my family would ask why I fainted, but I couldn't say I passed out from laughing too much. Lutz, who was worried about me, would surely be angry too. Just then, I remembered Lutz who came over with some sweets, and a chuckle escaped me.
After resting a bit, strength returned to my body. I tested my grip by clenching and opening my hands.
Now, what should I do? I’m starting to want to pick some flowers.
There’s a chamber pot right by the bed, but without knowing where the water source is, it would be troublesome to handle the cleanup. Probably, guests staying here have attendants, so they don’t clean up themselves, but I don’t have any attendants.
Also, I don’t want a stranger priest to clean up after me. At least, I want to ask someone where water is first, so I can handle it myself quietly.
I slowly got up and lightly shook my limbs. It didn’t seem like I’d collapse suddenly. I tied my hair back with the hairpin that was placed beside the bed. Frieda’s house had a bell to call people by the bedside, but there was none here.
Since this is an emergency, I decided to look for someone.
I didn’t know how long it would take to find someone, so I wanted to act before it became urgent.
Putting on my shoes, I slipped out of the room.
Even though there were carvings and reliefs on columns and walls, the hallway was basically all white stone. The echo of my footsteps rang loudly, but there were no other footsteps or any sign of people. For now, I decided to return to the place where the baptism ceremony had been held.
...Huh? Did I take the wrong turn?
Although inside the white temple, color began to appear here and there. The carvings and statues were becoming increasingly refined and luxurious—not just my imagination. It seemed I had wandered into the area where nobles come and go.