Who was Madam Rosalie?
To put it simply, she was both a famous figure in this small convent and its one and only troublemaker.
No one knew much about her. All they had heard was that she was a noblewoman who had been confined here after becoming embroiled in some unsavory scandal. Because of her eccentric temperament and the constant incidents and accidents that followed wherever she went, she wore rumors of being a witch like a badge of honor.
Elysia did not know much about her either.
Only that she was so beautiful it was impossible to guess her age, that she was excessively free-spirited, and that those two things meant trouble with men constantly followed her around.
First, she had to clear up this disgraceful misunderstanding.
“What are you talking about? Neither of them is my lover.”
“If not, then what… You secretly have a little fun with both of them?”
“Not at all.”
Her life was at stake here. How could any of this possibly be fun?
Oblivious to Elysia's feelings, Madam Rosalie kept snickering as though deliberately trying to rile her up.
“Sweetheart. There's no need to be shy. After living among people for so long, I've learned that clergy are all human beings just like everyone else. You can live like this behind closed doors. I completely understand. You know, once upon a time, there was this sucker I knew… no, a nun. She found out she only had exactly a hundred days left to live, so what she did was….”
“I'm really telling you it's not like that!”
“Fine, let's say it isn't.”
Madam Rosalie shrugged and rose from her seat. She did not seem to believe Elysia's explanation in the slightest. Elysia quickly got up after her.
“How much did you see? No, wait… Why were you even here in the first place?”
“I couldn't sleep. I stopped by for a bit to see if there was anything that might help.”
There had definitely been no one there when Elysia last checked. Had she been so distracted that she had failed to notice someone else's presence? She had no idea when Rosalie had managed to sneak in.
“Thanks to you, I got to see something entertaining. Thanks. I'll pretend I didn't see anything. Though I'm not sure I'll be able to forget something that astonishing.”
Pretending to be so well-behaved, yet doing something this shameless behind everyone's backs? Humans really are entertaining.
The way she muttered to herself was extremely ominous. As Madam Rosalie strode toward the entrance, Elysia had no choice but to hurry after her with quick little steps.
“I think you've seriously misunderstood something. It's not like that….”
“So you go around having all the fun you want behind everyone's backs, but you don't like other people having fun? What kind of attitude is that?”
“Excuse me. Madam Rosalie….”
“Well, I suppose it does feel a little strange. When I think about what you did to me back then….”
Madam Rosalie trailed off.
It was already a problem that someone had witnessed today's commotion, but the fact that the witness happened to be Madam Rosalie made it even worse. She was not the kind of person who would quietly take someone else's secret to the grave.
And apart from that, there was also a very personal reason.
Madam Rosalie had a complicated history with men, and even after being confined to the convent, she had constantly smuggled men inside. The man was different every time, and once, she had even brought in two men in a single night.
Elysia, who handled all sorts of unpleasant chores around the convent, had caught her every time and demonstrated an unwavering dedication to reporting her. If nowhere else, at least this convent had to remain a place where outsiders—that was, outside men—could not simply come and go as they pleased, so Elysia had guarded that rule even more strictly.
“…I suppose it feels rather unpleasant.”
She was clearly still holding a grudge over that.
Of all people, why did it have to be Madam Rosalie who caught her? No matter what it took, Elysia had to clear up the misunderstanding.
“You may have been upset with me back then… but I'm a nun. And this is a convent. I was simply doing what I was supposed to do. I don't have any personal feelings against you, Madam.”
Elysia pleaded urgently.
“Right, you were only doing what you were supposed to do. And I suppose it's the same with those men. Your personal feelings are for them, aren't they?”
“No, I've simply known those two for a long time. It's nothing like what you're imagining….”
“It's nothing like that, but you were hugging one bastard while the one you hid inside was completely naked?”
“…….”
“I wasn't imagining anything. I merely said what I saw.”
Of course she had only seen the parts that were easiest to misunderstand. And because everything she said was technically true, Elysia had no rebuttal.
“Seems like a shame for me to keep something this entertaining all to myself.”
Madam Rosalie raised an eyebrow as she spoke. She was smiling, but this was unmistakably a threat. She was acting triumphant, as though she had found Elysia's weakness, but Elysia could not allow herself to be dragged around by the nose. She let out a soft breath and straightened her back.
“So you're going to report me to the Church?”
“What?”
“Go ahead if you want. But even if you do, it won't accomplish much.”
At Elysia's confident warning, the look in Madam Rosalie's eyes changed.
“Who do you think the Church would trust more, you or me? I've worked diligently ever since I came here, and I've lived a life about as far removed from fun as possible. Meanwhile, Madam, you've always pursued nothing but fun, and it's caused you plenty of trouble. Especially when it comes to men.”
“Hmm.”
“What do you think everyone would assume even if you told them? I didn't do anything wrong in the first place. They'd think you were falsely accusing me because of what happened before.”
“You do have a point.”
Madam Rosalie slowly nodded as though conceding the argument. Elysia had been nervous inside despite putting on such a confident front. Fortunately, it seemed her bluff had worked….
“Who said anything about telling the Church? There's something much more entertaining I could do. Why would I bother talking to those stuffy people?”
…Or not.
Something more entertaining?
“What do you mean….”
“Let's see. Maybe I should go make a confession to our newly arrived High Priest. From what I saw earlier, he seems compassionate enough to pray for a patient.”
She was talking about Valentin.
“‘So don't avoid me anymore. Please.’”
She was even repeating Tristan's words exactly.
“…….”
“He hurt himself just to come see you. Imagine how badly he must have wanted to see you. Well, since you insist there's nothing between you, I suppose it wouldn't matter if I told him?”
So she had been watching since then. Elysia's face gradually went pale.
“Ah, come to think of it, telling the Commander of the Holy Knights could be quite entertaining too. He looked rather sulky when he left earlier. Don't you think he deserves to know you hugged that priest?”
“…….”
“I suppose I'll have to visit both of them. I was bored anyway, so this works out nicely. Don't worry too much. Who would believe something said by a delinquent like me? If our exemplary nun says it isn't true, surely they'll believe you.”
No, this was fundamentally different from reporting her to the Church and accusing her of having relations with men. Regardless of whether the story was true, those bastards had come all the way to the convent searching for Elysia Gray… There was no chance they would simply let it go. The suspicion mode she had barely managed to clear would activate again.
She had only just managed to survive one crisis. She had to prevent that at all costs.
“What do you want from me?”
“I don't know.”
Whether she knew how Elysia was burning up inside or not, Madam Rosalie inspected her neatly manicured nails and deliberately played innocent.
“…….”
“I'm trash who only cares about having fun. I don't think there's anything in particular I want from our exemplary nun?”
Madam Rosalie's eyes curved beautifully as she smiled.
“Then, good night.”
“W-Wait… Madam Rosalie!”
Elysia tried to stop her, but it was useless. Madam Rosalie casually waved goodbye and left the infirmary without a shred of hesitation.
Goddess Arne. Why are you putting me through such an ordeal?
My only crime was struggling desperately to live a good life.
It was devastating. Now finally left alone in the infirmary, Elysia could do nothing but despair.
***
Elysia had not even drunk anything like tea to keep herself awake, yet she spent the entire night with her eyes wide open. It was actually convenient for her night shift in the infirmary, but from Elysia's perspective, having to endure all those hours in that state only left her deeply troubled.
Her night shift at the infirmary ended. She should have gone to get at least a little sleep, but Elysia could not return to her room. After pacing through the corridor several times, her footsteps eventually headed toward ‘that place.’
It was the room where Madam Rosalie was staying. Elysia stopped in front of the door with a tense expression.
It went beyond simply not wanting to do this. Rosalie was someone she would rather avoid getting involved with at all if possible. For Elysia, who wanted nothing more than to live a quiet life, she was exactly the type of person she needed to avoid at all costs. But in the current situation, she had no other choice.
Elysia's hand hesitated in midair for a moment before she knocked twice on the door.
“Come in.”
At the languid voice from inside, Elysia entered the room.
As soon as she stepped inside, she saw Madam Rosalie lounging sideways against the sofa. Rosalie took the cigarette from between her lips, held it between her fingers, and asked indifferently,
“To what do I owe the honor of our exemplary nun gracing such an unwholesome place with her presence?”
“You said you were bored.”
The corner of Elysia's lips tilted upward.
“I came to entertain you.”