“What is it… I am no longer your assistant.”
Feigning composure, Konehl-Ghervil took a step back, disentangling herself from the woman’s embrace, and moved sideways, attempting to bypass her and enter the kitchen.
“Let me handle this.”
Her hands were taken, the weight instantly lifted – Dr. Callan had forcefully retrieved the items from her grasp. With practiced speed, she entered the kitchen, sorting and placing everything in its designated spot, then turned back, grinning at the young woman who now stood in the doorway.
“To answer your question from a moment ago, does there need to be a reason for me to come see you?”
The woman was clearly resorting to brazen tactics, but Konehl-Ghervil refused to fall into her trap. As she removed her shoes by the rack, she began to lecture.
“No matter how close friends are, they wouldn’t go to such lengths. Those things weren’t heavy at all; I could carry twice that much. You’re always like this; anyone who becomes your friend would find it exhausting. I sincerely wish you’d make more friends; then you’d naturally learn how to interact normally…”
“Are you even listening?”
No reply came from behind her, not even the slightest movement.
With one foot half-slipped into a slipper, she bent at the waist, the toe of her other unshod foot tapping the floor. Turning back in confusion, she found the woman staring intently at her, utterly motionless.
“What are you looking at?”
“Listening, listening… Your… your shoes are truly beautiful.”
A non sequitur.
‘I can’t fathom what this woman is thinking.’
‘They’re just common household anti-slip wool slippers, the kind you see everywhere on the street.’
‘My stomach is rumbling. I’ll ignore her for now and figure out these worries after lunch.’
As the woman’s eyes visibly shifted from wide-eyed to disappointed, Konehl-Ghervil fully donned her slippers and stepped into the kitchen.
“There’s no fresh produce left on the streets, so lunch will be something simple.”
“I still have some at my place. Shall we go across the way?”
“Please allow me to decline…”
Konehl-Ghervil gently shook her head; she felt a certain apprehension about going to Number 100.
“Tell you what, wait for me a moment.”
In the blink of an eye, Dr. Callan had brought over some ingredients, then ushered Konehl-Ghervil out of the kitchen, intending to cook herself.
‘Why refuse free food?’
‘The taste doesn’t matter, as long as it fills my stomach.’
‘I recall Dr. Callan’s cooking wasn’t bad before I lost my sense of taste.’
She went to the backyard to water the flowers she had brought in last night, then settled in the living room to wait.
Over forty minutes later, lunch was ready.
“Govet-Ghervil isn’t awake yet? I’ll go call her.”
Having eaten to her fill last night, Konehl-Ghervil had slept soundly until dawn, only to wake this morning with her foot feeling somewhat numb from being pressed.
Govet-Ghervil’s habit was to secretly jump onto her chest and sleep there once Konehl-Ghervil was asleep.
However, having recently grown a bit plump, Govet-Ghervil had developed some self-awareness and changed her sleeping spot, now using Konehl-Ghervil’s foot as a pillow.
While Konehl-Ghervil would no longer be woken by the weight in the middle of the night, it was true that she’d often wake in the morning with a numb foot, unable to walk properly.
She had lectured Govet-Ghervil more than once, yet to no avail.
Govet-Ghervil’s excuse was that it not only prevented nightmares but also enhanced the efficiency of replenishing dream power.
‘Who would believe that someone with dream power still suffers from nightmares?’
“Govet-Ghervil is already awake, you know.”
Dr. Callan gently pulled Konehl-Ghervil back to sit beside her.
“About half an hour before you returned, she mentioned wanting to go to the Abbey.”
“Why would she suddenly think of going there?”
“Because I told her… the Abbey has been repaired…”
As a soft breath brushed against her ear, Konehl-Ghervil distinctly felt an arm encircle her waist.
‘Again?!?’
‘All that lecturing earlier was utterly wasted!’
She wanted to rebuke her fiercely and demand she change, but the sheer implication of that statement forced her into silence.
Dr. Callan knew about the Abbey, and it wasn’t unlikely that she also knew about the Queen’s reward and the funds used for its repairs.
‘Most crucially,’
‘the fact that there was no money in the account, that the check was a dud…’
“…Have you been to the bank yet?”
Clutching a sliver of hope, she asked tentatively.
“After lunch.”
“Then let’s eat quickly… I have something to attend to after we finish.”
For the remainder of the meal, Konehl-Ghervil ate in silence, her head bowed.
For that half-hour, she felt like an ant on a hot pan, so anxious she couldn’t devise a single countermeasure.
Finally, she finished her meal, feeling as if she’d been sitting on pins and needles. When she tried to stand and leave, the hand at her waist showed no intention of releasing her.
“Let go quickly! If anyone sees you acting so offensively towards a nun, you could be sent to the gallows. Even if the person herself understands you meant no offense, merely as a gesture of friendship.”
“Before I’m sent to the gallows, I’ll find a way for this nun to repay her debts by any means necessary.”
“I won’t bring myself to face the Goddess until she has repaid 200 Trin Gold Coins.”
“…”
Konehl-Ghervil’s heart turned to ashes, and with a dejected sigh, she obediently sat back down.
“I’m sorry, I will repay the money. Please give me some time.”
Though her demeanor was outwardly proper, she seethed inwardly at being toyed with.
“I know.”
Dr. Callan, satisfied, released her and stood to clear the remnants from the table.
“You are someone important to me, someone I can trust unconditionally. That is why I chose to privately sell you a Blood Rose plant, which is strictly forbidden for sale. No one else, no matter how much they offered, could have acquired it.”
“Ha… ha, regarding the first part… I feel the same.”
Konehl-Ghervil helped clear the table with a strained smile.
She strongly suspected the woman had known about the Abbey matter last night and had deliberately feigned ignorance.
‘Now she’s playing the emotional card to make me feel guilty, so I’ll repay the money without complaint or work for free.’
‘Damn it…’
‘Are all you doctors this cunning?’
Once everything was tidied and cleaned, she watched Dr. Callan lock the doors and windows, then draw the curtains.
A bad feeling rising within her, she feigned an urgent need to use the restroom, hurried upstairs, and locked her room door tightly.
‘Repaying the debt and negotiating is fine, but not when I’m at such a complete disadvantage.’
‘I need to buy myself some time to calm down and strategize.’
She flopped onto the bed, burying her head in a pillow to block out the external noise, her two white-stockinged calves swinging back and forth on the mattress.
“What am I supposed to do…”
“I’ve already apologized.”
“Is it still not too late to tell her I regret it now…”
“Of course it’s not too late.”
“Hm!?”
She lifted her head, startled to see the woman sitting on the edge of her bed.
“You, how did you get in?”
“I have a key.” Dr. Callan produced a string of brass keys.
‘When did she get those made?’
Considering the woman’s previous audacious behavior, Konehl-Ghervil found it less surprising.
“…Is it true that it’s not too late?” She sat up, clutching the pillow to obscure half her face, utterly mortified that someone had witnessed her in that state.
‘Couldn’t this person at least knock first?’
‘Who just climbs through a window without even knocking on the door!’
“If you can resolve one question for me, I can pretend not to have seen that notice, the contract will remain in effect, and the amount you owe me will be reduced to 100 Trin Gold Coins.”
The woman shed her earlier frivolous demeanor, leaning back on the bed, a faint smile playing on her lips, her gaze fixed on the half-obscured profile of the young woman.
Hearing the favorable terms and seeing her relaxed posture, Konehl-Ghervil also eased her tension.
“Go ahead and ask. Once I’ve answered your question, I’ll find a way to help you understand the proper way to interact with friends, lest you actually get arrested as a pervert someday.”
‘The proper way to interact with friends… assuming you’ve actually fallen to the level of ‘friend’ in my estimation.’
Dr. Callan, keeping her inner thoughts to herself, cleared her throat with a serious expression.
“I’m almost twenty now; I’m not young anymore.”
“Isn’t twenty still quite young?”
“That’s for you nuns. For people like us, it’s already the age for marriage. Commoners marry even earlier; in some regions, women might marry at sixteen.”
Indeed, in a world where half the year is spent in peril, maintaining population size is essential.
With underdeveloped productivity, a large workforce is necessary.
“Is it the same for doctors?”
Konehl-Ghervil nervously curled her toes, unsure if she could navigate this topic gracefully.
“Not really, because we never know when we might die. But doctors are still human; they also yearn for someone to accompany them through life.”
The woman tilted her head slightly, observing the young woman curled up, her legs faintly outlined beneath her long skirt, her arched feet and toes, exquisitely graceful, showing through her white stockings with a delicate, rosy hue.
“Then it’s a matter of personal choice.”
‘So, after all this, Dr. Callan is looking for someone to marry?!?’
Konehl-Ghervil’s mind reeled with confusion, and she cast a peculiar glance at the woman.
“Perhaps you should consider a colleague or a noble from the Royal Capital? Given your standing, it’s not impossible that even a prince might take an interest in you.”
“What are you thinking?”
Dr. Callan firmly grasped Konehl-Ghervil’s calf.
“His Majesty isn’t even married yet; where would these princes come from?”
“If you’re interested in someone, then say it!”
Konehl-Ghervil grimaced in pain, reaching to rub her calf.
Her hand met another – Dr. Callan was staring at her, silent.
‘What’s with her now?’
‘It couldn’t be…’
The world spun around her as the woman pulled her into a crushing embrace, rendering her immobile.
A gasp escaped Konehl-Ghervil’s lips.
She heard the woman softly call her name.
“Konehl-Ghervil…”
“I’m serious.”
Konehl-Ghervil’s mind instantly froze.
She suddenly understood the reason behind the woman’s strange behavior, and Govet-Ghervil’s consistently ambiguous answers.
“You are a nun; I am well aware.”
“But I simply cannot control myself… Every time I see you, I forget all my troubles, the difficulties I face, the childhood shadow of being unable to control the plague…”
“Am I getting worse? I brazenly promised to cure you back then…”
Warm breaths exhaled against her ear, causing her heart to pound wildly.
Yet, the woman’s heartbeat was even more fervent, as if proclaiming the intense heat of her emotions.
“I’m back, open the door quickly!”
A shout echoed from downstairs.
“Why are the doors and windows locked in broad daylight!”