CHAPTER 3. Is it a Threat or Flirting

“Du! Du! Wake up. This guy is really crazy!”

“Uh… huh?”

I woke up abruptly as a hand shook my shoulder unexpectedly. With a drowsy face, I blinked my eyes a few times, and the red-haired girl exhaled as if she were astounded.

“How much did you drink?”

“Uh… Leila?”

“Yeah, please wake up. Can you make it to class today?”

Shaking my head to sober up, I slowly rose from bed. But as soon as I fully woke up, a bigger problem arose.

My stomach started to churn like crazy.

“Ugh. Leila, I feel like I’m going to throw up…”

“Ow, quickly go to the bathroom, not here!”

Eurgh.

I rushed to the toilet and emptied my stomach violently.

My tangled insides were beyond words, and my head felt like a giant monster was squeezing it with both fists.

It was no exaggeration to say that it was the worst hangover I had experienced in a long time. I really felt like I was going to die.

“Hooh, crazy, crazy.”

Leila, who knew the rules of the temple inside out, said that as if there was no hope.

After rinsing my mouth, I grabbed the sink’s edge and stood. Even if I stayed still, I couldn’t concentrate as everything around me seemed yellow.

“What should I do?”

“What can you do? Even if you’re far away, the smell of alcohol is no joke. It would be better for you to take it easy today.”

It’s not a joke, it’s just a bottle of alcohol.

I covered my face with both hands, overwhelmed by self-loathing.

“Why did I do that?”

I sighed, recalling the scattered memories like pieces of torn paper that had been cut with scissors. Seeing that I woke up safely from the bed, it seemed like Keene brought me home.

Whenever I remembered the sparse conversations I had with him, an overwhelming sense of shame came over me. If I had a gun, I would’ve shot myself in the head.

“You didn’t even have an empty bottle. Where on earth did you drink so much?”

“…I don’t know.”

Leila clicked her tongue and helped me lie down. She warned me not to lie straight but to lie sideways, just in case. Then she left the room.

“Don’t change your position! If you vomit in your sleep, you’ll choke and die.”

“…How dreadful.”

“I’m leaving!”

With a thud, the door closed.

All I could think about was how pathetic I was. What on earth was I thinking that I drank so much?

My stomach was in such bad condition that I didn’t even feel hungry. It was a relief, considering I couldn’t go outside because of the smell of alcohol.

I woke up, and I fell asleep again and again. I suddenly heard a knock, and the door swung open.

Has Leila already come back?

Rubbing my eyes, I confirmed the person who entered the room. Somehow, her flawless appearance, without any stains or wrinkles, felt very familiar.

“…Sister Elexi?”

She was the high-ranking priest who had been in charge of the practical training for the past ten days. I was surprised and sat up straight at her unexpected appearance.

“I heard you’re not feeling well, so I came to see you. It could be a side effect of your recent abuse of holy power…….”

“……?”

She stopped mid-sentence and suddenly started sniffing.

Sniff. Sniff.

Every time she took a breath, my breath involuntarily tightened.

Her worried expression froze like ice for a moment. The priest raised her eyebrows, forming a stern angle, and opened her mouth.

“Duna Valorem. Have you been drinking?”

I quickly got off the bed and knelt on the floor.

“…I’m sorry.”

“Sigh, I came because I was worried.”

“…….”

Sister Elexi sighed, placing her hand on her waist. As the silence grew, the tension built up. It was my first time experiencing something so terrifying, even without her saying a word.

“I’m disappointed to see that you didn’t meet my expectations.”

“…….”

You had expectations of me?

Perhaps because I succeeded in creating the barrier for the second time. Even though she didn’t say it, she must have been keeping an eye on me. I felt even more remorseful.

“Since you are not yet ordained, I will let this pass quietly. But if such a thing happens again in the future, be prepared to remove your priest’s robe.”

“I will remember!”

Fortunately, it seemed that I wouldn’t be expelled from the temple. Sister Elexi turned her displeased gaze and spoke, having heard my firm response.

“But I can’t just let it go, do your duty and clean the corridor of the East Hall as a penalty.”

“Of course, urgh.”

I tried to reply like a diligent novitiate, repenting again this time, but I failed due to suddenly feeling nauseous.

Sister Elexi, who was watching me with her mouth shut and trembling, furrowed her brow. She shook her head and turned away.

“Drink some water, and after you feel better, find the East Hall’s assigned supervisor.”

” … Okay.”

If I drink again, I’m a dog, a dog.¹This expression is often used to emphasize the speaker’s determination or commitment to a statement, similar to saying “I swear” or “I’ll be damned”

* * *

“Who knew the East Hall was this huge?”

Leaning against the mop, I looked down at the endlessly spread marble floor.

Just a little while ago, I thought it was a good deal since I got by after drinking heavily and skipping classes shortly after entering the temple.

But now that I’ve come to the East Hall, I realize it wasn’t a lenient punishment at all.

“It’s ridiculously spacious.”

When am I supposed to finish cleaning all this?!

Even so, I grew up relatively neat in this life. If I didn’t have memories of cleaning in my past life, I would have had a hard time starting by simply wielding a mop.

“If I really drink alcohol again, I’ll be a dog… urgh.”

I kept feeling nauseous every time I thought about it. Leaning against the wall, I tried to calm myself down and then picked up the large mop again.

I have to finish this quickly and lie down again.

But while I was mindlessly mopping, I noticed a familiar-colored head. Bright pink hair.

“…Prim?”

Novitiates shouldn’t have any reason to be in the East Hall. What’s going on here?

It was right at the moment when I looked at her in confusion.

“You.”

She unexpectedly stopped in front of me. She seemed to have something to discuss with me.

This was an unexpected encounter since we lived in different dorms and hadn’t even properly exchanged greetings. Surprised, I looked at her with wide eyes, and she stared back at me sharply and said,

“You’re doing it on purpose.”

“…Huh?”

What is she talking about again? What should I purposely do?

“You’re purposely coming to the East Hall to clean. Since Sir Peidos Carmel’s dorm is here.”

…Sir Knight’s room is here?

I found out something I didn’t know, and for a moment, a question appeared in my mind.

How did Prim know that fact? She hasn’t even officially met the male lead yet.

Moreover, even if they did meet, how could she naturally call him by his full name so smoothly?

Above all, what does my cleaning here have to do with the knight’s lodging being here?

“Um, what are you talking about…?”

But before I could finish my sentence, she started sniffling.

Sniff. Sniff.

“…….”

Ah, I wonder why it feels like I’m seeing a projection of the previous Sister Elexi.

Prim held her nose and took two steps back from me. She was behaving as if she were in front of foul-smelling garbage.

…I knew I smelled like alcohol, but is it that bad?

I tried my best to breathe as little as possible and distanced myself from her as well.

“You… did you drink?”

“…That’s what happened.”

“Did you skip today’s training because of alcohol?”

“Yeah.”

Sigh. She exhaled as if she were fed up. As I absentmindedly fiddled with my hand and stroked the broom, a self-loathing feeling crept into my mind, causing me to furrow my eyebrows.

The more I think about it, the more unfair it seems. What did I ever do wrong to her? Why is she treating me like this?

In the original work, it’s usually Duna Valorem who starts the quarrels, not Primis Starring. If this continues, the rival supporting character will lose face²the concept of “face” or “saving face” is usually about maintaining a positive image in front of others and avoiding embarrassment or shame.

Although it’s been a while since I got rid of the rival persona, I decided to preserve her dignity. I stood there with my arms folded, looking at her with arrogance.

“But hey, do you know my name?”

Her condescending attitude was annoying, so I secretly pouted. I was genuinely curious if she knew my name and still acted this way.

“Duna Valorem.”

“…Really?”

My anger subsided at the unexpected fact.

Prim is weak when it comes to details.

She often got her fellow priests’ names wrong and even distorted the name of the male lead when they met. This was also the reason why Peidos allowed her to use a nickname.

It was rather surprising that someone like that knew not only the male lead’s name but also my name. I mean, it’s understandable that she knows the male lead because he’s famous, but how did she know about me?

“Then how did you know about the knight’s lodging?”

“…….”

For some reason, she didn’t have an answer.

At that moment, when I stared at her lips, which were as pink as her head,

“Duna?”

The knight appeared as they said a dragon would³it’s a modified version of “???? ? ??? ??” (Even a tiger comes when someone is talking about a tiger) or in western terms, ‘speak of the devil’; it means not to insult or slander someone who is not present, or when talking about someone who is not present, that person appears at the right time..

“Ah, Sir.”

“Why… Why are you holding a mop, Sister?”

I didn’t want to confess to the knight that I was being punished for skipping class because I was drunk the previous night. Of course, if he came a little closer, he would be able to tell immediately because of the smell.

“I’ll be on my way.”

Meanwhile, Prim bowed her head slightly and turned around to pay respects. As I watched her pink hair get farther away, I realized it was strange to encounter the heroine at such an unexpected moment.

But with the knight in front of me, I had no time to think about Prim, who had already left.

I took a step back discreetly so as not to show any reaction and spoke with my mouth as closed as possible, whispering my words.

“Sister Elexi asked me to clean….”

“Clean? You? Did you make a mistake during training?”

“…It’s not that.”

It would have been better to protect my pride by claiming it was because of a mistake instead of saying I was drunk.

“Well….”

But he hesitated for a moment, as if contemplating something, breathing shallowly. It seemed like he was trying to sniff out a particular smell and determine its source.

Ah… Here we go again.

“I drank alcohol.”

I ultimately chose to confess before making this an even more embarrassing situation. After all, it was only a matter of time before I got exposed, so admitting it myself seemed somewhat better.

He furrowed his brow, seemingly not understanding the concept of alcohol, and asked.

“Alcohol, at the altar?”

It seemed like he was asking if drinking itself was taboo. I let out a deep sigh and replied with a darkened face.

“I was absent from class today because I got drunk last night.”

“….Ah.”

It was a short and blunt response. An exclamation that contained a lot of meaning.

You must be disappointed, right? You must be.

• 1
  This expression is often used to emphasize the speaker’s determination or commitment to a statement, similar to saying “I swear” or “I’ll be damned”
• 2
  the concept of “face” or “saving face” is usually about maintaining a positive image in front of others and avoiding embarrassment or shame
• 3
  it’s a modified version of “???? ? ??? ??” (Even a tiger comes when someone is talking about a tiger) or in western terms, ‘speak of the devil’; it means not to insult or slander someone who is not present, or when talking about someone who is not present, that person appears at the right time.