How to Perfectly Break Up with You

What was once ordinary for Sienna has now become a past and future she can never return to, no matter what she does.

No, she can’t even say that happiness was truly hers anymore. After all, he had lived with another woman in his heart all along.

Her throat burned hot with the sudden surge of emotion.

She missed Soliet desperately.

All she wanted was to be by her side, but was even that too much to ask? She couldn’t understand why she was repeating a life with no meaning.

After catching her breath for a moment, Sienna rose with sluggish movements. Her body felt particularly heavy, likely due to her poor health.

She remembered the healer giving her medicine while she was half-asleep, and it seems she had been sleeping continuously since then. Thanks to that, her fever seemed to have subsided somewhat, but her entire body was a mess of sweat.

Sitting on the bed with a dazed expression, Sienna soon decided to deal with this unpleasant sensation first and put her feet on the floor.

As she quietly opened the door, holding clean clothes and a towel she had taken from the closet, her eyes met with those of a priest who was just tidying up a chair.

“Your Highness. Where are you going?”

“I’m just going to the bathroom for a moment.”

A cracked, metallic voice flowed from her lips. As Sienna belatedly cleared her throat, a look of dismay flashed across the priest’s face.

“Oh dear. I need to go to the chapel briefly to prepare for tomorrow morning’s mass.”

“What does it matter? The bathroom is right in front anyway. No need to worry unnecessarily.”

“But…”

She could roughly guess why the priest was hesitating. Sienna opened her mouth with a faint sigh.

“What’s your name, priest?”

“It’s Jane, Your Highness.”

“Jane. I can bathe by myself, so don’t worry needlessly and go ahead.”

Although she answered neatly, anxiety still remained on Jane’s face.

In fact, it wasn’t unusual for the princess to bathe alone here. It was natural since there was no one to attend to her except for her guard knight, Theodore Monches.

So, the worry wasn’t simply about her bathing alone. It was more of a survival issue. It wasn’t wise in many ways for a woman of noble birth to wander alone in a deserted place late at night.

Even if this was a monastery filled with clergy, considering it was a place where priests who had been all but dismissed from the order for committing sins gathered, it was even more so. The priests staying here couldn’t be said to have good conduct even in jest.

“Then should I at least inform Sir Monches?”

“You want a man to attend to my bath?”

That would be worse than having no one at all.

Sienna muttered with a tired face and waved her hand as if telling her to go about her business, then descended the stairs. At this, Jane had no way to stop her anymore. She sighed and followed behind Sienna.

The bathroom was located at the outermost part of the lodgings, adjacent to the corridor connecting to the central area.

Perhaps because it was late at night, there were no signs of people. Even after reaching the bathroom, Jane seemed unable to set her mind at ease until the end, but eventually gave up and left.

Sienna briefly placed her clothes on the shelf next to the door and poured heated water into the bathtub with familiar movements.

If Theodore had been there, he would have certainly said something, but for Sienna, moving without attendants was nothing, as she had already experienced the worst that could be experienced. After all, she had once been imprisoned, receiving the pointing fingers of all the people.

After coming here, things that had always been ordinary for her became luxuries. A bedroom where the wind didn’t leak in, quality meals, and the high-grade fragrances she used carelessly every time she bathed were such things.

In Lopwell, she had to be satisfied with just being able to immerse herself in hot water.

When the appropriately heated water nearly filled the wooden bathtub, Sienna finally removed the clothes she was wearing and stepped into the tub.

As she soaked her entire body in the warm water, her sluggish body seemed to lighten, but her mood showed no signs of improving.

The lingering remnants of her dream silently tormented her. But now she didn’t even feel the need to consciously shift her thoughts.

She was already too exhausted and still in pain. As a result, everything just felt bothersome. Sienna floated aimlessly in an endless stream of thoughts, hugging her knees.

She continuously ruminated on the past, wondering how big Soliet’s frame was, what it felt like to embrace her.

She came to her senses when the bathwater had almost completely cooled. As Sienna turned to get out of the tub, she finally remembered that she had left her change of clothes and towel on the shelf outside the door.

A look of deep dismay clouded her face. She tilted her head to peer through the gap in the open door, but no one was in sight.

‘What should I do now.’

She was considering quickly retrieving them while no one was around. It was then that it happened.

Suddenly, the shadow of a tall figure was cast through the gap in the door. At this, relief spread across Sienna’s face.

The male priests in the monastery weren’t particularly tall. Moreover, the soldiers were staying in a building on the opposite side.

‘Did the priest call him?’

Therefore, just from the shadow cast on the door, she could identify who it belonged to. Without doubt, Sienna hastily called out his name.

“Theo!”

The retreating figure stopped. Worried he might not have heard properly, Sienna called out urgently.

“Theodore. Are you there?”

****

A month’s time passed quickly. As expected, it was ample time for the wounded soldiers to receive proper treatment and gradually recover.

Contrary to the resolute promise he had made to himself when he first set foot here, Declan did not encounter her at all.

It was clearly something to be grateful for, but somehow it didn’t feel as satisfying as he had thought it would.

Since coming to the monastery, his gaze had always been unconsciously searching for a familiar face. It was not uncommon for him to unknowingly stop in his tracks when he came across black-haired female priests.

It was no different even on the last day here. Even though they would finally leave this wearisome place when the sun rose the next day, somehow sleep eluded him.

In the early hours when everyone had gone to bed, only the sound of his own footsteps on the soil echoed steadily in his ears. It was a noise that felt inexplicably hollow.

It was a night with a clear sky, a stark contrast to the heavy rain that had poured earlier. Declan, blankly staring at the brightly moonlit sky, began walking without a clear destination.

As he walked aimlessly, futile thoughts continued in his mind. Most were about the irreversible past, so it couldn’t be anything but foolish.

As he turned the corner of a corridor with arched pillars, a soft reddish light was seeping through the crack of a door set in the dark path. He stopped in his tracks as soon as he noticed it.

Lifting his head slightly, he saw a red flag inserted high between the gaps in the stone wall. It was a marker indicating the area where the female priests stayed. It seemed he had walked all the way to the opposite end from where he was staying without thinking.

‘I must be out of my mind.’

Declan shook his head with a disgusted look at himself. Just as he was about to turn back belatedly, it happened.

“Theo.”

He instinctively stopped at the faint voice that came from inside. The voice, not particularly high for a woman, was too familiar.

Before he could even process it, the voice flowed out again.

“Theodore. Are you there?”

A familiar voice looking for Theodore Monches from the female priests’ quarters. The moment he realized its identity, his mind, full of thoughts, instantly went blank.

Though he knew he should just pass by, he stood still like a statue.

“I forgot and left my fresh clothes on the outer shelf before coming in. If you’re there, could you bring them to me?”

Only when he saw the stuffy steam seeping through the door crack did Declan realize it was a bathroom. His gaze flicked to the wooden shelf placed beside the door.

Judging by the neatly stacked clothes and towel on the shelf, it seemed to be what she was looking for. Just then, sporadic, worrying coughs erupted from inside the bathroom.

Only then did Declan recall that she had been severely ill with a fever until recently. Muttering a low curse, he picked up the towel and clothes from the shelf.

As he opened the door, hot air enveloped him. In the humid air, the first thing that caught his eye was the shadow cast on the screen. Even though it was just a silhouette, not the actual figure, he froze in place.

Was it because of the extremely humid air? It was hard to breathe. As he stood still like a stone, a slender arm reached out towards him from beside the screen.

“You’re so slow. I said bring them quickly.”

She wiggled her fingers as if getting slightly annoyed. As he handed over the items he was holding with sluggish movements, she turned her head irritably.

The shadow beyond the screen could be seen staying still, far away. Sienna furrowed her brow and poked her head out from beside the screen.

“Why are you so la-…”

The gaze of blue eyes finally turned towards him. Only then did Declan face her complete visage. Her large eyes blinked a few times, and then she took a short breath. Gradually, her face turned deathly pale.