There Is No Eternal Supporting Role

Elena stared up at Rosaline, her mouth hanging open, unable to believe her eyes and ears. Rosaline, who was a good foot taller than Elena, was looking down at her with cold eyes.

No, Rosaline wasn’t that foolish. With apparent awareness of their surroundings, she was still smiling as she looked at Elena. But her eyes told a completely different story.

This sudden temperature change began with a question Rosaline asked a little while ago when they met at the restaurant.

“Yesterday, I didn’t hear Sister Elena’s full name.”

“…Yes, uh-huh?”

Elena felt her heart sink. To ask for her full name, that is, her family name, right after the morning greetings. Whether she said it or not, Rosaline’s smile, as she spoke in a friendly manner, became even more radiant.

“We didn’t have the composure to greet each other properly because I was busy packing. I am Rosaline von Francis, the eldest daughter of Baron Francis located in the southwest of the empire. Please take care of me from now on.”

An awkward silence hung between the two. Elena felt sweat trickling down her back as she looked at Rosaline, who was waiting with a smiling face.

What should I do? Elena quickly racked her brain, but couldn’t come up with a clever solution. Cardinal Geoffrey had only taught her dining etiquette and noble rhetoric; he had never told her how to handle a situation like this.

“Well, um…”

Cardinal Geoffrey made it clear. He said that priests should prioritize their religious status over their birth status when introducing themselves, so it was common for priests not to mention their full names during introductions.

“I am Elena, an intermediate priest from the Imperial Temple. I am pleased to meet the lady of Baron Francis under the guidance of the deity Rahan.”

It was a noble greeting.

‘Please just let it go, please!’

No matter how many times she asked the only name she could say was that. She wondered if she should make up a fake surname, but impersonating a noble was a serious crime.

“I-I’m very hungry.”

Elena blurted out something to deflect the situation.

“Oh my, is that so! Please have a seat over here.”

Rosaline pointed to the seat next to her and smiled. Damn it, she tried to escape by using the excuse of a meal. But even that wasn’t possible.

As soon as she sat down, a maid quickly brought the food, and Elena hurriedly stuffed a piece of bread into her mouth, wondering if Rosaline would say anything. She wouldn’t bother someone who was eating.

“Sister Elena.”

“Yes, yes…”

Elena looked helplessly at Rosaline, hesitatingly munching on the bread, not even knowing what it tasted like.

With large sparkling blue eyes filled with kindness, and rosy blushes painted on her porcelain-like white cheeks, she added a sense of brightness. If someone with such a face were to push others away with their words, it was obvious that they would be the only one to become the bad person.

“I entered the palace at the recommendation of my distant relative, Countess Bloomberg, as the tutor of Duke Levi. To be honest, but I must confess I was apprehensive.”

“Oh, I see…”

“But what a pleasure it is to find you here as a tutor in theology, and so close to my own age. Let’s get along well from now on.”

Elena was so captivated by the incredibly beautiful smile that even another woman would lose herself in it, that she momentarily forgot her own situation and blushed.

In the book, Rosaline is kind and gentle to everyone. She was not only beautiful but also had a good personality, which made even the picky and arrogant nobles of the empire like Rosaline.

Her heart pounded. As she had thought last night, perhaps she could become Rosaline’s friend and watch her romance with the male leads from the sidelines.

“I-It’s nice to meet you too…….”

Elena cautiously held Rosaline’s outstretched hand and spoke.

“I heard that priests don’t often reveal their full names, but is it possible for me to know your full name, Sister Elena, as a gesture of becoming closer?”

It was assumed that asking someone about their age or occupation is wanting to get to know them better.

“Well, uh….”

Perhaps Rosaline would understand. Elena harbored hope that she could understand this unavoidable situation, given how kind she was.

“With the way you keep hesitating, someone might think you’re a commoner with no surname.”

Rosaline joked and chuckled lightly. But Elena couldn’t join in the laughter.

“Sister Elena? No way…”

“L-Lady Francis. The truth is…”

Elena had mustered the courage to speak the truth.

“I can’t believe it…”

Rosaline’s face, which had just been smiling warmly at Elena, turned cold right before her eyes.

“Ha, how absurd! I was wondering if you had a separate title to introduce, but it turns out you really don’t have a name to say.”

Each word was filled with mockery. Elena was so shocked that she couldn’t utter a single word and only opened and closed her mouth like a fish.

The Rosaline she knew was not such a mean and wicked person. She was a kind and lovely woman to everyone.

“L-Lady Francis…”

Although she wondered if she was misunderstanding something, Rosaline still looked at Elena with a contemptuous expression.

Then she suddenly realized one thing. The only ones who had maintained a good relationship with Rosaline in the book were the nobles.

Come to think of it, the commoners working in the palace were not even mentioned. They were not even included in the world Rosaline looked at.

‘But you are about to become a commoner yourself!’

Rosaline’s family was just a remnant of a viscount family. They had a territory consisting of a small village, with only a few dozen people, in a corner of the empire. But even that was in danger of losing its title because they were unable to pay the noble and land taxes due to the drought. That’s why Rosaline, the eldest daughter, came all the way to Avalon to earn money.

Knowing all this, Elena felt as if her mind had run away. How could she discriminate against her like this, even if she herself could easily become a commoner? She almost burst into laughter out of disbelief.

“I don’t know how a commoner like you became an intermediate priest… It’s very unpleasant.”

Why on earth? Elena couldn’t understand what her being a commoner and becoming an intermediate priest had to do with Rosaline.

Elena even felt betReied by Rosaline’s true self, whom she admired so much. She wanted to say something, but it didn’t last long.

“To send a commoner to the position of a theological instructor who should be teaching Duke Levi. I’m going to make a formal complaint to the Temple of Rahan through a member of the nobility. This is absurd.”

A formal complaint… With those words, Elena was suddenly filled with fear.

It was a much bigger problem than I thought. I thought it was just a matter of getting embarrassed or being bullied if my commoner status was revealed.

“I never expected my social status to become such a problem….”

I was being careless. Elena, who was still not accustomed to the strict social hierarchy, regretted treating it as something insignificant, thinking, ‘What could possibly go wrong?’

If Rosaline really lodged a formal complaint against the Imperial Temple through the nobility, it was obvious that the position of the Central Temple, who promoted her to an intermediate priest, would be embarrassed.

There was no way the Temple would side with Elena in such a situation. She would probably be sent back to the temple, or forced to do that hellish labor again.

“If this fact were to be revealed, I’m sure His Highness Levi would be extremely displeased. How dare a commoner enter as a teacher.”

“W-Well, about that…”

Seeing Elena visibly deflated, Rosaline quickly changed her tone. While it was a bit irritating that she had treated Elena so casually without knowing she was a commoner, Elena’s frail appearance now didn’t seem so imposing. Perhaps she could be useful in some way.

“Do you want me not to protest?”

“If you don’t want to…”

“Hmm.”

Rosaline once again scrutinized the commoner before her.

Her long, natural silver hair spread out all the way to the waist, but it was unevenly textured, and her small, below-average body was devoid of any curves. If there was one thing worth looking at, it would be her large brown eyes, but even they were trembling with fear.

“Yes, of course. It is absurd for a commoner to dare to teach the imperial, but with my open-mindedness, I can turn a blind eye.”

“Then, can you just overlook it without saying anything?”

Elena asked desperately. Fortunately, only Rosaline and her were in this restaurant, and it seemed that there was no one in particular suspecting her status. This was the only good thing in this situation.

“I want to do that too, but there is one problem.”

“W-What is it?”

“It’s about the hierarchy between you and me. If I were to conceal your commoner status, I would have to treat you as an equal noble, but I cannot tolerate that.”

In short, it meant that she didn’t want to treat a commoner well. Elena was annoyed by her blatant words, but she couldn’t help it.

“Well then… I will serve the lady well. Should I assist with errands or cleaning the rooms?”

Surprisingly, the commoner in front of her understood quickly, and Rosaline looked at Elena with quite a satisfied expression.

“And one more thing. You can see for yourself, but my clothes are made of expensive fabrics and are high-quality. I’m worried that if I entrust them to the maids for washing, they might get ruined quickly…”

Elena couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow at her request.

Haa, so even after coming this far, I’m still stuck with laundry duty. Elena sighed inwardly and spoke,

“Don’t worry. I’ll handle it carefully.”

“Oh my, that puts my mind at ease!”

Rosaline clapped her hands and laughed. Elena wanted to smack that smug face, but instead, she clenched her fist tightly and held back.

“Sister Elena, since you’re doing so much, I’ll try my best not to draw attention in front of the people. Let’s do our best together.”

Finally, Rosaline was back to her cheerful self, smiling broadly as she did yesterday. Even though her face was undeniably pretty, Elena no longer found her beautiful.