When Elaine thought about it carefully, she felt like something was a lot worse than when she tried to throw the ribbon he gave her because she didn’t want to wear it.
But L’Arch acted like it was no big deal.
“Isn’t it obvious? Even as a saint, you need money. Because you have to pay for all daily necessities and consumables at your own expense.”
“Ah…Haha, right…”
“Did you really think the family wouldn’t do something like this?”
She was speechless.
‘Did I just think about it? I already went through it once and came back.’
“Is there anything else you need?”
“No, there is not. You don’t have to worry too much about me.”
“Elaine. I’ll admit I’ve been a little too indifferent to you, but I’m trying to be nice to you now.”
Elaine almost burst out laughing, so she clenched her molars.
L’Arch didn’t change at all either.
He’s still trying, and he’s still putting unspoken pressure on Elaine to appreciate it and accept it.
‘I received the attention from L’Arch that I had hoped for so much in my previous life, but the situation was worse than in my previous life.’
At that time, L’Arch followed most of Rubaine’s opinions, and Rubaine’s opinion took priority when it came to Elaine’s future. So she thought that if she could just get out of the temple and run away to the commoners’ district, the Newt family would give up.
But it didn’t seem like L’Arch would just let Elaine go.
‘That eyes…Strange.’
She was able to recognize it because Elaine has always been observant.
L’Arch was only acting like a gentleman, but his eyes were more oppressive and dark than before.
It seemed like if she offended him even slightly, she would immediately grab Elaine’s neck and crush it.
For a moment, she almost fainted, but then she clenched her fists and steadied herself.
‘I’m not alone anymore!’
She was a contractor who could even make a wish on a dragon. So, no matter what happened, she would not repeat the life of being held by the Newt family on a leash.
Elaine snapped back with a firm determination.
“After all the years I’ve been at Newt family, are you forcing me to accept it after only trying for a few days?”
“Elaine…?”
“At least try and say you’re sorry for the years I’ve been screwed over. With only a few days of effort, I can’t tell if this is real ‘effort’ or if you are just putting a burden on my mind to take advantage of me.”
L’Arch’s expression, which had been relaxed until now, became stiff.
In the past, just seeing such a change would have sent a chill down her spine and made her break out in a cold sweat, but no, in fact, it was still happening even now, but Elaine pretended that nothing had happened.
“I’ll just go in now. Lorina’s eyes were burning me from earlier.”
Elaine said goodbye to L’Arch, who was still glaring down at her, and she turned around without hesitation.
Fortunately, L’Arch didn’t catch her or follow her, but Elaine’s mood hit rock bottom.
‘I guess you thought that if you pretended to be a little nice to me, I would at least wag my tail? I’m sorry, but I’ve done enough stupid things like that in my past life.’
Therefore, she knew very well that it was useless and that it was ultimately ruining her life.
Feeling frustrated, Elaine turned away from her dormitory and headed toward the temple cemetery.
In fact, the memory of being locked up with a corpse in a coffin morgue was still horrifying, so she should have been reluctant to go to a cemetery.
But strangely enough, she wanted to go there.
Maybe it was the memory of being saved from being bullied by Newt’s children. Even now, I was still angry at Newt’s family.
‘Besides, there wouldn’t be anyone there, and I felt like my mind would calm down if I sat in the cool shade of a tree and looked at the surrounding scenery.’
“hah….”
Arriving at the cemetery, Elaine sat under the large oak tree at the entrance and let out a long sigh.
Only half a year had passed since she returned, and she was just sick of experiencing everything again.
She wanted to get out of that place and the Newt family’s shadow right away.
At that time, a rustling sound was heard from behind the tree.
“Why is this little thing already sighing?”
“uh…?”
Elaine could only open her mouth.
Sergey, who she thought to have already left the temple, appeared with a calm face.
“Sergey…? I clearly saw you leave.”
“You’ve been staring at me since before the service started, so I thought you’d follow me after the service, so what are you doing here?”
Elaine’s cheeks heated up.
‘I had no idea that he had caught me looking at him.’
Sergey was clearly looking the other way, and compared to the loud people around her, Elaine was probably so calm that she didn’t even stand out.
“Hmm, I’m sorry if you were offended. I just didn’t expect to see you again so soon.”
While Elaine was making excuses, Serge sat down next to Elaine.
A cool, refreshing scent seemed to be coming from him.
Elaine was a little taken aback by Sergey suddenly sitting next to her, but she greeted him first.
“It’s good to see you again, Sergey.”
“Why are you using such polite language towards me? I speak informally, so you speak informally too.”
“What? Ha, but…”
“But, what? You’re not even my subordinate, so don’t talk to me like that.”
In that case, she wanted to ask if she should use the honorific, but for some reason, Elaine didn’t think that would work for Sergey, so she just gave up.
“Thank you for allowing me to speak informally.”
“Why are you being so condescending? Did I speak informally with your permission?”
In her previous life, Elaine thought she was not a true noblewoman, so she used honorifics to her fellow saints as well. But no one told her to speak informally, and conversely, they raised their words to Elaine.
‘I see. Why was I so lowly?’
There were times when she considered herself a lowly person and took harassment from other saints for granted.
‘At the time, I thought it was wise. I believed that if I just endured it, if this moment passed, a worse situation would not come.’
But what was the result? It was miserable.’
She was about to sigh again, as was her habit, but Serge spoke to her and her sigh didn’t come out.
“Say something. I’m bored.”
“well, hmm.…ah! Didn’t the saints chase you when you left the chapel earlier?”
“Why do you keep using polite language?”
“I’m sorry….”
This time, Sergey sighed briefly and spoke again calmly.
“Some noisy people followed me. But they didn’t say anything to me, they just giggled from behind, so I chased them away.”
“Everyone must be amazed by Sergey. I heard you just returned to this country?”
“I came here not long before this year’s New Year’s service.”
‘As expected, the reason I had never heard his name before was because Sergey was not in the empire.’
Otherwise, such a dazzling-looking man would have been a topic of conversation.
“I heard your parents didn’t come and you came alone. So where do you live?”
“Where do I live? At my house.”
“Alone…?”
“There is a butler, a head maid, and servants, so why am I alone?”
“Still, don’t you get lonely without your family?”
“Well. Not really. What about you? Are you lonely now that you are a saint in the temple, do you miss those cousins who locked you in here?”
Elaine chuckled and shook her head.
“Those kids are not my family. Actually, I don’t have anyone that I can call family, but there’s someone I rely on. So I’m not lonely.”
“Someone you rely on? Do you have a fiancé?”
“Oh, no! No way…But what about Sergey…Do you have a fiance?”
Elaine subtly asked what she had been curious about since at chapel about his fiancée.
But fortunately, Sergey shook his head.
“I don’t even understand the point of getting engaged already, it’s disgusting! It’s funny that it’s a ceremony that promises to be together for the rest of your life, but it’s even funnier that it can be broken at any time.”
‘I think someone once made a similar criticism about engagement ceremonies, but I can’t remember who said that.’
Sergey asked as if to interrupt Elaine’s thoughts.
“Anyway, if you don’t have a fiance, then maybe you have a friend?”
“Yeah. maybe.”
“Well, if they’re friends, they’re friends, or they’re not, What does ‘maybe’ mean?”
“I think of him as a friend. But I don’t know if he thinks of me as a friend. But he’s very sweet… He’s the most important person to me.”
At that moment, Sergey’s earlobes turned red.
However, Elaine did not notice the change in Sergey because she was looking down at her wiggling hands.
“Hmm! Well, if you think that way, wouldn’t he think that way about you too?”
“I hope so. but I can’t do anything for him, because he’s great in many ways.”
“You don’t need to have those things to be friends. What’s important is trusting and caring for each other.”
“Is that so?”
Elaine smiled shyly and looked at Sergey. A cool breeze blew through the shade of the large tree and blew Elaine’s hair.
Sergey looked at Elaine’s eyes, which sparkled like fresh light green leaves, and nodded.
“I guess so.”
It was a cemetery that others didn’t come to often, saying it was unpleasant, but Elaine felt so peaceful at that moment.
“By the way….”
“why?”
“The only friend I have is the person I mentioned earlier.…Does Sergey have many friends?”
“Friend? no. It’s been a while since I returned to my country, so I don’t think I have many friends.”
Elaine suppressed her pounding heart and swallowed dry saliva. She reminded herself several times not to be disappointed if she was rejected.
“Then…Do you want to be friends with me?”
Sergey’s bright blue eyes turned to Elaine.
That brief moment felt infinitely long to Elaine.
* * *
