“I’m shaking.”
“I hope I go to a nice place.”
Elaine walked to the front of the small chapel and took her place, along with the other candidates who looked nervous.
The seats in the chapel were already filled with nobles who had come to seek a chaplain.
Elaine didn’t feel very good about standing there blankly in front of the nobles who were seated, as if she were a slave being sold.
However, the saints who took the chaplain test and stood there were in no position to complain because being selected was often their only hope. Elaine was one of those people.
As the saints came out, the nobles looked back and forth between the guidepapers they had received and the saints, wondering who to choose.
“We will take first nominations and Attendees may write down their top three choices.”
The saints looked at the papers being gathered to the priest with tense faces.
The priest in charge of today’s selection, along with the priests who would be assisting him, organized and announced the first round of nominations.
“Miss Mielle Donovan. You have been nominated by Count Erger, Viscount Dvich, and Viscount Roan. Which do you choose?”
“I will go to Count Erger’s house.”
The first person chosen to be a chaplain was not Elaine, but a saint with the second-best test scores.
‘Is it because I’m a bit young?’
Elaine was a little taken aback by what she had expected, but she wasn’t too worried.
Maybe she looked too young among the other candidates, all of whom were in their 20s.
But she was sure she wouldn’t be last.
“Dane Garrot. Nominated by the Counts of Deloitte, Grain, and Roan. Which do you choose?”
“I will go to Count Deloitte’s house.”
“Next, Miss Runia. You have been nominated by Count Ivan and Baron Farrell. Would you like to make your choice?”
“Yes. I will go to Count Ivan’s house.”
The names of the candidates for the chaplain were called one by one.
But no matter how long she waited, Elaine’s name was not heard.
‘That’s strange. Is it possible that my name or grades were omitted from the guide paper?’
Elaine was becoming increasingly anxious.
It’s not like the nobles didn’t see Elaine. Several of them have met Elaine’s eyes so far.
Some even looked Elaine up and down. It was unpleasant, but it meant that Elaine’s existence was not forgotten.
The candidates who had chosen came out of their seats and left the chapel with the family’s representative, and now there were not many people left where the candidates had stood.
“Miss Amanda Roble, you are nominated by the Barony of Olive for third place. Please choose—”
“Yes! I will go!”
The Saint, who was alone with Elaine, was the last to be chosen. She, who had been anxious with Elaine, let out a deep sigh of relief and left the chapel with the representative of Baron Olive.
Now only Elaine and the priests were left in the chapel.
“Miss Elaine Newt, unfortunately, you were not selected for this year’s selection meeting. You will be able to attend next year’s selection meeting without taking the test, so let’s look forward to next year.”
“Ah…”
Elaine, left alone, blushed with embarrassment.
She just couldn’t understand it. No matter how young and unattractive she was, there was something wrong with the fact that she had never been nominated.
“I’m sorry, but could you please check the guide that was given to the attendees today? I’m afraid there might have been some information about me that was missing.…”
The priest looked down at Elaine with pity as she made her request with her parched lips, then handed her the guide he had been holding.
[Elaine Newt, 18 years old, Count Newt (Family)/Total score of 387 points (1st place)/65 memorized prayers on the dedicated chaplain test.]
Every single description of Elaine was correct.
‘Then why on earth…?’
Elaine read the guidepaper for a while with a look of disbelief on her face, then finally handed it back to the priest.
The priest glanced at the other priests, perhaps sensing Elaine’s confusion, then bent down to Elaine and whispered.
“There is nothing wrong with Miss Elaine’s grades. It’s more a matter of your background.”
“Yes? If It’s about my background…ah!”
Only then did Elaine realize her greatest weakness.
She was not a noble. She was an illegitimate child, famously known as the Newt stain.
There is not a single noble who does not know that.
‘I completely forgot…’
How could she have forgotten that fact?
‘This is the reason why they are so quiet. They knew no one would take me.’
Lark would have laughed at her when he’d heard she’d passed the test to become a chaplain.
Elaine’s earlobes became red even more, feeling ashamed of herself for having expected things without even knowing it.
‘I was worried about what to say to Rabes.’
“Thank you for your hard work, Priest. Then can I go back?”
“Yes, please do.”
“Thank you.”
It was at that moment that Elaine turned around, sighing.
Suddenly the door to the chapel opened and a young man rushed in.
“Huh, huh! I’m sorry I’m late. Is the meeting to select a chaplain over?”
“Ah…that is over….”
The priest trailed off, glancing back and forth between the man and Elaine. Then the man and Elaine’s gazes met.
“Is there still a chance? If I don’t bring a chaplain, my head will be off!”
The man begged the priest earnestly.
“There is only one candidate left,…”
“Oh, thank you, Lord Bara! I will take that candidate!”
“Please check the information about candidates first.”
The priest gave Elaine an apologetic look but showed the man the guidepaper.
Priest assumed the man would turn away in disappointment when he saw the words [Count Newt (family)].
But the man’s reaction was completely different.
“Oh! She got first place in the prayer test? I’m so lucky! I guess Lord Bara is helping me!”
“Ah…haha…I see. Excuse me, but what family are you from….?”
“Ah! I am Hubert Lowell, the butler of the Count of Lindell family.”
At the mention of ‘Count Lindell’, the priest’s eyes as well as Elaine’s eyes grew wide.
The priest wondered why such a wealthy and powerful family had chosen Elaine, an illegitimate child. While Elaine’s eyes widened because of the name Lindell itself.
‘It’s Sergey’s house!’
Elaine’s heart was pounding.
The priest was the first to regain his composure.
“Miss Elaine Newt. Nominated by the Count of Lindell. Would you like to make your choice?”
“Yes. To Count Lindell.…I will go.”
When Elaine agreed, Hubert smiled brightly and held out his hand to Elaine.
“There’s a table set up to talk with the family’s representative and the chaplain, and they’re offering drinks, so I’d better go and get some; my throat’s burning after my hurry.”
He cooed jokingly and Elaine smiled back and took his hand.
‘Finally, I was able to leave this temple.’
* * *
“What? Count Lindell?”
“Wow! That’s great, Elaine!”
Elaine’s friends were both surprised and delighted to hear that she had been appointed as a chaplain to the Count of Lindell, a high-society family that had recently become the talk of the town.
“I was lucky. Actually, I’m still a little dazed.”
Elaine couldn’t bring herself to say, ‘I went to Count Lindell because I wasn’t chosen until the last minute’.
She didn’t want to remind her friends that she was an illegitimate child.
Anyway, her friends didn’t care about that.
“I envy you, Elaine! You get to live in the same house as Sergey.”
“Serge, isn’t he so handsome, he’ll be popular as soon as he gets home.”
“I heard that there is marriage talk about a family with a dedicated chaplain, and who knows, maybe Elaine’s the one who’s…!”
Elaine shook her head sharply at her friends who held each other’s hands tightly and dreamed of a romance novel-like story.
“That can’t be true.”
“Why? I told you that we never know what will happen in the future!”
“Because a nobleman’s marriage is a transaction between families, and I have nothing….to make a deal.”
She didn’t want to say it, but she couldn’t help but say it.
Elaine herself was a commodity that would never be sold in the ‘normal’ marriage market of the noble.
But young girls still seem to want to believe in magical love stories more than such realistic problems.
“Don’t underestimate the power of love, Elaine. Even Lord Bara said that love conquers all.”
“I hope you’ll tell me that after Sergey takes an interest in me.”
“Elaine is too cold. She doesn’t know romance.”
Everyone burst into laughter at Debbie’s words.
It would be nice if there were only enjoyable things like conversations with her friends, but apart from her friends, there were not many people who were happy to hear that Elaine was going to live with Count Lindell.
“She didn’t get picked and stayed until the end, so how did she end up going to Count Lindell’s house?”
“That’s right. Did she talk to Count Newt beforehand?”
“No way. There’s a rumor going around that she was kicked out of the house. Do you know what Count Newt and his wife are saying about her?”
“Then what the hell happened? If there was no prior agreement between the families, why did Count Lindell take someone like that?”
Every time Elaine passed by, she was met with envious and jealous stares, followed by gossip and complaints that seemed meant to be heard.
Of course, the jealousy of the saints whose names she didn’t even know was of no importance to Elaine.
She was determined never again to do something so foolish as to miss an opportunity that came her way because she was concerned about what other people thought.
But Lark’s arrival was a bit of a bother and annoyance.
* * *
