episode_0166

“Please be careful, Miss Relise. If anything seems off, please let me know immediately.”

The Academy Church, which also serves as the theology department building of Luminore Academy.

Standing in front of the church’s main entrance, Sister Cerista repeatedly reminded me of the precautions she had mentioned several times before, clasping my hands tightly in hers.

Having heard the same warning so many times that it felt like a broken record, I simply nodded my head in response.

“Yes. Thank you for taking care of Relise, Sister Cerista.”

“Thank you for looking after Relise, Sister.”

“No, it was my duty.”

After somehow managing to respond to Edan’s confession, Sister Cerista returned to the infirmary. Edan and I, after discussing with her, decided to go through with the discharge process from the church by the end of the day.

The weekend had already ended, and lying in bed without attending classes or fulfilling my responsibilities at the academy was quite uncomfortable.

While I might have appreciated being able to legally skip school in a past life, skipping classes at Luminore Academy, where I paid my tuition, required a considerable amount of courage.

Considering group projects with Agnes, student council duties, and more, it was not something I could continue to do indefinitely.

Fortunately, with no major injuries remaining, I was able to smoothly go through the discharge process. Although Sister Cerista emphasized multiple times during the process that I had almost died.

This was the second time I had incurred a debt at Aurelia Church.

Both times, I had nearly died and come back to life, so I casually hoped that this visit to the church would be the last.

“Well then, goodbye…”

“…Um, Miss Relise.”

“Yes?”

“This might be a bit of a sensitive question, but may I ask you one thing before you leave?”

“What is it, Sister Cerista?”

“Could you come a bit closer, please?”

Sister Cerista cautiously gestured towards me, seeming to want to ask me something about my noble status.

“Lilith is… a noble, right?”

“…Yes?”

“You are the illegitimate daughter of the Rosewood Viscount family, correct?”

“…Yes. That’s correct, but may I ask why you’re inquiring about this?”

“Oh, no… It’s nothing. I apologize for asking such a strange question…”

Why was Sister Cerista suddenly asking about my status?

As I mentioned before, my current status was that of the illegitimate daughter of the Rosewood Viscount family, created by Edan and Seraphine.

Born between Louis Rosewood and Marianne Rosewood, Lilith Rosewood was a fictional noble family member.

Only a few people, including those associated with Edan and Seraphine, knew this fact.

Even Isabel and Katarina believed that I was originally a noble’s daughter, so it was a closely guarded secret.

While Sister Cerista knew that I wasn’t a villain, we weren’t close enough for me to reveal such a secret.

“Maybe it’s strange to see a noble working as a maid.”

As I mentioned before, it was rare for a noble to come to the academy and work as a male maid.

I could understand the suspicious glances, and it didn’t really bother me.

After all, I had already incurred a debt to her for three days at the church, so it was reasonable for her to ask.

With that thought in mind, I waved goodbye to Sister Cerista and distanced myself from the church.

The slightly awkward silence that had crept between me and Edan finally came to an end.

-Tap, tap.

“….”

-Clap, clap.

“….”

Perhaps it was the memory of the kiss we shared earlier that made me hesitant to speak first, and Edan seemed lost in thought, reminiscing about our time in the hospital.

If we continued like this, the atmosphere would remain awkward even on our way back to the dormitory and into the morning.

As the elder, I felt the need to address this awkward tension between us.

“How is Princess Seraphine’s student council, Lord Edan?”

“It’s alright. Some people seem to know about it, while others don’t.”

“Is that so?”

“Check it out for yourself in the student council room tomorrow. The real activities will start from then on.”

“Good to hear. I don’t think I caused any trouble by lying in bed unnecessarily.”

“No one would blame someone who almost died and came back to life for taking a little rest, Relise.”

…Well, if you’re someone who catches Seraphine’s eye, that’s probably true.

After exchanging a few words, a silence fell between Edan and me once again, with only the quiet stillness and the sound of footsteps echoing.

-Tap, tap.

“….”

-Clap, clap.

“….”

…Seriously.

It felt like no matter what topic we brought up, the conversation would return to this awkward atmosphere, so I decided to address it firmly at this point.

I couldn’t afford to be embarrassed about such things in the future if I wanted to maintain this temporary lover-like charade.

“Lord Edan.”

“…Ah, yes. Relise.”

“If you’re still thinking about the kiss we shared in the hospital just now, please don’t worry about it.”

“Ah, um. It’s okay, Relise. I’m not really… thinking about that.”

“Since it was my second kiss anyway, there’s no need for you to feel burdened, Lord Edan.”

“….What?”

As soon as I mentioned that he didn’t need to worry, Edan suddenly glared at me with a harsh look.

Instinctively realizing that I had made some kind of mistake, I opened my mouth again, but Edan cut me off and stared at me with a stern expression.

“What kind of mistake did I make…”

“…What a brat.”

“What?”

“What kind of bastard takes away Relise’s first kiss, huh?”

“….”

…What?

It was only natural that a hero would be the recipient of my first kiss, and Edan already knew that, right?

Since he was there with me during the CPR incident, he must have seen the hero giving me artificial respiration.

In a sense, Edan’s reaction of harboring ill feelings towards the hero who was essentially my savior was incomprehensible.

“Could it be that he only saw the CPR and didn’t witness the artificial respiration?”

Considering that Edan had also barely survived with me when we fell into the lake, his memories from that time might have been jumbled.

Especially if the memory of Relise’s first kiss was something Edan intentionally wanted to erase, he might have glimpsed it briefly and then turned away.

Maybe I just made things worse by trying to lighten the mood and ended up creating an awkward situation…

“Please calm down, Lord Edan. I understand why you’re angry, but he is the one who saved my life after all.”

“Saved your life? So someone saved your life and in return, forced you into a kiss, when did that ever…”.

“That incident happened just the day before yesterday, Lord Edan!”

“…What?”

Edan tilted his head in confusion at my mention of the day before yesterday.

For some reason, I felt that now was the opportunity to talk about it, so I quickly continued with a supplementary explanation about my first kiss.

“I’ve already told everything to the Saintess. When I fell into the lake and came back, my heart temporarily stopped, putting my life in danger.”

“…Yes, it was dangerous. At that time, I thought I had lost Reilis for real.”

“And I also heard that in order to save me, the knight used CPR. I also heard that he performed artificial respiration. The act of artificial respiration that I learned involves blowing air into the lungs while sealing lips together.”

“…Wait, Reilis. So, the first kiss you mentioned…”

“Yes. I considered the artificial respiration that day as my first kiss and told Lord Edan about it. Of course, since Lord Edan was there at the scene, I thought he must have witnessed it.”

However, it was an unexpected situation that Edan, who had embraced me as soon as I woke up, did not know about it.

How could Edan not have witnessed the scene of me performing artificial respiration… or rather, not my first kiss, but still, would he think that way?

…Of course, I also made a mistake by casually mentioning it, assuming that he must have known.

“No, Reilis. If that’s the case, Reilis’s first kiss is probably…”

“Yes. Judging by Lord Edan’s reaction, it seems he didn’t witness it. Anyway, if Lord Edan wishes, I will also forget about the details of the artificial respiration.”

“…No, Reilis. The person who performed artificial respiration was not that knight you’re talking about.”

“What?”

“…Reilis, the artificial respiration was done by me.”

…What?

Edan was not the one who performed artificial respiration on me?

Wait, this doesn’t make sense. How could Edan know about artificial respiration?

“I learned about artificial respiration from that knight at the scene. He told me to pinch the nose, seal lips together, and blow air into the lungs.”

“….”

“While we were in the middle of kissing, I got up and did it. I thought Reilis knew about it, but it turns out she didn’t know it was me.”

“…Is that so, Edan…”

“And I also performed that… what was it called, CPR. I did it because I didn’t like the idea of another man touching Reilis’s body.”

“…You did well.”

“Of course, I had no right to touch Reilis’s body…”

…So that’s how it was.

So, even though I was unconscious, Edan was the one who received my first kiss?

And on top of that, no other man’s hands touched my body.

The tension naturally eased as the part I was worried about was resolved.

…Still, it’s somewhat fortunate that Edan was the one who received my first kiss.

“I see. Then, that’s fortunate.”

“…Fortunate?”

“…Ah.”

“Reilis, did you just say fortunate?”

“…Yes? What are you talking about, Lord Edan?”

“You just said fortunate, Reilis. The meaning of that fortunate you mentioned, is it the same meaning I’m thinking of?”

“No. I didn’t say fortunate, Lord Edan. Even if I did, the meaning I had in mind would be different from what you’re thinking.”

“No, you definitely said it with that meaning…”

“I didn’t.”

Suddenly, Edan popped up to correct my slip of the tongue, trailing behind me persistently.

I had a feeling that if I responded positively, I would be teased endlessly, so I tried my best to refuse to answer.

Edan’s persistent questioning continued all the way back to the dormitory.

…Anyway, don’t get too cocky just because you caught a small detail.