Feeling the firm body through the damp towel, Rukna quickly wiped his back and put the towel away, finding it particularly unfamiliar.

As she did so, she asked why he hadn’t attended the ceremony.

“Why didn’t you come? You said you wanted to receive the ceremony from me.”

“Right. Since I couldn’t even receive the coming-of-age ceremony, I’ll live as an eternal kid.”

“That’s unlike you.”

“What’s like me?”

“……”

“What do you think is like me?”

Matian raised his voice without realizing it, then bit his lip tightly.

One thing was certain. His current appearance must’ve deviated greatly from the ‘Matian Wiegratz’ she had in mind.

The upright student council president, the hero who was to become the empire’s champion, the eldest son of a duke’s family.

The labels attached to him were like a well-ironed uniform.

Tidy, neat, and falling straight. Without any wrinkles or shortcomings, it had to look good enough for anyone to desire.

It was also similar in that the person wearing it was filthily uncomfortable.

“I apologize. For showing you this side of me.”

It was an apology for showing an unsightly appearance. You must’ve also expected that side of me.

Matian picked up his shirt and put his arms through. The reddish-brown stains that seeped into the white shirt bothered him. He was just about to button up his shirt.

Rukna poured water into a glass from the waiting room and approached him up close.

He could feel her intense gaze on the crown of his head, but Matian fiddled with the shirt buttons, not trying to meet her eyes.

But the stubborn gaze didn’t waver. With a light sigh, she plopped down on his lap.

“……!”

Startled, Matian widened his eyes and stared at Rukna. It was the first time their gazes met since entering this room.

Matian’s blue eyes seemed to flicker, then he tried to avoid her again. She cupped his cheeks.

“Do you hate seeing me?”

“…No.”

With that answer, his unstable eyes gazed at Rukna with strength.

“That’s a relief.”

Rukna grasped the glass tightly with both hands and infused it with holy power. She was making holy water.

Although she could boast that her holy power was superior to the substitute priest’s, her technique to precisely control the power and shape it was clumsy, so it was bound to be a crude holy water.

But she felt it suited the current situation quite well.

Rukna dipped her finger deep into the glass, then pressed it firmly on the center of his forehead.

“You, Matian Wiegratz. The righteous sword that pierces through the darkness.”

As the prayer began, Matian, who had been looking up at her intently, closed his eyes.

The holy water-stained fingertip slowly brushed over his eyelids, and his long, dense eyelashes tickled her hand, casting a long shadow.

The prayer reached its end, and the finger that had been descending along his straight nose bridge touched his lips. The holy water moistened the surface of his dried, rough lips.

“Your will and devotion shall illuminate your honorable and valiant journey ahead.”

Just as Rukna’s finger was about to leave with the last prayer,

Matian opened his mouth and bit that finger. It was the very hand the substitute priest’s lips had touched a few hours ago.

“Matian?”

Startled, Rukna called out to him as if asking him to let go. Although he had bitten playfully, the bitten part ached, making it difficult to carelessly pull her hand out for fear of getting hurt.

Matian slowly opened his eyes, still biting the finger. And he stared at Rukna’s flushed face for a few seconds.

Rukna felt trapped in his blue eyes. It felt like sinking into an ocean of unknown depth, lacking breath.

The sound of her rapidly beating heart pounded in her own ears, and the more it did, the more her mind went blank.

Just when she thought she might burst and die at this rate, he slowly opened his mouth and released her finger.

“Is the ceremony over with this?”

“Uh, yeah.”

Rukna looked down at her finger, where neat teeth marks remained red.

Matian pulled the hand that was moving away from him back in front of him and expressed his gratitude.

“Thank you. For making me an adult.”

Making him an adult. It sounded like it implied a different meaning. Rukna averted her gaze to hide her embarrassing thoughts.

“You had asked me for the ceremony. I just did it for you.”

“I did.”

Matian nodded, then continued.

“But do you remember? What I said before.”

“What did you say?”

“I said when I become an adult, you’d properly see me.”

At the same time, Matian pulled Rukna’s waist tightly. Her waist touched his bare body. It felt like she could vividly feel his heat through the thin fabric.

“My feelings remain the same, Rukna. Of course, I’m not asking for an answer now. I just wanted you to know my feelings haven’t changed from before.”

Matian’s hand slowly moved up along the gentle curve of her waist.

Just then, the bell tower rang loudly. It signaled the departure of the believers. All the events held at the temple had ended.

Matian lowered his head deeply as if regretful.

“I wish the priestess would purify me before leaving.”

His flawless forehead approached right in front of Rukna’s face.

She hesitated for a moment, then placed her lips on his forehead.

At the same time, he slightly raised his head, causing her lips to lightly touch his upper lip before pulling away.

“Huh?”

As Rukna widened her eyes and withdrew her head, his hand grasped the back of her head. And his face approached once more.

Rukna tightly closed her eyes and held her breath.

Matian intently observed her like that. Then, instead of her lips, he bumped his forehead against hers and moved away.

‘Wasn’t he trying to kiss me?’

As Rukna stared at Matian with a confused expression, he lifted her, who had been sitting on his lap, and placed her standing next to him.

He also stood up following her and put on his jacket.

Wearing the jacket over the wide-open shirt, his attire was somewhat disheveled, but the unkempt appearance was also quite charming.

He laughed as he looked at Rukna, who was standing still with her hands clasped together, her expression incomprehensible.

“What. Is it lacking?”

“La, lacking!”

Rukna was dumbfounded, her face turning even redder.

“You’re making that kind of expression.”

“You’re the one who buttoned your jacket wrong?”

Rukna pointed at his jacket. As she said, the second button from the bottom was missing, crookedly fastened.

In the past, he would’ve acted gruff to hide his embarrassment, but Matian held his forehead and laughed.

He tried his best to act at ease, but in the end, it showed like this, which was amusing, and it also felt like destiny that he particularly showed lacking sides of himself only in front of her.

Wasn’t this a severe case?

“Right. I was lacking with just that.”

“Huh?”

“Why are you so surprised? Did you see me as someone who’d be satisfied with briefly grazing lips?”

What a shame. Matian unbuttoned his incorrectly fastened jacket and started to fasten it properly from the very bottom.

“I’m only holding back because pushing a woman as I desire upon meeting her after a long time isn’t an adult’s attitude.”

Having neatly refastened the buttons, he took Rukna’s hand. And he brought that hand to his lips and lightly kissed it.

As he lowered his gaze, shadows were cast under his long eyelashes.

“So from now on, I’d like you to see me as a man, Priestess Rukna Golden.”

His lips moved away from the back of her hand, and his blue eyes shifted towards Rukna.

“Because to me, you were already a woman long ago.”

‘The guy who was already an old kid as a student has become even more shameless.’

After finishing tidying up the hall where the ceremony had taken place, Rukna took the bag filled with trash and placed it outside the entrance.

Whenever she thought of Matian, the back of her hand he had touched itched, so she repeatedly rubbed that part against her priestess robe.

As she tilted her head towards the bluish evening sky, stars that had been hiding in the sunlight during the day began to appear one by one and twinkle.

It was when she thought there was a similarity between those small sparkles that could only be seen in the dark and her own heart that thought of him.

Someone was walking this way, leaning on a cane. That familiar gait…

“Teacher Gale?”

Rukna ran towards that direction. How did a person who couldn’t even see in front of her come to the temple at night?

Although she occasionally sent letters, it had been truly a long time since seeing her face.

“Rukna!”

Teacher Gale waved her hand in the wrong direction. She still couldn’t get the direction right. Rukna burst into laughter as she lowered the tips of her eyebrows.

“Over here, Teacher.”

Rukna ran to Gale and hugged her.

Was the teacher always this small? The body of her mentor, who had only seemed reliable, was surprisingly thin and small, making her heart flutter for no reason.

“Have you been well, Rukna? I heard the news that you became a priestess and tried to come see you, but we’re only meeting like this now.”

“I’m sorry. I should’ve come to see you first.”

“No. I heard rumors that His Holiness wouldn’t let you go. That you’re the rising star of the temple?”

Gale patted Rukna’s back as if proud.

Rukna lightly bit her lower lip.

In the end, she hadn’t been able to visit the teacher herself, making the excuse that she could barely take care of herself. Yet the teacher’s love was unchangingly directed towards her.

“…I’m not a rising star but a worker. They make use of every single minute and second of mine.”

“For someone like that, your holy power is tremendous and full of love?”

“Lo, love, what. There’s no such thing.”

Rukna rubbed the back of her hand against the hem of her skirt.

“Really? The energy I feel from you right now is unmistakably like someone in love, it’s fascinating.”

“That must be because I met you now, Teacher Gale?”

“Oh my, my. Staying at the temple has improved your wit. It’s nice to hear.”

“But Teacher. Did you perhaps walk all the way here?”

Rukna was examining the hem of Teacher Gale’s dress.

Seeing the dirt on the hem and the frayed part around the knees, it seemed she had a hard time on her way here, falling over or bumping into things here and there.

“Don’t even mention it. Because of the ceremony at the temple today, hundreds of carriages were lined up on the streets, it was a huge mess. Rather than riding a passing carriage, it was faster to walk while tapping with my cane?”

Teacher Gale laughed embarrassedly, saying she knew that but didn’t expect to arrive only at this hour.

“The distance from the military academy to here is quite far too!”

Unbelievable. Rukna squatted down and slightly lifted the hem of Teacher Gale’s dress.

As expected, her shoes were also a mess from how many times she had stumbled.

Rukna infused holy power into Gale’s ankles, which must have twisted dozens of times.

Although embarrassed at first, as the pain subsided, Gale laughed bitterly, saying she had raised a good disciple.

“I’m happy to see you, but why do you look so sad?”

The teacher, who always got confused with directions, still accurately read her emotions.