~Chapter 22~
As soon as Floria returned to her room, she locked the door tightly.
She turned the key and checked several times by twisting the knob over and over again.
‘I really need to install more locks.’
Only then did she feel somewhat safe.
She made Rose sit on the living room sofa.
‘Ah, this really is a great place.’
Forget about the ghost in the annex—money really is the best.
Just moments ago, she had been running back to the room in a panic, locking the door like her life depended on it. But now her mood flipped instantly.
Throwing herself onto the soft sofa, she relaxed, delighted by how fluffy it was.
But she forced herself to get up and grabbed a pen and paper from the table.
‘I didn’t even think Rose might not know how to read yet.’
Rose was thirteen years old. Even though she ate and slept well now, she still looked about ten.
Floria had left early in the morning while Rose was fast asleep, which had caused their paths to cross awkwardly.
She still wasn’t sure if ghosts were real, but she figured they needed some rules to live here safely.
First, she had to organize Rose’s daily routine.
“Rose, can you tell me what you usually do at the temple each day? Just by the time.”
Floria leaned over the table with pen in hand, ready to write everything down.
Rose tapped her finger to her lips and thought for a moment, staring into the air.
“Well… I used to have early morning prayer time by myself after the priests finished their prayers, but that was canceled recently.”
“Huh?”
Floria’s pen skidded across the paper mid-sentence.
“Canceled?”
“My assigned priest said he was too busy with confessional duties… But I still prayed alone in our room on my knees.”
“Alone? On your knees?”
“Y-Yeah…”
Rose looked anxious, like she had done something wrong.
But Floria wasn’t angry at her—she was furious at the priest who had abandoned his duties.
Seeing Rose’s worried eyes, Floria forced a smile, though her hand trembled, nearly snapping the pen in two.
“Who’s your assigned priest?”
“Senior Priest Juan…”
Oh no.
Snap!
The brand-new pen in her hand broke in two.
She didn’t know who this Juan was, but the fact that a senior priest had neglected his duties enraged her.
“Oh no! Sister, your pen broke! What do we do?”
“Hmm, it’s fine. The ink still works, so we can manage.”
Floria grabbed the front half of the broken pen and casually continued writing on the paper.
—Request a new priest for Rose.
She wanted to do it herself, but she was already overloaded with confessional work, often working into the night.
The High Priest probably wouldn’t allow it either.
‘I mean, really—I’m the one working late in the confessional. What’s his excuse?’
Grumbling to herself, she asked another question.
“Then when do you have divine power lessons?”
“I don’t!”
“…What?”
“That got delayed too. Priest Juan is too busy with the confessional. He must be really, really busy.”
“……”
Floria clenched her teeth and silently circled the word “request” several times. She even added “urgent” in front of it.
So much for planning Rose’s schedule—she had to start completely over.
Even if they gave her a room in the annex, this kind of neglect was unacceptable. And he still got paid for it all!
Meanwhile, Floria had wandered around at midnight and even entered the prayer room—but hadn’t seen a single ghost or even another person.
Maybe they were just jealous I got this room and spread those dumb ghost rumors to scare me…
Sigh. Another deep breath.
She placed the complaint letter on the small table near the door so she wouldn’t forget to deliver it before dawn.
Huh?
She paused.
There was another letter she hadn’t noticed earlier—probably because she’d rushed into the room too quickly.
Floria had written an anonymous request and dropped it off in front of the High Priest’s office early in the morning when no one was around.
Surprisingly, it had been taken care of the very next day.
Just like that, Rose’s assigned priest was changed to Priestess Almone—a responsible and well-known regular priestess.
But that wasn’t the only surprise.
An official notice was sent out to all priests: no matter what, all temple work must stop after 6 p.m., even if unfinished.
‘They actually did it.’
Floria didn’t even want to say, “Why not earlier?”
Still, it was a good thing. Even if she was planning to leave, improved working conditions were always welcome.
Thanks to the new rule, Floria suddenly had much more free time. Now she could come back after work and properly take care of Rose.
And today…
“Rose, have a good day.”
“Okay, Sister! See you tonight!”
Rose, wearing a bright yellow dress and a matching backpack like a kindergarten kid, waved her little hand excitedly.
She swayed back and forth from the weight of the bag—it was incredibly cute.
“Please take good care of her, Priestess.”
“Of course. You too, Priestess Floria.”
After a brief chat with Rose’s new guardian priest, the door shut behind them with a thunk.
Floria took a deep breath.
She had already done it multiple times, trying to shake off the strange tension she felt.
But she didn’t have much time to calm down.
Knock knock—
‘…He’s here.’
The sound came right on time.
Floria checked herself in the full-length mirror, trying to keep a calm expression, and carefully opened the door.
“Long time no see, Floria.”
A relaxed, gentle voice.
“Do you like flowers?”
Caspar stood there, holding a bouquet of flowers.
—I’ll come visit at 8 a.m. tomorrow. I’ve already informed the High Priest.
That was what the letter stuck under her door yesterday had said.
It meant he had cleared her entire schedule today.
There was no name on the short note, but Floria immediately knew it was from Caspar.
She had seen his handwriting before—neat and refined, contrary to what his personality might suggest.
Normally, every letter that entered the temple had to go through the High Priest.
How Caspar managed to slip one under her door without anyone noticing was still a mystery.
But sure enough, he arrived right on time—8 a.m.—with flowers in hand.
“…Thank you, Your Grace.”
Until that moment, Floria had half-doubted the letter. But instead of bowing, she reached out to accept the bouquet.
She had even prepared an outfit just in case someone else had been playing a prank.
Thankfully, she had worn her outing dress, just in case it was him.
Though, to be honest, long time no see wasn’t really true—but she kept that thought to herself.
“Flowers are beautiful.”
She brought the flowers to her nose and smiled brightly.
The scent of spring lingered at the tip of her nose.
***
…But then, the place they ended up visiting was the graveyard behind the annex.
“The air is really nice. Perfect for a walk.”
“Yes, it is.”
Caspar admired the fresh air, while Floria responded flatly, without emotion.
Apparently, he had really meant it when he said he wanted to visit the graveyard—and had even been looking forward to it.
‘This feels like obsession…’
Floria stood silently, taking in the smell of grass—or at least what she hoped was grass.
It smelled… kind of fresh, but also strange.
She frowned slightly and looked at Caspar.
She didn’t bother hiding her expression.
Caspar was peacefully standing with his eyes closed, enjoying the graveyard.
“……”
This man clearly liked things like blood and corpses. Yeah. No doubt about it.
Floria’s face scrunched up even more.
What do you mean, “nice air”?
The morning air was cold, and no matter how hard she tried to ignore it, all she could see were hundreds of tombstones.
