~Chapter 11~
After returning from the festival, Floria fell asleep the moment she got to her room, as if she had passed out.
The next day, a new sign was placed at the entrance of the temple:
— This week is Priestess Floria’s vacation.
‘It’s real! A real vacation!’
Floria had to see the sign with her own eyes before she truly believed it.
‘Since it’s such a rare break… I’m going to enjoy it fully.’
She skipped breakfast and woke up late, taking her time.
By the time she went to the dining hall, all the other priests had already eaten.
She slowly enjoyed her meal alone.
There weren’t many side dishes left, and the soup was cold, but she didn’t mind—she was used to this.
Usually, by the time she finished her busy morning work, there would be barely anything left anyway.
Later, around 3 p.m., Floria returned to her room and threw herself onto the bed.
She decided she’d spend the entire week being lazy.
But then…
‘How do you relax again…?’
Now that she was actually lying down, hugging her pillow, she felt wide awake.
Even though she had started the day late, the sky outside was still bright.
Night wasn’t coming anytime soon.
Sigh…
She almost cried.
Her joints already felt stiff just from lying down for a little while.
Her whole body was rejecting the idea of resting.
All she did was sleep in and eat lunch late.
Was she so used to overworking that she couldn’t relax anymore?
This wasn’t much different from her past life, where she lived working overtime every day.
…
Eventually, she sat up.
‘Let’s go see the garden, at least.’
The Aldante Temple had a private garden that only temple priests could enter.
Before she got busy, she had lived her life like a puppet following the original novel’s villainess storyline.
She hadn’t even thought of visiting the garden back then—she didn’t have time or freedom.
This time, she would enjoy a peaceful walk.
‘No working allowed! No matter what happens!’
While walking down the halls, she saw several priests and believers.
She nearly got pulled into the confession booth more than once, but she forced herself to ignore them.
Then, in the garden—
She spotted a familiar back.
Silver hair that looked carefully brushed, but a bit messy in the back.
Tiny hands that looked so precious.
‘Rose?’
She called softly.
The silver-haired girl quickly turned her head.
“Huh? Priestess Floria!”
Rose—with her chubby cheeks and big, surprised eyes—ran toward her like a little squirrel.
Floria smiled and opened her arms instinctively.
Rose ran into them for a hug.
‘What a surprise to meet her here.’
Floria had always cared for Rose with a sense of duty, thinking, “I must do this.”
Even now, even though she genuinely thought Rose was adorable, whenever she looked at her, a strange guilt would rise inside her.
Thankfully, in this life, she realized the truth before doing anything to hurt Rose.
She knew the bad future wouldn’t come—yet still, her heart felt tight.
“Priestess! I didn’t expect to see you at this hour. I’m so happy!”
……
Looking at the child blushing with joy, Floria suddenly felt like feeling guilty was wrong too.
She shook her head to clear her thoughts.
Either way, it made her happy to see Rose during her vacation.
“Me too, Rose. I’m happy to see you.”
Floria gently stroked Rose’s head and smiled—but then she felt like someone else was nearby.
Looking behind Rose, she saw a few unfamiliar kids standing awkwardly in the distance.
They looked shy but kept glancing her way.
‘Huh?’
Her hand paused.
There were supposed to be no other children staying at Aldante Temple—only Rose.
Seeing those kids shyly peeking at her, Floria quietly asked,
“Rose, did you come here with your friends?”
At the word “friends,” Rose’s face turned bright red.
“Yes… I made new friends! They came from another temple to visit.”
“Oh, they’re from another temple!”
In most temples, orphans who showed signs of divine power were taken in and raised.
They stayed in special dorms and followed a strict schedule—early morning prayers, divine energy training, and priest education.
But at Aldante Temple, Rose was the only child, so she was often left alone.
Thinking about that made Floria’s heart ache again.
She ruffled Rose’s hair even more.
“Priestess, what brings you here?”
Rose didn’t even stutter anymore.
So confident! Our Rose!
Seeing her ask a question so confidently, Floria had to hold back tears.
She felt weirdly proud, like a real mom.
“I came to see you, Rose.”
She decided to lie instead of telling the truth—that she was just taking a walk on her day off.
It was the right choice.
Rose’s face lit up with a big smile.
“Really? I’m so happy, Priestess! Today is the best birthday ever!”
“…What? Birthday?”
Floria felt like her heart dropped to the floor.
“Yes. Today’s my birthday.”
……
Floria squeezed her eyes shut.
Chapter 11 — Simple English Translation (continued)
I’m trash.
“You said you’d care for Rose for real now, Floria.”
She hadn’t even thought to ask Rose when her birthday was.
And it had only been a few minutes since she told herself to stop feeling guilty.
But now, that same guilt was creeping back in — slowly and painfully.
Especially seeing how happy Rose looked just because Floria showed up.
Has she always had such simple birthdays like this?
A birthday should at least have a cake and a gift…
Floria instinctively reached into her pocket, checking how much money she had left —
then suddenly asked:
“Rose, do you have any classes today?”
“Hmm… No. Since my friends are visiting, I heard we don’t have lessons for a few days.”
“Great. Then let’s go.”
“Huh?”
“To buy your birthday present.”
Floria grabbed Rose’s hand with a big smile.
Her salary had just tripled, after all.
“Rose, pick anything you like.”
Without any hesitation, Floria pulled Rose into a toy store — and said it loud and proud.
Rose’s mouth fell open.
She only had one old, flat stuffed toy back in her room.
Seeing the toy store for the first time, her eyes sparkled in amazement, but she also looked a little worried.
“R-Really? Is it okay?”
“Of course!”
I may not have been able to say “I’ll take everything from here to there” at a department store in my past life…
But I can at least buy a few stuffed animals.
…Though in her head, Floria was already doing math:
If I buy this many, how much of my salary will be left…
After walking around and thinking for a long time, Rose carefully chose two stuffed toys: a deer and a squirrel, just like the forest animals she always talked about.
But even then, she hesitated. Then leaned in and whispered into Floria’s ear:
“These two are the prettiest, Priestess…”
“Tsk. What did I say about calling me that?”
“F-Floria… Unnie.”
Rose turned red like a tomato and lowered her head.
She looked so cute that Floria almost stretched out her cheeks—but this wasn’t the time for that.
Two toys were all Rose allowed herself to pick, even after all that thought.
Floria grabbed all the stuffed animals Rose had looked at—it was just six or so.
“Please ring all of these up.”
“Is that… really okay?”
Floria walked straight to the counter without hesitation.
Rose quickly followed behind, nervously asking again.
“Of course it is.”
It’s our heroine’s birthday—this is the least I can do.
She quickly counted the money she had left.
There was still cake to buy… and she wanted to get flowers too—ones that looked just like Rose.
Thankfully, she still had some money left.
The temple provides meals, so even if I spend it all, I’ll survive… probably.
“Alright. Let’s go buy cake now.”
She led Rose—who was now hugging a pile of stuffed toys so big she couldn’t carry them all.
Since Rose had no free hands left, Floria gently held onto one of the toy’s legs.
***
Lawrence Cake Shop
The most famous cake shop in the capital city of Aldante.
Their main customers were nobles, but anyone with money could buy from them.
The only catch was… it was very expensive for regular residents.
Floria, worried someone might say something rude that would hurt Rose’s feelings, brushed her hair neatly and even took her to a children’s clothing boutique to get her a proper dress.
Every time Rose hesitated about buying something, Floria proudly reminded her:
“My salary tripled, it’s fine!”
Of course, all this spending probably meant her entire month’s paycheck was going down the drain.
But she didn’t show any of that in front of her precious heroine.
She confidently walked into the cake shop.
“Rose, what do you think of this one?”
“Woooow…”
Rose couldn’t even speak properly anymore.
She was just full of amazement.
Behind the clear glass were dozens of cakes.
One of them was even forest-themed, with little animal figures on top.
With her clean white dress and sparkling eyes, Rose looked like a tiny fairy straight out of the woods.
That was all Floria needed.
She immediately ordered the forest cake that looked like Rose’s animal friends.
“Let’s have a birthday party with cake, Rose.”
“Okay!”
Rose was so happy she couldn’t stop smiling — her cheeks still bright red.
They were just about to take their prettily wrapped cake to the terrace seating area—
When suddenly—
“Priestess Floria?”
“…?”
A familiar voice came from behind.
Floria froze.
Not because she didn’t know the voice—but because it was one she really didn’t want to hear here.
No… Please, no.
Her expression turned stiff.
She slowly turned her head.
Why are YOU here?!
And of course—her bad feeling was right.
It was Caspal.
He had just walked into the cake shop — and their eyes met.
