I Wish You Well In Your Next Love, My Love - Chapter 53
People who are born from the start into the position of the one with power never understand the feelings of the one without it in the slightest. They only realize it after being put in the other personâs placeâŚ
âWhat am I supposed to feel?â
âŚAt least, that was how it was supposed to be.
Gerard looked as if he didnât feel even the slightest bit of emotion. Instead, it was Alvar who was flustered.
âItâs not just purification, itâs deep contact purification!â
âItâs purification all the same. Isnât she simply fulfilling her responsibility as a Purifier?â
At that bleak, dry tone, even Alvar felt hurt on Louizeâs behalf.
It was enough to make him wonder whether this was really the same man who had bashfully handed Louize that water.
âAnd what if that fourth-rank were to do deep contact purification with another Awakened?â
It was strange. He couldnât bring himself to ask that.
ââŚYour feelings for Miss Odriann havenât changed, right?â
Gerard let out a low laugh, as if he had heard something absurd.
âWhere else would my heart go?â
Even after hearing it confirmed directly from Gerardâs own mouth, Alvar still didnât feel at ease.
And for good reason, because the way Gerard had looked at that fourth-rank Purifier just a little while ago overlapped with the way he himself had been completely smitten with Rona this morning.
âBut if sheâs a trainee Purifier from Hartheon Temple, then doesnât that mean sheâs from the same temple as Miss Odriann?â
âWhy do you ask?â
The relaxed line of Gerardâs mouth hardened.
âI donât mean anything else by it. Itâs just that I heard thereâs going to be a banquet at Miss Odriannâs newly built villa on Foundation Day. An invitation must have arrived for you as well, Commander⌠Though I suppose you havenât checked it. Anyway, I heard itâll be such a grand affair that all the trainee Purifiers are attending, so I was wondering whether Miss Harper would be attending too.â
Alvar hurriedly poured out the explanation, startled as if hot oil had splashed on him.
âYou canât say a word around him.â
Because of his superior, who was being uncharacteristically sensitive, he felt as though his lifespan was shrinking by the second.
He could only hope that the interest Gerard had in the fourth-rank Purifier would stop at simple curiosity.
Who Gerard dated wasnât Alvarâs business, butâŚ
âIf Madam Marcella finds out, thereâll be trouble.â
It was true that he was worried.
Though she didnât show it outwardly, Madam Marcella hadnât even found Arvina Odriann satisfactory as Gerardâs match.
And now, a fourth-rank Purifier with no family background?
She wasnât the sort of person who would quietly stand by and watch the two of them date.
âArvina sent invitations to all the trainee Purifiers?â
ââŚYes, thatâs what I heard.â
After that, Gerard didnât say another word until they arrived at Melvers Temple. Alvar stole glances at his superior, who sat there quietly, leaning back with his arms folded, then turned his head away.
âSurely nothing will happen.â
To calm his uneasy mind, he pictured the face of his lovely lover, Rona. After work, he would bury himself in her fragrant embrace and act as spoiled as he pleased.
Then even what had happened this morning, which had been worse than a nightmare, would be washed away as if it had never happened.
* * *
âWhat should we do, Iâve already hired all the part-timers.â
âAhâŚâ
âI forgot to take down the notice.â
It was already my sixth rejection.
As soon as I stepped out of the shop, the owner, who had followed me out, took down the hiring notice posted on the window.
Walking aimlessly with no destination, I pulled out my notebook from my bag and drew a long line through the last shop.
Just as I had expected, the part-time job at the greengrocerâs that paid the most was only hiring men.
âItâs not an easy job for a young lady. Youâd collapse before even lasting an hour.â
On the day I interviewed at the greengrocerâs, I had been in particularly bad shape. The moment I brought up the part-time job, the owner waved his hands and refused without a second thought.
âStill, I thought at least one place would work out.â
For some reason, unlike other Foundation Days, this year it was especially hard to find work.
As if they had all planned it together, every place I went told me they had already found someone to work.
Still, the world hadnât completely abandoned me.
There was a job posting attached to the streetlamp in front of my house that looked fairly decent.
