I Wish You Well In Your Next Love, My Love - Chapter 58
“Take tomorrow off and rest until Foundation Day.”
The priest let out a sigh so deep his chest seemed to cave in.
“What about my attendance and demerit points?”
“Is that really what matters right now?”
“…There isn’t anything else… that matters.”
“I’ll take care of your attendance. But there’s nothing I can do about the demerit points.”
“Reverend…”
“The problem is that you were there with them in the first place, whether you said anything or not.”
“……”
I quietly lifted my eyes and looked at the priest. Maybe I really looked that awful, because he frowned, then left the waiting room.
Was the world especially cruel to me, or was it because I had greedily wanted things I should never have wanted, without knowing my place.
The more desperately I wanted something, the stronger that wish became, and the deeper I sank into the mire.
“Um, Louize…”
Chelsea called me in a cautious voice.
“Your bag.”
The moment she held my bag out to me, everything inside spilled out onto the floor.
“O-Oh, I’m sorry! I didn’t realize I was holding it upside down.”
The moment I bent down to pick up the scattered books, tears dropped from the tip of my nose.
The hands picking them up one by one were trembling so pitifully.
My heart refused to calm down, and behind my tightly shut lips, a choked, dying sob kept catching in my throat.
By the time I came outside, it was already late at night.
Limping, I went down the temple steps one at a time.
My battered body was instinctively heading home, but my mind was still trapped in the waiting room.
I hoped Gerard would already be asleep at home.
I deliberately slowed my steps, hoping for the night to grow deeper.
* * *
My head was spinning as if I might collapse at any moment, yet I stood rigidly in front of the house, unable to move.
Because light was leaking out through the narrow gap in the iron gate.
What would he say if he saw the state I was in right now?
If I told him I had ended up like this after gossiping about Arvina, the woman he had given his heart to… would he despise me?
Or would he pity me, for having done nothing but suffer through it without even resisting?
Either way, I hated it horribly.
The hand holding the key trembled violently.
Just then, I heard signs of the door opening from inside.
“……!”
The moment the door opened, I hurriedly lowered my head and rushed inside.
“I was about to go out and drag you back, because I thought you’d run away.”
I let the teasing complaint pass by.
Enduring the throbbing in my ankle, I slipped straight into the bathroom, and immediately heard a knock.
“I know you want to wash up and go right to sleep, but can you at least show me your face for a second? You could be a thief.”
“……”
“Hey, Louize.”
“……”
“Did something happen?”
I steadied my trembling breath and barely managed to speak.
“I’m tired, so. I’m just going to wash up and sleep right away…”
“I’ll leave a change of clothes out front.”
“…Thank you.”
My scalp throbbed too much to properly scrub my hair, and a scratch from a ring ran long across my entire cheek.
By tomorrow, the swelling would set in for real, and the bruises would be the same.
‘…Anyway, I’m off tomorrow, so I’ll just hide under the blankets until Gerard leaves for work.’
That was the only way to hide the injuries.
I killed time in the bathroom for a long while.
The warm water, which came and went in brief spurts, cooled as if it meant to leave not even that small bit of warmth behind.
My wet hair dried stiff, my body grew cold, but only the injuries marking me in so many places still burned hot.
While I stood on the cold floor with my head lowered, I saw the faint light that had been seeping under the door disappear.
Gerard had turned off the light.
Even then, I only opened the door after counting one hundred more seconds.
