Inside the Knight Commander’s office, Ref sat at his desk, his expression grim—clearly a result of the rumors circulating within the order about two of its Paladins over the past few days.
“This is indeed Elian’s handwritten letter… I am aware of his situation…”
“But Fen… as the Captain of the Second Squad, you have a duty to manage your team members properly…”
He looked at Elian’s resignation letter, which Fen had delivered to him, and spoke after a moment of silence.
“My apologies, Commander.”
“However, I fear Elian was deeply hurt by that incident and is determined to leave. After he gave me the letter, he disappeared without a trace.”
Ref looked suspiciously at the young man before him, but all he could read in those eyes was calm and composure.
After two years of training in another world, Fen had also learned to lie without blushing or his heart racing.
“Sigh… I blame myself for this too… for not keeping Voss in check… To think a Paladin would stumble over a woman…”
Ref rubbed his forehead, clearly thinking about how to quell the rumors spreading through the Holy Capital next.
“Although the Knight Order has reformed in recent years and no longer demands such rigid adherence to the old knightly code, who would have thought that kid would—”
“Anyway… I’ll give him a proper talking to another day.”
Ref said seriously.
“If there’s nothing else, I’ll take my leave now.”
Fen gave a slight bow.
“Phew—”
Closing the office door behind him, Fen let out a long sigh of relief.
—
Meanwhile, the protagonist at the center of the rumors spreading through the Holy Capital—our Miss Elena—was, for the first time in her life, not waking up early and was still having sweet dreams.
The silver-haired girl was curled up in her futon, completely wrapped up, with only a small tuft of bedhead exposed to the morning chill.
Since she had decided yesterday to “cut ties” with Paladin Elian, and because Fen had told her she had been through too much these past few days and should sleep in and rest well today, the girl had rather decadently accepted the suggestion, generously staying in bed for a second round of sleep.
‘This is so decadent… If it were the old me… I would undoubtedly scold my current self without hesitation, right?’
Ms. Elena truly lived up to being the most disciplined man in all of Eseriel.
After lying in bed for an extra half hour, the instinct of years of healthy habits began to condemn her conscience.
Bracing against the morning chill, Elena got up and did a simple wash-up in the bathroom—only to feel a sudden emptiness.
Elena thought Fen made a good point.
She had always lived for others, lacking too much of a self, not even having a hobby to pass the time when idle.
It was fine when she was Elian…
The Knight Order had different patrol and training missions every day, plus she would enthusiastically help the residents on the streets.
Back then, she complained every day about being too busy…
But now, as an unemployed drifter… when she truly had free time… she didn’t know what to do.
Elena glanced at the wall clock in the living room—eleven o’clock.
There was still some time before Fen returned home…
‘How about cleaning his house for him?’
Although Fen had personally said this was repayment for her help back then, Elena wasn’t the kind of heartless noble.
After all, she had been eating and living at Fen’s expense these past few days, so she might as help with the housework as ‘payment’.
‘Hmm… First tidy up the clutter… then give the floor a simple sweep… finally mop it once…’
The girl tried hard to recall the process of the maids’ thorough cleaning back at her home and clumsily imitated it, starting to tidy up the house.
—
“Phew—” The girl lay on the sofa like a dead fish.
Although Finn’s House wasn’t large, this cleaning session still felt like a long expedition to the girl, making her break into a sweat not long after.
Now Elena was certain—this body was definitely a weakling.
‘Let’s take a bath…’
A moment later, the girl wrapped in a towel entered her room.
Passing by the full-length mirror, seeing the woman with a good figure reflected in it, Elena deliberately stopped to admire for a while.
This should count as the first time she seriously examined her own body—well… to be precise, the female characteristics…
Yes, even though she had observed it once on the first day, Fen was nearby at the time, and she hadn’t had the nerve to look carefully; in the following days, she had been in a rather depressed state and hadn’t had the leisure to observe either.
The neighbors and the children at the Orphanage had all praised the girl’s beauty and grace, but Elena knew it wasn’t flattery—no matter how many times she looked at the girl’s face, as if carved by the Goddess herself, Elena herself couldn’t help but be captivated by it.
Silver hair and golden cross-shaped pupils highlighted the girl’s sanctity, yet they were paired with that slender waist…
It was hard to imagine innocence and sensuality could coexist in one body…
‘And these…’
Elena’s gaze uncontrollably shifted to the evils on her chest—currently restrained only by the towel, they seemed ready to burst forth at any moment.
‘Is this really a scale a girl who looks fifteen or sixteen can possess…’
‘So white… they look so soft…’
The girl’s wrists uncontrollably lifted.
‘How about… touching them?’
As soon as this thought surfaced in her mind, Elena was horrified—Elian, oh Elian, you were once a Paladin of the Church, how could you have such impure thoughts?
Looking at the pitiful eyes of the silver-haired girl in the mirror, she always felt a sense of immorality, as if she were molesting a girl in her prime.
‘Anyway… I can’t change back. I’ll have to adapt to this body for many years to come. I can’t possibly avoid it forever, right?’
A dissenting voice emerged from within, scolding Elena’s Paladin persona.
‘Right… right! This is… this is me adapting to my body!’
‘It’s my own body anyway, touching it is perfectly justified! Even if the Pope came… no! Even if the Goddess came, she couldn’t stop me!’
At least, Ms. Elena convinced herself.
Trembling, she placed her hand on the curve of her chest.
‘So… so soft!’
A faint blush appeared on the girl’s face.
Where had a Paladin who had been obsessed with sword practice for nearly twenty years ever seen such a scene—Elena, formerly a man but now a woman, let out a soft exclamation.
Her brain had completely overloaded, steam practically rising from her head.
Elena used to despise those obsessed with feminine charms, but now she could somewhat understand why many nobles fell at the feet of beautiful women.
Elena’s heart screamed that this was immoral, sinful.
But her hands seemed to be under a spell, refusing to let go.
“Elena? Are you in the room?”
Fen’s voice suddenly came from the doorway.
“N-no! Don’t… don’t come in—”
Elena’s face paled, but it was too late to react.
Click—
The man opened the door and was greeted by an extremely alluring scene—the silver-haired girl seemed to have just bathed, her long hair still damp.
She was wrapped only in a towel, with a large expanse of fair skin exposed on her chest…
A faint blush was on her face, her eyes were dazed, and both her hands were on her chest… well… seemingly exploring something…
“Uh… I didn’t see anything…”
The black-haired man somewhat regretted opening the door.
He covered his eyes with his hand, standing there awkwardly.
“N-no, it’s not like that… listen to my explanation! Fen—”
A trace of despair appeared in the girl’s eyes.
“E… Elena… although I can understand that everyone has days when they need to vent certain urges…”
“But… next time you do this sort of thing… remember to lock the door… You’re a girl now… you need to pay attention to privacy…”
“You… you definitely saw, didn’t you! P-pervert—”
A cry of anguish came from the room.
It seemed the morning at Finn’s House was still anything but ordinary today.
—