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“Despite the surrounding noise that filled the city, Lucia’s whisper was clearly audible.

The distant honking, the laughter echoing from the courtyard, and the chirping of birds softly gossiping by the window.

Neither Lucia nor I exchanged many words.

However, sitting cramped in the confession booth, a peculiar silence between the wooden lattices gradually led one’s thoughts to converge on a single possibility.

Even without an emotionally stirring story that touches people’s hearts or a unique occasion that others haven’t experienced.

It was entirely unproblematic for a person to fall in love.

At some point, it seemed she had fallen in love.

—

Episode 12 – The Strongest Magician

A large fireball descended to the ground.

The sun, blazing in a bright yellow.

The sun, painting the dreary gray sky in vivid scarlet, seemed much larger now than when it was high in the sky.

The charming crimson hue gently and modestly colored the whole world.

Behind the sun, which was slowly hiding beyond the horizon, clouds of varying shades began to gleam brightly.

The colors of the thinly spread clouds were so diverse that it was difficult to dare to express them in words.

The last gift from the setting sun. The evening glow, tickling the skin, poured down through the marble columns.

Lucia, gazing at the golden sphere sinking between the mountains, gently turned her head.

The soft crimson glow collided with her bright blonde hair, shattering into fragments. It resembled waves crashing against coastal cliffs, creating white foam.

The split sunset scattered like faint rings, and the enriched brilliant blonde hair blazed even more vividly.

The sky blue eyes of the priest, as clear as the sea of Jerusalem.

Lucia greeted me warmly with a gentle smile.

“I’ve been waiting.”

She wore a soft smile. Her eyes arched beautifully. Her thin lips created smooth curves.

The delicate petals of a lotus were like her thin lips. Rather than cherries, it seemed more fitting to describe Lucia’s pink lips as akin to azaleas.

Her blue eyes, pinkish lips, and petite nose added unique elements that enhanced the beauty of her slender face.

“How long have you been waiting?”

At my casual question, Lucia’s lips curled slightly upwards.

“It hasn’t been long. I just arrived myself.”

That was not true.

Before the sunset even descended, she had been sitting here for quite some time, waiting for me.

The lie brought by the priest was not out of shame or to escape the situation, but to alleviate any discomfort the other might feel if she spoke the truth.

“……”

Pretending to be unaffected by her own lie, I looked at Lucia with a complicated expression.

It wasn’t that I felt disappointed by her deception. After all, we survive by weaving lies in this world.

Yet, what troubled me was.

Her sparkling eyes shone with affection as they looked at me, and that made me increasingly bewildered.

Unable to hide my curiosity, I spoke in a low voice.

“It seems there’s a reason you called me to the confession booth. Perhaps you wanted to talk about something you couldn’t mention in the morning?”

“……”

Lucia’s smile tightened a bit.

Although I suspected this would happen, I didn’t expect her to bring it up so quickly.

“Yes.”

With a clear smile, Lucia nodded.

“I’m here to answer the question you asked me in the morning.”

She neatly arranged her hands over her knees. Her slightly pulled chin and gaze directed downwards.

Lucia, looking as if she had come to receive confession from a priest, quietly closed her eyes.

Her tightly shut lips fluttered.

“I love you.”

*

I love you.

Her words emerged from Lucia simply.

There were no elaborate phrases or embarrassing cuteness. Love you. Those five letters were all there was.

So plain it almost made me doubt if it was a joke.

However.

The deep longing pouring out from her blue eyes beyond the latticed confessional, which I had never seen before.

That simple confession resonated more profoundly than a hundred words embellished with emotion.

There was no need to ask who she was confessing to.

Just a few days ago, I was the one who had shared her bed.

In other words, Lucia was confessing to me right now.

“…Lucia.”

“Yes.”

“Are you being sincere…?”

“Yes.”

Her brilliant blonde hair swayed gently as she nodded.

“I’m serious, I’m speaking earnestly.”

I bit my scratchy lips tightly.

Lucia, who had delivered her confession earnestly, showed not a hint of hesitation.

Though she shyly averted her gaze due to a sudden wave of embarrassment, her voice and demeanor remained straightforward and composed.

A man who received a confession from a saint.

There are likely not many in Abas’s history, or even throughout the world, who have received a love confession from a holy figure.

Caught off guard by Lucia’s sudden confession, I was at a loss.

“…Since when?”

“Well….”

With her hands delicately placed on top of each other, Lucia fell into recollection. She fluttered her lovely eyelashes as she recalled the past.

“I can’t say exactly from which moment, but… I have liked you for a long time.”

“…So you don’t know specifically when it started?”

“Yes.”

She said she had liked me for a long time. That feeling, which possibly began as mere fondness, likely only changed to love quite recently.

There’s no specific event lingering in my mind.

But is love something that aligns like a mathematical formula with precise causality?

Love cannot be pursued by any leaps of logic.

It can flare up like a flame and instantly cool down, descend to the earth like an apple falling, arriving without reason, yet lose its purpose and move with inertia at times.

So, it is not strange that Lucia suddenly fell in love.

After all, I’m just an ordinary human, not some divine being to bewitched her.

However, something weighed on my mind, and despite Lucia’s courageous confession, I found myself unable to respond.

“……”

“What’s wrong? Did I do something wrong….?”

“No, Lucia, that’s not it. You did nothing wrong. It’s just….”

“Please tell me.”

“……”

I hesitated to speak, casting my gaze downwards.

“Gathering the courage to confess…”

“Thank you for your offer. But I don’t think I can accept it. I’m sorry, but I don’t think I can take your confession.”

“……”

Luchia’s breath caught at the clear rejection.

Her eyes widened, and it seemed she had even forgotten to blink.

She gazed at me silently through the confession booth.

She didn’t show anger, disappointment, or even a pout.

Instead, she maintained a thoughtful silence, and finally, after a long pause, she carefully posed a single question.

“…May I ask why…?”

“……”

Why?

There are many reasons.

The company’s regulations forbidding relationships with foreigners, the scrutinizing eyes of society, the subtle disconnect among our companions.

There are countless reasons floating in my mind, but one weighed heavily on my heart.

“I just worry that you might suffer because of me.”

The hardest part of love is that it’s a union between two people.

There’s no such thing as a one-sided affection where one person endlessly gives while the other simply receives.

Love means reciprocation—sometimes pouring back several times the affection received.

It may seem irrational, but it’s unavoidable.

You can’t apply logic to love.

“I’m just scared that you might go through hardships for my sake.”

Even loving between ordinary people isn’t easy; how much harder would it be for someone like me?

No matter how fond I am of Luchia, Veronica, or anyone else, it doesn’t matter. The conflicts between love and work for an Information Officer are oversaturated.

I knew this well because I was one of them.

“Really…?”

“Yes.”

“……”

Luchia fell silent, as if she’d never considered a reason like that before.

“…I never thought there could be such a reason. I’ve acted like a child again.”

“Well, you didn’t have to put it that way…”

“Still, I love you just the same.”

Luchia said.

“I know. There will be tough times. Days that are hard to bear, where we may end up resenting each other for the pain. I’ve felt that way when I lost someone dear to me.”

Her soft pink lips drew a smooth arc. A bright smile bloomed upon her face.

“Still, I believe.”

She stated.

“At this moment, I will never regret loving you.”

Then she stood up. Her face that had been visible through the lattice of the confession booth vanished.

The sound of the door opening and the sound of her shoes tapping on the wood followed as she stepped out of the confession booth.

In an instant, I didn’t even think to comprehend what was happening.

Creeeak, with a wail from the old hinge, the confession booth door swung open.

“Luchia?”

The person who opened the door was Luchia.

Stepping away from where the priest might sit, she opened the door to my space, gently holding her dress to avoid dragging it on the floor, and slowly walked in.

At last, the door closed, leaving us both in that small space.

A tiny confession booth, too small for even one person to enter comfortably. The golden sunset poured in through the confession window that hadn’t been completely shut.

Entering the cramped room, she drew me in, holding my hands. My hands lifted up without resistance.

With her soft, white hands, Luchia wrapped around mine, her blue eyes shimmering as she smiled gently.

“So, I’ll confidently say whenever you need me to.”

She confessed.

“I truly love you.”

Her calm voice matched the sincerity of her simple confession.

There were no embellished phrases or heartfelt tears, yet.

In the confession booth, illuminated by the radiant sunset, the smile of Luchia, glowing with blue eyes more vibrant than the sea of Jerusalem, was utterly poignant.

*

After that, nothing much happened.

Like birds slowly meeting beaks, I held Luchia’s shoulders as our lips met.

Momentarily startled by the unexpected touch, Luchia shivered, but soon smiled softly and pressed her lips together again.

It was a static expression of affection, yet completely satisfying.

I lifted Luchia onto my lap while sitting in the cramped confession booth, pulling her thighs closer to me.

Our bodies pressed tightly in the narrow booth. It recalled the cramped confinement of the first time we fell asleep together. The shared trait of being an underappreciated location was merely a coincidence, but the situation was too exquisite.

Perhaps Luchia noticed this as well, for she shyly averted her gaze and pushed me away slightly. I buried my face in her nape and kissed her soft skin.

“Ah, that’s…?”

“Why?”

“If you do that, won’t it leave a mark…?”

“I’m doing it so it will.”

“…Huh?”

-♪

At that moment, the phone rang, filling the confession booth.

Luchia, who had been perched upon my lap, and I, who was kissing her neck, both flinched in surprise.

-♪

Startled like a drenched cat by the loud ringtone, Luchia scampered off my lap, beginning to fix her disheveled clothes and hair.

Hearing that ringtone, I suddenly thought of the Executive Director who called when something went wrong. I could tell he was urgently needing us to pop out. I remembered the last time I had to dash from my girlfriend’s house in Seoul to Gyeonggi-do because of him.

Why did he always cause such chaos after work hours?

“What the…?”

I turned my pockets inside out and irritably checked the caller ID.

With my brows furrowed, I sighed heavily and answered the call.

It was Francesca.

“Oh, Administrator! What brings you to call at this hour?”

On the other end of the line, a woman’s voice came through.

But something felt off.

No matter how much I listened, it didn’t sound like Francesca.

-‘Ah, ah! Got it!’

“…Camila?”

-‘Yes! It’s me!’

Flustered, I leapt up from my seat and grabbed the phone properly.

“What’s going on? Why are you, Camila, answering the Administrator’s phone?”

-‘Francesca is over there… No, that’s not the point right now…!’

From the other side, Camila’s frantic voice rang out.

-‘People here are collectively spitting blood!’

 

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