Chapter 22 Strange girl
The priest stared at her for a long time. Levi’s upper body was exposed, her breasts covered with a white cloth lining, as was customary among women. He swallowed as an uneasy thought crossed his mind—had the girl forgotten that he was a man, and more than that, a priest? Such an act, he knew, could only provoke sinful thoughts within his mind.
He removed his gaze from her body, clearing his throat in discomfort. He busied himself with arranging the medicine to be used for the wound dressing. He had been mentally trained for many years on how to avoid such temptations, there was no way he would fall for it.
“You should cover your body,” he said at last, suddenly adopting a serious demeanor. Gone was the priest who teased Levi.
“Why? I am badly wounded,” said Levi, still oblivious to how much her little act had tormented the priest. “You can’t dress my wound with my clothes on.”
“That doesn’t mean you should strip naked in front of a priest,” he spoke calmly while mixing some medicine in a small round plate.
Levi stared at him for a moment and then chuckled, surprised that he used the word priest, as if she herself wasn’t a priestess or hadn’t sworn the same vow of celibacy. Her chuckle died down instantly, just as it came, and she frowned at him.
“I am not naked! I only exposed my upper body. I am wounded, and I need to breathe!”
The priest did not reply but continued mixing the medicine. Levi let out a deep sigh and rolled her eyes. She really wasn’t in the mood to argue or even talk with anyone.
“Just tell me what to do, and I’ll dress the wound myself,” she said, resting her head on the wall, wincing in pain.
She gazed up at the evening sky, which had begun to darken, and felt a bit of relief. The day had turned out to be the longest day she had ever had, filled with many chaotic events—starting from the strange dream she had in the morning, to the killing of the sacrificial beast, and then Evie being tied to the olive tree. Even though she had actually enjoyed the gruesome sight of Lord Tristan skinning the girl alive, deep down she also cared about Evie and felt that the High Priest had gone too far by deciding such cruelty as a means of punishment. Still, Levi was grateful to her stars that she wasn’t the one being skinned alive instead.
Not to forget the excruciating wound the beast had inflicted on her arm with its antlers. It was a good thing the chaotic day was coming to an end. She wondered how her family’s reaction would be when they saw her not just wounded, but in a prison cell. Her family would…her family? Wasn’t she supposed to go meet them down the mountain, just like the other young priests?
“My family!” she panicked, forcing herself up so she could go meet them, but the priest held her down immediately.
“What is it?” he asked in concern. “You have lost a lot of blood. You need to relax.”
She shook her head, crying as the priest held her down. “No, you don’t understand. Today is the day we are allowed to visit our families—the only day in the entire year. They must have been waiting for me since morning.”
“Calm down, Levi,” he said quietly and sighed. There was something Levi did not know, and he hoped she would take it lightly. “The High Priest ordered them sent away due to the issue at hand. I’m sorry, but you’re now a prisoner. You can’t visit them.”
He expected Levi to cry further at his words, or even scream and curse, but instead the girl relaxed her tensed shoulders and her expression shifted from worried to her usual unreadable calm. He gazed at her for a moment to be sure she was truly fine and not simmering with quiet anger, before standing up, his head almost grazing the top of the cell.
“Your wound has to be cleaned first before applying the medicine. You’re lucky it’s not too deep. I’ll be right back,” he said, and left the prison yard. He returned after a while with a bowl of water and a towel.
He sat beside Levi and held her arm, inspecting the wound.
“This might hurt, but try not to scream,” he warned.
He soaked the towel in the steaming water and pressed it directly onto the wound. Levi tried—really hard to swallow the pain, but it was unbearable. She gripped the priest’s hands, shaking in pain as tears slid down her cheeks.
“Just skip this part and apply the medicine to my wound.”
“It’s for your own good,” the priest assured her, placing the towel deeper into the wound to clean out the coagulated blood and restore circulation for faster healing.
The pain stung fiercely, and she cried aloud, trying in vain to suppress her voice with the back of her hand, but it did little to help. The pain was unbearable, and at that point she wondered how Evie was faring. Evie’s wounds could not be compared to hers, so Lord Tristan clearly had not been exaggerating when he said the girl was close to death.
As the priest soaked the towel in the steaming water and pressed it to her arm for the third time, Levi suddenly snapped and flung the bowl toward the door in anger, spilling the water across the floor.
“Elric!!” she screamed, and he could have sworn he saw her eyes flash for a second. The steaming water narrowly missed him, and he silently thanked his stars it hadn’t landed on him.
“I told you to skip the stupid water and apply the medicine to my fucking wound!”
The priest stared at her in shock, speechless. He had never seen this side of Levi before. She had always been reserved and calm, avoiding conflict and anger.
“Alright! I understand. Besides, the water is already spilled,” he replied hastily, watching as Levi focused on her breathing, forcing herself to calm down. The tremor in her hands spoke volumes of the restraint she was forcing upon herself, and it did not escape the priest’s notice.
He poured the medicine mixture into her wound. She didn’t even wince or show any sign of pain, despite the medicine’s properties causing intense burning upon contact. It seemed the anger had completely overtaken her senses. He quickly placed a special ground leaf onto the wound and bandaged it with a clean piece of cloth.
When he was done, he returned the medicine bottles to the box and stood up immediately.
“I’m leaving now, and for your sake, I won’t lock the cell door. If you need anything else, come to me,” he said, then walked out.
Levi did not reply or thank him. She simply stared up at the sky, frowning deeply.
The priest glanced back at her one last time before leaving the prison yard. In all his life, he had never encountered a girl as strange as Levi—one with such a dark heart.