Chapter 33: The Quiet Woman

The rustling sound of the breeze sweeping the fallen leaves awoke Felix from his deep slumber. He gently touched the twin bite marks on his pale neck, feeling a faint pain. The strange sensation of blood being sucked out of his body by Mrs. Ireland seemed to linger around him, yet the woman he was enamored with had already left.

Two young nuns with slightly flushed faces and innocent looks walked into the room with delicate steps, their eyes shimmering with shyness and a hint of spring. They had listened to the sounds of intense lovemaking outside the door all night long. They tenderly dressed Felix, who was completely naked, in a snow-white ceremonial robe. He was now the officiating priest of Saint Erde Cathedral, belonging to the Notre Dame Judicature Department, holding a status equivalent to a judge in the Vatican's Sacrament Department!

The room was still filled with the scent of aphrodisiacs, but Felix's mind was clear, like a serene spring. He hung a pendant of the Virgin Mary, with one wing of an angel and one of a demon, around his neck, and slowly stepped out of this unforgettable room.

"Close Saint Erde Cathedral for a week," Felix said calmly, looking at the fourteen nuns waiting in the chapel's prayer room. Like the cathedral, they were all treasures left to him by Mrs. Ireland; he could freely dispose of everything about them, including their lives!

Looking at these docile, lamb-like nuns, Felix fell into a silent contemplation before finally taking out the "Holy Cross – Teachings" from a hidden compartment in the confessional. These nuns were sheep tamed by Mrs. Ireland; their souls and faith belonged to her, and now, to Felix!

"Starting today, I will teach you the most profound techniques of the Holy Light. The best among you will study the 'Judgement of the Lord' with me."

Mrs. Ireland did not need the power of these sheep, but Felix did. He handed the "Holy Cross – Teachings" to the leading nun and then calmly said, "From today on, I may require your physical devotion at any time."

.........

Saint Erde Cathedral, Confessional.

A refreshing fragrance stirred Felix from his contemplation. He looked up to see a beautiful woman who had appeared before him at some unknown time. Her delicate face was as cold and clear as ever. She stood quietly, her eyes softly fixed on the goose feather pen in Felix's hand.

Felix rubbed his face, trying to squeeze out a smile for the cold woman in front of him. He had just been pondering a question about the Holy Light grafting technique related to the "Holy Cross," so he hadn't noticed the woman's arrival.

The "Holy Cross – Teachings" in front of him was filled with annotations, marked with numerous circles and dots. Felix poured some grape wine used for Mass into an exquisite enamel crystal cup and handed it to the beautiful woman, saying softly, "You're here."

Aurelia looked at the enamel crystal cup handed to her by Felix. He had just used it, and his lip prints were even still on it. She slightly frowned her slender eyebrows but hesitated for a moment before accepting it. "Are you not happy?"

Felix lifted the wine bottle in his hand and took several large gulps. He had a good tolerance for alcohol, and the grape wine infused with the Holy Light was not likely to make him drunk.

Felix sat down, smiling and gazing at the beautiful woman with a delicate face in front of him—the woman who had placed a sword against his neck the first time they met. In fact, he had thought he had encountered a legendary female beast at that time, but he didn't expect that this woman, who liked to solve problems with violence, would be so quiet and cold when not speaking.

"To live in this world alone, the greatest enemy is loneliness. If someone dispels your loneliness and then leaves, all that remains is a dead and silent heart…" Felix narrowed his eyes, his voice low and ethereal, sounding both sorrowful and mocking.

Mrs. Ireland was the only woman who had given Felix a sense of belonging in this world—a feeling not given to him by Fairmuth, nor by Lady Elizabeth. It was the sometimes crazy, advantage-taking vampire who had given him an illusionary sense of 'home.'

"I understand this loneliness…" Aurelia lifted the crystal cup to her lips and took a small sip from a spot untouched by Felix's lips. She opened her mouth, wanting to comfort the somewhat sad young man in front of her, but she didn't know how to phrase her words.

In fact, before she could finish, the corners of Felix's mouth curled up into a seemingly carefree smile. He wrote down the sentence he had just spoken in his not so beautiful but very expressive handwriting, then raised his head and looked at the delicate woman in front of him, raising his slender eyebrows and narrowing his eyes, "This is a poem I just thought of. What do you think?"

......

In this world, probably only Felix knows that the legendary "Knight of Light" - Aurelia, when silent, is a quiet woman with a somewhat cool demeanor.

She would come to the Saint Erde Cathedral on a warm sunny afternoon, dressed in her never-changing gray robe, standing quietly behind Felix, watching Felix, who is deep in thought at his desk, with a gentle gaze that no one else seems to understand. She's quiet and cool.

This woman, who holds a million Caesar gold coins and wants Felix to sleep with her; this woman, who blushes and shyly says, 'I want to have a beautiful child just like you'; this woman always surprises Felix. After reading a third-rate knight novel that Felix threw to her, she finally realized that you're supposed to fall in love before jumping into bed!

Although Felix doesn't expect her to change much, at least now when she asks Felix when he will sleep with her, she blushes, wrings her hands, her nose is covered with a layer of fine sweat, and her heartbeat and breathing quicken like a startled fawn. Felix thinks this is a good change.

A woman who is too cold or aloof, no matter how beautiful, can only stimulate a man's primal instincts.

After finishing his last subject of study, Felix stood up and stretched widely. He put down his quill, placed the textbook filled with dense text back in its original place, and turned to look at the silent woman sitting there. Her fair fingers still held the crystal cup, as if it had never moved. The only change was that the fine wine in the cup had been drunk up, and the sunlight shone on the light purple enamel crystal cup, refracting a brilliant light.

A quiet woman in a gray robe, a crystal cup dazzling under the sunlight; this should have been a humorous scene in the eyes of a realist artist, but it unexpectedly made Felix feel a breathtaking beauty…

Felix couldn't help but reveal a slight smile, warm as the winter sun. He reached out and took hold of the delicate woman, who was two heads taller than himself, shook the money bag full of yellow Caesar gold coins in his hand, squinted his eyes like a little fox that had gotten a great bargain, and said with a teasing smile, "Let's go. I'll treat you to a meal today."

"How about a candlelight dinner?"

Aurelia bit her lip, then looked helplessly at this little rascal who was holding her money bag and talking about treating her to a candlelight dinner...

For the first time, she felt the urge to bite someone.