Holy Night: My Husband is Definitely a Paladin - Chapter 15
Translated by Elphie
“Oh my, Irene! I’m really sorry. I was so excited to see you and ended up bumping into you. Are you okay? Can you get up?” Wilhelmina extended her hand, looking genuinely apologetic.
However, even as she seemed unsure of what to do, her eyes were still fierce, unable to completely hide her true feelings.
Ignoring Wilhelmina’s outstretched hand, Irene pushed herself to her feet.
‘I’m seeing this one again.’
The only difference was that now, this person was no longer someone Irene was happy to see.
Wilhelmina and Irene have known each other for quite some time. She lived right next to the Count Rhodiam’s estate.
‘We used to get along quite well when we were children.’
Like Irene, she was adopted by nobles when they discovered she had the power of purification. However, unlike Irene, Wilhelmina seemed to be fairly content with her life.
“Living as a pauper would have been miserable. How fortunate is it to be adopted by a noble family? You should be thankful to the Count as well.”
Wilhelmina would often say such things to Irene during their basic training sessions to become purifiers.
Two years older than Irene, she had her purification ability assessed at the temple as soon as she became an adult.
‘She was a Grade 5 purifier.’
Her unremarkable purification ability, neither exceptionally high nor low, left her in a somewhat ambiguous position.
‘It would be a waste to discard someone with her ability, but she also wasn’t powerful enough to be worth anything substantial.’
Nobles usually don’t send high-ranked purifiers off to other households. Children born from a purifier have a high chance of being a purifier themselves, so they keep their daughters at home while arranging marriages for them.
‘But Wilhelmina didn’t belong to either side, so she constantly struggled to find her place even in circles of nobility.’
Worried that she might be sold to an old man wanting a purifier, Wilhelmina always hoped to encounter a skilled knight in the dungeon and formally marry him.
“I tried purifying beforehand by getting some demon blood myself. They said I must at least be Grade 3. With that rank… even if I can’t catch a royal, I should be able to enter a powerful household. Surely, the person who becomes my pair will be a noble. Even after dungeon conquests, I should be able to keep my pair. Then, I can become a proper lady.”
Wilhelmina had confidence in her abilities. The higher the grade of a purifier, the greater the likelihood of being paired with a knight from a more influential family, and there’s a higher chance of the pair lasting even after dungeon conquests. It might even lead to a permanent marriage rather than just a temporary pair.
However, she was classified as a Grade 5 purifier. After the first dungeon conquest, her partner declared the end of their pair. Twice now, Wilhelmina has had her contracts terminated shortly after a single expedition.
‘So, this year, she was even more nervous.’
Wilhelmina had cried out in frustration before Irene, not understanding why her pairs ever lasted. Irene could guess at the reason as she watched Wilhelmina throw things in a fit, but she kept her mouth shut.
Because if Irene told her what it was, it would be Irene, not the maid, who would get the flower vase thrown at her.
And this year, more than anyone else, Wilhelmina was curious about the grade Irene would receive.
The moment Irene’s Grade 10 rank was confirmed, Wilhelmina genuinely smiled like she was truly relieved. It was obvious from that smile that she sincerely believed that Irene shouldn’t be happier than she was.
As Irene reminisced about her past life with Wilhelmina, she heard her whisper in a small voice, “Irene, what happened?”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re Grade 9, right? And how did you become Sir Michael’s pair?”
The inquisitive tone in Wilhelmina’s voice made Irene giggle.
“To ask that before even saying hello, you must have been really curious.”
Irene laughed at Wilhelmina’s sudden and transparent attempt at friendliness.
Wilhelmina, on the other hand, looked at Irene in bewilderment.
‘Did I eat something wrong? Why is she like this?’
Wilhelmina vividly remembered the last time she saw Irene—how relieved she was to see Irene’s world crumbling as the priest declared her Grade 10 rank.
‘If her rank had been higher than mine, it would have been unbearable.’
The lives of purifiers are drastically shaped by their grades. After years of treating Irene like a servant under the pretense of teaching her, Wilhelmina wouldn’t have been able to stand the idea of Irene looking down on her because she had received a higher rank.
But with Irene being Grade 10, Wilhelmina believed that their positions would remain unchanged in the future.
‘But why!’
As soon as the banquet began, Wilhelmina quickly made a pre-arranged contract with a knight she had identified beforehand and left the venue. He seemed fitting for her conditions, and the knight, being receptive, didn’t hesitate to spend the night with her.
The next morning, Wilhelmina woke up to find the entire fortress turned upside down.
‘It’s strange enough that her grade went up, but to be paired with Sir Michael?’
That was shocking enough, but when Wilhelmina learned that Irene’s quarters were the most spacious and luxurious room worthy of even Grade 1 purifiers, her mind truly flipped.
While Wilhelmina was struggling with the absurdity and her irritation, a servant came up to her and whispered:
“Our mistress specifically requests your presence.”
On the servant’s chest sparkled the emblem of the Visconti royal family. She was Princess Cecilia’s maid.