Chapter 6: The Nun and the Bathroom

“The hot water is ready.”

Vivian’s eyes flickered with a hint of panic as she stammered,
“You can use it first, Sister.
I’ll go get you some clean clothes.”

“Thank you.”

Evelyn looked at her with a playful smile.

Even though more than ten minutes had passed since they left the greenhouse, the little maid still hadn’t calmed down.

But her reaction was too standard.
So standard it seemed unnatural.

“Then… I’ll go fetch the clothes.”

Vivian bowed slightly to take her leave.

“Mhm, go on.”

Evelyn replied.

Only after Vivian left did she finally have time to take in the bathroom.

Even though most of the mansion had been abandoned, and the Grian family had been in decline for over forty years, this central living area still revealed a trace of their former glory.

The bathroom was absurdly large.
To call that bath a bathtub was wrong — it was basically a swimming pool.

The tiles covering the walls were patterned with thorned roses, shimmering faintly gold beneath the warm lighting.
Just the craftsmanship alone said enough — every tile must have cost a fortune.

And the pillars — carved with ivory-white reliefs of holy angels, as if the work of a master sculptor.

In Evelyn’s memory, only her own home… no, the original Evelyn’s home… had a bathroom this extravagant.

As for her current self?
To get away from the Nidhogg family, she lived crammed into a shabby rental no bigger than a shoebox — barely a tenth the size of this bathroom.
The bed alone took up most of the room.
Forget a bathtub — that tiny apartment didn’t even have a shower stall worth mentioning.

Why didn’t she live at the church?

Sure, Sin Nuns handled all the dirty work, but the Church still provided them with decent dorms — symbolically, at least.
After all, Sin Nuns died at an alarmingly high rate.
Providing housing barely cost the Church anything — today’s resident could be tomorrow’s corpse, and then the room just got reassigned.

The real reason was simple:
Living in the Church meant Evelyn would have to perform the gentle, demure nun act every waking second.

And though they didn’t expect flawless virtue — a Sin Nun only needed to obey the bare minimum of doctrine — Evelyn’s personality was terrible.
In private, she smoked, drank, and played with guns.
She had broken nearly every regulation except the one about maintaining chastity.

Being stuck in the Church all day listening to those superstitious idiots preach rules?
Not freedom at all.
Better to kill her.

Besides, she used to be a man!

If she had to live in a dorm surrounded every day by young, beautiful nuns, she would absolutely lose her mind.

Well… she was already halfway there.
A former wage s*ave who’d been suppressed for so long — now that she finally had the chance to unleash herself, why would she hold back?

Steam rose thick from the hot water, filling the room in a hazy, dreamlike mist.

Evelyn hummed as she peeled off her rain-soaked nun’s habit.
Then she untied the holster strapped to her right thigh and tossed it atop the wet clothes.

She owned a pair of matching revolvers.
The one she used on those gargoyles earlier only had two rounds left — enough for one more trigger pull.

“Mhm-hm-hm~”

She swept her long hair into a loose bun, then stepped into the bath on her toes.
Warm water wrapped around her skin instantly.

After being drenched by cold rain, the sudden heat sent waves of bliss straight from her skin to her brain.

“I finally understand why girls like soaking in baths.”

She leaned back at the edge of the pool, eyes narrowing in satisfaction.

Whether in her past life as a corporate wage s*ave or here in this Victorian-like world, Evelyn’s approach to bathing had always been the same — quick, efficient, mission-focused.

Both then and now, she had too much to do.
No time, no mood to enjoy these frivolous luxuries.

This was her first time truly relaxing in a bath.

She sprawled lazily against the bath’s edge, completely unladylike, radiating carefree debauchery.

Acting like a gentle nun was exhausting.
With no one watching, her natural boyish mannerisms surfaced instantly.

“Flap!”

Just as she was humming to herself, Puggy burst through the ventilation window, wings flapping, landing on the railing behind the screen.

“Anything?”

Evelyn’s voice echoed, soft and languid from the bath’s comfort.

“A-choo!”

The little blue bird shook its head and sneezed.
“That demonic stench is still really strong.
Especially here.
It’s making me allergic.”

This bird…
A demon… allergic to demonic scent.
Incredible.

“Nothing else?”

Evelyn turned, draping herself forward over the bath’s edge — her soft white chest squished against the stone, reshaped by her weight.

“Nope.
You already dealt with the gargoyles.”

Puggy bobbed its head.
Separated by the screen, it could only see her blurred silhouette against the mist.

“Those things?”
Evelyn drawled lazily.
“They didn’t feel like they came on their own.
More like someone tossed them in to test the waters.
But… I think I have a lead now…”

“A lead?”
Puggy flapped urgently.
“What lead—”

The question was cut off by approaching footsteps.
The useless little blue demon-bird flapped away in a panic, disappearing through the vent.

A few glowing blue feathers drifted down in the air.

Creak—

The door opened.

“Sister?”

Vivian peeked in with a neatly folded stack of clothes in her arms.
“I brought you clean garments.”

Steam clouded the room, Evelyn’s shadow hazy behind the screen as she reclined.

“Just leave them outside.”

Evelyn answered lazily.

“O-okay!”

Vivian carefully placed the clothing into an empty basket.
When she lifted her head, she noticed another basket — soaked nun’s habit and a holster sprawled atop it.

The ivory-white grip peeked out from the leather, gleaming like pearl in the light.

Vivian swallowed, eyes flickering with heat.

She had seen what that gun did to those gargoyles.
A specialized demon-killing weapon — Evelyn’s exorcism prowess relied heavily on it.

“I’ll wash your clothes for you.”

She blurted out.

“That’s very kind of you.”

Evelyn’s voice remained lazy.
“Oh, and…”

She paused, then continued.
“Don’t touch my gun.
It’s the only one I’ve got.”

Somewhere between a warning…
and a hint.

“O-okay!”

Vivian replied, but her restless fingers reached quietly toward the oversized revolver.

Behind the screen, Evelyn tilted her head, listening.
Only when the door creaked shut did she let a satisfied smirk surface.

“Mmm~”

She stepped out of the bath, wet footprints on the floor, stretching with a contented sigh.

But when she rounded the screen with a towel, her soft laugh came — exactly as expected.

The basket where the habit and gun had been was now completely empty.
Not just the clothes — the revolver had vanished too.

“Just as I thought.”

Still humming, she picked up the clean dress from the other basket.
“So impatient.
One little bait and she took the hook.
In the end, she really is just a demon.”

She slipped into the fresh black dress.
The skirt fell neatly, concealing the holster on her left thigh — and the ivory-bright grip beneath it.

She had never removed the second gun when she entered the bath.
The master-crafted revolvers were so well-made that soaking them wouldn’t impair them at all.

Leaving the nearly-empty one out there was simply a test.

“And now… the show begins.”

Evelyn fastened her belt and smiled.