NOVEL NEXT chapter 227
Chapter 227. Just Say It’s a Hobby Earlier!
Clotilde had never been a governess, but she could still pull off a serious and strict image if she needed to.
Nuns always gave off a feeling of gentleness and tenderness, filled with kindness and compassion. That was because nuns were facing lost lambs, faithful followers of the Goddess.
And besides a certain degree of light magic, they themselves don’t possess much combat power, so it’s normal for them to give off a fragile impression.
But Clothilde is different. She’s a combat nun who has undergone special training and education.
During her training, her instructors told her:
If a lost lamb is stubborn and about to commit a transgression, then being strict with them, even using violence, is permissible.
Of course, this is only for humans.
Non-human races don’t have this stage. If they’re stubborn, they’re directly judged as heretics, and that’s the end of their trial.
Actually, Clothilde should have been showing this kind of attitude towards Noah from the start, since he’s a priest who doesn’t believe in the Goddess.
But because Noah always sees her in an embarrassing state, and she’s forced to rely on him to alleviate the l*st/mark curse, Clothilde, knowing she’s in the wrong, has trouble assuming her proper demeanor.
This is mainly because her personality is too good. If she had a more malicious personality, she could have completely ignored Noah’s feelings and given him a cold face directly.
But now that Noah has explicitly said she needs to act strictly, she’ll just go ahead and do it, alright?
So, when the two left the cathedral and appeared on the streets of the water city,
the gentleness of her nun’s garb was completely gone from Clothilde’s stunningly beautiful face, replaced by a strong gaze and a solemn expression.
Even if people cast glances at her because of her clothing and sensual figure, she would immediately glare back at them with a terrifying stare.
That sharp and serious look, even through her black-rimmed glasses, could make anyone feel her overwhelming power. The current Clothilde, from any angle, was absolutely a stern older sister, difficult to feel any intimacy with.
Actually, the current Clothilde was wearing a black business jacket on top of what she had before.
Because she genuinely felt that simply wearing a white shirt that faintly revealed her underwear was a bit too frivolous, she had asked Noah to let her put on another layer.
If she had tied up that beautiful white hair, it would look even more mature, but in Noah’s eyes, that would look a bit too old. The current length was just right.
As for Noah, of course, he also changed out of his priest’s robes into an outfit that looked more like a scholar’s.
Anyway, Noah had told Clothilde from the beginning that he was a novelist who liked to observe people, so this type of outfit that also looked like a literary professional was not strange at all.
A person’s temperament can change; the key is that their mindset has to change first.
This, of course, was no problem for Noah.
Their destination was the residence of the Nelson Marquis, the most influential noble in the water city.
In the original work, that’s where a certain side quest was triggered.
Now, Noah was planning to exploit it.
As for Clothilde, she had no idea that Noah was leading her to do something bad.
When she saw the Marquis’s large mansion from afar, she couldn’t help but talk to Noah in a deliberately lowered voice:
“…Mr. Noah, is that hateful l*st/demon that feeds on my magic in that building?”
“It’s just a possibility. I told you, if you go there expecting to see it, don’t blame me if you’re disappointed; blame yourself.”
Noah’s face revealed a slightly frivolous smile as he denied her question.
This made a hint of displeasure appear on Clothilde’s face.
People on the street clearly changed their attitudes towards her now that she wasn’t dressed as a nun, but as a teacher.
But Noah, he didn’t seem to have any intention of respecting her at all.
Even though she was just in disguise, she felt like she totally had the qualifications to be a professional teacher, alright?
That said, Clothilde wasn’t about to start a fight with her teammate before their mission. She suppressed her irritation and walked shoulder to shoulder with Noah towards the mansion gates.
“Welcome, Mr. Noah. You are right on time. I’m sure my master will be very pleased with your promptness.”
Clothilde wasn’t surprised that the mansion’s butler knew Noah. In her opinion, Noah was like a person with connections everywhere; he seemed to know so many people.
At this point, if someone told her Noah was chatting and laughing with the princess, she wouldn’t even find it odd.
She just didn’t expect they’d be going straight to see the Marquis.
Could it be that Noah wanted her to be a tutor for the Marquis’s son?
That pervert wouldn’t have gone after the Marquis’s son, would he?
As Noah and her followed the butler and waited in the room for the Marquis to arrive, she was still feeling bewildered.
Come to think of it, she hadn’t even asked Noah what they were going to do, and she just trusted him and came along.
Was she being too trusting of Mr. Noah?
Only now did the nun start to question this fact.
But even when she sat on the sofa and asked Noah what they were going to do, Noah just smiled mysteriously and said nothing.
This only made her feel more like she had been tricked.
“…My apologies for the wait, Mr. Noah. Now, let’s discuss my husband’s situation.”
It wasn’t long before the mansion’s mistress appeared before Clothilde.
But it wasn’t the Marquis himself who appeared.
It was the Marquis’s wife.
A woman, clearly a noble lady in her forties, dressed in expensive clothing, sat across from Noah with a solemn expression.
Without questioning Clothilde’s presence, she immediately started talking about her husband, Marquis Nelson.
After about ten minutes, the Marquis’s wife got up, said “I’m counting on you,” to Noah and then left the room.
Finally able to talk, Clothilde naturally turned to Noah, who was sitting not far from her, and asked anxiously:
“What on earth is going on, Mr. Noah?! Are you telling me it wasn’t the Marquis’s son, but Marquis Nelson himself who was seduced by that pervert and has locked himself in his room for two days?!”
You couldn’t blame her for being agitated.
Because from what the Marquis’s wife had said, that was the only conclusion she could draw.
But that was really weird.
If it was the Marquis himself, why did she have to dress up as a teacher?
It wasn’t like the middle-aged Marquis wanted to learn something, right?
“Huh? When did I say the victim was the Marquis’s son?”
Noah leisurely lowered his teacup, responding to Clotilde with a relaxed air.
“Then what’s the point of me dressing like this?”
Clotilde leaned toward Noah, her body tilted forward, both hands resting on the sofa between them, a look of utter bewilderment plastered across her face, clueless as to the purpose of her disguise.
“Of course, it was so I could observe how Miss Nun reacted to playing a female teacher. The female teacher getup has absolutely nothing to do with this incident. Besides, with your appearance, you couldn’t really pass as anything else, could you?”
And when Noah, completely devoid of guilt, lightly uttered those words that wasted her feelings.
Clotilde was truly enraged to the point of grinding her teeth, a feeling she hadn’t experienced in a long time.
What the hell! She was over here trying to maintain the image of a female teacher!
And it was just for his personal amusement!?
Couldn’t he have just said so in the beginning!
It’s not like she wouldn’t have considered it!