The Saintess and the Villainess

Chapter 45

The next morning, Eva awoke with a headache.

She briefly considered banishing the hangover with magic, but she resisted the temptation. That kind of magic, the sort of magic that directly affected the human body, came with a cost. Eva knew well enough to choose her actions carefully in that regard.

So instead she headed to the kitchens where she whipped up her family's old hangover cure.

Two raw eggs. Pickle juice. A dash of vinegar. A whole anchovy.

Eva didn't have a lot of memories from when she still lived with her family. Not only was she very young, but that period of her life was... unstable in many ways that made it difficult to clearly distinguish one event from another in her mind.

But one memory she could recall clear as day was a memory of being very small and standing on a wooden stool in the kitchen while her father shouted instructions for how to make this drink.

The counter was higher than she could comfortably reach, even with the stool. She had to strain to crack the egg into the glass.

"Oh come on, you got eggshells in there, you dumb bitch!" her father had shouted. "Can't you do anything right! Get a new glass and start over."

Eva, her hand covered in egg, carefully got down and moved the stool back over to the other cabinet. With her father still grumbling at her from his seat at the kitchen table, Eva climbed back up again, and she reached up and up, trying to get another drinking glass. Her finger just brushed against the glass when she felt the stool shift out from under her and she fell and—

Eva downed the whole drink in one go, anchovy included. Then she went to find Anne.

None of the kitchen staff had even acknowledged her while she was in there. Other then one or two nervous glances, they had stayed out of her way.

Eva was used to that.

The various acolytes and clerics Eva passed in the hallway would at most nod at her and then hurry on their way.

Within the Church of Coris there were rigid and well-defined rules about how to interact with others based on their position in the church hierarchy. Following these rules meant that there were very few occasions where you risked offending someone who had power over you.

But Eva was someone with an enormous amount of undefined power that existed beyond her official rank in the church.

That unclear position was very useful for Eva's purposes, since it meant she could ignore most of the rules herself and act in ways that would usually be beyond her official church role.

However, it also meant that, for the most part, other people had no idea how to interact with her. That was why they all acted nervous around her and did their best to avoid her when possible. They didn't know how they were supposed to talk to her, so they mostly just... didn't.

Eva was fine with that.

Eva finally arrived at Anne's chambers, where she knocked quietly before opening the door and heading inside.

Anne was still asleep, although it was pretty late in the morning. When Eva walked in, Anne stirred, propping herself up on her elbows and blinking blearily.

"Hmm?" said Anne.

Then, as she woke up more fully, Anne visibly recognized her friend, and her face lit up. She smiled wide and said "Eva! Good morning!"

This was why Eva didn't care if she was ignored or feared or even hated by everyone else in the world.

If Anne was the only one who ever greeted her with a smile and a kind word, that would be enough for Eva.