It happened when she first heard him play the Harspiel. His deep, sensual voice stirred something in her heart that she never knew she was able to feel, a longing that went deeper than the one for books. She didn't understand it immediately, for it was a feeling foreign to her, but she hadn't read so many romance books (among all the others) for nothing: she had helplessly fallen in love with the High Priest.
She tried her best to keep her feelings to herself. It was strange and confusing, for someone who was once an adult and had never experienced even a crush, to be suddenly in love when her body was that of a child. However, try as she might to conceal her emotions, she was no match to the Chief Priest -her amazing Chief Priest- and soon he demanded her to explain why she had been acting weird for the past couple of weeks.
"I am in love with you." She said, after a long internal debate. She was no good at lying anyway. "I know you don't like little girls, but my feelings are pure, I am content just being close to you." She started giving reasons after reasons why he should not be grossed out by her, but the Chief Priest had long since stopped listening, as his brain was experiencing a momentary failure.
Epilogue - A few days later
"High Priest, can you explain what happened with that filthy commoner?" The High Bishop had urgently summoned Ferdinand after hearing from Delia.
"She committed a grave sin. I kicked her out of the temple, away from her books. We managed without her mana before, we can do it now as well."
"What could she have done graver than trying to crush me to death?"
Ferdinand tapped his temple, deeply thinking about it. "...indeed, she did that." He wondered if the punishment for having fallen in love with him might have been too severe. "...but she failed at it. Kicking her out was the right choice, afterall."
