Don’t Be Holy! - Chapter 138

Abel remained quiet for a while after hearing the story.

In any case, Petro’s unemotional account was quite convincing. He had said he would stay silent out of loyalty to his brother, but in truth, considering his position as a priest, remaining quiet like this felt like avoiding what had happened.

Perhaps he could at least go and see what kind of woman she was, how terrible a witch she might be?

As Abel considered it, he seemed to be the most suitable person in the house for this task.

His father, Duke Andreas, had permitted this matter surely out of nothing more or less than loyalty to his son, just like Abel himself. Whatever happened, true to his nature of ignoring things first before anything else, even with that witch in the house, there would certainly be no change as he would pay her no attention. His mother would have collapsed, and his eldest brother would be delighted to have found Rubel’s weakness without properly examining what kind of witch she was.

Therefore, Abel was the only one who could objectively assess the witch.

Petro left without receiving a definite answer despite his long persuasion, but his words had certainly tilted Abel’s heart in one direction.

‘Yes. Let’s go and check. Perhaps this might help my brother more than staying quiet.’

Having reached this conclusion, Abel soon informed House Shinote that he would be coming, and his request to leave for home after a long time was naturally accepted by the temple.

Even if he hadn’t had the very interesting duty of personally verifying the “Rubel’s woman” rumor circulating within the temple.

And so, amid everyone’s welcome rather than anyone’s opposition, Abel headed home after three years.

Abel arrived home a day after the letter announcing his visit to House Shinote had arrived.

Magnus was nowhere to be seen, perhaps sent elsewhere by their father, and his mother, with a face clearly showing signs of illness, personally came to the entrance to greet her youngest son whom she hadn’t seen in a long time.

Duke Andreas embraced his son lightly, saying he was welcome, and after Abel respectfully greeted him, he used his healing power for his mother. Abel even escorted his mother to her room and engaged in trivial conversation about how he had spent the last three years, soothing her heart.

It was a surprising display of patience.

While riding in the temple’s carriage, Abel’s mind had been filled only with thoughts of the witch who had bewitched Rubel.

No, even while conversing with his mother, those thoughts still occupied his mind.

He simply didn’t want to disrupt a household that had already been completely turned upside down once because of Rubel by visiting after three years, and his kind heart made him patient, not wanting to break the peace they were desperately maintaining.

Only after finally comforting his mother did Abel ask the butler:

“Where is that woman?”

Despite the sudden question, the butler was naturally unsurprised.

The household members had been cautiously watching each other out of anxiety about living in the same house with a witch. They had barely managed not to show it, as befitting servants of a duke’s household, but they had been hoping and waiting for the third young master, who was a priest, to come and protect them.

“She’s upstairs.”

“Upstairs? Come to think of it, she would be where my brother stays.”

Though logically it made sense, deep in his heart, he couldn’t accept that a witch was freely moving about on the floor where his brother stayed, and his expression immediately soured.

Having always been unable to properly hide his emotions since childhood, everything showed on his face, and the butler looked at the third young master with loyalty, as if seeing the most reliable person.

“Yes. Would you like to see her now?”

Abel hesitated briefly. After all, his brother had brought her home as a guest, and it seemed impolite to barge in like entering a crime scene.

“No. We should notify her first. Tell her a guest has arrived and requests to see her briefly.”

“Yes.”

The butler nodded, then paused with a colorless expression, rolling his eyes. Abel, having lived here as the third son of House Shinote, immediately noticed something strange about this.