Don’t Be Holy! - Chapter 141

“You’re alive!”

Despite being the one who had collapsed, Abel grabbed her arms in excitement upon seeing Eir’s face.

Then he muttered frantically things like, ‘If you had died, my brother wouldn’t have left any of us alone,’ and ‘Thank goodness, thank goodness.’ showing how much he seemed to fear Rubel.

Only after the wave of relief had washed over him did he belatedly realize he was affectionately holding the witch’s arm, and his body stiffened. He hastily put on a serious face and removed his hand.

“Ahem.”

Filling his artificial cough with awkwardness, he abruptly stood up and created distance between them. Eir quietly watched as Abel, who had moved to the sofa across from her, put on the calm demeanor of a priest once again.

It was both fascinating and somewhat bitter to see Abel, who had been like a child just over ten years ago, now adopting the formal and superficial appearance of any other priest.

No, actually, looking back, the problem wasn’t Abel, but Eir herself.

Abel had grown admirably as a priest, while Eir had broken down and run away.

“In any case, I’m glad you’re safe.”

Abel quickly overcame the embarrassment of having grabbed the witch and talked about his brother. Looking again, he noticed that contrary to his initial worry, the woman appeared quite healthy. Although she didn’t look like a witch, in truth, Abel, who had always lived in the peaceful temple of the capital, was seeing a witch for the first time.

‘So that’s why my brother warned me to be careful of witches.’

Abel recited his brother’s warning like a holy text, though it might seem meaningless now that he had fallen for the witch. To Abel, Rubel was an unchanging object of respect.

Even though rumors were circulating that he had been bewitched by a woman or a witch.

Looking at the witch’s blank expression, whose thoughts were hard to read, Abel spoke:

“You must be very upset about what happened in this mansion, but I hope you can overlook it. The family members are not at fault. I hope you’ll convey that to my brother when you see him later.”

“Eh? What do you mean……?”

Whether she truly didn’t understand or was a high-level manipulator wanting Abel to speak the wrongdoing himself, Abel answered earnestly with a slight bow of his head as he apologized:

“About keeping you confined to this floor. And not providing you with food, I’m told. The butler only found out about it belatedly. Still, somehow…… you seem to be doing well.”

Eir finally recalled how every time she had sneaked downstairs to get food in the early morning, she had felt something strange yet familiar.

The sensation of a soft, thick invisible curtain brushing against her body was what one felt when passing through a barrier created with divine energy.

But until then, Eir hadn’t thought at all that it was meant to block her. She had simply assumed that was how this house was and had sneaked in and out without question.

She had even felt guilty while stealing food.

“But how are you so…… normal? Did my brother anticipate all this and leave some food behind?”

That couldn’t be.

But Eir didn’t want to lie, so she just smiled ambiguously.

Abel, assuming she had survived by eating scraps of jerky or something similar left by his brother, nodded.

“My brother is a thorough person, after all.”

Eir rolled her eyes. It felt strange to learn that a once-close friend was Rubel’s brother. Of course, Abel wouldn’t have any idea who Eir was due to the grandmother’s curse.

Eir looked around and belatedly noticed the mess she had left. Books she had secretly brought from the study to read were scattered everywhere.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I…… had nothing to do, so I read some books.”

She began to gather and stack the books in one place. Abel shrugged as if it were nothing and replied:

“They’re books my brother collected, so you may touch and read them however you wish. As if these books would be a problem. My brother is even willing to risk his life for you.”