Don’t Be Holy! - Chapter 144

“…….”

A brief tension swept between them.

Abel stared at her eyes intently. As if he would reveal all the hidden truths within them.

Should she lie? Or should she confess the truth?

She was conflicted. Even if she lied, divine punishment would surely come, and Abel would notice. But that didn’t mean she could simply reveal the truth here. She was no longer afraid of the consequences, but she didn’t want Rubel to learn about it through someone else’s mouth.

He deserved to hear the truth from Eir’s own lips.

While Eir hesitated, Abel’s eyes narrowed further. His keen eyes, resembling his brother’s, became more persistent in uncovering the truth, and just as he was about to reach it—

“How I’ve been living isn’t important.”

Eir abruptly withdrew. Abel frowned as if asking what she meant, and faced her determined expression.

“What are you saying?”

“The reason you came to find me was to convince me to stop Rubel from undergoing the Purity Rite, wasn’t it? Shouldn’t it be more important to take me to the Central Temple right now?”

But Abel, who had expected her to thank him for bringing up the matter, trembled as if he had been insulted.

“I’m not that kind of person. My brother kept you here despite all criticism, and I won’t ruin that with my own hands.”

“Then you’re just going to let Rubel go through with the ceremony? Even though you’re family?”

“That’s my brother’s decision to make.”

“It’s not a decision he should make! Rubel is an idiot!”

Eir’s voice rose in frustration, and Abel’s face went blank at suddenly hearing his revered brother called an idiot.

‘This woman!’

Calling someone an idiot when he’s doing his best for her! Even for a witch, this seemed too much. His fists clenched tightly, but the woman showed no sign of stopping and continued speaking.

“Do you really think that’s something a sane person would do? Rubel has completely lost his mind. He only sees what’s right in front of him. Who knows whether he’ll come back alive from there or not? Why is he so certain by himself?”

Abel’s face turned pale with anger.

“Because my brother has never committed any sin except loving you. If anything, he’s been more holy than many high priests.”

“What I mean is—”

“He must have gained confidence while keeping you in his heart. He would have known enough that you weren’t terrible enough to lead him to death. That’s why he made that choice.”

You, idiot.

This time, Eir felt a sudden urge to say that to Abel.

When he should be working desperately to save his brother, he was doing the exact opposite. Does honor put food on the table? Why doesn’t he think at all about how unfair it is for his brother to suffer such pain because of some strange witch?

While Eir, the person directly involved, found the situation frustrating and insane, did his family think it was acceptable for Rubel to endure such suffering for the sake of honor?

“Take me to the Central Temple. I’m more terrible than he thinks. Something serious could happen. Why do you think your brother knows everything? I might have been manipulating him to win his favor.”

“I don’t think taking you there would change my brother’s stubbornness.”

“But—”

At that moment, from far away, someone’s voice calling Abel and footsteps could be heard.

“Young Master Abel! Are you alright!”

It was the butler’s voice. Moreover, judging by the clanking of armor with each footstep, it seemed knights had also rushed here.

Abel sighed. After Abel had been gone for a long time, the impatient butler must have reported to the acting head, Duke Andreas, that Abel had gone to meet the witch, and the duke, alarmed, had ordered the barrier to be removed.

He seemed to have sent several knights to find Abel as well.

Abel quickly stood up and walked toward them to show he was fine. But among the group was someone Abel had not expected at all.

“F-Father.”

Duke Andreas was approaching with a terrifyingly stern expression.

As soon as he saw Abel, he grabbed his shoulders and looked him over as if checking for any abnormalities.

“Father, I’m alright—”

“Such a reckless child! What were you thinking coming here alone!”

“I was just talking to her briefly.”

Abel replied in a gentle voice. But Duke Andreas, seemingly horrified by the fact that his third son had almost fallen into the witch’s grasp, closed his eyes tightly and only after a while loosened his grip on Abel’s shoulders.

Then, with a resolute expression, he began striding toward where the witch, Eir, was.

Sensing something ominous, Abel belatedly followed, but it was already too late. Duke Andreas slapped Eir across the face, and she collapsed sideways to the floor.

“Father!”

A shocked Abel called out and grabbed his arm, but Duke Andreas merely looked down at Eir with contemptuous eyes.

“Although I’ve kept you here at Rubel’s request, I cannot stand by and watch as you try to get your hands on my other son. Stay quiet. I don’t want to be violent, you see.”

“Father! It’s not like that—I came to her because I wanted to know what kind of woman she was…….”

“What if she manipulated you into thinking that way?”

It was a ridiculous claim. The duke himself had ordered that dark magic be completely blocked in this area.

Abel recognized from the duke’s steady gaze that he hadn’t struck the woman out of fear-induced irrationality toward witches, but rather as an example to punish Abel for coming here on his own.

With those final words, Duke Andreas turned and strode away. He shouted orders to post guards to prevent Abel from coming here again and to seal the floor with a curtain of light.

Abel could say nothing as he watched the fallen woman place a hand on her cheek, and was dragged away by the butler.

***

Contrary to what many people worried about, Rubel was getting along quite well in prison.

Of course, there weren’t any special privileges. It was just that he had seen much worse, so spending a few days in prison wasn’t that terrible.

‘This is nothing compared to St. Raphael’s Week.’

All clerics must spend one week every three months without sleeping properly, eating properly, and dedicating themselves to prayer; anyone would agree that this prison life was much more comfortable than that.

‘The problem is that that tiny woman keeps flashing before my eyes……’

Rubel sighed softly and pressed his throbbing head.

He had no idea how many more days he would have to go without seeing her. It would be better if he could undergo the Purity Rite quickly, but unhelpful people kept delaying it by holding meetings here and there, claiming they wanted to dissuade and convince him.

Just a moment ago, Petro had visited again and lectured him.

‘You’ve always been fearless, brother. That was good sometimes, but not now. No one can guarantee how things will turn out. Are you really going to throw everything away for a woman you barely know?’

Rubel could tell how much Petro had been running around trying to stop this from the lengthy speech he delivered. Many of the words and sentences from the people who had visited him overlapped with what Petro had said.

Whether someone had influenced someone else, or they had held a collective meeting to persuade him, it didn’t matter much.

‘But Petro would surely have gone to see Abel, so why is it so quiet from that end?’

Rubel bit his lip anxiously.

He knew Abel wasn’t weak-willed enough to be swayed by Petro’s words. But considering this matter was related to a witch, he couldn’t predict how Abel would react.

‘What if Abel went home and met Eir? What if Eir found out about all of this?’