Don’t Be Holy! - Chapter 149

It seems he was the type to become stupid when flustered. While Eir narrowed her eyebrows in frustration, Abel began muttering to himself, trying to find his own answers.

“Yes. Come to think of it, they say witches these days have learned spells that don’t show pain. That’s why they don’t show much at checkpoints…….”

He was just like his brother.

In being foolish, that is.

Eir held his hand tightly so it couldn’t pull away and moved a little closer. Abel blushed at the unfamiliar proximity.

Even in the dark prayer room with only a couple of candles barely lit, his reddish cheeks and blue eyes surrounded by golden eyelashes, resembling Rubel’s, were clearly visible. Eir looked straight into those eyes and said:

“You know better than anyone that I’m not using any spells right now. You’re a priest, even if not quite as good as Rubel Shinote with his dog-like nose. It’s not that I’m enduring pain well, nor am I using spells—the divine power simply doesn’t affect me.”

Abel’s eyes became empty, as if facing an enormous puzzle.

“W-why is that?”

“Because I’m not a witch.”

“That’s impossible.”

He withdrew his hand and stepped back, greatly angered.

“You are a witch after all. As Father said, you’re a monster who tries to bewitch people at every opportunity. Just because I showed a little sympathy, you immediately come to spout nonsense. Are you saying everyone who has judged you to be a witch until now is a fool?”

She hadn’t expected to convince him with words anyway. Eir decided it would be better to show him directly, so she turned her palm upward and overlaid it with divine power. Sacred energy rose from her hand like a heat haze, emitting a white light.

Without realizing it, Abel slowly brought his hand over Eir’s. He could feel the clean energy spreading through his arm and throughout his entire body through his palm.

It wasn’t an imitation. Abel, being a priest, couldn’t possibly confuse this. This was real divine power. Perhaps even more excellent and complete than his own.

Seeing the change in Abel’s face, Eir slowly explained what had happened.

While purifying the north, she was attacked and fell off a cliff. Due to certain events, she fled and was living forgotten in people’s memories with the help of a witch.

But in the midst of that, she was captured by Rubel and ended up like this. She had a witch’s mark due to a witch’s curse, which caused the misunderstanding. As her explanations continued, they became more convincing.

And Abel couldn’t help but trust her because she mentioned that she had deliberately run away. She could have easily claimed to have lost her memory in such a situation, but instead chose to reveal her own wrongdoing.

Yet his mouth spoke differently, as if his mind and body were operating separately.

“How can I believe you?”

It wasn’t that he expected her to have a real answer; he was just raising objections because he couldn’t accept the situation.

But Eir abruptly answered as if she’d been waiting for this.

“Don’t you have a star-shaped mark on your chest?”

Abel was startled.

Very few people knew about that. After becoming a priest, Abel had always bathed alone without attendants, and before that, only his nanny had taken care of him.

He reflexively crossed his hands over his chest and backed away further. The pointed handle of a side table jabbed into the middle of his back.

“How do you know that?”

He was beyond bewildered. Why that, of all things? How?

Come to think of it, the woman had said people’s memories of her were erased by a witch. Could it be that he and the woman had been… that kind of relationship? Had he fallen into depravity without even remembering it? And with the woman his brother loved, no less?

Seeing Abel’s face soaking in shock and terrible regret from whatever thoughts were flashing through his mind in the blink of an eye, Eir hastily waved her hands and confessed the truth.