Chapter 151
“I……”
Only after a moment passed could Eir finally speak. Realizing she had been in a daze, she corrected her words and straightened her back.
“It wasn’t fun. Whatever you think, I had my own circumstances, and you probably can’t understand them.”
“You call that an explanation!”
“And I think it’s the same for Rubel. That’s why I’m going to tell him properly. If he knows who I am, Rubel will call off the Purity Rite.”
Finally understanding Eir’s intentions, Abel calmed his excitement a little. While he regulated his breathing, Eir added one more clarification.
“And just because I’m returning to the Central Temple, I have absolutely no intention of going back to being a priest.”
“So you’re saying you’ll just be captured and receive punishment?”
“Yes. I’ve been trying to run away all this time. But living like this has come to an end too. It’s time to face things properly and find a way to live.”
Eir raised her eyebrows and then lowered them, as if the meaning of her own words struck her anew.
She never dreamed she would think this way. But after hearing that Rubel was insisting on holding the Purity Rite, Eir realized something too. Of course, she still thought the man was insane beyond redemption, and she hadn’t changed her mind that he was stubbornly doing something completely unnecessary, but regardless, his attitude had influenced her.
‘I guess Rubel Shinote really is Rubel Shinote after all.’
Even though she thought he had completely fallen when he was biting and sucking her body while saying lewd things, in the end, because of his very existence, Eir, who had planned to live as a fugitive her whole life, now stepped forward saying she would accept punishment herself.
While Eir was smiling bitterly with self-deprecating thoughts, Abel slightly doubted whether the woman was just saying pretty words, and felt sympathy for his brother who had agreed to undergo the Purity Rite after being played by such a wretched woman. But anyway, if they did as this woman said, they could stop Rubel’s ceremony.
However, there was one crucial obstacle.
“But how do we get there?”
“What?”
Eir furrowed her brows as if wondering why he was asking her. Well, if she had known, she wouldn’t have come all the way here looking for Abel, she would have gone by herself.
Abel reddened at her attitude, which seemed to question whether he really was the third young master of this household.
“We can’t get help from my father. Father won’t believe a word you say anyway. Plus, my brother entrusted you to Father.”
“What does that mean?”
The woman didn’t seem to understand what that meant. Well, having been imprisoned and slapped, she probably couldn’t imagine receiving any special treatment.
Abel averted his gaze for a moment, feeling awkward as he saw Eir’s cheek glowing bright red.
“That’s just how Father keeps his promises. Since my brother asked him to take care of you, he might keep you confined, but he won’t send you outside the house.”
“Are you saying he won’t consider any way to stop his son from risking his life on a reckless act?”
Eir found this family confounding, and Abel found Eir’s lack of understanding frustrating; thus they both found each other exasperating.
He explained slowly, as if to a child.
“Father trusts my brother terribly. Until now, my brother has never once disappointed Father. Under these circumstances, would Father reject my brother’s only request? Moreover, after failing to persuade my brother himself, he wouldn’t stand by and let some witch break my brother’s resolve.”
Only after this long explanation did Eir begin to understand what kind of person Duke Andreas was.
Well, his son is the famous Rubel Shinote. He probably knows better than anyone the value of what his son has accomplished so far and what he will accomplish in the future. Duke Shinote is thinking long-term.
To him, Eir was just a passing blemish, a stain that could be wiped away.
Yes. So that means she couldn’t safely and comfortably go to the Central Temple with Duke Shinote’s help. Well, it didn’t matter. Eir had Abel.
Eir waved her hand dismissively and focused on Abel in front of her.
“Anyway, you can sneak out of this place too, right? With money and this house full of people who trust you.”
But Abel was perplexed, as if hearing something he had never considered before.
“You’re asking me to sneak away with you?”
“Yes!”
How frustrating.
When Eir raised her voice, Abel’s delicate eyebrows curved in disbelief.
“What if you run away? I’m not naive enough to trust you completely just because you’ve shared your secret with me.”
Eir was momentarily surprised at how much Abel had changed from a decade ago.
Ten years ago, Abel was naive almost to the point of seeming mentally deficient.
“Yet there was a time when you believed everything people told you and suffered for it.”
When Eir muttered this, Abel was about to react with ‘When did I ever do that?’ but suddenly remembered something.
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