Don’t Be Holy! - Chapter 161

Abel stopped a bit away to ensure Rubel couldn’t grab his collar and called him with a trembling voice.

“So you’ve come too, at last.”

Rubel sighed softly and raised his head. Abel met Rubel’s piercing eyes and involuntarily hiccupped. The sight of Rubel looking up at him with his crimson hair flowing down in the darkness, with those fierce eyes, made Abel’s bladder tremble.

Although Rubel had always shown respect and used honorifics since Abel became a priest, today seemed to be an exception. Abel bowed, thinking the reason he was acting this way was because everyone knew the sin he had committed.

“B-brother. I…….”

“Enough, just go back.”

He said, as if utterly disgusted.

Abel’s eyes widened at the sudden command to go back. Perhaps his brother already knew everything and had already begun working on rescuing that witch—no, the escaped priest?

“Have you already started looking?”

So he couldn’t help but ask in a dumbfounded voice. Rubel narrowed his fine eyebrows at the unexpected question.

“Looking for what?”

Caught off guard by the response that differed from his expectation, Abel couldn’t hide his confusion and retreated hesitantly.

“Huh? Umm? Then, what did you think I came here for?”

Sensing the conversation was going astray, Rubel examined Abel’s face carefully to determine what he had missed.

The progressively paling face. Knowing that he only acted so uniquely pathetic like this when he had done something wrong, Rubel pulled his chin down and clenched his teeth.

At first, he naturally thought Abel had gone to the mansion, confirmed Eir’s existence, and came unable to bear the fact that his brother had been bewitched by a witch, to tell him to send her away immediately and that going through with the Purity Rite was too reckless.

But he gradually realized that something had gone seriously wrong.

The worry he had once heard had actually come to pass.

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

“Did you tell Eir everything?”

Suddenly jumping up and approaching right up to the bars, Rubel shook the iron bars as if he might break through them. The sound of “clang” echoed up to the ceiling. Abel retreated back in fear, then barely gathered himself and stood straight.

“If you mean about the Purity Rite, yes, I told her.”

“How dare you…….”

“At first, it was out of concern for you, that’s right. I hated seeing you risking your life for that insignificant woman. But later, I had other thoughts too. Anyway, one-sided sacrifices aren’t good. The other person should know what the person who loves them is going through.”

Rubel gave a hollow laugh. He couldn’t understand why this ignorant priest was making such a rigid, correct statement.

His brief laugh vanished as his expression hardened, and he muttered in a low voice as if swallowing the words:

“Why should she know such things? That kind of righteous talk only works in balanced relationships. Compare Eir’s position and mine. Can you really say she’s in a more advantageous position than me? That woman is in a position no better than a rat. It’s obvious that she would lose her life if everyone were just a little careless. And in the midst of that, if she were to learn such facts…….”

Midway through speaking, Rubel’s face turned pale as if he had realized something. It wasn’t a face of terror or fear, but rather an ‘oops’ expression, the feeling of losing something precious that couldn’t be lost.

“So she came out?”

“…….”

“She must have asked you to take her outside. But why are you alone? What did you do wrong? Did you lose her?”

Those consecutive pressing questions seemed to choke Abel. He vaguely knew that his brother cherished that woman.

That’s why he went that far. But actually seeing his brother, he realized that he was more than just smitten—no, this couldn’t be called being smitten. It was more like something bigger, as if he had dedicated something.

Thinking that he had lost such a being, an overwhelming sense of guilt rushed over him. Unconsciously, as if escaping from that intense emotion, Abel found himself blaming his brother.

“I thought you knew. Why didn’t you station people at the house? If you knew her personality, preparing in advance is what you typically would do.”