Chapter 18
He hadn’t said it outright, but it wasn’t hard to guess what he meant by a more delicate mucous membrane. Bezel was staring persistently at her parted lips, enough to make Eden feel embarrassed.
‘Inside my mouth…? H-he’s insane! He’s saying he wants to kiss me right now?’
Eden pushed him away, her face flushed red.
But something was strange. Eden wasn’t a woman with ordinary strength.
She could fling demons aside, and even lift and throw a grown man with one hand. But strangely, Bezel didn’t budge in the slightest.
‘What the hell is this man?’
Eden’s eyes gradually narrowed with suspicion. Bezel, who had his gaze focused intently on her lips, suddenly made an expression that said ‘oops’ and then relaxed his body.
Only then was it easy to push Bezel away. Eden shoved him hard enough to send him tumbling behind the sofa, then shot to her feet and fled to the bedroom. She didn’t forget to firmly lock the door, just in case he tried to follow.
“This is insane. I never thought the day would come when I’d be running away from a man with a face like that.”
She slid down against the door.
“Aaargh. I’m going crazy.”
Clutching her head, she roughly tousled her hair, but her pounding heart showed no signs of calming down.
She was already in her late twenties. She wasn’t like those noble daughters who thought they absolutely couldn’t do anything unless they were in a proper relationship, nor did she have a conservative mindset like that. At her age, it would’ve been stranger to have no experience with men.
But that didn’t mean she was the type to casually kiss just any man.
Maybe if it had been someone she’d never see again, she might’ve thought, ‘Yeah. When else would I get to kiss such a handsome man?’ and just gone ahead and kissed him. But this man was her healer, someone she’d have to keep seeing.
“I was the one who asked for treatment, but I didn’t mean for him to be that enthusiastic about it.”
Just thinking about it made her face burn again. Not only did he offer to suck on her sides, but he even asked for a kiss.
She must’ve come off too bold when she demanded treatment.
Eden had saved him from becoming a sacrifice. He probably felt indebted because he thought he owed her his life, so he was volunteering to do things she hadn’t even asked for.
“Should I call that kind or reckless?”
In the same logic, she couldn’t decide whether to be grateful or troubled.
She had run away in shock at the sudden situation, but if things continued like this, she’d likely face the problem of physical boundaries every time she received treatment.
In any case, one thing was certain.
“S**t, that guy really wasn’t a priest or high priest after all.”
If he truly served the gods, he would never do that. Eden didn’t understand why it had to be that way, but celibacy was an essential virtue for priests and high priests.
Holy Knights were the exception. Killing, after all, was already a breach of doctrine.
They were devoted to serving the gods and belonged to the temple, but the rules they followed weren’t much different from ordinary knights.
And how did she know this? One of her exes, maybe two or three boyfriends ago, had been a Holy Knight.
‘He had a big d**k and great stamina too. Tch. If it weren’t for the curse…’
The breakup with that Holy Knight happened around the time Eden had been cursed. He said that, being someone who served the gods, he couldn’t continue a relationship with someone cursed. Or something like that.
Eden had accepted the breakup cleanly. She had liked him, but not enough to want to die when they broke up. She had moped around for a day or two, but pulled herself together after three days.
She wasn’t sure how her thoughts had wandered this far. Eden realized she was pathetically hunched over and quickly straightened up.
“No matter how desperate I am for treatment, I’m not shameless enough to demand a kiss from someone who doesn’t even have feelings for me. Get it together, Eden.”
There was a fairytale in the Empire passed down by word of mouth. About a goose that laid golden eggs.
A poor farmer raised a goose that laid golden eggs. Wanting to become rich, the farmer cut open the goose’s belly to get the golden eggs, but there was nothing inside. In the end, the farmer lost both the golden eggs and the goose.
The moral of this story is that excessive greed brings disaster. Eden decided to think of Bezel as the goose in the fairytale.
A relationship based only on physical intimacy without feelings was exhausting. Maybe if they’d never see each other again, it wouldn’t matter, but looking around, no such relationship ever lasted.
This man was too exceptional for a one-off encounter. Even if he regained his memory someday and left this house, she wanted to maintain their connection, if only by holding onto the fact that she was the one who saved him.
Which meant she had to approach this carefully. Better to offer just her arm and keep a certain distance rather than rashly offering her lips for a little more effect.
“Wow. I really am such a smart person. Those jerks who used to insult me and say I was dumb and only knew how to use brute strength should see me now.”
Eden, impressed with herself, giggled and jumped onto the bed.
It hadn’t been long since she received treatment, yet the black spots were already beginning to creep up her arm again.
Eden looked at her arm where her skin color was more visible, then turned her head away as if she couldn’t bear to look at it anymore.
“It’s not like it’s a disease that would be cured by one deep treatment anyway.”
No matter how she looked at it, it was better to keep things light and long-term with Bezel, than intense and short-lived.
It was embarrassing that she had fled like a flustered little girl who couldn’t handle a naughty boy’s prank, but thinking about it again, her escape today had been an excellent choice.
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