Chapter 12
Though Felix’s lips were curved in a smile, displeasure showed in his eyes.
“Will you answer? You seem to dislike being questioned, so I thought I’d try gathering information on my own.”
Felix let out a long sigh.
“You should have just asked me directly.”
In that case, there were plenty of things Abel wanted to confirm from the information he had obtained through the priests.
Without hesitation, Abel posed his question.
“Do you really not like sweets?”
“Pardon?”
“I thought you liked sweet things. But it says here that you don’t.”
That blush on his cheeks was definitely a positive sign.
“…Is that really important?”
Still sifting through his memories, Abel merely shrugged at Felix’s odd look.
“Not exactly. I’m just curious.”
Before he forgot, Abel began asking the questions that had been on his mind, one by one.
“You wake up at four in the morning to train? Should I push back your work hours?”
“That won’t be necessary.”
“So you’re not someone who sleeps in.”
If getting up wasn’t a problem, then there was no particular reason to change his schedule.
After that, Abel asked all sorts of questions—about meals, about Felix’s quarters, even about supplies—but he failed to get any meaningful answers.
“Then why did you tell me to ask?”
Well, even so, it did seem as though the way Felix looked at him had softened somewhat compared to yesterday.
Perhaps this much conversation was acceptable?
“Ask me about something else. About the rumors concerning me, or my family, for example.”
Hmm? At those words, Abel narrowed his eyes.
“But those are things I can easily look up.”
Even without asking Felix, Abel could obtain sufficiently objective information. It was far easier to uncover past events or traces of a person’s history than to learn personal tastes and preferences from someone determined to hide them.
“I heard that you met with His Holiness the Pope today.”
“That’s right.”
Abel answered casually, and Felix asked in a low, subdued voice,
“Is there anything regarding that meeting that you wish to ask me?”
So Gregory really was one of the people chiefly responsible for troubling Felix?
Abel briefly recalled the old man’s face before replying.
“Rather than something I want to ask you, there’s something I need to tell you.”
Originally, he had intended to wait until everything had been settled before bringing it up, but Felix looked upset, and Abel decided it would not be a bad idea to tell him in advance.
“I told Gregory that I love you.”
“…What did you just say?”
Why was he so surprised? Surely Felix hadn’t thought Abel would fail to keep his promise.
“I told you, didn’t I? That I was going to let everyone know that I love you.”
Abel patiently continued his explanation to the speechless Felix.
“It would be a waste of time to stop every passerby and tell them that I like you.”
Abel found himself curious about the expression on Felix’s face as he stood there with his head lowered, lips tightly pressed together. Was he moved? The thought made Abel a little hopeful.
“So I told Gregory, and since the other priests overheard it, it’s only a matter of time before everyone knows.”
However, what came back after his explanation was not gratitude, but condemnation.
“Have you lost your mind?”
“What?”
Why was he reacting like that?
“You really told people something like that?”
“I said I would, didn’t I? Ah, you don’t need to worry too much. I’ll be the one people criticize.”
Felix would not be the one receiving their scorn because of this incident.
“Felix?”
Abel looked at Felix’s trembling fists as a ragged voice escaped him.
“I never asked you to do that.”
At those words, Abel quickly retraced his memories of the previous day. He usually forgot anything that had happened more than a day ago, but because it involved Felix, he still remembered it vividly.
“Hmm. I suppose you didn’t. But you didn’t refuse, either.”
“I did refuse.”
Felix must have been mistaken. Abel gently corrected him.
“No, Felix. I remember it clearly. You didn’t refuse. You were just angry.”
Felix glared at Abel darkly. Then, suppressing his emotions with visible effort, he replied,
“That was my refusal.”
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