Chapter 43
“Consideration, huh….”
Murmuring softly, Abel nodded toward Felix, who looked as though he wanted to argue.
“Well, fine. I understand for now.”
At once, Felix hurried to stop him.
“Don’t.”
It seemed he had immediately realized what Abel was planning to do.
“Can’t I just meet him once?”
“No.”
“Didn’t you decide to make use of my influence?”
“No!”
Abel had known that already, but he had asked anyway. Just in case Felix had changed his mind.
Hadn’t Felix also realized that the Commander’s actions were not simply an act of consideration?
Observing the darkening expression on Felix’s face, Abel spoke casually.
“Then, instead of using my influence, how about repaying your debt of gratitude with something I actually want?”
Even in the face of Felix’s rebellious look that seemed to ask, Why should I do that?, Abel refused to back down.
“A kiss is out of the question, I suppose.”
“Absolutely not.”
I know.
“Then how about just holding hands?”
Felix’s face immediately turned serious, but Abel simply held out his hand.
As if he didn’t even want to continue the conversation, Felix kept his mouth shut. But Abel waved his hand several more times, urging him on.
Just as the arm he’d been holding out began to ache and he was about to lower it, Felix hesitated before finally offering his hand.
‘He’s really giving it to me?’
Abel had only stubbornly persisted to keep Felix from sinking back into gloomy thoughts. Still, he had no intention of letting such good fortune slip away, so he promptly grabbed Felix’s hand.
Spreading Felix’s hand open, Abel examined it carefully.
The hand was large enough to cover his entire face and then some, leaving plenty to inspect.
After gently brushing over the calluses that covered Felix’s palms and fingers, as well as the patches of dry, whitened skin that suggested he neglected their care, Abel turned the hand over and studied the back.
‘The backs of his hands are chapped too. …At least he keeps his nails neatly trimmed.’
Still, several of the nails were misshapen, dulling the impression of cleanliness.
‘Did some of his nails fall off or break?’
And because they hadn’t been properly treated afterward, they had ended up in such poor condition.
Judging by his long fingers and the nails that still looked intact, his hands had probably originally been quite beautiful. It was obvious that harsh training had turned them into this.
“Have you been using a sword since you were young? Or only after entering the temple?”
Abel asked as he lightly traced a thick, knobby finger. The answer came a beat later.
“…From the moment I decided to enter the Temple.”
“Because you didn’t think you’d be accepted as a priest?”
“Yes. The holy knights will accept anyone as long as they possess divine power.”
As Felix said, priests were fundamentally required to heal and bless the faithful, so a certain level of divine power was essential. The standards for holy knights, however, were less strict.
“But you still need skill with a sword.”
“That’s why I crawled on the ground begging. I even pleaded with my face.”
“Hm.”
That was a lie. It seemed Felix simply didn’t want to admit with his own mouth how hard he had worked.
After thoroughly examining and touching every part of Felix’s hand without missing a single spot, Abel looked up at him with a satisfied smile.
“My Felix. You’ve really had a hard time all this while.”
Even without Felix saying a word, his hands told the entire story of his efforts. The slight tremble of his eyelids was lovely to behold.
‘I’d like to kiss the back of his hand, at least, but I probably can’t, can I?’
Felix had already firmly said no, so there was nothing to be done.
Instead, Abel gently stroked the back of Felix’s hand. Since Felix had at least allowed him this much, he might as well enjoy touching it to his heart’s content.
“But your hands are really ugly.”
The moment the words left his mouth—
Smack!
His hand was immediately slapped away.
No, but it wasn’t exactly a lie, was it?
Abel looked up at Felix with a look of indignation.
Discussion
0 CommentsNo comments yet.