Chapter 44
3. Two Steps
The holiday had been far too short.
Abel absently glanced around before turning to look at Felix, who stood beside him. The moment Felix had slapped his hand away yesterday, he had left the room without another word. Even though he must have noticed Abel’s gaze now, he continued staring straight ahead, utterly unmoving.
If I walked right up to him and stuck my face in front of his, would he still pretend not to notice me?
Curiosity stirred, and Abel had just begun shifting his weight onto his legs when the group he had been waiting for finally appeared.
“Lord Abel.”
They were the holy knights who would be serving as his escort for the remainder of the prayer gathering.
Even under normal circumstances, once the prayers concluded, visitors would always find some excuse whether well-intentioned or otherwise to approach Abel. Because of that, the number of holy knights assigned to guard him naturally increased for the rest of the event.
This time, however, the impression Abel had left during the prayer ceremony must have been particularly overwhelming. There were noticeably more knights than usual.
“We shall serve you with all our devotion.”
One of the knights standing at the front of the long line stretching down the corridor stepped forward and dropped to one knee before Abel.
“Is there anything you wish to instruct us beforehand?”
Another one of those pointless questions…
Abel was about to dismiss it with a casual wave when he turned his head toward Felix instead.
Felix was still standing perfectly straight, his eyes fixed stubbornly ahead.
“I’m too lazy to give each of you orders one by one.”
After a brief pause, Abel answered simply:
“It’s a hassle for me to issue orders one by one, so just listen to Felix.”
The instant the words left his mouth, Felix’s holy power rippled violently once.
Even then, he still refused to look at Abel.
‘Why won’t he look at me?’
Was he still that angry about yesterday?
‘Did I do something wrong?’
Even when Felix had slapped him across the face before, and even that time he had knocked Abel’s hand away in front of everyone, he had always made sure to check how Abel was afterward.
But today was different.
Ever since greeting him once at the start of the day, Felix had remained silent, showing not the slightest interest in Abel.
‘I didn’t even bother to treat the back of my hand on purpose.’
Though, by now, it had only been a little red to begin with. After a full day had passed, it had healed completely on its own, making his decision not to treat it feel rather pointless.
‘Should I have been hurt more badly?’
Abel had no particular fondness for pain.
Still, if it meant seeing that look of genuine concern from Felix again, he thought he wouldn’t mind getting injured once or twice more.
Especially since he could heal any wound whenever he wanted.
Absentmindedly rubbing the now-unmarked back of his hand beneath his sleeve, Abel replayed yesterday’s conversation, searching for whatever mistake he might have made.
Was Abel too blunt when he pointed out that Felix couldn’t become a priest because his holy power wasn’t strong enough?
Was he angry because Abel doubted the commander of the holy knights that Felix respects so much?
Or was he disappointed in himself for immediately beginning to doubt his captain because of what Abel said?
Felix had a habit of becoming inexplicably angry at his own thoughts and actions.
That possibility wasn’t impossible either.
…Or was it because I said his hands were ugly?
‘But that’s the truth, isn’t it?’
Objectively speaking, Felix’s hands weren’t particularly beautiful.
But was that really the problem?
So what if his hands were a little rough?
Whether Felix’s hands were beautiful or ugly made no difference whatsoever to how much Abel liked him.
Felix probably had no interest in how Abel felt.
‘He said he doesn’t like pretty faces. So shouldn’t it be fine if his hands are a little ugly?’
Then that probably wasn’t why he was angry.
If it had been up to him, Abel would have asked directly. But if he brought up something like that in front of other people, Felix would probably end up looking down on him even more than he already did.
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