Chapter 68
Just as the Commander stepped into the garden, his eyes fell on the figure standing behind Abel, and he stopped in his tracks.
“Lord Felix will be joining us as well. Will that be a problem?”
At Abel’s perfunctory question, the Commander once again put on his polished smile and took his seat.
“Not at all.”
Abel watched the priests withdraw after showing the Commander in, then turned to Felix, who remained standing behind him.
“Would you like to take a seat?”
There were no other clergy present, and Felix had chosen to come of his own accord. There was no reason he could not take a seat. Besides, the Commander had always regarded Felix favorably.
Felix, however, merely shook his head with a courteous smile.
So he did not reveal his true temperament even in front of the Commander.
Or perhaps he was simply exercising restraint because he was on duty.
Without urging him a second time, Abel turned back to the Commander.
The Commander immediately offered an apology.
“I’m truly sorry about yesterday.”
“I know.”
The Commander truly had been quite rude yesterday.
He had been the one to ask for a conversation, only to say his piece and leave without so much as waiting for a response.
Had Abel not recognized the man’s genuine concern for Felix, he never would have let him walk away so easily.
“And thank you as well for agreeing to see me again today.”
Abel gave a listless nod.
If it had been up to him, he would have told the Commander to stop wasting time and get to the point.
But Felix was standing behind him.
He could not very well do that.
Abel regarded the Commander with bored eyes.
Whether the man truly had once served at Abel’s side or was simply exceptionally perceptive, he abandoned the lengthy apology and words of gratitude he had been about to continue.
“As for what I said yesterday…” he began. “I’d like to take it back.”
“What you said about leaving Felix alone?”
“Yes.”
Abel could feel Felix’s divine power ripple behind him, but he did not turn around.
“Why? You said you didn’t want Felix to be hurt.”
At Abel’s words, Felix’s divine power surged once more. He seemed even more unsettled than when dealing with Abel.
Does the Commander really mean that much to him?
That was somewhat irritating.
Before Abel could voice that irritation, the Commander spoke.
“My feelings have not changed. However… it seems to me that there are many things Lord Abel can give Sir Felix.”
“Of course.”
Many things he could give Felix?
It was not merely that it seemed so. It was simply true.
As the Herald of God, Abel could give Felix anything he desired.
Honor. Power. Wealth.
If Felix wanted it, Abel could even place the Spencer Ducal House itself in his hands.
“That isn’t the sort of thing I’m referring to.”
“What do you think I’m thinking of?”
“Your position within the Temple. Money. A noble house. Things of that sort.”
He wasn’t wrong.
Still, besides those, was there anything else Abel could give Felix?
If he looked for it, perhaps there was.
Rather than pondering it on his own, Abel asked the Commander instead.
“If not those, then what?”
“I believe you, Lord Abel, can fill the void in Lord Felix’s character.”
A void in his character?
“What kind of nonsense is that…!”
The response came from behind him instead.
When Abel turned around, Felix quickly snapped his mouth shut, but his face was full of indignation and disbelief.
‘What’s gotten into him?’
The Commander had spoken about Felix’s shortcomings yesterday as well. But they weren’t things like status, honor, or power?
“Lord Abel.”
Abel had been staring at Felix’s face when the Commander called to him, prompting him to turn back.
The Commander smiled.
“I’m referring to emotional matters. Love, for example. Lord Abel, you have no interest in anything other than Sir Felix, do you?”
Ah. If that’s what he meant…
“That’s right. There’s nothing I love besides Felix.”
All of the love Abel possessed belonged to Felix.
In truth, it wasn’t just love. The same was true of his other emotions as well.
Behind him, Felix reacted violently once again.
Was it because Abel had confessed his love in front of someone else?
Then again, it had only been yesterday that Abel decided he would ask Felix directly about anything related to him.
But the Commander had been the one to bring it up first.
‘Shouldn’t you be directing your anger at the Commander instead of me?’
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