Not a Confession, but a Declaration - Chapter 8

Abel didn’t look away until the trembling settled, then lightly asked:

“Is there anything else that makes you angry?”

“You asked why hearing people speak ill of me behind my back makes me angry, didn’t you? I don’t like suffering because of you.”

“That… I suppose I can understand.”

If he thought he was being insulted because of someone he disliked, then yes, it made sense that he would be angry. And that was something Abel could solve.

“I’ll take care of that right away.”

At Felix’s suspicious gaze, thick with doubt, Abel elaborated.

“I just need to step in one more time. It isn’t difficult.”

“And exactly what are you planning to do?”

“First, I suppose I’ll have to make it known to everyone that I love you.”

“Didn’t you just say you were going to fix it?”

Felix demanded, unable to hold back any longer. Abel tilted his head.

“Mm, I did. All I have to do is tell them that all of this is happening because of my love.”

Normally, he wouldn’t have bothered explaining things in such detail. But Felix was different.

“You said you don’t want to be insulted because of my love. So if I’m the one who gets insulted because of my love, won’t that solve everything?”

“How can you even say that…?”

“Don’t worry. Making up a story isn’t particularly difficult.”

Turning Felix into an innocent victim, and Abel into the perpetrator who was trying to force him through the abuse of power, was truly an absurdly easy thing to do.

‘And it kills two birds with one stone.’

Not only would it ease at least some of Felix’s anger, but everyone would finally know that Felix was the object of Abel’s affections.

There would be no need for him to wear out his mouth explaining to others that he loved Felix, and Felix would no longer have to tread carefully around the temple, constantly watching the reactions of those around him.

“Though, the part about you being angry that I love you… that’s something I can’t fix.”

If he said something like this, Felix would probably get angry again. But even if Felix grew angry, Abel had no desire to say that he would stop loving him.

“Once feelings have taken root, they don’t simply disappear. Not that I particularly want them to.”

Whether Felix disliked him and whether Abel liked Felix were two entirely separate matters.

“I’m sorry, but I suppose you’ll just have to stay angry about that.”

No sooner had the words left his mouth than a vein throbbed visibly on Felix’s forehead. Oh, that expression was familiar even to Abel.

Whenever Felix found himself wanting to hit Abel, he would often get that exact look, a vein standing out on his forehead.

“It’s fine if you’re angry. You can curse at me if you want.”

He already knew Felix disliked him, after all.

Yet the considerate reassurance only seemed to infuriate Felix further. Abel frowned as he watched Felix bite down on his lip while glaring at him fiercely.

“I wasn’t telling you to hurt yourself.”

Abel reached out and used divine power, a task simpler to him than breathing.

Immediately, the split in Felix’s lip healed without a trace.

Smack–!

The back of Abel’s hand, swatted away with force, flushed red, but it too healed in no time.

“Felix?”

“I hate you.”

I know, don’t !?

When Abel merely looked at him without the slightest reaction, Felix bit down on his lip again, deliberately tearing it open before brushing past Abel with cold indifference and leaving the room.

“My Felix is certainly stubborn.”

To deliberately invite pain simply because he was angry. Was it because he was still young?

Staring at the quietly closed door, so unlike the frost-covered expression Felix had worn, Abel suddenly grew curious.

“Come to think of it, how old is Felix?”