Not a Confession, but a Declaration - Chapter 84

Being attended to by priests was simply a fact of life for Abel. It had been that way ever since he was entrusted to the temple, and because of that, he had never once felt embarrassed about exposing his body.

To the priests, too, the sight of Abel’s naked body was probably nothing unusual. Even so, he had never imagined they would prepare something like this.

Abel was human, and a man besides, so certain changes in the morning were only natural. Still, to think they had observed him that closely.

As Abel examined the object, clearly crafted with painstaking care, he spoke without sparing so much as a glance for the priest standing helplessly before him.

“So you’ve been paying a great deal of attention to me.”

“I-I’m sorry… I’m terribly sorry, Lord Abel.”

The priest bowed his head deeply, begging forgiveness, but Abel’s attention remained fixed solely on the item in his hand.

“So it really was modeled after mine.”

But why pink of all colors? Because Abel liked pink? Or because they had tried to match the real color as closely as possible?

His curiosity would have to wait.

Abel looked at the trembling priest.

“Taking an interest in me is part of your duty, so I can’t fault you for that.”

Then, as if to make a point, he gave the object in his hand a small wave.

“But ignoring what I say is another matter.”

“Lord Abel!”

The priest jerked his head up in alarm, only to go deathly pale at the sight of the pink object swaying right in front of his eyes.

“I’d like to know the name of the person who gave me such a… special gift.”

Abel was not someone who rewarded people, nor did he usually hand out punishments even when they made serious mistakes, which was exactly why his punishment of the Holy Knights had drawn so much attention. But this time, he had no intention of letting it slide.

It wasn’t so much because of this grotesque object. Rather, he needed to stamp out this sort of behavior now so that Felix would never be troubled by the same thing again.

Before the pale-faced priest, who could not utter a single word, could respond, another priest—the one who had followed Abel from the bath carrying a large towel—answered instead.

“It’s Priest Anderson.”

“Good. Anderson.”

After quietly repeating the name “Anderson” several times, Abel walked past the speechless priest without another glance.

“I’ll remember it. You may leave.”

Even after being dismissed, Anderson remained frozen in place until the surrounding priests finally ushered him out.

But his departure did nothing to ease the icy atmosphere. Not while that object was still in Abel’s hand.

Still, he couldn’t just stand there tiptoeing around the issue forever.

“Lord Abel… your clothes…”

Abel gave a small nod, and the priests hurried over, drying his hair and wiping away the water running down his neck and chest.

Only after they had finished drying him did one of the priests cautiously reach out his hand.

“I’ll dispose of it if you hand it over to me.”

“So you can return it to Priest Anderson?”

At Abel’s reply, the priest flinched and answered in a trembling voice.

“…Why would I do that?”

Was he surprised that Abel had actually remembered the name? Or was he simply embarrassed after seeing the pink object up close?

Either way, Abel was the only person in the bedroom who still appeared completely composed.

“Who does Priest Anderson answer to?”

“We all serve Lord Abel…”

Yes, every priest who was allowed to come and go from Abel’s bedroom belonged to the annex. On the surface, they were all Abel’s people.

But that wasn’t the rehearsed answer Abel wanted to hear. A warning was best delivered clearly.

“Don’t make me ask twice.”

The priest, catching the irritation in Abel’s gaze, hurriedly answered.

“As far as I know, he has ties to High Priest Maris.”

High Priest Maris. Not a bad choice for the first recipient of a warning.

“Then I suppose I should send him a gift as well. Something just as special as the one I received.”

Abel turned to the priests gathered in the room and gave his order.

“By tomorrow, prepare a suitable list of candidates.”

“Yes, sir.”

Only after hearing the reply did Abel hand over the object. The priest carefully wrapped it in a large towel, hiding it from view.

Watching the bundle of white cloth, Abel slipped off his damp robe, revealing the bare body still glistening from his bath.

The priests hastily averted their eyes. Doing their utmost not to look at Abel’s body, they brought over his nightclothes.

With their heads bowed even lower than usual, their hands fumbled several times, but not a single one of them spoke.

“You may leave.”

As soon as Abel turned around, now dressed in the newly prepared pink pajamas, the priests snatched up the robe from the floor and hurried out of the room.

The speed of their retreat made it obvious they wanted nothing more than to escape as quickly as possible.

Finally alone, Abel let out a quiet sigh and walked toward the bathroom.

The others could simply leave and be done with it, but Abel still had something he needed to settle.

Someone else had caused the trouble, yet somehow he was the one who had to apologize. He didn’t understand why, but he didn’t want Felix to get the wrong idea.

‘I need to make it clear that I wasn’t the one who prepared it.’

And that nothing like this would happen again.