Please Forget Me - Chapter 297

‧₊˚ ☁️⋅♡𓂃 ࣪ ִֶָ☾.

But I couldn’t allow myself to be remembered by you forever as some voyeur spying on women. Only then did I finally open the window.

“That’s not it. I was only watching because I was worried about you being alone in such a dark, isolated place, Miss Loveridge.”

“Is that so? Then you could’ve opened the window and spoken to me.”

“I didn’t want to intrude on your private time.”

“Hm… I suppose I misjudged you. My apologies. In any case, thank you, but you don’t need to watch over me.”

You didn’t seem to believe me much. Feeling unfairly accused, I became desperate to prove that I meant what I said.

“Miss Loveridge, this isn’t a place where a woman should be alone. Please don’t come here by yourself at night again.”

“Don’t worry, Father. I have this.”

What you pulled from your pocket was a revolver, the very one you were now pointing at me.

“Last year, a soldier tried to attack me while I was returning to my quarters at night.”

Damn Rupert. Bringing you to a place like this.

“So I shattered his knee with this. It was a bit of a nuisance that I had to personally amputate his thigh in surgery right after, though.”

Watching you smile with narrowed eyes and mime sawing through the air, I realized my worry had been unnecessary.

“Ah… then I suppose I can rest easy. It’s understandable that you misunderstood. I apologize for making you uncomfortable.”

That night, I apologized and never checked outside the window again. I decided I wouldn’t watch you anymore.

“Father, are you there?”

And yet, the very next night, you knocked on my window again.

“Miss Loveridge, I wasn’t watching. But if you’re still uneasy…”

I was about to say I’d stay in the chapel when you leaned both arms on the windowsill and spoke.

“I’ve been thinking about it. You don’t seem like the sort of person who’d do anything bad to me.”

“You’ve judged me correctly.”

“And honestly, it seems less troublesome to prevent something from happening in the first place than to end up cutting off someone’s leg.”

“…So?”

“Will you watch over me again tonight? Hiding behind the window looks a bit odd, so come over there.”

You gestured toward the oak tree.

You were asking me to sit beside you.

“Ah…”

I should have refused.

“Alright.”

How could I possibly refuse? I stepped outside the rectory and sat a short distance away from you.

No matter how I thought about it, it didn’t feel like you’d called me just for protection. I didn’t know what you wanted to say or what I was supposed to say either.

Though the surroundings were quiet, my mind was loud. It was a chilly night, yet my palms were sweating in no time.

You, however, seemed perfectly at ease. As usual, you placed a cigarette between your lips, lit it, exhaled slowly, and whispered to me.

“Keep this a secret from Rupert.”

“Don’t worry. I’m an accomplice now too.”

I took a cigarette from the pack you’d tossed onto the wooden crate and put it to my lips. I desperately needed something to calm my nerves.

“Didn’t you say you don’t smoke? Oh, don’t worry, I don’t mean it’s a waste. I’m not that stingy. Here, a match.”

I’d tried smoking a few times out of curiosity when I was a teenager. Thanks to that, at least I didn’t embarrass myself by coughing like a fool in front of you.

“You’ve been here over two weeks now. How is it? I know it’s silly to ask what hell is like.”

“It is hell.”

I answered honestly, but you burst out laughing.

“You’re the first person who’s actually nodded and agreed when I called it hell. You really are different from other priests.”

I had nothing to say, so I just smiled awkwardly. Still, thanks to you, the conversation didn’t end.

“The people in this hell have found a lot of comfort since you arrived. Some patients say they survived because of you, and soldiers who used to laze around during breaks are reading the Bible now. You can already feel morale improving.”

“I see.”

It was praise, but it didn’t make me happy. I only wanted to comfort them, not boost morale so they could be sent back into danger.

“And not just the soldiers. The nurses like you very much too.”

At first, I thought it was because I rescued the wounded or stayed with the dying.

But that wasn’t the reason.