Don't Be Holy! - Chapter 14
“Are you coming back already?”
When she arrived home, she was greeted by the man’s disapproving face, as if he were silently asking whether she had spent the day idling again.
By now, he had completely written her off as a lazy good-for-nothing.
Recently, Eir had been sneaking out under the pretense of heading to the mountains, only to visit the temple in secret and return home with an empty basket.
The man had started nagging her, questioning whether she was even going to the mountains at all. If there was no harvest, wouldn’t it make more sense to help others with their work and earn some money instead? How else were they supposed to pay off their debts?
His nagging wasn’t entirely unwarranted.
How could he so casually meddle in someone else’s household? Still, Eir couldn’t reply, not after he had handed her a single pir yesterday, urging her to pay off their debts.
Despite his unwell body, he must have been doing some hard labor somewhere, as he always returned reeking of sweat and dust.
It was a scent she never thought she’d associate with him.
‘Back then, he was the very image of a noble.’
The day she first saw Rubel Shinote flashed in her mind.
He had knelt before the Emperor of the Divine Empire, his cloak billowing like a banner.
The high priest’s hand, bestowing blessings, radiated a white light, and Rubel accepted it all with his eyes gently closed, his demeanor solemn and reverent. The light poured over his head, and the faintly visible lining of his cloak matched the deep red of the carpet beneath him and his hair.
Eir had felt an inexplicable sense of sanctity at that sight. It had instilled in her a strange faith in him.
An unshakable belief that, as long as he was there, everything would somehow work out.
‘Of course, three months later, I was nearly the first to die during the witches’ attack.’
Eir let out a long sigh, prompting Rubel to furrow his brow.
“What is it?”
His expression asked why she had stopped in the middle of the path home just to sigh.
Eir set her empty basket down nearby and approached him. Rubel, who seemed to have been weeding the garden, had one knee on the ground and his sleeves rolled up, his hands coated in soil.
His long, strong fingers, seemingly unsuited for such manual labor, were smeared with black dirt that somehow made him appear even more dignified instead of dirty. Eir couldn’t understand why she felt that way.
As she slid closer and sat down beside him, he glanced at her, his brows knit tightly together.
“Why? Don’t you have money? Are you hungry?”
Had he always seen her that way?
Flustered, she waved her hands.
“No, it’s not that…….”
“I thought you said you wouldn’t come near the garden.”
His voice carried a faintly disgruntled tone, as if the memory still bothered him.
Eir placed her hands on her knees, her expression serious.
“I just wanted to talk.”
Rubel tilted his head slightly, gesturing for her to go ahead, as he continued to dig through the dirt. His pale hands scooped and turned the soil, forming neat little furrows.
Eir watched the peaceful cascade of dirt before turning her head sharply to fix him with a piercing stare.
“Do you really remember nothing at all?”
“Nothing at all.”
He replied swiftly, as though he’d expected the question. Eir, undeterred, pressed on.
“No, but usually, when people lose their memory, they’re confused. Why do you seem so calm, Rubel?”
“I don’t know. Maybe I am confused, and you’re too busy to notice.”
“I’ve been paying plenty of attention! You’re not confused at all—you’re just going around the village, adapting perfectly fine!”
Once again, she had let him steer the conversation in an odd direction, making it seem as if she’d been diligently observing his every move.
Eir unclenched her fists, let out a soft cough, and cleared her throat.
“Anyway, fine. Let’s assume, like the villagers say, that you’re really the old lady’s grandson. Aren’t you curious about your parents? Shouldn’t you try to find them?”
Rubel, seemingly tired of her repeated nagging, let out a short sigh and dropped the weeds he had been holding.
