Holy Night: My Husband is Definitely a Paladin - Chapter 19
Translated by Elphie
“…!”
It would have been better if she had just been surprised, but instead, Irene jolted out of her chair, swaying unsteadily. In her attempt to get up, she involuntarily flailed her arms, almost tumbling awkwardly until a strong arm reached out and caught her by the waist.
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
He realized that Irene was surprised by his words, so he quickly grabbed her.
“…!”
Startled by Michael’s sudden move, Irene instinctively recoiled, pushing away his arm and taking a step back.
‘Why?’
Certainly, the old Michael had never made any attempts to touch her. He had avoided any contact with Irene, not even daring to be in the same space, except when he was forced to undergo a purification.
Now, not only had he approached her willingly but also reached out first.
“Irene?”
Calling her name, Michael approached her again. He addressed her with a surprising ease.
She had to gasp once more at the realization. In the past, up until the very last moment, he had always referred to her as ‘Miss Irene’ or ‘Lady Purifier.’
The only time he’d called her by her first name was the week they’d shared a bed. But that had been when he was in an abnormal state of mind, and she couldn’t comprehend why he was using her name now, as if they had always shared an intimate connection.
Feeling an unbearable tension, Irene took another step back from him.
‘What’s going on?’
She needed to understand why he was behaving differently compared to their past lives. As Irene, with a puzzled expression, distanced herself from him, Michael looked at her quizzically.
“Is there a problem?”
“A problem… you say?”
There were so many issues that she didn’t know where to start.
“Just a while ago, you called me by my name…”
Upon hearing this, Michael seemed a little embarrassed before opening his mouth to speak.
“… I asked around, and it seems that it’s customary to address each other by name after forming a pair. If it made you uncomfortable, I apologize.”
Then he bowed politely.
He had a point. After all, a pairing was akin to marriage, and it was common for couples to address each other intimately by name after forming a pair.
‘He asked others.’
If that was the case, then him calling her by her first name made sense, but it left a twinge of bitterness in her.
‘So that means he never asked others about pairs before in our last life.’
Perhaps Michael noticed Irene’s stiff expression because he continued to explain, still unsure.
“I apologize for touching you without permission. I was afraid you might get hurt if you fell…”
“No, I’m the one who’s sorry for being so startled.”
Irene quickly gathered her troubled feelings and responded more politely than Michael.
She realized that it would do her no good to dwell on past wounds caused by Michael’s changed attitude.
‘We’ll never see each other again, so let’s focus on the future.’
Uttering these words silently in her mind like a mantra several times a day, Irene smiled as if nothing had happened. Michael seemed like he wanted to say something more but gave up, redirecting his gaze to the fruit dish on the table.
“You looked like you wanted to eat it, but you just stared at it, so I was just wondering what was wrong.”
“Oh, by the way, there’s something I wanted to ask about these, Sir Michael.”
“Just call me Michael.”
“No. How could I address the Commander of the Temple Knights so casually? I find this more comfortable, so I hope you understand.”
Irene politely rejected his request. Only once in her previous life had she called him Michael in public. During the week they spent together purifying his body, intimately addressing him had become a habit. But that was the problem.
“Michael, wait! Can we talk for a moment!”
As soon as Irene regained her senses, she ran, shouting frantically and trying to catch Michael as he made his way to the temple.
But he stepped back from her as she reached out to him.
She vividly remembered the laughter of those who watched, mocking her for trying to catch him. She had only called him by that name by mistake once, but the cold attitude and disdain that he gave her still lingered in her memory.
But now, even recalling her past life, she didn’t feel depressed.
They served as a reminder not to make such a mistake again. She only aimed to compose herself, having firmly said what needed to be said.
“…If you insist.”
To her relief, Michael complied with her request.
“Well, first of all, there seems to be some misunderstanding, and I think you need to check.”
“Misunderstanding?”
Instead of answering, Irene pointed at the items piled up in front of her.