I Just Wanted to Avoid Death - Chapter 25
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“…It’s strange.”
Yeshion muttered with a serious countenance, hiding behind one of the temple’s pillars.
He could understand why Crown Prince Adelio acted so oddly; Adelio was always led by his whims, doing whatever he pleased. The author of In the Name of the Saintess had even mentioned in their postscript how difficult it was to handle Adelio’s overbearing personality while writing.
So, Adelio’s odd behavior was no surprise.
But Eldis was different.
“Maybe… I really should have just died.”
Yeshion thought seriously.
No matter how he looked at it, this timeline seemed like a massive failure. The characters who should have shown no interest in him were suddenly paying far too much attention.
‘Adelio hasn’t appeared since that day, so that’s one problem solved, but…’
Eldis was the real issue.
Even if he didn’t want to see him, Eldis’s face showed up every single day.
“I should’ve just died, huh?”
Suddenly, a voice full of disbelief spoke beside him.
“You survived, and now you casually talk about cruel things like it’s nothing.”
Startled, Yeshion turned his head. A soft, flowing dress—quite unlike the uniform of the priests—fluttered in the wind.
A woman with long, light-purple hair flowing down to his waist. No, the man stood there with his arms crossed, giving Yeshion a pointed look.
“I heard you’ve been perfect recently?”
The Saintess raised an eyebrow as he plopped down beside Yeshion.
‘Why is he acting like we’re close?’
Yeshion widened his eyes and stared at the Saintess, Rosaline.
Up until now, all Yeshion had seen of Rosaline was his back as he fled, sobbing. Right after that, Eldis would always show up and kill Yeshion, as if by some prearranged plan. Yeshion certainly had no fond feelings toward the Saintess.
“What’s the matter? Why aren’t you saying anything?”
Rosaline poked Yeshion’s leg with his hand.
Yeshion flinched and backed away a few steps, startled. Rosaline’s expression turned puzzled.
“Don’t tell me… the rumors are true?”
“…What?”
“Oh my God, they are. Did you really forget me? It’s me, Venice!”
He pointed to himself. Venice was indeed Rosaline’s real name.
But why is he telling me that? Isn’t that supposed to be a secret?
It was only natural that everyone was supposed to believe that the Saintess was a ‘woman,’ not a ‘man.’
Rosaline was someone Eldis, the Archpriest had brought in. The original story had explained how he’d found him, but Yeshion couldn’t recall the details clearly.
One thing was for certain: Eldis had disguised Venice as a woman and installed him in the Saintess’s position. Adelio wouldn’t find out the truth until much later.
This was supposed to be a secret only Eldis and Venice knew, a secret they were meant to take to their graves. So why did ‘Yeshion’ know this?
“Ugh, what’s the point of telling you a secret if you’re just going to forget it?”
“…..”
“Actually, maybe it’s for the best. I wasn’t really comfortable with your request. I was worried about what would happen if you really went through with it…”
“Request?”
Rosaline’s eyes widened at Yeshion’s question.
“You forgot that too?” he muttered, letting out a long sigh as he ran a hand through his hair.
“Ugh, do I really have to explain this?”
Rosaline looked troubled.
But Yeshion was even more confused.
He had no idea that the original ‘Yeshion’ had been this close to Rosaline.
The only connection between them mentioned in the story was when Yeshion tried to undermine the Saintess during the trial to confirm her position.
Yeshion had picked fights over the Saintess’s actions, torn her clothes to shreds under the pretext of upholding decorum, and even engaged in harassment.
But what Rosaline was saying now was completely unexpected.
“You asked me to kill you.”
Yeshion pointed to himself.
“…Me?”
Rosaline nodded, trembling at Yeshion’s response.
However, he sighed again before speaking.
“Yes. You really don’t remember, huh? Well, maybe it’s for the best. It wasn’t exactly a pleasant memory anyway. It’s probably better that you’ve forgotten it.”
Rosaline stood up and approached Yeshion, lightly tapping his shoulder. Yeshion, tense and unsure, cautiously asked her…
“Saintess… were we close?”
“Hm?”
“As I said, my memory isn’t fully intact. I don’t really remember what we talked about…”
Yeshion ended up repeating the same lie he had told Eldis earlier.
The only thing he truly remembered was cursing out Rosaline. He had no recollection of what kind of relationship they had or what they had discussed.
Unlike Eldis, who hadn’t believed him, Rosaline’s eyes widened in shock with each word Yeshion said.
