I Just Wanted to Avoid Death - Chapter 41
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Yeshion shook his head silently, causing Rosaline to widen his eyes in surprise.
“Why? What were you going to say?”
“Nothing.”
“Don’t ask if you’re not going to explain. You must’ve had something to say to ask, right?”
“No, really.”
As Yeshion avoided meeting his gaze, Rosaline trailed his eyes like a curious child.
Ah, he’s kind of cute.
Thinking so, Yeshion let out a low chuckle. At that, Rosaline’s eyes went wide in astonishment.
“My ideal type is really you.”
“…Pardon?”
“Because your smile is so pretty.”
“…I refuse.”
“Why would you reject my ideal type? You’re such a funny person!”
While Yeshion and Rosaline were bickering and spoke, a temple acolyte approached in haste. However, seeing that the atmosphere between them wasn’t tense, they quietly backed away.
As this scene repeated a few more times, Yeshion came to a realization.
‘Of course, Rosaline’s the only one who thinks we get along well.’
No wonder he’s always being taken advantage of.
Somehow, that made him worry about him.
“Oh, speaking of which… Something you said last time has been on my mind, and I’ve been thinking about it.”
“Something I said?”
“Yes, about when I mentioned wanting to die. I’ve been curious—how exactly did you help me back then?”
At Yeshion’s question, Rosaline let out a small “Ah~” of realization.
But then appeared troubled. He seemed concerned about whether it was right to discuss the past with someone who claimed to have incomplete memories.
“I can’t just stay in the dark forever, can I?”
When Yeshion spoke as if drawing a definitive line, Rosaline finally nodded.
“You’re right. After all, it was your choice back then… Where should I even begin? Oh, do you know about the issues in your family?”
Yeshion blinked, surprised.
‘I had a family?’
Being a villain, there had rarely been any mention of such things in the original story, and his room hadn’t shown any signs of family either. He hadn’t even considered that ‘Yeshion’ might have had a family.
When Yeshion shook his head, Rosaline continued.
“I don’t know all the details, but you were really struggling with your family situation… You even said you couldn’t bring yourself to end your own life.”
And so, you decided to provoke Eldis. If you couldn’t kill yourself, maybe provoking Eldis’s temper would make him end it for you.
“At first, it seemed like you were just doing it on your own, but when we got closer, you asked for my help.”
“…..”
“Because the Archpriest is a stickler for rules, you figured that if you treated me badly enough in front of him, he’d eventually take matters into his own hands.”
Yeshion thought Eldis would either kill him or throw him into the underground cells to starve. Either way, it would bring the result he wanted.
Then it happened in the garden.
Eldis was in a bad mood that day, and Rosaline’s performance was perfect.
“I didn’t think he’d take the sword himself.”
Rosaline recounted that day, and, thinking it would end with a slap on the wrist or bring Yeshion to the dungeon.
Recalling that day, Rosaline shuddered and hugged her arms. It was as if she was imagining the worst-case scenario where Yeshion had actually died.
Listening to her story in silence, Yeshion let out a bitter laugh.
“What a piece of trash.”
“Huh?”
“What I did.”
He’d always known ‘Yeshion’ was trash.
But to think he’d stoop to using someone else to get himself killed because he feared taking his own life—it was disgusting.
He was simply human scum.
If what Rosaline said was true, he must have suffered immense guilt every time Yeshion had died.
‘It must be true.’
No matter how much he wanted to deny it, he couldn’t. He had read Rosaline’s character thoroughly in the original story and was now experiencing his warmth firsthand. There was no way his words were lies.
“Do you want to hit me?”
“…Huh? Hit you? Why would I do that?”
“Because I used you, Saintess”
Rosaline blinked in surprise, then, after a moment’s thought, raised his hand. He placed it gently on Yeshion’s cheek.
“This is for the stress you put me through.”
His lightly pinched his cheek, and then did the same to the other side.
“And this is for treating your life so carelessly.”
Her pinches weren’t painful; they were warm, almost comforting.
‘Why…’
Now he understood.
Why Eldis and Adelio had fallen so deeply for him.
Why they sought salvation through him.
