I Just Wanted to Avoid Death - Chapter 47
The thing that struck Yeshion was that Adelio’s idea of becoming “someone meaningful” involved forcing someone into his arms.
What kind of upbringing could lead someone to think like that?
Yeshion thought about it for a moment, then recalled the kind of novel he had been transported into. It had been controversial, mainly because of the personality of the gong. So, it wasn’t too surprising.
Adelio’s confession continued for quite some time.
Why he had come to the temple, why he was now half-kneeling and mumbling incoherently, Yeshion couldn’t say. The only thing he knew for sure was that none of the words coming out of his mouth seemed like lies.
“But I understand now. My approach was wrong.”
Yeshion’s eyes widened slightly.
If it were anyone else, it might not have mattered, but for Adelio, this was a huge change. A person who had lived only for himself had, for the first time, shown understanding of someone else’s perspective.
“…So, what will you do now?”
“I’ll try not to do things you hate.”
Adelio awkwardly scratched the back of his neck.
He didn’t say, “I’ll never do those things again,” but promising to try was more in line with who Adelio was. He wasn’t the type to make promises he couldn’t keep.
“So… can we start as friends?”
Yeshion’s eyes widened again.
Then, he remembered the words he’d said to Adelio.
“Why does Your Highness care about a mere priest? We have no connection or relationship.”
That statement must have been more shocking to Adelio than Yeshion had realized. Scratching his cheek, Yeshion slowly nodded. After all, it wasn’t like they were entering a romantic relationship. Just friends.
Besides, no matter how Adelio acted, Yeshion was planning to leave the temple. That wasn’t going to change, whether it happened sooner or later.
‘Adelio probably knows that too.’
He had made it clear he wanted to leave, even mentioning death. Adelio likely assumed Yeshion was only staying at the temple temporarily.
“Alright.”
“…..!”
“Let’s do that, my friend.”
Adelio was a dangerous man.
More like a beast than a man, he became uncontrollable when he lost his temper. Until Yeshion could escape from this place, antagonizing him would only make things worse.
Maybe if they were bound by friendship, Yeshion could stop him when he tried something reckless. “Friends don’t do that to each other,” he could say.
‘And Adelio doesn’t have any friends, so…’
With a slightly rude thought in mind, Yeshion concluded that the situation was turning out better than expected.
But Adelio didn’t know that he would soon regret making this “friendship offer.”
“But, really, why… I mean, how did you end up at the temple?”
Yeshion reached out toward Adelio. The tension that had built up in his body had mostly faded by now.
‘He should be okay, right?’
It wasn’t a good look for someone of Adelio’s status to be half-kneeling like this. If another priest saw them, it would be extremely awkward.
“I’m not really sure myself.”
“You don’t know?”
“I just thought about seeing you, and here I was.”
Adelio furrowed his brow as if he were missing some parts of the story. Now that Yeshion thought about it, Adelio had shown similar behavior when they had met in the underground dungeon.
“Like what happened in the dungeon before? Is it the same thing?”
“Hmm?”
“Like… when you lost control and… acted like a beast, groping around.”
Adelio responded with a short “Ah.” He seemed to be debating whether to explain further or not.
“If it’s a secret, you don’t have to tell me…”
“It’s a curse.”
“Pardon?”
“It’s like a penance, a punishment. So sometimes… I might end up causing trouble for you.”
Yeshion didn’t want to understand, but it clicked almost immediately.
Adelio had many flaws, but the biggest problem seemed to be…
‘S****l desire?’
It seemed that whenever he lost control, it had something to do with that.
‘Rosaline was able to fix something like this in the original novel.’
Yeshion remembered that this incident had strengthened the bond between Adelio and Rosaline in the original story. So, it was something Yeshion didn’t need to concern himself with.
“When you say causing trouble, you mean like what happened in the dungeon… or what almost happened today?”
“Exactly. Although today, I regained my senses a bit faster. That’s not always the case.”
“I see. Got it. If it happens again, I’ll just run away as fast as I can. And… I won’t hold it against you, since you weren’t in your right mind.”
Yeshion concluded the conversation, cutting off any further curiosity.
