I Just Wanted to Avoid Death - Chapter 74
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His expression began to soften into something warm. Just then, Eldis spoke, sounding unsure.
“Do you, perhaps… have feelings for the Crown Prince…?”
Starting to speak, Eldis trailed off, falling silent for a moment.
As if something weighed on him, his once-soft expression began to harden.
The air between them grew heavy—until Yeshion blurted out.
“N-no! It’s not like that!”
“It’s not… but you kissed him?”
Eldis’s expression turned even more unreadable. He definitely looked like he believed Adelio had seduced and kissed him by force.
If this went on, the misunderstanding would only get worse. So Yeshion decided—it was time to explain exactly what had happened between him and Adelio.
“You allowed that to happen?”
“…I really thought it would settle things once and for all.”
Yeshion averted his eyes, lips drawn in a guilty pout.
After a long silence, Eldis rubbed a hand down his face and spoke dryly.
“Yeshion. If you’re going to get involved with anyone in the future, please let me or the Saintess know. No—better yet, just bring them to the temple.”
“…Why?”
“‘Why?’ What do you mean? Have you already forgotten what we just talked about?”
“Sorry? Just now?”
“I said you have terrible judgment when it comes to people.”
With that, Eldis gestured toward the entrance of the tent.
He was clearly referring to Edward, who was probably still lurking somewhere outside. Even without spelling it out, Yeshion could tell exactly what he meant.
“I—It’s not like my judgment is that bad…”
“Once you hear what happened between you and Lord Edward, I think you’ll change your mind.”
“Then… will you tell me?”
Yeshion seized the moment, eyes shining eagerly.
His expression practically screamed please tell me, and Eldis let out a long sigh.
“Haa… I didn’t want to just give it away, but since you were honest about what happened with the Crown Prince… I’ll make an exception this time, too.”
Looking like he was doing Yeshion an immense favor, Eldis paused, then began.
“Someone like him, who could’ve spent his entire life in the Mishemol Duchy and no one would have blinked, only came to the capital because he’d been kicked out of his house.”
“Kicked out?”
“Yes. He was accused of harassing the household staff.”
If the word that made it out as a rumor was “harassment,” there was likely far worse happening behind the manor walls.
And it probably wasn’t once or twice either. The family must’ve decided the scandal had gotten too big to contain and cast Edward out.
“After being thrown out of the duchy, Lord Edward came straight to the capital.”
He’d initially intended to seek protection from the imperial palace—but his reputation had already spread there.
The palace turned him away, citing the lack of prior arrangement, and in the end, Edward turned to the temple—backed by a large donation.
“That’s when he met you.”
Everything Eldis said after that was easy enough to guess.
A high-ranking noble.
One who couldn’t even meet people’s eyes and stammered every other word.
“Yeshion” had seen him as a sucker—and had made the first move.
But the sucker turned out to be anything but.
Edward was immensely interested in pretty faces, regardless of gender. And Yeshion’s looks were a jackpot for him. The fact that he was a priest, too, only added a twisted kind of thrill.
Edward courted Yeshion aggressively, and for a time, the two had a brief romance. Fought constantly, too, apparently.
“We fought?”
“Yes. As you saw earlier, he’s not exactly the kind of man you can reason with.”
As expected, the relationship didn’t last long. Some said it was because of Yeshion’s temper, but Eldis saw it differently.
“The old you may have lacked judgment, but you were good at sensing danger.”
People don’t change overnight—not even after something traumatic.
Edward’s bizarre behavior had continued in subtle ways, and Yeshion had sensed something off and broken things off.
“But the real problem came after that.”
“…What happened?”
“He tried to assault you.”
“…W-What?”
“Apparently, you never once gave him your body during the relationship. So he wanted to leave you with at least the memory of it. That attempt got him kicked out of the temple.”
Afterward, Edward had spent days kneeling at the temple gates, begging for just a glimpse of Yeshion’s face.
And as time went on, he’d started saying things like, “You wanted me too, didn’t you?” and “God is standing in the way of our love,” completely delusional.
“Don’t tell me… the reason you’re here now is…”
“We can’t assume someone who tried it once won’t try it again.”
