No Such Thing as a Chaste Man! Just Give It Ten Tries! - Chapter 21
Seo-ah was truly determined that this would be her last attempt to convince Ephelinus. She was the type to try something ten times before giving up or finding another way, but with him, she had already tried countless times—more than ten.
Because she liked him that much.
“I heard from Peter. That the condition for the reverse summoning is that the target—me—has to be pure. That’s why, as a minor, I was summoned to Genève in the first place.”
“……”
“So I’ve been trying to cast away that purity. It wasn’t as if I cared much about preserving it, but… I wanted to have my first time with someone I actually liked. And that person is you, Your Holiness!”
At last, Seo-ah had confessed her feelings openly, and she glared at Ephelinus, her shoulders slightly trembling. Her eyes, which hadn’t blinked once, had turned red at the rims.
I like you.
She had expressed this sentiment in countless indirect ways, but this was the first time she had said it directly.
“……”
“……”
And… his face hardened into a blank, unfeeling expression.
Just like in the many times he had rejected her.
Seo-ah let out a soft, humorless laugh.
“I’ve been rejected by you more than ten times already. Do you think that wasn’t humiliating for me?”
“……”
“But do you know what bothers me the most?”
“……”
“It’s me. That I still… like you despite everything…”
Seo-ah clenched her gloved fist and pounded it against her chest, which was covered by his shawl, the symbol of the High Priest.
Then, as if to rid herself of its presence, she tore it off with a trembling hand. Her fist, clutching the richly embroidered fabric, shook with suppressed emotion.
“Did I ever ask you to renounce your vows? Did I ask you to marry me? I never asked you to give up everything. I just asked you not to send me away. I only asked you to hold me…”
But still, Ephelinus’s face showed no reaction, no movement at all.
“So, in the end, you wouldn’t grant me a single thing.”
It was as if he had already known how much she liked him, as if he had understood from the start that she was trying to sabotage the reverse summoning ritual through her attempts to seduce him.
His silence was his answer—the final rejection.
The wine she had gulped down seemed to burn its way through her throat and into her chest, stirring a fierce heat within her.
“But now, what Your Holiness thinks doesn’t matter to me anymore.”
The ending she had delayed and postponed on this one-sided love was finally here, an unwanted but inevitable conclusion.
“First, I’ll persuade the Senate. You saw tonight, didn’t you? The way they panicked when they saw me mingling with Miriam and the old nobles. The dwarven high elder and the elven lord are on my side, too. I’ll fight a long battle if I have to. There are commoner leaders who criticize the Senate’s favoritism toward nobles, so I could even incite a public uprising. I didn’t want to bring such turmoil to Genève’s hard-won peace, which is why I was only trying to persuade you…”
It was a plan she hadn’t shared even with Jenny and Rurina. She had hoped it would never come to that. Because if she went through with it, it would mean she had failed to convince Ephelinus, and they would never be able to look at each other as they once had.
“If you agree to stay with me, I won’t have to do any of that… But if I fail and am sent back regardless, well…”
Tears threatened to spill over her hot eyes. She could barely make out the expression on his face as he looked at her.
“Then purity won’t matter—I could lose it with anyone, for all I care.”
But at those words, Ephelinus’s eyes froze over.
This was the first time she had seen such a sharp reaction from him, who had only watched her, motionless, until now.
So he reacts only when I mention being with someone else?
You treat me like I’m someone special, yet…
You got so angry seeing others approach me, and still…
A bitter laugh escaped her lips.
“You said it yourself. When you asked why I was chosen, you said it was because our souls resonated most closely.”
“That’s right. You’re here because of me…”
For the first time, his voice held an actual reply, deep and sorrowful.
“I thought that resonance meant we were naturally close. I thought that’s why I liked you, why I believed you found me special too.”
“……”
“So if I leave… will you truly be fine with that?”
Seo-ah grabbed him, dropping his shawl and clenching the fabric of his robe beneath his collarbone with both hands. The stiff wool-silk wrinkled under her grip.
“Are you really okay with me being gone? Not just for three and a half years like before, but for the rest of our lives?”
With fierce intensity, she enunciated each word, while Ephelinus bit down gently on the inside of his lip. His firmly pressed lips quivered slightly.
Why does it look like you’re trying to hold back tears? When I’m the one who wants to cry.
She shook him by his robe.
“I’ll do whatever it takes to stay, but… if I end up having to leave, I’ll see other men, sleep with anyone I choose.”
