Thought It Was 'The End', Only to Return to a Changed Genre - Chapter 54
In any case, Edwin wrapped up their talk there and pushed Shane forward.
“Anyway, you can rest assured that we won’t handle this carelessly, so let’s go.”
Just before closing the door, he signaled to the jailer. The jailer gagged the priest again and put him back in the cell. Although more information needed to be extracted, Edwin suspected there wasn’t much left to uncover.
“Genevieve must be shocked too. I should go check on her.”
“I’ll be heading back now.”
“Huh? You’re not going to see Genevieve?”
“Is it necessary for me to see her?”
“Cold-hearted as always. You are her guardian, after all.”
“I am fulfilling my duties as a guardian.”
It wasn’t just about his duties.
But Genevieve probably didn’t want to see Shane’s face right now either. Edwin didn’t insist.
“How’s married life treating you?”
“Do I have an obligation to answer that? It’s my private life.”
“Drawing a line, are we? Between us.”
“I despise people who gossip about their romantic or personal relationships.”
“…That stings a bit….”
Shane answered with silence, as if to say, ‘So what?’
‘He’s always been like this.’
Someone who seemed to see only Adeline and showed no interest or curiosity in anything else.
“If someone did control him.”
“Ah, you mean dark sorcery? It’s not impossible, but… unlikely. If he was being controlled, he would still be out of his mind. But he said he was only momentarily overcome by impulse. He said he came to his senses right after acting.”
“Genevieve might have purified him.”
“Did she? Well, purification of poison maybe, but…”
Even that wasn’t particularly impressive.
Genevieve was busier than the previous Saintess because her abilities weren’t exceptionally outstanding.
Even for the same area of poison, she had to perform the purification process two or three times. Since expeditions cost money, Genevieve inevitably felt pressured in many ways. Evaluations of her abilities reached her ears whether she wanted to hear them or not.
“Genevieve can heal wounds but cannot cure diseases. The same goes for poison. What she can do is maintain life and stamina until an antidote is found. Even if she can purify a curse, it would take at least a few days. Shane, you seem to have a higher opinion of Genevieve than I thought.”
“I’m just considering various possibilities. As for Adeline…”
Shane stopped speaking and clenched his jaw. The sound of his teeth grinding was eerily unsettling.
“When she sees someone in danger, she throws herself at it as if she were invincible, no matter what I say.”
“…That’s quite impressive…”
To ignore the threats of this frightening man.
From the moment she said, “Yes, go ahead and be with the Saintess,” without batting an eye at his relentless confessions and blind love, one couldn’t help but admire Adeline’s exceptional courage.
Edwin, who had been lost in thought for a moment, spoke abruptly.
“I thought you would lock her up tightly in the mansion after getting married.”
Shane didn’t respond. It wasn’t something he hadn’t considered.
“That’s why I hinted that you should help me during the Winter Founding Festival. Now that I know you won’t lock her up, there will be frequent invitations.”
The empress, eager to see her son married, would soon start calling guests in advance every time she spoke with Genevieve.
The Founding Festival is in two months.
‘Adeline has a good sense of people, so she’ll be useful.’
Although, seeing Shane makes one doubt that ability a bit. Perhaps he saw clearly and wanted to keep her away. Edwin smirked.
“Shane, I thought you wanted to hurt Adeline.”
Isn’t it that the only reason he captured and threatened her into marriage after she ran away was to keep her confined and torment her? After all, Edwin also knew how much Shane had fallen apart after Adeline disappeared.
So, the original plan was to torment the woman who deceived and betrayed him.
But now it seemed that wasn’t entirely the case.
Shane looked straight ahead. The air grew heavy during the few seconds he remained silent. He then answered briefly.
“It’s no different.”
“Come on, husband who was about to kill the assailant for almost hurting his wife.”
Edwin, who had been teasing, shut his mouth when he saw Shane’s side profile.
“To Adeline, the fact that I am her husband itself must be horrendous.”
With gloomy blue eyes, Shane bitterly mocked himself.
