Holy Night: My Husband is Definitely a Paladin - Chapter 107

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“You’ve arrived.”

As Irene entered the room, Michael, who had been seated, stood up to greet her.

“I apologize for being late.”

“It’s no problem. I should have personally escorted you here, but there were preparations I had to make, so I couldn’t meet you outside.”

With that, he gestured for her to sit. Irene carefully took a seat on the rough wooden chair.

‘So this is where Michael lives.’

The door had been labeled as a prayer room, but it seemed like a few pieces of furniture had been added to accommodate his living needs. Even so, the room had a rather sparse and cold atmosphere.

‘Is this really where he stays? Why are there so few things?’

She had heard that the people of the temple were only allowed to own as many belongings as could fit in a single bag, from birth until death.

At first, it seemed impossible, but now that she was seeing Michael’s room, it didn’t seem like an exaggeration at all.

There was his knight’s uniform hanging on the wall, an old, simple wooden bed with worn bedding, and the only other items were a few papers and a pen on the table.

Even if she gathered all of the items in this room, they wouldn’t even fill half a bag, let alone a full one.

Irene suddenly realized how truly ascetic he was. For a holy knight, it was one thing to be dedicated, but to have so little desire for material possessions?

‘Has Michael ever wanted something for himself?’

Though she wasn’t sure what it might be, if there was something he desired, she wanted to give it to him as a gift one day.

‘Surprisingly, there’s nothing religious here.’

Being a holy knight, she had expected to see religious items like a bible or sacred relics, but there were no signs of anything related to the divine in his room.

In the meantime, he had prepared tea and brought it over.

It was the same tea she had tasted long ago as a child when she underwent purification tests at the temple. It seemed like all the temples used the same kind of tea.

‘I should bring him some tea from my room next time.’

As his pair, she enjoyed luxuries fit for a princess, but here was Michael, who deserved far more, drinking tea that tasted like grass.

Swallowing her guilt, Irene took another sip of the tea he offered.

The warmth of the tea relaxed her body, which had been tense from being in an unfamiliar place. After setting her teacup down, Irene spoke.

“Even if you had come to greet me, I still would have been late. To be honest, something happened before I came here.”

“What happened?”

Irene briefly explained the situation with the princess. Michael didn’t seem surprised. He had likely anticipated this as well.

“I see.”

“Yes, so the raid on the distortion dungeon has become even more crucial.”

Irene had intended to explain the situation briefly and leave it at that, but instead found herself saying,

“Honestly, I thought she would have taken a few days to consider her options… But it seems some of the people who participated in the first raid have already gone back to her. It hasn’t even been that long since they received the profits from the Invisibility Ring sale, yet they’ve already switched sides.”

Strangely, Irene found herself complaining in front of Michael, something she hadn’t even done with Reyna.

“Michael, you worked so hard to help them, but… Do they even appreciate it?”

Irene had been grumbling for a while before she noticed Michael was silently watching her.

Realizing what she was doing, she quickly apologized.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I was complaining without even realizing it.”

“It’s no problem. I’m just happy to hear your thoughts.”

Happy? He wasn’t obligated to listen to others’ grievances like some sort of confession, so why would he be pleased to hear hers?

Confusion must have shown on her face because Michael responded to her puzzled expression.

“It’s the first time I’ve heard what you really think, Irene. It makes me happy.”

“Is… that so?”

Reflecting on his words, Irene realized he was right. In the beginning, just meeting him had been uncomfortable, so their conversations had been limited to greetings and essential matters.

Even as time passed, the memories of the past made her hesitant, and she carefully measured every word she spoke to him, constantly fearing that she might say something to offend him.

That’s how it had been. But at some point, she had started to say things in front of him that she wouldn’t even share with others.

In the past, she would have carefully gauged his reaction before speaking and repeatedly questioned whether her words would displease him.