Holy Night: My Husband is Definitely a Paladin - Chapter 144
The next day, Irene did not show herself.
When Cecilia sent Wilhelmina, who was on familiar terms with Irene, to check on her, she reported that Irene had shut herself in her quarters and wasnāt coming out at all.
āIt seems she has a high fever. Since sheās barely eating, itās taking her a while to recover.ā
Wilhelmina said this with an expression that seemed oddly pleased.
āLooks like sheās finally stopped following Sir Michael around. Itās a relief, really. Now he can focus on his dungeon expeditions without being bothered. Honestly, she was always waiting out frontāit must have been uncomfortable for himā¦ā
Wilhelmina went on, as if she had been waiting for a chance to criticize Ireneās behavior.
Cecilia listened to her words as if they were sweet music.
A few days later, she heard that Ireneās health had improved somewhat. Even so, Irene still didnāt leave her quarters.
Satisfied with the outcome she had hoped for, Cecilia thought to herself, How dare she be so presumptuous as to think she could be Michaelās pair.
He was the man Cecilia had set her sights on, the one she had invested so much effort in. She should have been his first pair, not some insignificant nobody who had suddenly appeared and taken him from her.
āPerhaps if I push her hard enough, sheāll break the pair bond herself.ā
Cecilia had hoped that by pressuring Irene this much, she might do exactly thatā¦
āIt would be a shame if her insolence were only temporarily curbed.ā
Cecilia bit her lip.
Why was Michael seeking her out in the first place? It was certainly unwelcome.
Staring at the letter for a long time, Cecilia finally tossed it into the fireplace.
The flames devoured the letter in moments, leaving no trace of it.
Without receiving the letter, Irene would not go to meet him.
And it wasnāt likely that Michael would investigate its whereabouts.
Even if he did, what could he find out?
All she had to do was claim she hadnāt received it.
* * *
The next day, Michael scanned the area in front of the dungeon.
He had already done this countless times, so much so that a knight nearby eventually asked who he was waiting for.
āShe should have received the letter.ā
And yet, she hadnāt comeā¦
Growing anxious, Michael paced back and forth.
In the end, Irene was nowhere to be seen by the time the raid began.
Swallowing his disappointment and emptiness, he entered the dungeon.
āIāll go see her once the expedition is over.ā
He still couldnāt shake the memory of how sheād looked the last time he saw her. It wasnāt just that she was unwellāwhy had she so desperately avoided his gaze?
He wanted to know the reason.
Thinking of what heād do after returning, he pressed onward into the dungeon.
āUrgh!ā
Despite the intense pain in his abdomen, Michael swung his sword.
The monster in front of him, wielding sickle-like limbs, split in two, spilling foul ichor.
The spots where the fluid splattered burned as if set aflame, but he couldnāt afford to stop.
There were many knights fallen around him. If he failed to take down these monsters here, they would all lose their lives.
Fighting off the endless surge of monsters, Michael felt the approach of death for the first time.
Heād never particularly feared death.
He was born by the will of the divine, lived by that will, so wasnāt it natural to return to the divineās side?
But if he were to die hereā¦
Suddenly, an image of Irene came to mind, trembling as she had pleaded to be his pair.
Back then, heād been too focused on his own disappointment to listen to her reasons.
And heād been the same ever since.
Michael had intentionally avoided showing interest in Irene.
In other words, heād been suppressing the interest he felt toward her.
āShe is my pair.ā
At the very least, he could have greeted her warmly.
He could have asked why she came to the fortress, why she was so intent on saving money.
When she looked at him, he could have at least met her gaze.
Simple, trivial things popped into his mind.
At that moment, a massive monster appeared before him.
It was a creature he was in no condition to defeat.
As he faced it, aware that death was near, he had a sudden realization.
āAt the end of my lifeā¦ā
He saw his deepest desire.
That in his final moments, he would be with Irene.
Together, with nothing between them.
