I Just Wanted to Avoid Death - Chapter 103
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How many times in a lifetime would one think about genuinely wanting to kill another human being? Especially for someone who’d spent half his life learning the lesson, ‘You must love and embrace all humanity’?
Eldis could confidently answer, ‘At least once.’
Right now, he desperately wanted to tear apart the man standing before him.
“Anyone would think Yeshion was still a child who hasn’t reached adulthood yet. Or does the temple even monitor which people the priests sleep with?”
“Shut your mouth.”
“Ooh, is a priest allowed to speak so rudely?”
Hearing Adelio’s mocking voice, Eldis felt the impulse to rip that mouth apart.
“Haa…”
Eldis took a long, deep breath to suppress his rage. Yet the moment he lifted his eyes, he grimaced at the sight of Adelio’s exposed upper body.
Clear bite marks on his shoulder, scattered red traces all over—obviously left by Yeshion, since they had slept together.
The thought ignited Eldis’s anger again, and clenching his teeth, he ran a hand through his hair.
“Did you sleep with him casually, then?”
“No.”
Adelio’s immediate, unhesitant answer made Eldis’s fingers tremble slightly. He had never expected such a firm denial.
Eldis laughed bitterly, shaking his head.
“That’s odd. If I recall correctly, last time you firmly rejected any suggestion you might like Yeshion.”
“People’s feelings naturally change, don’t they?”
Adelio’s lips curled into a gentle smile. That shy, tender smile, as if he was recalling Yeshion at this very moment, made Eldis nauseous.
He was furious.
‘Why?’
His unanswered questions lingered, only adding more layers of frustration and rage within him.
Noticing Eldis’s struggle, Adelio crossed his arms, shifting his weight onto one leg as he asked,
“Honestly, I find your attitude even more puzzling.”
Eldis’s face twisted further, but Adelio didn’t stop there.
“There’ve been priests who recklessly tried to lift my curse before. Some arrogant ones even died attempting it.”
“……”
“But have you ever gotten this angry before, Archpriest Eldis?”
Adelio’s red eyes closely studied Eldis, as if examining every muscle twitch on his face.
“…Priest Yeshion is different.”
“How? Isn’t he just another priest from the temple? Or is it simply that he’s your favorite?”
Eldis’s expression hardened sharply at Adelio’s sarcastic remark.
Yet the moment Eldis opened his mouth to counter, the words got caught painfully in his throat.
What exactly made Yeshion different?
Why had he accepted the deaths of others as merely reaping what they sowed, yet found himself unable to endure Yeshion’s suffering from the curse?
When Eldis remained silent, Adelio scoffed softly.
“Then let me ask you again. Eldis, do you like Yeshion?”
At that question, Eldis unconsciously ground his teeth.
Impossible.
He couldn’t possibly like someone that way.
Yet the immediate denial wouldn’t leave his lips. Somewhere deep inside him, a small voice whispered, ‘Really?’
He felt stifled.
‘Maybe, before it came to this…’
Perhaps he should have kept Yeshion locked away within the temple under whatever pretense necessary.
If he had prevented Yeshion from meeting Adelio, he wouldn’t be feeling such turmoil now.
If he had kept Yeshion hidden away, allowing him to see only Eldis’s face, perhaps he would never have fallen prey to that shameless man.
‘The underground dungeon definitely had…’
Tools suitable for proper education.
Maybe he should forbid Adelio from ever setting foot in the temple again and instead keep Yeshion in that dungeon, teaching him exactly what could happen if he associated with the wrong people.
What miserable fate awaited him if he ever again mingled with someone as vile as Adelio.
Eldis would teach him clearly that he could only be truly safe if he stayed by his side—not with someone like Adelio.
‘Though you’re not the one who said it…’
Eldis recalled words spoken by the ‘Yeshion’ he’d once known long ago.
“Take me to the temple. Then I’ll stay by your side. Even if you curse me, even if you tell me to disappear, I’ll stick by you stubbornly. And while I’m at it, I’ll keep that flaw of yours secret.”
