I Just Wanted to Avoid Death - Chapter 104
Back then, long before Eldis had become Archpriest, when ‘Yeshion’ was not yet a priest—back when they’d eaten stale bread crumbs picked out of dirt—‘Yeshion’ had laughed and promised never to leave, to stick close like a leech.
In those distant days, ‘Yeshion’ had desperately sought any path to survival. And Eldis, who had committed murder and thus faced divine punishment, had no choice but to silence the only witness to his sin—‘Yeshion.’
Though the words hadn’t come from the current Yeshion’s mouth, they had surely been uttered by the same body. Even if Yeshion begged him to let go, to let him leave, Eldis planned to hold onto that old promise as an excuse.
Yeshion would undoubtedly say, “But I never said those words,” though Eldis hardly cared. All that mattered was keeping him by his side, after all.
Eldis gave a soft laugh, calmly meeting Adelio’s eyes. Adelio, who had openly admitted his feelings of love, was now looking at Eldis with an expression of mild pity.
“Your Highness seems to believe that having feelings for someone is the only reason to keep them close.”
“What?”
“As you’re well aware, Priest Yeshion and I have known each other for a very long time. Our bond runs deep.”
His tone implied that their closeness was only natural. Hearing this, Adelio let out a dry laugh, as if Eldis’ attachment to Yeshion was perfectly reasonable. .
“Deep bond? Ha! Is that why Yeshion tried so desperately to escape the temple?”
“That was…”
Eldis’s breath caught sharply.
Suddenly attacked by unexpected words, Eldis clenched his fist tightly.
It wasn’t the real Yeshion who had wanted to leave the temple. It was the one inside—the one wearing Yeshion’s shell.
The very one Eldis wanted to keep locked safely by his side.
“Are you prepared to handle it if Yeshion comes to hate you?”
As Adelio’s words ended, Eldis suddenly recalled the way Yeshion had looked at him before.
Those wary golden eyes that asked if Eldis hated him. Though there was no contempt in them, even imagining that gaze now filled him with discomfort.
“That is none of your concern.”
His sharp response made Adelio click his tongue lightly.
“Fine, keep thinking that way. It’ll make things easier for me.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, that’s for you to think about.”
Adelio abruptly swung open the closed door, clearly deciding further conversation was pointless.
As Adelio walked away, Eldis coldly called out after him.
“Do not approach Priest Yeshion again.”
“I refuse.”
Eldis’s expression instantly twisted.
Determined to get a proper answer today, he hurried after Adelio as he left.
“I said not to approach him.”
“Stop following me. I won’t give you the answer you want anyway.”
But Eldis stubbornly kept following. Knowing Adelio hated annoyance, Eldis was certain that persistence would eventually force Adelio, irritated, to agree.
He was solely focused on that goal when suddenly, a terrified scream rang out nearby.
“Yeshion!”
It was a heart-rending cry.
Eldis and Adelio simultaneously stopped dead in their tracks, then turned in unison toward the sound, as if they had made a pact.
Their pace quickened rapidly—from a hurried walk into a desperate run. And when Eldis saw the scene unfolding before his eyes, it felt as though his heart had fallen from his chest.
“Hee, hehe… H-how dare…how dare you pretend to be Yeshion when you’re not even him…!”
A pool of crimson blood spread across the floor, and Yeshion lay collapsed in the middle of it.
One step.
As Eldis moved forward, it felt as if his heart had plunged into an endless abyss.
Two steps.
Seeing Yeshion’s eyes tightly shut as if life had already fled him, despair bloomed deep within Eldis.
When he finally fell to his knees in front of Yeshion, he saw clearly that Rosaline’s divine power was failing to enter Yeshion’s body.
Swallowing dryly, Eldis desperately grabbed Yeshion’s arm.
He would be alright.
If he earnestly prayed and poured all his divine power into Yeshion, such wounds could heal in an instant.
Eldis, his throat tight, desperately channeled every bit of divine energy he possessed into Yeshion.
But in the very next moment, Eldis’s face was cast into complete despair.
