I Just Wanted to Avoid Death - Chapter 131

Yeshion screamed inwardly as he slowly turned his head. There stood Adelio, who absolutely should not have been there, blinking down at him.

“Y-Your Highness?! W-what are you doing here?! Weren’t you just talking about Edwar—no, the execution?”

Unable to hide his panic, Yeshion blurted out the words, and Adelio raised a brow.

“I was going to, but then I saw you leaving the temple.”

Was the angle from the room enough to see the temple entrance? Now that he thought about it… maybe it was.

“…I’m not running away, you know.”

“I know. I didn’t follow you to spy on you.”

“Then why did you follow me?”

Yeshion tilted his head as he asked, and Adelio’s face suddenly crumpled.

But then he let out a long sigh and tousled Yeshion’s hair with both hands.

“Because I wanted to be with you.”

“…What?”

“Seriously, the fact that I have to say this out loud…”

Yeshion thought he’d misheard.

The constant hovering earlier… well, he had figured it was just shock from hearing someone he knew had died.

The compliments about his looks, those were nothing new from Adelio, so he let them slide.

Maybe he’d just had something left unsaid back in front of the others.

“Do you… have something you wanted to tell me?”

At the question, Adelio’s face wrinkled even more.

Dragging a large hand down his own face, he sighed and spoke.

“I can’t tell if you’re really clueless or just pretending to be.”

“…What’s that supposed to mean?”

Had he guessed wrong?

Frowning, Yeshion pressed him again, and Adelio bent down slightly and grabbed his hand.

“I don’t know why you suddenly rushed out like this, but it felt like you were planning to do something reckless on your own.”

The moment Adelio said reckless, Yeshion clamped his mouth shut. He couldn’t exactly admit he’d been planning to walk into enemy territory solo.

“Well, in that case, why not just go on a date?”

“Wait, a date? H-Hold on!”

As Adelio tugged on his hand, Yeshion used all his strength to brace against him.

Adelio looked down at him, thoroughly annoyed.

“What, is it because you don’t like it?”

“It’s not that I don’t want to… but it’s not a good look for the two of us to be seen together, is it?”

Back in the past, maybe. But now that he’d returned, it was better not to give the impression that Adelio was siding with him.

Especially since no one had found out yet that Yeshion had betrayed them.

To get information out of the enemy, he had to avoid acting too close to Adelio.

“If that’s the reason, then there’s nothing to worry about.”

“…Huh?”

“Around this time, you were supposed to be seducing me anyway.”

Grinning with teeth exposed, Adelio flicked Yeshion’s nose.

“I—I feel like I did hear something like that…”

“Then there’s no problem anymore.”

Adelio laced their fingers together and pulled him along as he added, “Let’s go.”

Once they arrived at the marketplace, Adelio shoved a bunch of snacks into Yeshion’s hands.

“You need to eat more.”

“Out of nowhere?”

“It’s not out of nowhere. I’ve thought this every time…your body’s too light, too thin, you keep collapsing like a twig.”

“…It’s been a while since I last collapsed, though.”

With a sullen reply, Yeshion watched as Adelio added yet another skewer to his hand.

“I’ve never collapsed even once.”

“…Instead, Your Highness turns into a beast.”

“What, want to see me turn into a beast again?”

At the threatening implication, Yeshion looked away awkwardly. He could suppress the curse, sure…

‘Of course, I can’t do it on my own…”

Instead of answering, he mumbled and started nibbling on the skewer in his hand.

That’s when Adelio rubbed the back of his neck and asked in a low voice…

“…That day, was your body okay?”

“That day?”

“The day we did it.”

“—Keugh!”

Yeshion choked and spat out his food.

“W-What kind of insane thing are you saying all of a sudden?!”

“What, isn’t it fair to ask? I mean, things got hectic afterward, sure, but you’d still know whether it hurt or not. I need to know if I should be gentler next time, or if you can handle it roughe—mph!”