I Just Wanted to Avoid Death - Chapter 133

For a moment, it felt like his heart had plummeted straight to the floor.

“W-Wh-What?!”

At the same time, heat surged into his face, and his breath caught in his throat.

“Did he just say… he likes…?’

Not just anyone… but Adelio? Liking him?

Yeshion knew full well now how heavy those words “I like you” were when coming from Adelio’s lips.

And yet, it had come from his mouth…

“I like you.”

It sounded deceptively light. But he knew the truth, how heavy it truly was. And that Adelio was not someone who would joke with words like that.

Even as he tried to calm himself, the emotions now rattling through him pounded wildly at his chest, impossible to suppress.

“And you?”

Adelio reached out and gently brushed Yeshion’s burning cheek. Though it had been a sudden confession, Yeshion’s face didn’t freeze up or show any sign of dislike.

In fact, it was quite the opposite…

“Why’s your face so red, Yeshion?”

He looked just like a man embarrassed after being confessed to.

And he didn’t hate it.

If anything, the idea that he had taken up space in Adelio’s heart after all the time they’d spent together was pleasing.

“I…”

Ever since he transmigrated, Yeshion had forced down every feeling he had toward them.

Told himself it wasn’t real—that all the attention he was receiving, all the kindness, was just part of some strange phenomenon. He had looked away from it. Run away from it.

‘There’s no way I couldn’t know…’

No matter how much he pretended to be oblivious, Yeshion was still human. The attention. The warmth. The laughter they shared. None of that had disappeared.

Even that night with Adelio—yes, even that.

If he had truly hated Adelio, if he hadn’t had even a flicker of interest, he would’ve found a way to hold back that overwhelming heat, no matter how crazy it made him.

Just like Adelio, who had locked himself in prison to keep from hurting others.

Yeshion too, even if blood had burst in his eyes, even if he had lost his reason and drooled like a beast.

‘I would’ve never let myself fall into Adelio’s arms.’

That day, Yeshion had felt it clearly. The rising heat, tangled with all the emotions he had tried so hard to hide.

But…

“I… can’t answer that.”

He couldn’t say for certain that what he felt now was truly love.

Yeshion had never loved anyone before.He had never experienced this pounding in his chest before either. That was why he hadn’t been able to respond to Eldis’s words, and let the moment pass in confusion.

“Why? What are you unsure about?”

Adelio asked softly.

His hand, still stroking Yeshion’s cheek, was gentle—comforting, as he gazed quietly at Yeshion’s clearly conflicted expression.

Yeshion opened his mouth several times before finally speaking.

“…Whenever I didn’t see Your Highness, I found myself thinking of you.”

Back when he had been away for a long while in the Mishemol Duchy. He’d often found himself thinking, “If Adelio were here, he’d definitely make a fuss over this.”

Even when he was with Eldis, he’d imagine what would happen if Adelio were there too.

He remembered how, upon hearing that Adelio had been executed, he had wanted nothing more than to pull him into a tight embrace.

Just the thought of him dying alone, waiting for his death alone, had ached. And the idea of him being tormented by the curse to the point of losing his senses.

That alone was enough to prove he held feelings for Adelio. You don’t feel this way about someone you don’t care for.

But.

“That said… it’s not just Your Highness.”

Eldis, too, lingered in his heart.

Yeshion’s chest fluttered far more with Adelio, but when he was with Eldis, he felt at peace. Whenever something happened, it was Eldis he ran to, and emotionally, he leaned on him more than he’d realized.

He knew now—love wasn’t only about a racing heart or burning passion.

He realized that being able to be at ease with someone, being able to speak freely, show every vulnerable side. That too was love. So Yeshion couldn’t define his feelings toward either of them with one simple word.

Both of them were precious, and he didn’t want to hurt either of them.

It was selfish. And cowardly.