I Just Wanted to Avoid Death - Chapter 147
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Eldis’s lips trembled faintly.
Even in sleep, with just those few words, “Don’t abandon me,” and the way he sought out warmth, he laid bare a fear he had never shown before.
When Yeshion offered his warmth, as if to say he wouldn’t go anywhere, that he would stay, Eldis placed his large hand over the one that was gently touching his cheek.
“……Mother……”
Yeshion simply gazed silently at his sleeping face. Perhaps he had met his mother in a dream, because his expression had softened, loosened more than before.
“……”
It hurt to see.
When Eldis had spoken of the Divine Punishment he had received, he had looked detached. As if nothing from that time held any meaning for him now.
But that wasn’t true.
‘……He simply couldn’t show it.’
The Archpriest.
The highest authority among all the priests dispatched across the empire, and the wielder of the strongest divine power.
If summoned by the Emperor, he would speak on state affairs, oversee the empire’s rituals and duties.
Because of that, the Archpriest could not allow himself to be caught in anything questionable, especially not a past that could be weaponized.
‘Being born and raised in the slums might just be a past he can dismiss……’
But killing his father and being punished by the divine is something he would do anything to hide.
And the real “Yeshion,” the one before him, had taken advantage of that Eldis.
Yeshion gently stroked the corner of Eldis’s eye with a finger.
Had Eldis ever had someone beside him that he could speak his truth to?
‘Even Rosaline seems to never have heard of it…’
He probably didn’t.
Which meant Eldis had, for the first time in his life, revealed a secret he’d wanted to bury forever.
Maybe a secret so painful he never wanted it known, and Yeshion had forced it out of him under the pretense of preventing everyone’s death.
“I’m sorry. I should’ve asked more gently……”
As the guilt spilled from him in a murmur, Eldis’s tightly shut eyes slowly opened.
His golden eyes, still unfocused from sleep, blinked sluggishly and then turned to check whose hand he had been holding.
“……Priest Yeshion?”
“Did I wake you?”
“Uh… No… I think I woke up a while ago and drifted back to sleep…… Are you feeling alright?”
Rising slowly, Eldis looked over Yeshion’s body.
But Yeshion didn’t respond. Instead, he reached his hand out.
As Yeshion wiped the sweat beading on his forehead, Eldis touched his own brow too, glancing at the moisture on his fingertips before casually wiping it away.
“You haven’t answered yet.”
“Sorry?”
“Your body. I asked if you’re alright.”
Yeshion’s eyes narrowed at the question. Who was the one making it impossible to even sit up right now?
He said nothing and simply stared. Eldis, understanding the look, sat up fully in bed.
“I’ve had food prepared. Do you think you can sit in a chair?”
He walked to the door, bringing in the food that had been left outside.
“……No. I think it’ll hurt if I sit on something hard.”
“It must hurt a lot, being your first time. I applied medicine, so by the afternoon, the pain should subside.”
As he said this, Eldis dragged a small table over to the bedside.
Then Yeshion, as if he’d spotted something, grabbed his arm.
“Archpriest, come here for a moment.”
“Closer?”
“Yes, just a little closer.”
Not knowing what Yeshion intended, Eldis obediently approached.
When he leaned in far enough for their eyes to meet, Yeshion reached up and smoothed down his hair.
“There. It was sticking up a little.”
When Yeshion finished and smiled, Eldis’s eyes widened slightly. As if surprised that someone would offer such a simple kindness.
But then, smiling in quiet satisfaction, Eldis pressed a kiss to Yeshion’s cheek before pulling back.
“Thank you.”
And then he smiled.
In those golden eyes, now filled with affection, Yeshion found his own smile slipping out before he could stop it.
He dropped his gaze to hide the blush creeping up his cheeks as a bowl of soup and a spoon were set before him.
