I Just Wanted to Avoid Death - Chapter 157
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Yeshion, who had been sweeping the courtyard in front of the temple, glanced at the priests hurrying to and fro.
Once the temple expressed favorable intentions regarding the festival, the Imperial Palace did not reject the proposal.
On the contrary, the Crown Prince even expressed joy, saying it was a relief to be of help to the temple.
‘A festival instead of a visit to the southern Mishemol Duchy…’
The original plot was unraveling far faster than expected.
Eldis had indefinitely postponed the visit to the Mishemol Duchy, citing preparations for the temple’s festival, and mentioned plans to dispatch several senior priests afterward.
And Edward, he would vanish without a trace before then.
‘It’s a bit disappointing that I won’t get to see it myself.’
A priest was not supposed to take pleasure in another’s misfortune. It was better to erase Edward from his thoughts than to dwell on him.
“Haa…”
But that didn’t make the worries disappear entirely.
Now that the original story was already derailed, he had no way of knowing what would come next.
The persistent tension was making him nauseous.
And there was one more reason for his anxiety.
‘Adelio hasn’t shown up…’
Adelio was someone who used to visit almost daily and now had completely vanished from sight.
Had the poison in his room been safely disposed of?
Had he been caught by the ones trying to kill him?
With no news at all, Yeshion’s worry compounded with each passing day.
“No news is good news, I guess.”
He said the words, but the concern remained. He had heard the rumor about himself and Eldis had reached the Imperial Palace, and the fact that Adelio was not making a move only made him more anxious.
Just as Yeshion shook his head and resumed sweeping, a person approached and stopped in front of him.
“Priest Yeshion.”
At the voice, he slowly lifted his head to see a priest standing there. He hadn’t really spoken to him before, but for some reason, he looked familiar.
“…Ah.”
He remembered.
It was the one who had once asked him, “Why are you still alive?”
The one who, in the previous timeline, had tried to kill him to protect the temple.
Matthew.
Gulp.
The sound of his throat swallowing felt louder than usual.
Why was someone who hadn’t said a word to him in this timeline suddenly approaching now?
Had he done something wrong without realizing it?
Yeshion instinctively took a half-step back, and Matthew, as if startled, also stepped back slightly and said.
“Forgive me for speaking to you so suddenly. But the Archpriest has summoned you.”
“…The Archpriest?”
Eldis never had others call Yeshion on his behalf. No matter how busy he was, he always came himself, saying he wanted to see him even for a moment.
‘No… he’s been busy lately. It makes sense.’
Yeshion shook off his suspicion. Matthew had tried to kill him in a previous life, but the situation was different now.
“Yes, let’s go.”
Matthew turned first and began walking. Watching his back for a moment, Yeshion scratched his head and slowly followed.
‘It’s still inside the temple. What could possibly happen?’
Following behind with that naive thought, Yeshion’s gaze lingered on Matthew’s back.
From his body, clothed in priestly robes, a strange gray shimmer seemed to be fluttering out. Wondering if it was just fatigue, Yeshion rubbed his eyes and looked again.
“That is…”
It wasn’t a hallucination.
It looked slightly different, but it was similar to the black aura he had seen in the Mishemol Duchy. It wasn’t as dark and vile as back then, but it radiated a cold, gloomy energy.
‘If that attaches to someone, it means they harbor evil intent… or something like that.’
He clearly remembered Eldis explaining it to him long ago. That the black aura clinging to someone signaled the moment before they committed a sin.
If he had still believed he didn’t have divine power, he might’ve brushed it off as a mistake. But now that he knew he had it, now that he could see it, things were different. Eldis’s explanations had always been nourishing to Yeshion, guiding him.
Yeshion stopped walking after Matthew.
That aura meant only one thing: Matthew wasn’t taking him to the Archpriest out of goodwill.
