I Just Wanted to Avoid Death - Chapter 190
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“……”
“Archpriest Yeshion, if you are indeed the one who cursed the Crown Prince, then you must atone for every sin committed to conceal your crime.”
At last, it became clear.
The Empress had planned from the start to pin everything on Yeshion once things exploded.
That was why she had left him alive. ‘The only surviving member of a family the noble house had wiped out.’
She was already prepared to deliver her final blow the moment it was proven Yeshion was the one behind the curse.
“Yes. I’ll do it.”
But Yeshion remained unshaken.
Not only had he not cast the curse, but he had even been with Adelio when the effects of the curse had surfaced.
‘I won’t die.’
Suppressing the seizure with divine power would do.
Of course, the aftermath might trigger his own heat again, just like last time……
‘Still, it’s better than dying.’
If there was a solution, then following it was the right thing to do. They just needed to defeat the Empress and find a way to break Adelio’s curse.
‘No, maybe… the Empress herself is the one who cast the curse on Adelio.’
Then he would expose her, no matter what.
* * *
“…Are you truly certain you’ll be alright?”
Eldis looked at Yeshion with an expression full of worry.
He knew there was no other option, but the thought of locking Yeshion in a room with Adelio during a seizure was something he found deeply unsettling.
“I’ll be fine.”
“But… the Crown Prince’s curse isn’t properly suppressed. If the Empress’s side does anything behind the scenes, he could be more violent than usual.”
Eldis was right.
They had recently tried to suppress the curse more firmly, but nothing had changed. Rosaline’s power had no effect at all on Adelio’s curse.
Eldis had attempted to hold it back himself, but since neither Rosaline nor Yeshion knew the protection prayer, the plan fell apart.
“If it gets dangerous, I’ll suppress the curse myself without the protection prayer, like before.”
“……”
“Better I lose control than the Crown Prince.”
Yeshion recalled the time Adelio had bitten down on his neck. He’d honestly believed someone could die from being bitten like that.
Now that he said it aloud, it really did seem better for him to lose control than for Adelio to do so.
“……Just promise me just one thing.”
“What kind of promise?”
“That you won’t use all your divine power to save the Crown Prince. …That you’ll value your own life.”
As if begging him not to die, Eldis gripped Yeshion’s hand tightly. His twisted expression shimmered with desperate emotion.
“I……”
“Promise me.”
Eldis whispered, resting his forehead against Yeshion’s shoulder.
Even if it meant pushing Adelio toward death, Eldis wished for at least Yeshion to survive.
‘I did say it was the last time……’
Yeshion thought, resting his cheek against Eldis’s chest.
He couldn’t go back in time anymore, even if he died. That meant he had to make the right choices, the ones that could lead to everyone’s happiness.
‘But……’
Could he really pretend not to know, seeing a dying man before his eyes? Knowing he had the power to save him, could he really let Adelio die?
Yeshion gave no answer. He only lowered his head.
“I’ll promise, then.”
It wasn’t Yeshion who answered.
Adelio had arrived, having heard the news, and called out from a distance as he approached.
“Your Highness……!”
“Why are you hesitating over something so obvious? If it’s a choice between your life and mine, it should obviously be yours.”
Yeshion’s eyes widened, lips parting slightly.
Both Adelio and Eldis treated his life as more precious than their own.
“Don’t say ridiculous things.”
“What’s ridiculous?”
“I’m just a lowly priest, and you’re… the Crown Prince. Of course you should live……”
“Then I’m not doing it.”
“Sorry? Not doing what?”
“If I have to live because I’m the Crown Prince, then I won’t be Crown Prince anymore.”
