Chapter 198
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Would he say he didn’t love him anymore?
That he was disgusted?
Afraid of the words to come, Yeshion squeezed his eyes shut. But instead, Eldis approached and firmly grasped Yeshion’s hand.
Without a word, he held it gently, caressing it as if it were fragile. Then, slowly, his body crumbled. He sank to his knees, resting his face against the back of Yeshion’s hand. His shoulders trembled faintly.
He was crying.
Despair flowing from the sorrow that had welled up in his throat, too overwhelming to swallow.
Unable to find the words to express his torrent of emotions, all he could do was breathe, ragged and soaked in pain.
“I will… no longer trust you.”
What followed after his return was an excruciating loneliness.
He didn’t want to lose anything precious again. He didn’t want to feel that heart-wrenching pain or that suffocating sorrow again.
At those words, Yeshion bit his lip and nodded.
“You… I don’t know what to do with you anymore……”
The grip on his hand grew stronger. But Yeshion couldn’t speak. Not yet.
Then, finally, he parted his lips.
“I’m sorry for being selfish.”
“……”
“But I… if the same situation were to happen again, I’m sure I’d make the same choice.”
He knew these words might hurt Eldis all over again. Even so, Yeshion couldn’t just stand by and watch them die.
Eldis, Rosaline. And even Adelio. Because they all held the same resolve. So he could not yield, not even a little.
“……I know.”
“……”
“That’s why I’ve decided not to trust you anymore.”
Eldis slowly lifted his head from where it had been resting against Yeshion’s hand.
Still on his knees, he looked up at him quietly, golden eyes glinting with obsession and fury.
He had let him go out of consideration, only to watch him return beaten.
From that moment, nothing sat right with him. If the price of letting go, of freedom dressed up in false sweetness, was the death of the one he loved, then he would cast it all aside and suppress everything instead.
* * *
“Haa……”
Letting out a long breath, Yeshion trudged down to the underground prison.
After clinging to Yeshion for a long while, overwhelmed by sorrow, Eldis had simply told him to bring Adelio.
“Even without the Saintess’s help… he’ll be fine on his own now. You’ve become that strong.”
Leaving behind those cryptic words, Eldis turned his back with Rosaline and left first.
“He must be mad…”
Of course he was.
Yeshion thought to bring Adelio back and speak to everyone. Just as he reached the bottom of the long staircase, with those thoughts in mind…
“Huh……?”
Strangely, there was no sound of Adelio growling.
Tilting his head, Yeshion stepped cautiously deeper into the cell, and only then did Adelio’s face become visible. It had been obscured in the dim light until now.
One of his arms hung loosely in a half-dangling chain, and Adelio was exhaling hot breaths, staring directly at Yeshion.
Though his breathing was labored as if the curse still lingered, he seemed to be at least somewhat conscious now.
“……Your Highness?”
But no answer came.
Yeshion pushed open the iron bars and stepped inside slowly.
He was worried Adelio might suddenly pull him in, but the man only continued to gaze at him silently, breathing heavily.
‘Can I really just heal him like this?’
What if the curse bounced back again…? But…
‘Eldis said it would be fine, so it must be.’
Taking a small, steadying breath, Yeshion reached out and laid his hand on Adelio’s shoulder.
As the thought that he may be freed from the curse crossed his mind, he suddenly felt the strength drain from his body.
Yeshion swayed for a moment, struck by a fleeting wave of dizziness, and pressed a hand to his throbbing temple.
“……on…….”
“Ah, Your Highness.”
The moment he lifted his head at the faint voice…
Tears fell from Adelio’s face.
As if time had stopped, Yeshion stood frozen, unable to say anything, only staring at him.
Watching someone cry without a word or movement, simply gazing at him like that… it hurt more than he expected.
And then, finally, he understood.
‘I…’
The wounds he had left them with were ones that cut far too deep to ever heal.
