I Wish You Well In Your Next Love, My Love

“……”

“I said I’m fine, that I don’t want it. Even if my head cracks open and I die right here, don’t do anything! Don’t act kind, don’t say things that could make me misunderstand, don’t try to take care of me, and stop with all your boring jokes too! Why did you bring me to the temple in the first place? I told you I hated the temple so much… You should have just left me in that cramped room, whether I burned to death from fever or froze to death…!”

When I squeezed my eyes shut, tears I hadn’t even realized had gathered fell in long trails down my cheeks.

You don’t know my anxiety.

I am so afraid and terrified of you.

It felt as if a sheer cliff stretched out one step ahead of me. Even though I knew I would die the moment I stepped forward, the impulse to give everything up and simply leap shook me.

I roughly rubbed away my tears with my hand and bowed deeply to Gerard. Then I went outside without looking back.

And not long after, I sensed someone quickly following after me. Catching up to my limping steps took only an instant.

“Just take a carriage. Not my family’s carriage, a hired carriage. Of course I won’t follow you.”

When I stepped outside, cold air brushed past the tip of my heated nose. White fog rose with every breath I exhaled. No warmth could be expected from my thin clothes soaked with sweat.

I only clenched both fists and trembled.

The darkest dawn retreated, and blue daybreak began to fall over the sky.

Without another word, Gerard called a hired carriage and put me inside. Then, right before closing the door, he draped his jacket over my thighs.

By the time I grabbed the jacket in surprise, the door had already closed.

“Go!”

When Gerard said that while thumping the carriage, the coachman quickly left the street behind.

* * *

“To the gracious heavens above, thank you, Almighty God.”

Alvar, who had entered Gerard’s office, made the sign of the cross and clasped his hands together.

The temple had been turned upside down trying to find Gerard, who had suddenly disappeared after the battle.

During the site inspection after the battle, as many as four great monsters had appeared, and Gerard had been gravely injured while fighting them. Then, while they were treating him in a hurry, another monster appeared, and Gerard had used far more strength than usual.

As a result, the subjugation ended successfully, but his energy had surged to the brink of rampage.

All the Purifiers in the Celovia region had been dispatched to the scene and prepared to purify him, but Gerard, who should have been among the collapsed rubble, had vanished without a trace.

The scene had truly fallen into chaos. It was an even more serious situation than when the great monsters appeared.

To find him, who had suddenly disappeared, not only the Awakened of Celovia, but even the trainees had been fully mobilized to search the entire area.

The search had continued without finding even a single strand of his hair. Just as they were seriously wondering whether they should report to the imperial family and expand the search on a massive scale…

The person in question was sitting calmly in his office.

Even his dangerous rampage rate had stabilized.

“Commander, where on earth were you? If you perhaps blew something up somewhere or caused damage to a civilian house, please tell me. The temple will clean it up. No, first, I should inform Celovia. Things must be no joke over there either.”

Alvar, who had been busily talking to himself, left the office.

Gerard, on the other hand, was sunk deeply into his chair, thinking of someone.

“Please, just please, Gerard!”

The eyes that had looked up at him while holding back tears would not leave his mind. Not only her body, but even her heart had looked utterly ragged.

“…Is it because of the deep contact purification.”

At that time, Gerard had not been in his right mind because his rampage rate had been pushed to its limit.

Louize was the only Purifier who could put to rest the pain of burning down to the bone. Even in a situation where he should no longer use his ability, Gerard had folded the sky and run, reaching her house in a single breath. It had been a movement born from the instinct to survive.

And that choice had proven excellent.

From the moment he saw her, perhaps because of relief, his memories were broken in places. But the intense sensation that had made his brain tingle remained clear even now.

“Ah, you’re in too deep… I’m already full.”

The first time. The ecstasy of splitting her body open and entering all the way inside.

Just recalling it made him shudder, and blood pooled in his lower body. Gerard realized that this was his office and let his head fall far to the side, trying hard to shake off the excitement.