#158

‘So, from my perspective, I’m in a state of uncertainty about this relationship?’

Since it wasn’t that long ago that I had been chatting in front of Adna and Ter, saying things like, ‘Homosexuality? What’s that? Anyway, I don’t think I’d ever do something like that,’ it would probably seem a bit abrupt for me to suddenly be in a fated love with Athanas.

My feelings for Athanas, at best, would be ‘fondness.’

‘The setting is that I rejected the first confession, but he pushed forward, saying that if we dated for a while, I’d come to understand what love is?’

“Haha….”

I laughed awkwardly.

Being this close and looking into Athanas’s honey-dripping eyes made me feel itchy from my stomach up to my esophagus.

It was that feeling of my insides churning because I was forcing myself to hold back at a moment when I should have either burst out laughing or turned dead serious.

‘Would even this clumsy acting add to the authenticity of the setting?’

“Athanas….”

I pushed Athanas’s shoulder.

“I, uh, think I’ll be staying here for the time being. I can’t tell you the circumstances, but….”

“Is that so.”

“…I might not be able to tell you even later. I don’t know how long I’ll have to be here.”

“I see.”

“During that time, we won’t be able to have any time alone. Is that alright?”

“It would be a lie to say I’m not disappointed, but it is better than not being able to see you at all.”

‘Ugh….’

The destructive power is no joke.

It’s beyond goosebumps; I can feel the tension tightening all the way to the tips of my toes.

Unable to look Athanas in the eye, I shifted my gaze slightly to check the apostles’ reactions.

Adna remained expressionless, and Tertius had turned his head away entirely, his eyes squeezed shut.

‘He’s saying it’s a sight he simply cannot bear to watch.’

Seeing Tertius’s reaction, it seemed there was no need to continue the sticky acting.

I took another step back.

“…That’s a relief.”

‘I had something I wanted to say, but I just forgot it all.’

But I figured it was fine even if I couldn’t remember.

‘If it’s Athanas, he’ll probably handle it well on his own.’

“Fabio.”

Just then, Adna called me.

“Tell your lover that you love him right now.”

“What?”

“Hurry.”

When I turned my head, I saw Adna holding Tertius’s face and forcing him to look this way.

“What are you doing! I told you I don’t want to!”

“I just want to make sure. Sixth. Unless you’re going to lend me your eyeballs, be quiet.”

“No, right now, what on earth….”

Athanas stepped in front of me and spoke.

“Iron-walled Ada, I do not wish to put my lover’s heart upon a testing block.”

‘Shit.’

I bit my tongue to keep from spitting out a laugh.

“…Isn’t this a good thing for you too? If you find out that Fabio already loves you?”

“No matter what answer I hear in this place, my heart and actions will not change in the slightest.”

“Sixth, are those words sincere?”

“Let go.”

“Answer.”

“…It’s the truth, so let go.”

“I do not mind being tested. However, if my lover does not wish it, do not reveal to me anything you have read from him, Sextus of Emotion.”

“Pfft.”

The gazes of the three people shifted toward me simultaneously.

I forced myself to swallow the laughter that was about to burst out.

“Kh, no, it’s nothing.”

‘How can a person’s name be—?’

No, stay calm.

If I think it’s funny, they’ll notice immediately.

Then I’m screwed.

What should I think about in a situation like this?

‘Something sad….’

Right, should I think about what Perpetua went through?

After the funeral was held, Perpetua….

[‘Why do you reject the Blessing? Unless you are in a state of desperately longing for the Blessing with all your heart, the Lord will not descend.’

At the Holy Knight’s words, I laughed aloud. Why would I long for a Blessing? The body ‘where the Lord descended’ would be cut off again, regenerated, and cut off once more.

The Holy Knight sighed.

‘It cannot be helped. I will help you so that you may praise our master, Opia, once again.’]

‘Shit.’

I turned it off after reading only a few lines of the subsequent descriptions.

Aren’t these people just fucking psychos?

‘Being a Holy Knight of Opia….’

When does a person desperately crave comfort and pain relief?

When they are in excruciating pain and suffering.

In other words, Opia’s status rises only when pain is rampant in the world.

‘…They’re just torture technicians.’

My stomach churned.

How?

Why is this not an Evil God?

No, I clearly thought that while the ‘Curse of Pain’ could be cast with Opia’s Sacred Relic, it was literally an effect that stripped away ‘pain relief.’

“Fabio?”

I snapped awake at Athanas’s worried voice.

‘Shit, this wasn’t the time to be spacing out.’

Normally, I would have brushed it off by saying I was momentarily lost in thought, but Tertius was here.

What would a guy who can tell if someone is lying think of a person who suddenly goes from laughing like crazy to being dead serious?

Emotional instability?

“…It would be best if you rested.”

“No, I’m fine.”

“There are many things I must teach you, but first, I must teach you how to distinguish between ‘not being fine’ and ‘being fine.’”

“What?”

“Right now, you are not fine. That is my judgment.”

Responding thus, Adna hoisted me up and slung me over her shoulder.

“Wait, Athanas! Athanas!”

In my panic, I called out to Athanas, but I immediately realized I had made a mistake.

I saw Tertius stopping Athanas in his tracks.

‘Oops.’

“U-uh, see you later! I’m really fine!”

“Are you challenging my judgment right now?”

“No, Lady Adna. What I just said wasn’t like that….”

Tertius did not like Athanas.

No, it wasn’t simply a matter of not liking him.

‘He only gave a pinky finger.’

Last night, Adna had spoken via telepathic transmission.

She said it seemed there were other parts of Fabio that had been ‘regenerated’ besides the left arm.

And she estimated that those parts had received the ‘Blessing of Valentin.’

When she asked which parts, the answer she received was….

‘He took a human eye?’

And from someone on whom the Blessing of Pain Relief didn’t work?

Whether Fabio gave it willingly or was asked to, it was absurd.

Tertius had even considered condemning Athanas.

He intended to rule it a crime whether Fabio had suffered terrible pain or not.

‘The body of the beloved is as one’s own.’

According to the Doctrine of Valentin, if one cannot alleviate the pain of their lover, they must experience it together.

Mutilating the body to place it in a reliquary is something that ‘does not need to be experienced.’

If he had caused Fabio pain for such a reason, he had violated the Doctrine.

‘It’s a bit of a stretch, but….’

He planned to hand down a Labor Reformation Sentence and keep him under surveillance.

It wasn’t simply because he was the man who had stolen Fabio’s heart in the brief moment he was given time to think.

‘First of all, it’s strange that he isn’t surprised to see me.’

He had pretended to be a simple errand boy, even using the Holy Relic of Nephiton.

Then, the moment they were alone, he revealed his identity, and….

‘…He showed respect even before I revealed my Halo.’

One might deny it once.

Tertius clicked his tongue inwardly.

He looked down at Athanas, who was kneeling with his head bowed.

“…Are you Athanas?”

“I am.”

Truth.

“I have a few things to ask you.”

“Yes, Apostle.”

“Is the object in that reliquary Fabio’s left eye?”

“It is.”

Truth.

“…Did you obtain that eye yourself?”

“I did.”

Truth.

Tertius placed his hand on the sword he wore.

“Were you aware that your lover was suffering during that process?”

“I was.”

“Were you unaware that the Blessing of Valentin means one must alleviate the pain of their lover?”

“I was aware.”

“A crime committed with knowledge is heavier. You surely know this.”

“…I know.”

“Then your crime is….”

“That was my best.”

Truth.

Tertius furrowed his brow.

“Your best? What do you mean by that?”

“Fabio asked me. He asked me to take his left eye.”

“What on earth….”

Tertius doubted his own eyes.

Why was that statement a ‘truth’?

Why would Fabio?

A person who shudders at the mere thought of the Blessing of Healing made such a request?

“…Show me the reliquary.”

Athanas obediently handed over his reliquary.

Tertius took out the contents and placed it on his palm.

‘I can’t read anything.’

That was how he knew it was a part of Fabio.

A ‘hidden’ vessel, from which one could not tell what Blessing it had received.

‘…Should I confiscate it?’

But if this eye had received the Blessing of ‘Valentin,’ he could not do so.

Because a Holy Relic of Valentin cannot be taken even from a sinner.

It didn’t matter if the lover who provided the body part didn’t want it, or if the priest of Valentin who bestowed the Blessing had been coerced.

As long as Valentin recognized it as a ‘Holy Relic of Love,’ it could not be taken away unless the love faded.

‘Of course, the exception clauses designated by the Lord take priority.’

[All matters related to the Being Beyond the Starry Sky may be handled without permission or prior notice.]

However, only a very few knew of this exception clause.

If he confiscated a Holy Relic based on an unknown ‘exception clause,’ it would cause no small commotion.

Even ‘Alexandra Terres,’ who had beaten a priest of Valentin to death to forcibly obtain a Blessing, had not had her Holy Relic confiscated.

‘…Even if I use Oblivion, Valentin alone would come to know of the existence of the exception clause.’

Tertius frowned slightly.

Valentin was a considerably troublesome god.

The Lord had not revealed it clearly in the form of language, but any apostle could feel it.

The source of the discomfort felt when dealing with the priests of Valentin.

‘At the least, I should ask the Saintess before acting.’

Tertius returned the reliquary to Athanas.

It didn’t matter, as he could confiscate it at any time.

“Follow me.”

As Tertius walked toward the Training Hall, he relayed the previous conversation to Adna via telepathic transmission.

Athanas, who had been following silently, suddenly posed a question.

“There is one thing I wish to ask.”

“…Did I give you permission to ask?”

“You neither permitted nor forbade it.”

“Ha.”

‘The way he speaks is just like Adna.’

It meant he was annoyed.

“Fine. Speak.”

“When I confess my love in front of Fabio….”

“…….”

“…Could the Apostle of Emotion testify that my words are the truth?”

“Why should I do that?”

“Because then, he might believe, even if only a little, that I love him.”

Tertius stopped walking.

“Believe? Then what does Fabio currently think of you, his ‘lover’?”

“…He likely thinks I am acting the part of a lover.”

“Acting? Why?”

“I have poured out all my sincerity many times, but I was rejected every time. He acted as if it were something that must not happen for me to love him. However, he readily accepted my request to be the counterpart in my acting as a lover.”

Tertius’s brow furrowed sharply.

‘…All of that is the truth?’

“Fabio loves me. However, he does not believe that my feelings are love. When I remind him of that fact, he flares up in anger, and eventually chooses to forget.”