Chapter 20

〈 Chapter 20 〉 No! I don’t want to! Please don’t!

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“Looks like you were in the middle of your meal! How rude of me…”

If you know, then sit down.

Since when did ‘excuse me’ change from ‘I’m sorry for causing trouble’ to ‘I will start causing trouble now’?

With that heavy sense of disillusionment, my once bright thoughts darkened little by little.

The identity of the uninvited guest sitting across from me was a typical noble lady you’d only see on the cover of a cliché female-oriented web novel.

With spiral curls that raised doubts about how she set her hair without a curling iron and a dress that would certainly drag on the floor without her servants holding it up.

If she just covered her mouth with a fan and smiled in that state, you’d think it was a masterpiece—a true epitome of the formulaic appearance that almost felt refreshing.

“Nice to meet you, Lady Rosebelt.”

“Oh my! I can’t believe you remembered my name! I’m honored!”

Your servants over there must have told you in sync. It wouldn’t be weird if you didn’t know.

It was simply astonishing that someone could harbor such desperate emotions and express them so openly.

When I pronounced her name without a mistake, the way her servants silently cheered like hooligans when their home team scored made it easy to guess the catastrophe that would happen if I failed to get it right.

No matter where you go, innocent beings suffer due to the tyranny of those in charge.

The only difference is their status and form; I too am leading a life serving someone extreme, so I could deeply empathize with their sorrows and pains.

Let’s hang in there.

“I was really hoping to have the chance to chat since that day, so it’s truly a delight to meet you like this! Do you feel the same way, Priest?”

“Yes, of course. No, I’m more curious about how many men would refuse to converse with such a beautiful lady like you, Lady Rosebelt.”

“Oh, you’re too kind, Priest.”

She grasped my hand as if to snag it, tightening her arms to emphasize her chest unnaturally while inching closer. It was like watching a raging bull.

I thought maintaining proper etiquette while reducing her interest would work, but that cheesy comment backfired completely.

I had learned the tricks from watching high nobles at a banquet once and used them to bring about unexpected laughter from everyone except the Hero.

It seems that for true aristocrats, this collection of lewd compliments is just casual small talk.

“I’ve heard stories about you from Lobel regarding the Regis Priest! They say you’re always pure and upright, genuinely empathizing with others’ pain, and truly the model of a clergy member!”

“Haha… I don’t know how to accept such excessive praise…”

As she got closer, it felt more intense, like someone had slapped a heavily scented patch on my nose, causing my head to throb in a different way.

Ever since I saved the Ranobel Priest, a few of his fiancée’s group showed great interest in me, but I can confidently say none were as direct and persistent as this Lady Rosebelt.

Like with the Ranobel Priest, she’s probably trying to claim her land before anyone else gets a chance by eyeing my position and abilities.

It’s completely absurd for someone who is reportedly engaged to another to openly flirt with another man, and my Confucian soul screamed in agony as I struggled to maintain a customer service smile.

“Lobel said he’ll devote his remaining life to you, the Saintess who scolded his foolish quest for the unearned and the Regis Priest who granted him this second chance he could never redeem from the penalty of death.”

“Ah, yes…”

“When he baldly declared he would shave his cherished hair as a sign of his commitment, you wouldn’t believe how surprised everyone was, including me. There was even a child who cried, insisting that my Lobel wasn’t like that…”

“Oh no…”

The series of resolves and stories Lady Rosebelt shared with me were things the Ranobel Priest had monotonously repeated since that day, so now they just felt tedious.

It’s like sitting through a white noise recording of educational material re-read by a different voice actor without any skip, from the beginning again.

It might be said that couples resemble each other, but if they already share annoying traits despite just being engaged, what kind of horrifying chimera will their offspring become?

I felt a sinking dread in my heart about the birth of the Demon King far into the future, even now.

I desperately wished to escape from this place, but without any utensils, finishing my meal and fleeing was not an option, and once she started talking, it was impossible to cut her off—a trait of women of high status.

For now, there was nothing to do but pray to God for this calamity to pass.

“Oh! By the way, Regis Priest! Do you happen to like chess?”

“Chess? Well, I understand the rules, but my experience playing with someone is pretty rare…”

“Then, how about a match with me sometime?”

“Haha. If you’re offering, I would be honored.”

Save me.

Hey, Ranobel! What are you doing? You said you’d bring the fork! Come back! Hurry!

As she moved from across the table to right next to me, pressing her chest against my shoulder, the contrast to my poker face made it hard to contain the resentment and pleas for help towards the Ranobel Priest in my heart.

If it had been my younger self, I would have fallen for such a honey trap without a fight, but instead, all I felt were discomfort and irritation.

First of all, she thinks I’m oblivious, but each time she got close, her eyes peeked at my face with an insidious heat that was way too blatant for me to feel anything positive.

Honestly, compared to the dizzying days spent with the Saintess, her advances felt as mild as an old lady from a rural hair salon saying how strong a boy’s build was while touching me.

“Did you know, Regis Priest? In some nameless country outside this system, there’s a unique chess rule where you can take your opponent’s pieces?”

“Really? That sounds fascinating.”

“Hehe, taking pieces and turning them into your own might seem underhanded at first, but isn’t it thrilling to think something you once deemed untouchable could become yours…?”

“Haha… That’s an interesting perspective that I could never dare to consider…”

She subtly attempted to entwine her fingers with mine, but I quickly clenched my fist to stop her.

No! I don’t want to! Please don’t! Don’t touch my body!

I repeated the magical words in my head that chase away bad people several times, but it didn’t seem to work.

Even so, clinging to the last thread of hope, I sent a desperate look at her servants to ask them to intervene.

But the ones who had just teamed up with me had vanished—my hopeless gaze fell on the cowardly betrayers who simply turned a blind eye to her reckless behavior.

“Lady Rosebelt, I really need to attend to something urgent right now…”

“Hehe, you’re really bad at lying, Regis Priest. There’s still plenty of time until the Saintess’s meal time.”

“No, actually, I left a fork in the kitchen…”

“Oh come on, you don’t need to be embarrassed; you have a cute side to you, you know?”

Suddenly, Lady Rosebelt reached over and pulled me into an embrace.

I had to suppress my instinct to shove her away harshly and desperately sought a way to navigate this hopeless situation, forcing my creaky brain to work.

“I have your fork right here.”

Crack!

Like a flash of lightning breaking the sound barrier.

The cold voice that sounded almost unreal cut through the air before a silver fork appeared between Lady Rosebelt and me.

It was a strangely familiar sight.

Hadn’t something similar happened just recently?

“Have you finished your meal, Regis Priest?”

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