EP.257 Epilogue. The Saint smiles silently. (4)
The deep night cloaked bedroom was eerily calm.
The sound of candle wax falling like tears faintly echoed in my ears, and the moonlight slicing through the thin curtains mingled with the darkness like milk seeping into coffee.
The scent, sweet and dignified enough to take my breath away, seemed to provoke something nameless within me.
One step. No, half a step. I cautiously set my foot down.
Click.
The sound of my shoe sole tapping against the marble floor brought a slightly dulled sense of reality back to me, but the tension that lightly lingered on my back still held on tight.
“Excuse me. Saintess·····.”
I gulped, feeling my throat tighten.
I thought I had prepared myself long ago. Yet the words I struggled to piece together were still stuck with indecision.
Still, despite slowing my pace, I could not stop.
A motivation, neither noble like a sense of duty nor desperate like guilt, was pushing me forward, selfish and tedious.
I wanted to see the Saintess’s smile once more.
I wanted to hear the Saintess’s laughter again.
I hoped that she would regain everything she lost because of me and live her remaining life happily.
For that wish to come true, I was ready to do anything.
“How long will you dawdle at the door? If you’re going to do it, do it quickly. Are you planning to miss this once-in-a-lifetime chance while the Hero is out cold due to morning sickness?”
“I’m barely mustering enough courage here, so please stop hurrying me·····.”
“Tsk·····.”
From beyond the door, the Sister’s sharp voice pierced through like the wind.
It was clear my hesitance was frustrating her to no end.
I understood that sentiment, but I wished she could understand my dismal feelings, having to step away from my wife while she slept to handle matters in another woman’s chamber.
“Huuh·····.”
Gulp. Gulp.
After releasing a heavy breath, I drained the bottle of alcohol the Sister had brought earlier.
I had no choice but to drink at her suggestion, but it wasn’t a bad choice after all.
Thanks to it, I could erase all the distractions lingering in my mind.
“Haa·····.”
Click. Click.
Stumbling, under the effects of the booze, I slowly approached the bed shrouded in a mystical veil.
I tossed aside my cumbersome outer clothing and unbuttoned the tight collar one by one.
Creeeak.
As I gently laid my body onto the plush mattress, the bed groaned loudly under the weight of an adult man.
Swish.
Swallowing the rising breath, I lifted the veil surrounding the bed.
The beautiful sight concealed beneath the sheer fabric came into view.
“·····.”
Even through my alcohol-clouded vision, her figure was incredibly clear.
It looked so otherworldly, yet there was not a hint of discomfort like a poorly crafted artificial object—a soft color that defied this world.
Her brilliant silver hair seemed woven from moonlight itself.
A body embodying the enchanting curves of a mature woman blended seamlessly with the supple innocence of an untouched girl.
Even the sensuous and sweet fragrance stirring the instincts buried deep in my consciousness reached a peak.
Despite this woman’s unrelenting advances, I couldn’t help but feel a strange pride in maintaining my composure in the past.
“Haah·····.”
The outfit I wore contributed heavily to that reverie.
Instead of hiding my bare skin, this lingerie ensemble only served to draw attention to my body’s scandalous curves.
Most likely. No, without a doubt, it was the Sister’s doing.
No matter how much raising my sexual excitement might awaken the Saintess, this was a bit much.
To dress my only younger sister in such a scandalous outfit?
Who knows, maybe the other side wasn’t exactly normal either.
No, more than that. Finding such risqué clothing overnight within a sacred monastery would be impossible.
Could it – heaven forbid – be personal belongings she had prepared in advance?
If that’s the case, it struck a tinge of fear into me.
“Umm·····.”
Just then, the Saintess tossed and turned in her sleep.
“Eep!”
I hastily covered my eyes with both hands.
The outfit wasn’t performing its duty, and just a slight change in body angle could lead to visual stimulation outside the norm.
A very faint pink flashed within the unified white of my vision like a bolt of lightning, seizing my mind.
To dive in for a kiss only to react like a child at this level of exposure?
It was a ridiculous reaction even to my own thoughts as my face flushed.
For a time, I was trapped, flailing in the crashing waves of emotion.
“Oh····· please·····.”
A voice sprinkled with a sense of yearning dripped into my ears like a light rain, calming the fierce turmoil within my heart.
“Saintess·····.”
Grip.
The delicate grip of her hand holding mine could not be any more pitiful.
After falling into an endless sleep, the Saintess still remained.
Each time there was a break, she would seek me out, whining in her sleep.
And the longer I stayed away, the more she would moan in some undefined nightmare, writhing in agony.
Every time, I had the same role.
Holding her hand, gently stroking her hair, and softly reading her favorite fairy tales.
It was the simple, ordinary routine I had followed since I was appointed as the Saintess’s personal guardian.
Yet somehow, in even that mundane routine, the anxious face of the Saintess would soon regain its calm.
The brutal frustrations awaiting me afterward always felt like they could wear my bones down to dust, but still, I couldn’t give that up for anything.
Having accidentally become the Hero that saved the world and, somehow, ended up as the representative of all clergy under the system.
But I was still the Saintess’s personal Guardian Priest.
No, more so, I was simply this girl’s only brother.
“Welna·····.”
Every time I called her name and brushed her hair aside, the Saintess’s face visibly softened, and I found myself just staring.
Then suddenly, a scene from the fairy tale I had read countless times came back to me.
The moment when the prince on a white horse awakened the princess trapped in a curse with a kiss.
The climax of the story.
The memory of the Saintess wanting to reenact that scene, begging and throwing a tantrum, still vivid.
Back then, I never imagined her existence would grow this significant to me.
The mysteries of the world remain unfathomable.
“It’s the exact opposite of that time·····.”
I whispered softly, gently tracing the Saintess’s pink lips with my index finger.
Soon after, with a resolve welling up, I brought my lips closer to the defenseless face of the girl asleep, unaware of my actions.
Peck. A brief moment on her pure forehead, and the soft sound of my voice rolled through like waves.
But before the lingering sensations could fade, I pressed my lips against hers once more.
“Wake up. Welna.”
“Mmm·····.”
Kiss. Kiss. Kiss.
Sequentially descending from her forehead to her cheek and neck, those kisses contained emotions thick enough to leave me flustered.
My breath quickened, and an intense heat swelled within me.
It was a truly strange sensation.
I felt as though something I had built up over time was crumbling in an instant, yet the emotions were heightened as if I had been longing for this moment for ages.
“Wake up. Welna.”
“Hu··· uhm·····.”
Burying my rough breath, like a beast, into the nape of the Saintess as I relentlessly sought her collarbone.
The unexpected stimulation caused her to flinch, but such meager resistance only fueled the dark impulses lurking within me.
“Wake up. Welna.”
“Hi····· eep·····!”
A secret whisper tinged with mischief lightly bit her ear.
Though her eyes remained softly shut without a hint of awakening, the slight furrow in her brow and the faint blush on her cheeks reassured my wavering conviction.
“If you don’t wake up now, we’re going to have a serious problem·····.”
“U-uhm·····.”
At my firm voice, the Saintess’s lips fluttered as if she were scared.
In that moment, I felt an undeniable intuition.
Today would be the longest night of my life.
A night I would never forget until the moment I die.
