Chapter 10
In the end, Yubelinne couldn’t hide her delight as she watched Jervant, who had failed to answer her.
“You’re angry because I took too long.”
“…….”
“Actually, Terrence and I went on an engagement trip. You couldn’t come to the engagement ceremony, remember?”
Jervant’s jaw tightened. Only then did Yubelinne realize her mistake. She covered her lips and apologized.
“Sorry. You couldn’t come.”
Without even trying to see how he was feeling, Yubelinne changed the subject.
“By the way, something upsetting happened to me. You’ll listen to me, right?”
Jervant remained silent, and Yubelinne continued chattering without a care. His silence wasn’t something worth worrying about, since he had always been like that.
As she looked at Jervant, trapped in this darkness, Yubelinne seemed to feel nothing at all. She simply chattered on about herself.
“Even though Terrence and I went on an engagement trip, we couldn’t really enjoy it, you know? Everywhere we went, people praised us as heroes, so we had to stay at the estate. Isn’t it only polite for people to pretend they don’t recognize you at times like that? People can be so inconsiderate, don’t you think?”
Jervant stared at her as she rambled on in a way that was impossible to tell whether she was bragging or complaining, then lowered his head. All he could see through his lowered gaze was the dark floor.
It was as dark and cold as his future.
“Terrence is so busy. As soon as we got back from the trip, he had to return to work, so he asked me to give you his regards because he couldn’t come see you.”
Every time stories of the two people’s happiness slipped from Yubelinne’s lips, Jervant felt his throat tighten. He clenched his teeth so that no groan would escape.
An unbearable sense of self-loathing and jealousy, along with the pathetic thought of Why did it have to be me?, kept springing up and tormenting him the more he listened to Yubelinne.
‘Was I really this pathetic?’
To the point where I would blame them even though none of this was their fault?
‘Am I really this far gone?’
Jervant found his situation unbearably pathetic and humiliating. The two of them were worried about him, yet he was jealous of them.
He envied the two people who were living happily.
Seeing Yubelinne doing well unlike him made him relieved, but at the same time, his self-esteem was being mercilessly crushed. He was so different from the person he used to be.
The Yubelinne who used to shyly blush and couldn’t take her eyes off Jervant was gone.
And unlike back then, he couldn’t possibly fail to notice the contempt hidden beneath Yubelinne’s gaze.
‘Damn it.’
What a pathetic bastard.
He clenched his fists tightly. Just then, a warm hand touched his fist, as though melting frozen ice.
Jervant was startled and raised his head sharply. Yubelinne wrapped her hands around his and smiled with her eyes.
“It’s okay, Jerv. Won’t the curse be broken someday? Until then, I’ll keep looking after you.”
“…….”
He almost hated her now for giving him hope she herself wasn’t even certain about.
This curse couldn’t be broken even by the Saintess’s power. It was a curse so powerful that even the Saintess couldn’t lift it.
‘I’ll keep looking after you.’
She had never even replied to his letters and barely showed her face. What did she mean by looking after him?
Stop making promises you can’t keep.
The words that lingered at the tip of his tongue were ultimately swallowed back down his throat.
He hated how pathetic he was, unable to say even a single word to Yubelinne unlike before.
He couldn’t resent her, complain, or say anything at all.
She had made him unable to.
Especially after……
‘Jerv, I’m not your emotional trash can.’
Ever since Yubelinne had said those words to him, he had become even more afraid of speaking in front of her and Terrence. The old Jervant would have argued back.
He would have stopped seeing her altogether after losing his affection for her, but after becoming trapped, Jervant had become completely cowed.
Like an idiot.
“If you’re having a hard time with anything, tell me everything.”
Even though she wouldn’t listen if he actually told her.
“I can at least listen to you.”
Even though she wouldn’t even do that.
He wanted to shut Yubelinne’s mouth when she so casually threw those words at him as if mocking him.
And yet Jervant couldn’t bring himself to resent Yubelinne completely. That was the result of his shattered self-esteem.
For two years, he had grown exhausted and isolated, becoming a complete loser who could no longer say anything like he used to.
As such, he felt as though he wasn’t even allowed to envy or be jealous of someone.
“Our Jerv……”
It was just when he wanted to cover his ears, wanting to erase that sweet voice immediately.
Knock knock.
The door swung wide open, and something shot inside.
The first thing Jervant saw was a pair of mischievous, aqua-colored eyes.
Then he saw the bright red bicycle she was riding.
As if deliberately showing off its vivid color in the darkness, Titia shamelessly rode the bicycle around the room once.
Both Jervant and Yubelinne could only stare at her in bewilderment at the sudden situation.
After proudly circling the room once, Titia stopped in front of Jervant and said with an oddly arrogant expression,
“The room is pointlessly huge. Don’t you think it’s terribly unproductive to do nothing in a room like this? It’s gotten so bad that even Mr. Veilt was worried about Boss losing muscle mass. So I thought maybe we could ride a bicycle around here……”
While she chattered without taking a breath, Titia’s eyes met the Saintess’s directly.
Like someone who had been burned by fire, Titia jumped in surprise, hurriedly got off the bicycle, and bowed politely.
“Sa-Saintess, it’s an honor to meet you. I thought you had already returned to the temple. I’m sorry……”
The taut thread connecting Jervant and Yubelinne was severed as effortlessly as if it had never existed.
What the heck? I heard the Saintess had already left!
That’s why I had stopped halfway through eating dessert and pushed my bicycle inside.
Boss had been trapped in his room, sitting hunched up all day, so I had ambitiously prepared a bicycle this time so we could at least get some active exercise together.
I had dared to interrupt his time alone with the Saintess.
Boss was going to try to kill me.
He’d probably rip the two wheels off the bicycle and throw them at me.
Eek! I don’t want that!
“You……”
My shoulders instinctively shot up when I heard Boss’s voice while imagining my horrific future.
This was my chance, so I hurriedly made my excuse, complete with an aggrieved expression and exaggerated gestures.
“It’s true, Boss! I thought you were alone in the room! Mr. Veilt said I could go see you now……”
“I never said the Saintess had left.”
Mr. Veilt shamelessly answered from behind me.
Are you trying to throw me under the bus alone?
I glared at Mr. Veilt with my eyes raised sharply.
“Your tone made it sound that way.”
“Mr. Veilt didn’t say that.”
Don’t act cute. You’re annoying me.
Could it be that Mr. Veilt, who had hired me, wanted to fire me now?
Otherwise, there was no way he’d dare play such a prank on me.
But right now, more important than Mr. Veilt was fixing the huge mistake unfolding before my eyes.
Unfortunately, my mind had gone completely blank, and I couldn’t think of a single decent excuse. In the end, I just wanted to escape from this place.
I clasped my hands neatly, put as much grievance as possible into my expression, and apologized.
“I’m truly sorry for interrupting the two of you. I’ll gladly accept my punishment later. For now, I’ll just get out of……”
I put my foot on the bicycle pedal and tried to quickly get out of the way, but the pedal wouldn’t turn.
When I looked behind me, Boss was standing there.
Why are you stopping me? Are you going to punish me right away?
“Why, Boss? Are you going to scold me? But I’m really innocent here.”
Boss said nothing. He simply kept his head lowered.
……Something was strange.
Only then did I notice the strange atmosphere flowing between the Saintess and Boss. In the awkward silence, I cautiously suggested to Boss,
“Boss, would you like to ride on the back? I’m really good at riding bicycles.”
As if he had been waiting for me to say that, the depressed man climbed onto the back.
I was just saying it.
‘Does he want to avoid being alone with the Saintess?’
I put all my strength into the pedals, and the bicycle slowly began to move.
“Jer……!”
Before the Saintess could call Boss, Mr. Veilt cut in first.
“Saintess, wouldn’t it be better for you to return now? This is normally the time when our Boss and the kind Tea Time Lady happily spend time together. They have a great deal of fun.”
Didn’t you just help arrange for the Boss to meet the Saintess?
Mr. Veilt seemed extremely pleased to see Boss appearing to reject the Saintess.
“……”
“Isn’t the Saintess also a very busy person? The Holy Knights are waiting outside rather impatiently.”
Boss blatantly avoided the Saintess’s gaze. Perhaps taking that as a good sign, Yubelinne soon smiled in satisfaction.
“Okay, I’ll go. Take care, Jerv. And you too, kind Tea Time Lady.”
I’m kind Titia.
“Please have a safe journey, Saintess. I’m sorry I couldn’t properly greet you because I have to look after Boss.”
“Oh my, don’t worry. If my friend can become even a little brighter, I don’t mind him being a little rude to me. Then I’ll see you later, Jerv.”
The Saintess left the room without a hint of reluctance, and Mr. Veilt annoyingly gave me a thumbs-up before closing the door.
The room was filled only with the sound of me pedaling hard and my panting breaths.
Suddenly, the weight behind me disappeared.
Then I heard a thud.
I stopped the bicycle and looked back.
In the short time it had taken, the depressed man, looking even more haggard than usual, had collapsed on the floor with his face covered by his hands.
I hurriedly got off the bicycle and ran toward him.
“B-Boss! Are you okay? I told you that you should’ve held on tightly around my waist!”
“……Annoying.”
“Huh?”
“Pathetic.”
“That makes sense. I am a little pathetic and annoying.”
“……”
He lowered the hand covering his face and stared at me in disbelief.
