Do Heroes Need Welfare Too? - Chapter 143
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Part 2, Chapter 10
“Well.”
Who would dislike being in a high position?
But if I had to choose between power and Adam, I would choose the latter without hesitation.
After hesitating for a moment, I opened my mouth and spoke.
“If Adam wants it, I’m willing to follow, but I do prefer safety after all.”
“I knew Eve would say that.”
Adam said with a smile.
He seemed pleased with my answer.
“Eve, whatever they chatter about, think the opposite. I’m not interested in such things.”
I obediently nodded my head.
So the rebellion was indeed instigated by someone close to him.
“But you said you were looking for me?”
Adam nodded as if he had just remembered my question.
“Actually, I heard that a gift for Eve will arrive soon.”
“A gift… you say.”
I couldn’t help but feel anxious.
Wasn’t the reason I first came to the Temple also because a gift had arrived?
‘What gift could I be waiting for?’
I was even more worried because there was already a pile of jewels he had given me as gifts, claiming he had picked them up recently. Given Adam’s scale, I was worried he might even cut off a Temple statue to give as a gift.
I had no clue at all, which made me even more anxious.
Despite my pleas to tell me what it was, Adam only smiled and told me to see for myself.
“The more Adam acts like this, the more anxious I become!”
“If you like it too much already, I’ll get jealous.”
“Does this look like I’m happy about it!”
I bickered with Adam.
Adam didn’t give me a satisfying answer about his true feelings.
I was becoming embarrassed about my bold declaration to the Elderly High Priest that Adam would trust me more than him.
I looked at Adam’s eyes with a sulky expression.
The emotion lingering in those eyes was too intense to ignore.
Now that I was aware of his feelings, it was even harder to turn away, to the point where I wondered why I had only properly faced it now.
“What is it, Eve?”
“Nothing, nothing at all.”
I pretended it was nothing and shook my head while quickly turning my eyes away.
Then I made eye contact with someone who had been watching our confrontation with great interest.
“Hello!”
He greeted me cheerfully and waved his hand.
‘That person is…’
If I wasn’t mistaken, he was someone I had encountered at the Hunting Tournament.
His bright smiling face and straightforward personality that couldn’t contain laughter were evident on his face.
However, I couldn’t raise my hand to greet him back.
Adam, who had been watching this scene with displeasure, lightly covered my eyes.
Naturally, I looked up at him.
Adam whispered in my ear, explaining about the man.
“He’s the Evant Envoy.”
“Kyrillos’s?”
I asked back with wide eyes.
I knew that Kyrillos would be among the first to cooperate with Adam. However, since he had just ascended to the ducal position, Kyrillos had mountains of work to handle.
So he had assigned an envoy, Adam added in explanation.
‘So the person who helped me during the Hunting Tournament was from House of Evant.’
Back then, Kyrillos didn’t know me, so was his help just pure kindness?
“Um, would it have been better if I hadn’t greeted you?”
Kyrillos’s envoy scratched his cheek awkwardly.
I quickly removed Adam’s hand and said.
“No, it’s fine.”
“Well, I’m not fine with it.”
But Adam answered bluntly from beside me.
“Aren’t you leaving?”
He looked back and forth between me and Adam with wavering eyes, then quietly stepped back.
“Then I’ll go attend the meeting in advance!”
The man disappeared like a shot, too fast for me to stop him.
Rather than that, I looked at Adam, who had driven him away and was now acting completely innocent as if he knew nothing.
“A meeting? What kind of meeting?”
“It’s nothing special. This much of an excuse was necessary to bring Eve’s gift.”
“…?”
Don’t tell me the gift is a living creature?
I looked at him with suspicious eyes.
“Ah.”
Then Adam moved his arm as if to block me.
It was the Elderly High Priest.
Whether he had finished organizing his thoughts alone, the Elderly High Priest’s expression looked no different from usual.
However, as soon as our eyes met, the Elderly High Priest’s gaze became sharp.
Hmm, it must have been just my imagination.
Of all times to encounter the Elderly High Priest again.
It had just been moments ago that I had spoken boldly in front of him and left.
I should have quickly taken Adam and gotten away from the Elderly High Priest’s room.
I watched both of them nervously, feeling like I was sitting on thorns.
When I glanced up at Adam, our eyes met as he was already looking at me.
And Adam noticed my condition more keenly than anyone.
“Who is making you uncomfortable, Eve?”
I couldn’t nod or shake my head, and could only let out an awkward laugh.
‘There’s only the Elderly High Priest here, so what am I supposed to answer when you ask so directly?’
Unless you want him to hear.
However, Adam kept smiling throughout, making it impossible to know what he was thinking.
The Elderly High Priest watched Adam quietly, then was the first to back down and spoke.
“I apologize if I caused you any discomfort, Miss Iberis. And Hero, the person you summoned has returned.”
‘Huh? The Elderly High Priest wouldn’t normally act like this.’
Usually he would have found fault and picked a fight.
Whether he was being mindful of Adam or for some other reason, the Elderly High Priest obediently stepped back and left.
“Ah, it seems the gift has arrived.”
Adam muttered in a small voice.
While I was trying to figure out the Elderly High Priest’s intentions, a voice came from behind Adam.
“Hero, could you please move aside?”
It was definitely a voice I knew, but with an unfamiliar tone.
I flinched and turned around.
A sharp voice echoed through the hallway.
“Really, what did they stuff in their heads? These stupid humans are crawling everywhere and I don’t even want to breathe in the same space as them, but there must be a reason you brought me back here.”
It was Meriel, thoroughly angry.
‘I definitely heard she had quit her position as High Priest?’
But the person stomping in was definitely Meriel.
The atmosphere in the temple must have changed a lot over the past 3 years.
Meriel, who was surely like an angel before, was getting angry in the hallway and even glaring at Adam…
“High Priest Meriel, it’s been a while.”
Adam greeted her first.
Meriel glared at him with narrowed eyes, then snorted and tilted her head dismissively.
“There are two types of people I hate most – one is those who think being born a nobleman is something to boast about.”
“Is that so. So did you meet with the nobleman you were told to?”
Adam nodded while half-listening dismissively.
“The other one is you, Hero!”
“How unfortunate.”
Adam spoke as if he truly felt sorry. Though his tone was bland, of course.
“I dislike people whose brains are filled with muscle.”
“Unfortunately, people would die if that were the case, High Priest Meriel.”
“Does the Hero never engage in any self-reflection at all?”
Meriel shot back, clearly displeased with his attitude.
‘What on earth happened between these two who never even talked before over the past 3 years?’
Adam was about to open his mouth to retort without backing down.
‘Hm?’
Adam’s eyes met mine from behind, and suddenly his eyebrows drooped.
I watched Adam’s transformation in bewilderment.
‘…His gaze completely changed.’
The way he looked at Meriel and others was sharply different from how he looked at me. Adam changed his expression like he had a split personality.
“What did I do to deserve such words… I suppose I’m someone who’s never welcome anywhere.”
Adam spoke with his eyebrows drooping.
Even though he was clearly speaking to Meriel, his gaze kept glancing toward me.
Completely oblivious to this fact, Meriel spoke as if dumbfounded.
“Ha, I suppose you’ve completely forgotten that you drove out all the High Priests who didn’t share your views? Where do you get off putting on such a disgusting act…”
With those words, Meriel, who noticed something strange, hurriedly looked around.
Having been quietly listening to the conversation, I awkwardly waved my hand in greeting when our eyes met.
Her expression turned pale in real time.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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