Chapter 6: Cutt off one’s ears
We kissed for a long while.
Our clasped hands never parted as we cautiously pressed our lips together.
Before we knew it, we were rubbing noses, tightly embracing, rolling on the sofa.
Holding her tightly with all my strength, afraid she might slip away…
“Ha… loving you might be one of the few truly good choices in my life.”
Was her radiant smile, gazing straight at me, resting her head on my chest, a gift from God?
A reward for faithfully following His will all this time?
How could such a perfect person love me—what miracle caused this?
What parts of her do I fill?
What about me makes her heart tremble?
What makes her so unable to bear others’ gazes that she’d abandon her kin to be with me?
But rather than finding those reasons, isn’t it enough to do my best now to make her happier?
“Sharing love and affection generously with the one you love…”
I murmured softly, holding her as she leaned into me.
To calm my trembling heart, I tried to quietly recite a passage I held dear.
The problem was that she was close enough to hear it clearly.
And the passage I’d come to cherish was no longer “Cast aside your troubles and fill your heart with faith in Him.”
It was the reason I became known as the missionary of love.
The moment that solidified my feelings for her.
The problem was that I spoke that passage aloud in front of her.
But she didn’t just listen quietly.
As I froze, realizing I’d misspoken, she stroked me.
Tickling my chest, she looked down at me and continued.
“…is akin to the care and mercy He has given us.”
“So, as He did, love your spouse and family.”
With a clear, pure voice, she spoke those words gently to me, kissing my cheek with a playful smile.
“You came to love that passage?”
Tap, tap, her long fingers brushed my chest, making soft humming sounds.
She brought her lips close to my ear.
My heart pounded endlessly.
In that overwhelming pressure, as if it might burst, my ears ringing, my eyes welling with hot tears…
She felt like a snake coiling around me, flicking its tongue.
For reasons both fearful and undeniably pleasurable, I could only hold my breath and focus on her voice.
Her next words completely broke me.
“I ended up like that too after meeting you.”
The world seemed to stop.
It could be a demon’s test, or the trickery of something fallen, filling my mind.
Was the woman before me truly her?
Were the words from her mouth real, or just hallucinations?
In that fleeting moment between us, countless thoughts raced through.
And I reached a conclusion.
“…Lies.”
It couldn’t be true.
No, I couldn’t accept it as true.
If it were true, I felt I might do something to her right then and there.
Even though we weren’t married—perhaps we’d need to soon.
She’d so easily cast aside her career for our relationship.
For me.
For a mere short-lived human like me.
For someone so inferior compared to her, she said she’d plunge into an unknown world.
For her sake, I had to be bound to her.
But could everything happening to me really be true?
I don’t know how long she’s lived.
But for a novice who’s only lived 23 years in this world to feel the same trembling as I did from the moment we met…
To live with the same heart, unable to shake her from my thoughts even for a day…
For her to say, right now, that she’s experienced the same thing…
The odds of that seemed impossible.
“It feels like a lie?”
Holding my collar lightly, staring at me with blazing golden eyes, I could only shake my head.
“A priest of short-lived folk, filled with faith, walking the same path as me by chance.”
“A man with an upright heart, preaching the gospel like iron, who turned red and collapsed the moment he met me.”
“I grew curious about that human.”
“Not like those worms boasting their wrinkles, saying, ‘I like you,’ or…”
“‘You dared make me fall in love,’ with their arrogant words.”
“There was no trace of pride in you, overwhelmed by the realization that the one you cherished was suddenly before you.”
“You, crumbling in pure surprise and ecstasy, caught my interest.”
“I was a bit shocked to hear that the stern, rigid priest blushed at the mere mention of my name—”
“You’d take your place in the prayer room before dawn, avoiding the chaotic morning.”
“Reciting those passages, sincerely and simply praying to Him to make our love come true.”
“You smiled at others, focused diligently on your work.”
“Yet you didn’t go out of your way to trouble me.”
“When we ‘happened’ to meet, you froze again, blushing intensely.”
“I thought you might be a fool, but you weren’t.”
“You focused properly on work, showed consideration.”
“Yet you were so bad at hiding your feelings, fidgeting restlessly.”
“Finally, confessing your love to me, stammering with a face that didn’t even know what it was saying…”
“To the only adorable short-lived human I’ve ever met in my life…”
“How do you feel about the fact that I couldn’t help but be charmed?”
Her heart, pressed against mine, was beating relentlessly.
The sunset staining a blank canvas redder, imprinting its color on me.
“I said it, I said it over and over.”
“Every part of you, every piece trying to treat me sincerely, is so lovable.”
“I can’t help but adore you, the irresistibly cute short-lived human…”
When our lips collided again, I felt my mind blur.
The happiness tightening around my body…
The realization that someone truly cherished and loved me.
Not family, but a complete stranger.
An elf, considered blessed by God.
The very one I thought was the most beautiful.
All of this—that she couldn’t help but love me—was etched deeply into my heart.
The happiness it brought me is probably beyond words.
You’d have to experience it to understand.
Surely.
Thud, thud, thud.
The loud knocking in the darkness woke me groggily.
Spending the night at her house like that was… truly enchanting.
Being adored by the one I love, sharing a bed, touching, talking—it made me feel glad to be alive.
Holding my aching head, drunk on that sweet warmth, I tried to gather myself.
Only to realize I was alone in the narrow bed.
“Ugh… Thea?”
Where could she have gone so early in the morning?
The outside, not yet lit by the sun, was tinged with cold blue.
The front door creaked open, and I had no choice but to get up and look for her.
“Thea—where did you go?”
My groggy, half-awake mind was so frail that I startled myself with the unexpected loudness of my voice.
Stumbling, holding the wall, I stepped out of her bedroom into the chilly living room and small kitchen.
I picked up the bottle and cup I’d used to make honey milk yesterday, dipping them into a wooden tub of water, then glanced at the entrance.
As expected, her shoes and the robe she wore were gone from their place.
Where had she gone?
What urgent errand made her leave my side so early?
I started to dress to head out, then realized there was no need.
“…Felt a bit stuffy.”
I’d fallen asleep in the clothes I wore out, lying with her, embracing, kissing, talking.
Thankfully, it was medical attire—if it had been my priestly robes, I’d have no excuse if I’d been expelled instead of resigning.
Brushing off my wrinkled clothes, straightening them simply, I stepped outside.
On the grass tinged with blue light, three figures stood.
Clad in black robes, they stood solemnly, facing away from the rising sun.
The dim surroundings made their presence even more ominous.
And kneeling in their center was Thea, the one I’d been searching for.
She carefully removed her robe, folding it neatly, and respectfully handed it to the central figure.
The one who took it was saying something to her.
Their softly moving lips and her solemn, bowed head filled me with an inexplicable unease.
Perhaps the moment the director had hinted at…
The thing she didn’t want to tell me…
Now that I thought about it, the things she’d brushed off so vaguely, the burdens she had to bear, seemed to be unfolding before me.
I quietly opened the door and stepped toward them.
And that quiet step soon turned into a frantic sprint.
Because I saw the glint of sharp metal catching the faint light of the lingering moon.
And because I saw it approaching her.
“Thea, Thea!!”
In the dawn before the sun had risen…