Now came the opportunity to spend time alone together.

Hameres exhaled silently after taking a deep breath.

If only he could hold onto this, he would gladly cling. If only he could preserve this scene exactly as it was.

He rolled his tongue around his bitter mouth and picked up his tea.

“The schedule of a formal priest is much tighter than before. I must spend my days under strict discipline.”

“You must be even more tired since you clean the waterfall when you don’t have to.”

“So I don’t think I can go to the waterfall anymore.”

“Ah……”

Regret pooled in her clear, innocent eyes.

Though there was no way to ease the disappointment, Hameres averted his gaze, moved by her pitiful appearance of being unable to express her feelings.

He stared blankly at the steaming tea.

“You could have sent a letter, but you came all this way because of me. I caused you trouble.”

“I came because I wanted to. So don’t blame everything on yourself. Sometimes situations don’t work out, and we must choose different paths.”

“Different paths…… Literally, you and I walking separate ways.”

The moment she grasped his meaning, Hameres bit the inside of his mouth hard enough to bleed. It felt like a sigh scraped his lungs and flowed back.

He couldn’t open his mouth, fearing that pain-soaked breath would burst out all at once.

His heart crumbled because it was Beni who soothed such hardships.

“I’ve been concerned about constantly seeking you out. Others might misunderstand.”

“Are you still keeping the white crystal?”

“Yes.”

Beni pulled out the necklace hidden under her clothes with her finger. It had been made into a pendant, preserving its original size as much as possible with only the surface polished.

If it had been just a cold, the white crystal could have easily improved her condition, but seeing her still pale, her heart seemed to have worsened.

Suddenly, Hameres rose from his seat and stood before Beni.

“Why, why are you doing this?”

“I will heal you.”

Seeing his grave face, Beni immediately showed a puzzled expression, realizing this wasn’t a simple process.

“Heal what?”

“Your heart condition.”

“You’re going to fix it now?”

“Yes.”

Interfering with life shortens one’s lifespan. But what did that matter?

Bound to Lord Drahim, he couldn’t return to being an ordinary person. If he became ordinary, he would be considered an impure object and killed by the High Priest.

Dying was fine.

He had no choice when they threatened to harm this woman.

So he promised to become the next High Priest.

Afterward, he planned to do as he pleased. If he sacrificed his lifespan to cure her illness, his life wouldn’t have been lived in vain.

What did it matter if he died a little earlier?

At times like this, it would be good to be shameless, but Beni rejected even Hameres’ earnest wish.

“No. I can’t impose on you anymore.”

“I’m doing this because I want to. Didn’t you call me your friend? This is my final gift as a friend.”

He reached out his hand, but Beni jumped up and fled to the window.

She seemed to recall when he had healed her after the Baron’s beating. At that time, Hameres had struggled after using his holy power excessively.

She shook her head vigorously, seemingly unable to make him suffer again.

“Please don’t do anything more for me.”

“Young lady……”

“I’ll leave it to God. If Lord Drahim takes my breath away, I’ll die, and if He leaves me, I’ll live my life to the fullest. So please don’t go against God’s will because of me. Please don’t commit a sin.”

“This isn’t going against God’s will.”

“No, it’s different from usual. Even I can tell that what you’re trying to do is dangerous.”

“That’s not it.”

But Beni firmly refused.

She raised her hands in a defensive posture to prevent him from approaching further, her pupils trembling.

“If something happens to you, how could I ever hold my head up? I won’t be grateful at all. Rather, I’d live tormented by guilt for the rest of my life. I would resent you for making me feel that way.”

“Haa……”

Having poured everything out, Beni lowered her hands and hung her head low.

“Just…… since you said it’s the last time, couldn’t you just hug me once?”

They had come this far using the word “friend” as a shield, neither lovers nor anything else.

Neither could deny that they harbored deep feelings for each other.

If they were truly just friends, they wouldn’t silently wail with such passionate faces.

Beni carefully took one step at a time, approaching until she stood just two spans away.

“Let’s say goodbye.”

Her small form, embracing the summer sunshine, burrowed into his arms.

She pressed her cheek firmly against his chest and wrapped her arms around his waist.

“This much should be fine. Because we’re friends.”

Until the end, she insisted on this hypocritical relationship being friendship while begging for a hug.

To be conflicted at a time like this……

What a fool he was.

Hameres didn’t know what to do with her nestling against him, awkwardly raising his hands and freezing in place.

On one hand, he had vile thoughts. He grew anxious, wondering if Beni would be hurt if he didn’t hug her back, if she would pull away thinking he was rejecting her.

So he decided to indulge his desire just once, for the first and last time.

Hameres embraced Beni crushingly, ready to pour out all the emotions he had been suppressing with all his might.

“Beni.”

He called her name freely.

“You must always stay healthy. That’s all I wish for.”

He spoke in a gentle tone.

“I will think of you at every prayer.”

He indirectly expressed that he would keep her deep in his heart.

He lowered his head and kissed Beni’s forehead buried against his chest. When she raised her head, he couldn’t suppress his impulse and tilted his face slightly.

His body burned with desire to explore her mouth. He felt dizzy wanting to push his tongue in and savor her hot body temperature and soft sensation.

But at that moment, a firm cry whipped his conscience.

No!

A warning rang out that he shouldn’t leave a blemish on her who should marry another man later and enjoy happiness.

He could easily dismiss a kiss as nothing significant, but he couldn’t help feeling guilty as a priest.

He didn’t want to embarrass her with a sudden kiss or possibly cause her shame.

Hameres clenched his fists so tightly they trembled.

Without doing this, he might want to touch, undress the woman at his fingertips.

He was k*lling his emotions to erase lingering attachments when it happened.

Beni raised her head, and suddenly a soft sensation touched his lips.

“Be, Beni.”

Though he hadn’t swung a sword, he felt attacked, stirring intensely. His body, which had just calmed down, heaved greatly, and his breathing instantly became irregular.

He called her name to stop her, but something unbelievable happened. Her small tongue pushed in shamelessly.

Hameres felt the explosion of l*st he had been suppressing all along.

When she boldly crossed the boundary he had limited to friendship, his lingering attachment overflowed cowardly.

“Haa.”

He had tried not to defile her……

He wanted her so badly his eyes nearly rolled back.

Ridiculously, it didn’t feel like defiling but gently caressing her. It seemed to persuade him that even if she might regret today’s actions later, she should be true to her current feelings.

With Beni’s touch, his sense of sin fled far away.

Chewing on inaudible voices, he was swept up in high waves and pounced on her.

He sucked on her shyly moving tongue that had wedged between his teeth.

“Ah, haa……”

He took away her breath mixed with thick moans and rolled it in his mouth. Perhaps because their tongues met, her flesh tasted infinitely sweet.

Rolling in bed together would be even more ecstatic.

But only this far.

He shouldn’t go further.

He would hold onto this one memory for life, so he remembered her traces more deeply. Using slippery saliva as lubricant, he traced her teeth and wrapped around her tongue.

Finishing the deep kiss, he wiped her glistening wet lips and whispered softly.

“I hope you won’t agonize over this kiss. If you ever resent me, I will humbly accept that too.”

“I initiated it. Though confessing now may be meaningless, the truth is…… I felt more than friendship.”

“So did I. Enough to dream of a normal life.”

He finally couldn’t hold back and confessed.

He didn’t want to make Beni miserable, calmly reciting that this was the end, but he worried his hasty confession might cause her more pain.

However, Beni smiled brightly looking at him who revealed his heart. Though tears pooled in her eyes, she said goodbye with a relieved voice.

“Thank you for giving me a good memory. Goodbye, Hameres.”

A green sprout grew in his chest that had been like an old tree. It wouldn’t burst into flower buds and would remain an ice flower, but that was enough since they both remembered.

* * *