My Husband Was Clearly a Paladin
Chapter 17
The hand he held felt like it was burning up.
Starting from the point of contact, a searing heat surged through her entire body in an instant, a sensation so intense it felt as if it were devouring every single vein.
Irene gasped, choked by the vivid sensation that seemed to pierce through her whole being in a heartbeat.
Once the initial shock—intense enough to make her lose consciousness for a moment—passed, a crackling heat followed in its wake.
The heat spread through her powerless body, which had already lost the will to resist, and erupted into small sparks in every corner of her limbs.
“Hngh!”
Light flashed before her eyes, and her body trembled uncontrollably.
Her slightly parted lips leaked continuous moans she couldn't manage to swallow.
‘Why is it like this…! It wasn't like this before!’
Irene remembered the feeling of purifying him in her past life vividly.
‘Back then, I just thought it felt hot….’
Demonic energy is like an unquenchable fire.
The more it accumulates, the greater the blaze becomes, tearing down reason and turning into a wicked flame that forces one to abandon their humanity.
A purifier was the only existence capable of completely extinguishing that flame.
While the purifier suffered from an agonizing burning sensation they could do nothing about, the knights would gradually become addicted to the act of purification itself due to the overwhelming sense of refreshment they felt from just a touch.
However, that was strictly how the knights felt; for the purifiers, it was a living hell.
This was because they had to take in the flames held by the other person and extinguish them within themselves.
There was no way extinguishing a fire that incinerated reason could be easy.
Above all, because they were influenced by the demonic energy throughout the process, purifiers often lost their grip on reality.
Demonic energy breaks down logic and drags up the basest instincts buried in one's deepest depths.
Therefore, while purifying, purifiers had to strive to hold onto their consciousness and not crumble.
But this didn't apply to all purifiers in the same way.
Strong purification power could extinguish even strong fires.
As a 9th-rank, Irene hadn't known how to handle the flickering demonic energy and had struggled helplessly.
While others said they would grasp and soothe it, to her, the demonic energy was simply a strange, burning force.
Since there was no one to ask about proper purification in her past life, Irene had told Wilhelmina, whom she was at least acquainted with, about the sensations she felt.
“You said it was just hot?”
Upon hearing Irene's words, Wilhelmina had made a face as if she were looking at the most pathetic person in the world and whispered in a low voice.
“You’ll probably never know in your entire life… but purification is actually something that feels quite pleasurable.”
She had clicked her tongue as if she pitied her.
At the time, Irene thought Wilhelmina was saying such things just to tease her.
There was no way purification could feel like that….
Holding Michael's hand, Irene trembled.
The sparks bursting throughout her body showed no signs of subsiding.
Her breathing grew ragged and her vision blurred. In contrast, her other senses became even more acute.
The flames he harbored continued to pour in through their joined hands.
‘Just how much has accumulated?’
Even in her past life, when he returned after clearing more than ten Dungeons in a single day, the demonic energy built up in him hadn't been this much.
Yet now, an immense amount of demonic energy, incomparable to then, continued to flow from him.
It was as if he had become demonic energy itself.
At this rate, forget purification—Irene's reason was on the verge of collapsing entirely first.
Most of all, what made Irene anxious now were the sensations felt all over her body.
“Ah, ah…!”
She could realize it herself: something other than pain was beginning to dwell in the moans that spilled out incessantly.
‘I have to let go of his hand first…!’
Then, she had to somehow regain her senses and carefully attempt the purification again.
Realizing what she had to do, Irene tried to release the hand she was holding.
But at that moment, Michael tightened his grip on Irene's hand.
“…!”
Startled, Irene tried to pull her hand away forcefully, but it was in vain. He increased his strength even more, as if he would never let go.
That wasn't the end of it.
Before she knew it, long, thick fingers slid between hers as smoothly as a snake.
The rough callouses formed from years of holding a sword rubbed against the tender skin between her fingers.
Then, he laced their fingers together firmly, as if demanding she hold onto his.
Michael slowly and repeatedly squeezed and released her entire hand.
“Ah, ugh….”
Every time his hand gripped hers tightly, the intensity of the demonic energy passing from him grew stronger.
“St-stop! Let go!”
Sensing that something would go wrong at this rate, she tried to push his hand away.
But the more she did, the more Michael held her with greater force.
Irene was bewildered by the persistent touch that absolutely refused to let go. This kind of discourteous behavior was unlike him.
As the area of skin contact widened and they drew closer, the demonic energy she felt became even more vivid.
Once again, the flames coiled around her body.
The sparks that had been bursting frantically turned into small bursts of pleasure, spreading throughout her entire body.
Meanwhile, a rhythm developed in Michael's actions. He would spread her fingers, push himself in, and then pull back again.
Every time their knuckles brushed, Irene felt a tingling sensation not in her hand, but elsewhere.
She found herself curling her body instinctively.
In the end, Irene gave up resisting. She realized instinctively that the more she fought, the more she would suffer.
She let the strength drain from her body and leaned on the hand holding her.
She realized the moment she was caught: this force would never let her go, even if it meant death. So it was better to surrender quickly and beg for mercy.
Did he realize her struggling had stopped?
The man who had been gripping her tightly loosened his strength slightly.
“Haaah….”
With just that, Irene groaned and collapsed onto the table, her body trembling.
Above her, a low voice drifted down.
“You did well.”
What did she do well? Irene wasn't in a state to ponder the answer.
Her helplessly collapsed body twitched.
The outer garment she had been loosely wearing over her shoulders had already fallen to the floor and was being crushed into a mess, but she had no mental capacity left to care about such things.
“I am in quite a hurry right now.”
Michael spoke as he pulled her arm toward him.
Her already limp, weak body was drawn close to him far too easily.
“I sincerely apologize for not being able to treat you with more courtesy. So….”
He whispered into Irene's ear again.
“Please continue the purification.”
* * *
“Haah…. Haah….”
Irene let out labored breaths while slumped over the table.
She couldn't tell what had happened or how much time had passed.
All she could remember was that Michael had not let go of her hand.
“You must be very exhausted.”
His voice, speaking with concern, felt almost loathsome.
Wasn't he the reason she was this exhausted in the first place?
“Still, I have stabilized quite a bit. So, please, just one last time.”
Having said that, he gripped her hand tightly again before Irene could even prepare herself mentally.
“Ah, ugh!”
Perhaps because she had been off guard.
Her limp body gave a great jolt and then shuddered as if struck by lightning. Soon after, she collapsed back onto the table.
Irene could do nothing.
She truly didn't have the strength left to even wiggle a finger.
Would it feel like this if one's brain melted into a messy mush? Her whole body felt as soft as pudding, so she just remained slumped there. Even breathing was difficult.
He finally let go of the hand he had been holding for a long time.
Soon, a calm voice was heard.
“Thank you for your purification.”
It was a voice she remembered.
In her past life, when Michael was severely contaminated, Irene had held his hand a few times.
Each time, he would turn his head away, unable to hide his discomfort. Then, when the long purification was over, he would say those words and leave immediately.
Just as she was thinking he would leave now, her body floated up into the air.
Michael had picked her up.
He immediately laid Irene on the bed and covered her with a blanket.
“It must have been difficult, so please rest well.”
As he was about to leave, Irene gathered all her strength to grab him.
“Wa-wait….”
At that weak gesture, Michael froze as if turned to stone.
“What is it?”
“Um, I have one favor I’d like to ask….”
“Please speak.”
At his reply, Irene spoke the thought she had been pondering with trembling lips.
“Once a week… please.”
At that, Michael's face hardened.
He soon asked back in a tone that seemed to wonder what she meant.
“Once a week?”
