My Husband Was Clearly a Paladin
Chapter 31
When she opened her eyes in the morning, Irene could not immediately recall who she was or where she was.
Fortunately, within a few blinks, her memories returned, but she couldn’t so much as twitch a finger, let alone sit up.
Both her body and mind felt as heavy and limp as waterlogged cotton.
Irene recalled the moments she had lost consciousness and the brief flickers of clarity in between.
Michael had been persistent, relentless.
Whenever Irene felt like giving up on the purification, he would whisper and urge her on.
In a state where all her senses were paralyzed, his words were nothing short of a divine revelation.
And so, Irene had no choice but to dully exert strength in her body exactly as he commanded.
When she finally became so exhausted that she couldn’t even make a sound, he picked her up and carried her to the bed.
Even in that moment, he had not let go of her hand.
Was that why? When he tried to stand up, Irene had ended up holding onto him instead.
It must have been because their fingers had been interlaced for so long.
“My goodness.”
With a troubled voice, he stopped in his tracks.
“Since you wish for it, I shall stay a little longer.”
That wasn’t what she meant, but he stayed and held her hand for a long time afterward, as if he would give her his body for as long as she desired, before finally getting up.
“Haa….”
Irene sighed and pressed the back of her hand against her flushed cheek. Just how long had she been with him yesterday?
Irene recalled the roiling, wicked energy that had surged into her.
The energy, which felt like it would melt her just by accepting it, was both horrific and enchanting.
How on earth could Michael carry such a thing within him?
‘To him, it must simply feel terrible.’
Then, the words he had whispered suddenly came to mind.
Telling her to relax. To not try and swallow it all at once. That she had to get used to it now.
The moment she remembered that far, Irene’s face flushed hot once again.
He probably hadn’t thought much of it when he said it.
‘What am I thinking? But still….’
Even in the past that had now become a non-event, he had said similar things.
“Please relax. At this rate, how can I….”
It was a memory that made her tingle just by recalling it.
Even while holding her intensely for a week, he had shown such tenderness from time to time.
“I’m the only one who remembers it anyway….”
To the current him, it was something that had never happened. So there was no way he would have said such things while thinking of the past.
“No, but still…!”
As Irene was flailing about in a fit of inexplicable frustration, a knock sounded at the door.
“Irene-nim, are you awake?”
“Ah, yes!”
At the sound of the maids’ voices, Irene used every ounce of her strength to sit up.
The maids who entered soon after saw Irene’s disheveled state and spoke with worried faces.
“Yesterday’s purification must have been very difficult for you.”
“Yes, it was so massive… ah, I mean the demonic energy!”
She answered feebly, but soon realized her words could be misinterpreted and hurriedly added more.
“Perhaps because he just returned from subjugating a high-ranking dungeon, the demonic energy was so vivid. My abilities are still meager, so even though we only held hands, it was so taxing….”
Even as she babbled on, Irene felt her face burning hot.
“I see. Even so, the fortress is buzzing with the news of Michael-nim subjugating a high-ranking dungeon alone. We heard that after helping the others, he handled the cleanup perfectly, but I suppose he still requires purification. You worked very hard as well, Irene-nim.”
Contrary to Irene’s worries, the maid answered brightly with a deeply impressed face.
As if she had never even considered the possibility of Michael and her purifying through physical intimacy like other pairs.
Irene felt awkward at that attitude.
‘Well, who would suspect him?’
Even if her relationship with him had changed, his attitude remained the same.
Michael was still kind and polite to everyone in the fortress.
Had he not always bowed and greeted even the maids, whom most people ignored or treated poorly?
His fastidiousness regarding the opposite sex was also the same. Except during purification, he still maintained a distance of several steps from Irene, as if he shouldn’t touch her.
So, everyone had no choice but to believe in his innocence.
While Irene barely managed to wash up with the maid’s help, another maid entered.
“Irene-nim, you have a visitor. A priest has arrived at the request of Sir Michael.”
Michael requested a priest? Irene hurriedly changed her clothes and asked for the priest to be let in.
A moment later, a female priest with a gentle expression entered.
At the sight, Irene relaxed.
It was because she couldn’t find a hint of contempt in the priest’s expression as she looked at her.
‘I was a bit worried since the Temple has no reason to welcome me.’
In the past, the people of the Temple disliked Irene. It was because they thought she had sullied the honor of Michael, who was practically the representative of the Temple.
This time, thanks to Michael applying for the pair first, it was better than in her previous life, but there were still people whispering as if she were the problem.
So she had wondered if this priest would also despise her.
Seeing the soft smile, it seemed that wasn’t the case.
“Hello, Purifier-nim. I am Bariel, known as the Staff of God.”
The Staff of God. At those words, Irene suddenly remembered Michael’s greetings from before, when he would always introduce himself as the Sword of God.
‘But… I think he introduced himself differently this time?’
When Reina and Cynthia were there, he had only said his name.
As Irene was wondering if he had simply forgotten for a moment, she realized Bariel was looking at her with a troubled expression.
She hurriedly bowed her head in greeting.
“I am Irene Rodiam.”
“It is an honor to meet you. Sir Michael said he would find a pair someday, and it seems the wait is finally over.”
“…Pardon? What do you mean by that?”
The wait was over? Did that not sound as if Michael had been waiting for a pair?
When Irene asked back as if wanting an explanation, Bariel opened her mouth after a moment of hesitation.
“According to divine teachings, it is contrary to reason for Sir Michael to come to the fortress and seek a pair. However, since the Kingdom Alliance demanded Sir Michael find a pair and halted the distribution of dungeons, there has been much talk within the Temple as well.”
Though many people are moved by Michael’s exploits and offer donations to the Temple, there are limits to relief efforts for the hungry and wounded with that alone.
Even until now, the largest portion of the Temple’s budget was filled by the rewards he earned from subjugating dungeons.
But since that had been completely blocked, they were in a state where even the cost of medicine for the wounded was uncertain.
“Actually, Princess Cecilia proposed to the High Priest that if Sir Michael would form a pair with her, she would return a large portion of the rewards to the Temple and would not seek contact beyond holding hands.”
“….”
Irene’s expression stiffened at Bariel’s words.
‘That’s not a proposal one would reject.’
The rewards were heavily conceded, and the contact was no different from what he was doing with her now.
So why had he rejected the Princess’s proposal?
“Even so, Sir Michael refused. He said he had no intentions for the time being. In other words, it meant he would accept it eventually.”
Bariel continued speaking.
As the Kingdom Alliance hindered his entry into dungeons, the rewards he obtained rapidly decreased.
The Temple’s position became anxious.
The number of people suffering because of the dungeons was increasing, but the money to feed and house them was running out.
However, they couldn’t simply order Michael to find a pair and enter a dungeon against his will.
Wouldn’t that make it look like the Temple was selling a person out of greed for money?
“We had no choice but to prepare to screen patients as much as possible and reduce food consumption to a minimum, but then this year, Sir Michael suddenly left for the fortress as if he had been waiting. I followed him later under orders from the Temple. But as soon as I arrived, I heard he had found a pair… and honestly, I was worried.”
Bariel bowed her head as if making a confession.
“Honestly, I know that purifiers want a lot of rewards. Oh, of course, I am not blaming the purifiers. Since dungeons are dangerous, it is only natural to want more rewards. Is our Temple not also in a position where we desire more rewards than anyone else? So I was a little worried about what would happen if the Purifier-nim demanded a large share….”
Reaching that point, Bariel’s eyes welled with tears.
“I came here and heard from Sir Michael. That the Purifier-nim understood the Temple’s position and gave almost all of the rewards to the Temple.”
At those words, Irene unknowingly looked off into the distance.
‘It’s not like I did it out of consideration for the Temple….’
She had only done it because she planned to break the pair as soon as she got the artifact….
But that was a fact she couldn’t tell anyone.
She gave an awkward smile and said to Bariel.
“Um, but what brings you here today…?”
“Oh, my. I’ve been rambling on. It’s nothing else, but Sir Michael requested that I re-measure Irene-nim’s purification power.”
“My purification power? I’ve already been judged as rank 9.”
“Yes. I am aware, but he said a re-confirmation was necessary. If you don’t mind, would you please sit for a moment?”
Irene sat in the chair as she was told.
Then, her eyes fell upon the ring on her hand.
A ring with a crude and simple design.
It had certainly been full of scratches, but strangely, it felt cleaner than when she first saw it.
In the meantime, Bariel’s hand touched the top of Irene’s head.
Soon, a warm energy enveloped her body, and a moment later, Bariel spoke as if it were strange.
“You are rank 8.”
