Nurturing the Hero to Avoid Death

Ch 22.1

Such an unexpected event happened the other day, but I still have everything under control.

After graduating from the local school, I remain in the village and help my father in his tasks as the lord of this territory.

The chaotic New Year’s party, which all our relatives will be attending, is drawing near, but Lian’s father says that I don’t have to force myself to come.

This makes me feel extremely happy.

For me, welcoming an endless stream of guests together with everyone in the mansion, and for the entire duration of the holiday too, equates to several days of nightmare. It’s super tiring.

And I have no right to refuse.

But this year is different. I get to escape that nightmare.

Yayyy!

That’s why I came to the church today. And I’ve been here since morning.

Even though today’s a Friday, that’s no problem at all.The New Year’s holiday lasts for  a week.

And when I checked ‘Big Brother Al’s Part-time Job Schedule Investigation’ for his schedule for the holidays, it seems like he has a shift at Canal’s Bar for the whole day. Lucky me.

With a massive surge of customers every year-end, this period is the busiest but most profitable time for bars. Many shops also extend their working hours during the New Year until later in the night or even until early morning.

Because there aren’t any more carriages roaming around after the bar’s closing time, Alfred plans on staying the night at the bar and returning home the next day.

Alfred won’t be in the church for the entire day, and he won’t return until tomorrow noon.

That means Alfred’s room will be empty today.

After confirming that, I decide to stay overnight in the church. After all, he gave me permission to freely use his room when he’s not there.

Moreover, five relatives of Lian’s mother, three friends of Lian’s brother, and four colleagues of Lian’s father will be staying in the mansion for three days and two nights.

If I accidentally encounter them in the mansion, they will surely detain me and babble all night long. So to stay away from the mansion, I talk to Lian’s father about spending a night at the church.

And he  agrees while holding back his tears.

I’m happy that he allowed it, but why is he crying?

As I wonder to myself, Lian’s father pats my shoulder. “If you feel more at ease in the church, then…”

Complex emotions rise within me. I want to correct him. I really want to.

My body hasn’t turned into a tattered rag. I can still become a groom. Or bride… Why did I mention bride? Anyway, I have the urge to insist that I still have a pure body, but I fight it as much as I can.

Ever since that incident, Lian’s father hasn’t forced me to do anything unreasonable and lets me do whatever I want.

This means I can act more freely.

I do think it’ll be better for me to not reveal what really happened, but… I’m still not sure how to feel about it.

Currently, my father, Lowendal, and I are the only people in the mansion who know anything about this incident.

With his index finger in front of his mouth, Lowendal tells us to keep this a secret from Lian’s mother and brother.

That’s probably for the better.