Chapter 60
Chapter 60
Saint, You’re So Vulgar! – Chapter 60
Is holding hands considered lewd imagination?
If someone asked that question, no one could deny it more vehemently than Asher.
That is, if Versia were the one asking.
"You would've definitely scolded me, saying I was imagining lewd things just from holding hands."
"."
"You would've said my head was full of filthy demons and tried to make me meditate."
"."
"Or maybe you'd have given me a sermon on doctrine under the guise of mental training?"
"."
Asher kept his head bowed in silence.
It was fortunate he hadn't turned into some pervert getting sexually aroused by fantasizing about holding hands everywhere after Judith delivered the news, but this wasn't exactly a clean resolution either.
Under Versia's gaze, which felt somehow chilling, Asher's head drooped lower and lower toward the floor.
"Pervert."
"Eek!"
"Lustful demon."
"Gah!"
There was a time and place for rebuttals.
After hitting rock bottom, Asher didn't have many defenses left.
Asher's shoulders slumped.
In the end, he offered an apology.
"I'm sorry."
"Your apology came pretty late."
"I'm sorry for that too."
"You think I'll let it slide just this once?"
Versia stroked Asher's head gently.
At that moment, Asher flinched and his body twitched.
Again. His chest tickled once more.
Noticing the reaction belatedly, Versia pulled her hand away.
Asher felt a twinge of regret at the departing hand.
"Ah."
A hollow laugh escaped Versia's lips at the sigh.
"You react like that to this too?"
"W-Well."
He was at a loss for words.
Truth be told, even he couldn't rationally understand why he reacted so strongly to something as simple as holding hands or a head pat.
Now he had to admit it.
The curse was influencing him to some degree.
Though its direction was quite subtle.
"It might be better to acknowledge it rather than deny it for countermeasures. Yes, this kind of skinship feels a bit arousing."
When she said vulgar things, it was so absurd he didn't even think of that, but was the stillness leaving room for imagination?
As he let out a sigh like a complaint, Versia asked.
"Exactly what makes your body react? I need to know so I can avoid it."
Asher was taken aback by the question.
He couldn't bring himself to say that he unconsciously thought, 'If this were my original body' to light touches or words.
That would amount to admitting he saw Versia as a woman rationally, and if this was curse-induced emotion, he knew he shouldn't confess like that.
So he gave a somewhat evasive answer.
Which led to a strange conclusion.
"You're a weird one. Holding hands is off-limits, but sensory blocking or whatever is fine."
Asher made an excuse that wouldn't hold water.
"Th-That was too vulgar to be sexy!"
"Do you prefer realistic naughtiness?"
"That's not what I meant!"
Logic full of holes wasn't going to convince anyone.
In the end, he had no choice but to raise his voice more stubbornly, and perhaps the old saying that people get louder when embarrassed wasn't wrongAsher's responses grew bigger and bigger.
"You know how some girls are into bland romance."
"Word choice! Come on!"
"What, you won't let me talk?"
"I'm telling you to avoid crude words! Humans can communicate without vulgar language!"
"How's that possible?"
"!"
Asher fell into a self-contradiction.
* * *
Several near-mishaps had occurred, but four days passed after that.
The curse of thirst on Asher's back showed no signs of growing further.
Of course, Versia kept calling him a "romance pervert" whenever she got the chance, but even that was starting to feel familiar.
Amid all that, what troubled Asher most wasn't anything else.
It was the rumors spreading quietly.
"Hey, you okay?"
One day, Lubena came by.
And without any malice, she thoroughly scratched at Asher before leaving.
"That female curse thing? You said it, so it must not be a big deal for you, right? Makes sense, with your divine power, it wouldn't affect you But I hear you're clinging to your charge these days? Using the curse as an excuse to stick close? You like her that much? I really don't get it."
Asher generally viewed people positively, but even he realized that his lack of tact could sometimes be a sin when dealing with Lubena.
Never mind where the rumors started.
First, Asher tried to correct Lubena's various misunderstandings.
Starting with the fact that he wasn't clingingit was Versia overprotecting him out of worry for the curse's influence; the term "female curse" wasn't the accurate name, so maybe they could drop it now; and he'd never even thought of using the curse as a pretext for anything nefarious.
In the process, Asher felt indignant.
After all, wasn't everything he was doing now protecting Versia's honor in her stead?
Seeing Versia lounging about like it was someone else's problem only made his irritation grow uncontrollably.
Did that emotion show on his face?
His sullen expression was deepening.
Lubena, with her usual clueless look (in Judith's words, a thick-headed expression), just said, "So it's not the female curse? Then what is it?"
Satern apologized on her behalf.
"I'm sorry. The Saintess has been distracted lately."
"Hey, what did you just say? You ignoring me?!"
"Saintess, Saintess Halia is looking for you."
"Eek."
Whatever happened after Lubena and Halia went on dispatch, she paled and let Satern drag her off whenever "Halia" came out of his mouth.
Satern's gleaming scalp erased Lubena's shadow as he left.
It felt like a bit of the grime in his heart had been washed away.
Anyway, the day faded like that.
Asher flopped onto the bed, feeling mentally and physically exhausted, while Versia sat in a chair with her legs crossed and said.
"Lying face down ruins your breast shape."
"."
Asher lay straight.
He didn't want to hear more teasing from those lips.
Plus, lying face down was uncomfortable anyway.
Afterward, grumbling leaked out.
"Somehow, it feels like I'm the only one suffering."
"I'm suffering too."
"How so?"
"I'm holding back, aren't I?"
"Pardon?"
Asher's brow furrowed.
Versia replied with her usual demeanor.
"Leaving you so defenseless and doing nothing? Don't I have pretty good self-control?"
Versia's gaze headed toward Asher's legs.
Asher looked in the same direction.
Because he'd flipped over, his skirt had rolled up.
"Eek!"
The startled Asher hurriedly pulled down his skirt.
As his earlobes turned bright red and he steadied his breathing, Versia muttered.
"Your behavior is getting more ladylike by the day. At this rate."
"That won't happen!"
The curse was no joke.
It clearly wasn't progressing further, yet he was reacting unconsciously like this.
Asher groaned, sighed, and said.
"I think I need to take a short walk."
"By yourself?"
"Yes, just a moment to sort my thoughts."
He said it cautiously, but fortunately, Versia nodded.
"As long as you don't go far, the order's defenses are solid anyway."
Asher bowed briefly in thanks and left.
* * *
The order was in a geographically mild location, so temperatures rarely dropped sharply even late at night.
Today was no different.
Asher took a deep breath, feeling the night breeze cool his body's heat.
Before he knew it, several months had passed living in this body.
Had he gotten too used to it?
Or was it how others treated him?
Asher felt, just as Versia said, that his speech and mannerisms were gradually losing their masculinity.
It depressed him, and with the curse piling on, his mind was in turmoil.
For that reason, he walked aimlessly.
Before long, his footsteps led him to the grand cathedral.
By then, Asher realized one thing.
'Come to think of it.'
After becoming like this, he hadn't prayed in the grand cathedral once.
He used to attend mass and pray at least once a week, but he'd skipped even that for months.
Asher felt a sense of sin.
Was all this change punishment for not being devout in prayer?
Come to think of it, the bedtime prayers he did daily had also been skipped quite often after a certain point.
Realizing that, Asher squeezed his eyes shut.
'Parent God!'
He deserved punishment.
What he needed to do now was penance.
Resolved, Asher entered the grand cathedral right away.
It was the moment he opened the cathedral doors.
Thud. Asher froze at the sight of the person before him.
"Hm? Oh, Saintess."
"Your Holiness?"
The Pope was in the grand cathedral.