Chapter 24: A Delicate Proposition

****

After breakfast the following morning, Emil paused before the Priest’s door instead of heading to his own room. There was something he absolutely had to tell the Priest.

His heart felt inexplicably heavy. Emil gazed at the firmly closed door for a long moment, before finally steeling his resolve and knocking softly.

“Come in.”

The Priest’s voice drifted from within the room. It was so faint it would have been missed without careful attention. Emil opened the door and slowly stepped inside.

“…Father.”

“Oh, Emil.”

Unlike yesterday, the Priest was dressed in his cassock, seated at his desk, and greeted him. With his health improved, the Priest had even attended dawn mass today.

Emil had spent a restless night, worried that the Priest’s condition might worsen. The dread of potentially freezing the entire building again if he succumbed to sleep had kept him awake.

“You look much better.”

“That’s thanks to your prayers.”

He was unfailingly kind, even in that brief moment. Emil sat on the chair before the desk, hesitated for a moment, then revealed the purpose of his visit.

“Um, for a while… would it be alright if I stayed at Yanis’s house?”

“At Yanis’s house?”

“Yes. I want to help my mother prepare for her wedding. I thought it might be the last gift I could give her.”

The words he had prepared flowed effortlessly from his lips. It rendered his earlier anxiety, which had clutched at his chest all the way to the door, utterly meaningless. Emil looked at the Priest with a calm expression, recalling his conversation with Yanis last night.

‘First, why don’t you leave this place and stay with me at my house?’

‘With you… why?’

Emil calmly questioned Yanis’s suggestion. It was only natural to feel suspicious when the first thing Yanis suggested, immediately after calming Emil’s anxieties, was that he leave the residence provided by the church.

Having visited Yanis’s home multiple times, Emil felt burdened by the thought of imposing on a house where Yanis lived alone. Moreover, Emil had even experienced shameful things, such as engaging in lewd acts with Yanis in his dreams.

‘Because you still can’t control your ability. If you freeze this entire place every night, the Priest’s health will never improve. In fact, it will only worsen.’

Yanis’s calm words caused Emil’s vision to darken. The Priest was certainly not young. He was already frail, and if such incidents occurred every night due to Emil’s uncontrolled power, the Priest might truly perish.

‘I have no intention of making you uncomfortable. However, as a doctor, I must also consider their health. Of course, once you can control your power, you can return at any time. Ah, before that. The longer we are together, the more effectively I can help you.’

Emil’s eyes widened at the last remark. While the health of the Priest and the churchgoers was important, the second point held greater significance for Emil. He had deliberately sought help from Yanis, despite his resolve to forget him, to eradicate this power that had appeared overnight.

‘To provide guiding, it would be better for us to be together rather than apart.’

‘Is guiding truly… necessary?’

‘Hmm.’

In response to Emil’s question, Yanis stroked his chin for a moment before speaking again.

‘You currently can’t control the power within you. That’s why it keeps manifesting unconsciously.’

“Yes.”

‘And this power is harming others without your knowledge.’

“…That’s right.”

Emil unknowingly swallowed hard.

‘Therefore, the first thing we must do is help you control your ability well. Otherwise, no matter how much I try to eliminate the power, the lingering strength within you will always try to sprout again.’

“…”

Yanis re-explained it using words familiar to Emil. The man continued his explanation, observing Emil’s reaction.

‘Once you can control your ability well, then we will attempt to separate it.’

“Then… will the power truly disappear?”

“…”

Emil’s earnest gaze met Yanis’s. Yanis did not avert his eyes. The man knew well what the young man before him feared, and he needed to reassure him.

“Emil.”

Yanis calmly spoke Emil’s name. He felt Yanis’s gaze and full attention directed towards him.

‘Your religion believes in the existence of miracles, right? There have been actual cases of miracles occurring. And I can help you. If we combine our strengths, we can certainly achieve it.’

The veil that had clouded Emil’s face lifted at the man’s words. In his fear of not being ordained, he had forgotten the most fundamental truth.

The Creator of the world, the one for whom nothing was impossible. It was none other than Yanis, the Guide, who reminded Emil of His existence. He created something from nothing, inscribing evidence into Emil’s ignorant self. For such a being, impossibility could not exist. A flicker of hope ignited in Emil’s once-deadened eyes.

“Is that… possible? It will happen, won’t it? No, it will. That’s right. There’s no way it…”

Emil inadvertently doubted His power, then quickly changed his words. They were not words to be spoken carelessly.

“…Wedding preparations, you say.”

The Priest murmured in response to Emil’s words, then nodded. ‘Since we can’t tell the Priest the truth, let’s just use that as an excuse,’ Yanis had suggested earlier. Yanis was diligently focused on making the wedding venue plausible whenever he had a chance, so there was no flaw in the story. Emil, too, had been contemplating a gift for his mother before becoming a priest, making it a suitable excuse.

Emil’s concern was the Priest’s ‘evidence.’ He was one who could hear the voice of God. If the Priest were to learn that Emil had lied, he would have nothing to say. Unconsciously, he clenched his hands and swallowed hard.

The Priest slowly blinked, then looked at Emil with a benevolent smile.

“Your mother will be truly delighted.”

“Ah…”

“I heard from the doctor. You want to give your beloved a very special day to remember. Perhaps that person also feels a great burden. If you are with them, they might feel a little more at ease.”

“…Thank you.”

Seeing the Priest genuinely happy and congratulatory, Emil thanked him and immediately went up to his room. He hadn’t noticed, but beads of sweat had formed on his forehead.

Emil packed his clothes into a travel bag, just as he had when he first arrived at the church. He considered taking everything but, thinking he would return, only packed clothes and two books: the Bible and .

His heart pounded throughout the packing. The thought of going to Yanis’s house filled him with an uncontrollable excitement.

‘Snap out of it, Emil Reardon. You shouldn’t be like this right now.’

Going to Yanis’s house was solely for treatment. Emil repeated it to himself multiple times, as if to convince himself. After packing everything, he immediately headed to Yanis’s house. The thin layer of ice next to his door had still not disappeared.

****

Emil’s steps towards Yanis’s house were lighter than usual. He found himself humming a tune.

“Emil! Where are you going?”

“To Yanis’s house.”

“Yanis? Why his house?”

“To help with the wedding preparations.”

Along the way, villagers greeted him. It was natural for them to be curious, seeing him carry a large bag just as he had when he first arrived in the village after graduating school. While people had previously looked suspicious when he mentioned going to Yanis’s house, they now nodded in understanding at the mention of wedding preparations.

With lighter steps than usual, Emil laughed aloud for no reason, then quickly closed his mouth, feeling embarrassed. His mood brightened even more as Yanis’s house came into view.

Yanis, visible through the wide-open door, was seeing a patient. Watching him treat the patient with the same kind and thoughtful eyes as always, Emil’s heart began to pound again. ‘This shouldn’t be happening,’ he thought. His mind knew it, but his body wouldn’t listen.

Emil lingered outside while the patient, Mac, who ran a small orchard on the west side of the village, finished his consultation and left. Even after Mac departed, Emil hid in the shade, watching for others. Only when no one else was in sight around Yanis’s house did he finally step inside.

Yanis, who had been recording consultation notes, felt someone’s presence and looked up.

“Who… Ah, Emil. It’s you.”

Yanis pushed the record sheet aside on his desk and stood up. Emil calmed his excited heart and offered a composed smile.

“Yes. I’ve spoken to the Priest. He was pleased when I told him I’d be helping with the wedding preparations.”

“That’s good. He needs peace of mind and body.”

Yanis naturally led Emil further into the house. Though he had been there many times, his heart inexplicably fluttered. It was incredibly welcoming, even though he had only visited once since breaking his promise to Yanis.

The thought of spending a few days here alone with Yanis made his ears burn. Yanis’s house was just as Emil remembered, but a thick quilt woven from animal fur was neatly folded at the foot of the bed.

“Ah, actually…”

Yanis, noticing Emil’s gaze on the quilt, hesitated for a moment before speaking.

“I tried to find a bed for you, but I couldn’t. The quickest one would take a month to make. Even ordering from the next village would take a week.”

‘A week,’ Emil thought. At the earliest, in a week, Emil would no longer be here. He would have already achieved his goal and returned to the church.

“So, if you’re uncomfortable, please use this bed alone. I can use the examination bed.”

“No, no! It’s fine, no, that’s not what I mean… I’m fine!”

Emil stammered his reply, making a slip of the tongue in his haste. He worried needlessly that Yanis might discern his true feelings. As Emil fumbled for excuses, Yanis looked directly at his face.

“I’ll use the examination bed. I’m a guest, and I’ve come for help, so I shouldn’t drive Yanis out of his own bed.”

Emil, having barely managed to compose himself, offered an excellent solution. Yanis nodded as if agreeing, but he seemed to ponder for a moment.

“I understand your intention. However, if I let you sleep in such an uncomfortable place, Lauren would be upset. So—”

“Th-Then!”

Emil hastily cut him off before Yanis could say anything more.

“Then, how about we just… share the bed? If—if you’re okay with it. …If it’s not too cramped.”

Emil’s face flushed crimson as he made the suggestion. It was an utterly shameless proposition. Harboring affection for Yanis, he felt lewd for uttering such words himself. Yanis simply stared at his suggestion in silence, as if trying to gauge his innermost thoughts.

Under that piercing gaze, his heart felt ready to burst. After a long moment of observation, Yanis belatedly smiled.

“If you are fine with it, then I am as well.”

“I’m perfectly fine…! …I’m grateful for your kindness, actually.”

Emil, about to answer immediately, quickly changed his words as he belatedly realized his situation. Fortunately, Yanis seemed not to have noticed anything at all.

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