This Isn't an E*otic Game?-Chapter 50: It’s Your Holiness’s Fault

After the Procedure, the Imperial Family Returned to the Palace with Joyful Faces.

The empress held her daughters tightly the entire way, abandoning all formality as she smothered them with kisses, while the emperor firmly clasped both princesses’ hands.

Even after they returned to the palace, the four of them remained together, unable to part.

"My beloved daughters. My dear Iomene, Almene."

At the emperor’s unreserved display of affection, the two princesses smiled brightly.

"I love hearing those words."

"Please say it often to Iomene, Father. She must have been so lonely."

"A hundred times. A thousand times, I’ll say it as much as she wants. I love you, Iomene. I love you."

Iomene gazed quietly at her aging father—before leaning into his embrace.

This was the man who had ordered her suffering for sixteen years.

But now, with Almene’s memories as part of her own, she understood.

She understood just how much the emperor had suffered during all that time.

She also understood what it meant for the ruler of an empire to choose her over the empire itself.

Carefully, Iomene nestled between her father and mother, indulging in all the affection she had never been able to before.

"I want to eat dessert."

"You can have any dessert you want. As much as you’d like."

"I want to walk barefoot in the garden."

"As much as you please! You may roam any garden in the palace whenever you wish!"

"Tell me you love me every day from now on."

"I will. Iomene, whatever you want, your father will grant it."

Holding her tightly, the emperor spoke with tear-filled eyes.

"Anything."

At those words, Iomene silently looked at Almene.

Almene’s expression briefly turned red, but then she gave a small nod.

Receiving her other half’s approval, Iomene turned to her father with a bright smile.

"Father, there’s something I really want."

Her tone—casual, completely unfitting for a princess.

Her words—utterly devoid of the dignity expected of royalty.

Yet the emperor didn’t mind at all.

"What is it, Iomene? Tell me anything."

"A husband. Can I choose my own?"

Expressionless and innocent, she spoke as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

And, of course, the emperor—

"Of course, my dear."

—laughed and granted her wish.

****

Iomene and Almene Had Left.

From now on, they would live noble lives as imperial princesses and saintesses.

That was for the best.

Now, I could prepare to leave quietly on my own.

There was still some time left before Archmage Jörgen finished tuning my psychic amplifier.

That remaining time would be the last moments I spent as a saint.

In the meantime, I dedicated myself to acts of charity, healing the sick and wounded who came seeking aid—hoping, however futilely, that the goddess might forgive me.

As promised, Jörgen would occasionally visit during his work breaks, observing my healing process with curiosity before returning to his adjustments.

"How much longer do you think it’ll take, Tower Master?"

"I’ll try to finish within five days. I’d like to do it faster, but this thing’s an incredibly delicate antique."

Five days.

That was enough.

For five days, I searched for a city to disappear into—one where the church’s influence was weak but security was still decent.

Erfa never came to see me again.

She had been rejected to her face, after all. Why would she?

Thinking of her made my chest ache—but this was for the best.

If she hated me, she wouldn’t miss me after I was gone.

Now, I could truly leave without regrets.

Truly...

I was about to leave.

But—

"Your Holiness! We’re here!"

"Your Holiness! We missed you!!"

One morning—

The twin princesses ambushed me.

They had come without the emperor, without the empress, and with only the bare minimum of guards.

"Your Highnesses, is your health well?"

Now that their minds had recovered, I should probably stop talking to them like they were excitable puppies.

I carefully addressed them, but Almene and Iomene only giggled.

Quietly, they approached me—

And then, at the exact same time, dove into my arms.

"When it’s just us, call us by our names."

"Yeah, what’s with ‘Your Highness’ this and that? Just use our names."

They looked up at me, mischief in their expressions.

"Iomene. Almene."

I complied with their request.

"I’m glad you’ve recovered. I hope you’ll have nothing but happiness from now on."

Hearing that, the two of them clung to me even tighter.

But I carefully pushed them away.

"I’m busy today. I don’t think I can spend time with you. Shouldn’t you both be occupied? Why did you come here?"

At that, Iomene silently reached into her bag and pulled out a bottle of alcohol.

"Let’s have a birthday party! Your Holiness!"

"We wanted you to celebrate our birthday with us."

...A birthday party? What?

"The day you saved me was our 19th birthday. Since it was also our coming-of-age day, I figured alcohol would be perfect. Don’t you think so, Your Holiness?"

It was something worth celebrating.

But in five days, I would be gone.

What was the point of making memories now?

Once I disappeared, I had no intention of returning as a saint.

Sweet memories with people I would never see again would only make things harder.

I intended to refuse them.

As coldly and distantly as possible.

"I told you, I’m busy today. Please return to the palace. A birthday party would be much grander there... and..."

No.

I made the mistake of looking into Iomene’s eyes.

Tears welled up in them, her expression full of sorrow.

I suddenly felt like the worst piece of trash alive.

"Really? You really won’t?"

"The procedure was so hard on us, Your Holiness."

"It’s nothing big. We just wanted to drink and talk with you. That’s all. It won’t take long. We won’t keep you for long."

"Iomene has never had a birthday party in her entire life. This is her first one. Your Holiness... Even so, is it really not possible?"

Like they had planned it in advance, they pressed me strategically from all sides.

Goddammit.

This isn’t good...

I couldn’t ignore those words.

Sixteen years, and not once had she ever celebrated her birthday.

And I knew.

I knew just how lonely she had been, trapped in the secluded palace.

A child who had lived in isolation and suffering her entire life was finally asking me to celebrate her birthday with her.

Doubt.

Turmoil.

Conflict.

And in the end—

The words that came out of my mouth were:

"Just for today. But after this, don’t come looking for me again."

Immediately, their faces lit up.

"Your Holiness, I love you!!"

"I’m so happy!!"

They threw themselves into my arms again, and I could only let out a bitter smile.

"If we had a party in the palace, it could’ve been much grander. The emperor and empress would’ve made it incredibly extravagant. I didn’t even prepare a present."

At that, Iomene shook her head.

"Your Holiness’s existence itself is a gift to me. And besides, in time, Almene and I will be forced to attend more banquets than we could ever want."

"Iomene is right. I’d rather have a quiet party with just the three of us. It feels more special this way."

Well.

What could I do?

It was their birthday.

It should be done their way.

"Alright. We’ll do it your way."

And so—

The drinking began.

Iomene and Almene had come fully prepared.

They set up snacks, glasses—everything in an instant.

Soon, the three of us were sipping from glasses filled with a high-quality, rather strong liquor.

"This stuff is pretty strong."

"It burns going down."

"I think my head’s getting a little dizzy. Haha!"

Even as they said that, Almene and Iomene looked completely unfazed.

Meanwhile, I could feel the alcohol creeping up on me—my face was definitely getting red.

I hadn’t expected it, but these two were ridiculously strong drinkers.

"Your Holiness, we want to know more about you."

As we sat together, refilling and emptying our glasses several times in a relaxed atmosphere, Almene suddenly spoke in a soft, whisper-like voice, as if she were doing some kind of ASMR.

They wanted to know about me?

What was there to know?

I was really nothing special.

"Jericho Amayel. The talentless youngest son of a prophet family who couldn’t make a single prophecy. One day, I randomly went to the slums and started healing sick people, and somehow I ended up here. A lucky, miserable bastard. That’s me. Nothing more, nothing less."

"I’m curious. Your Holiness, don’t you find it exhausting to heal and help people? I think I’d hate doing something like that."

Iomene, in her distinct casual speech, asked bluntly.

Exhausting?

No.

It wasn’t exhausting.

If anything, it was fulfilling.

Seeing people recover, watching their happiness—it wasn’t hard.

What was painful was not knowing why the goddess had decided to send me to hell.

"It’s not tiring. What’s tiring is having to stay in a place I don’t want to be."

"Then, Your Holiness, where is it that you want to be?"

That was Almene’s voice.

Their voices were identical, but their speech patterns made it easy to tell them apart.

Where did I want to be?

"A peaceful place."

A place where I didn’t have to worry about being dragged to hell.

A place where I didn’t have to live in constant fear that the moment people learned my secret, they would turn on me faster than anyone else.

That’s where I wanted to be.

"But isn’t it peaceful here?"

"It’s not peaceful for me."

At some point, we had already gone through a considerable amount of alcohol.

The drunkenness was setting in.

I could have flushed the intoxication out with my body modification skills, but I didn’t.

For the first time in a long while, I was drinking alcohol.

For the first time in a long while, I had people genuinely listening to me.

And for the first time since coming here, I had to face the reality that I was about to leave behind a woman I loved.

All of it—

The tension, the resentment—

It felt momentarily soothed.

"You still have something left to do, don’t you?"

"Yeah. I do, Iomene. Something I have to do, no matter what."

Quitting my role as a saint, disappearing completely, and living like a ghost.

That was my goal.

"The witch with four arms... Her name was Erfa, right? Is she your lover, Your Holiness? Iomene’s memories showed me you two kissing."

A topic fitting for 19-year-old girls—the conversation naturally turned to romance.

At Almene’s question, I let out a bitter chuckle.

"No. Erfa and I aren’t lovers."

"Then why did you kiss her?"

Iomene’s voice carried a hint of emotion.

Why?

"Because I’m a coward."

"Your Holiness isn’t a coward!"

A mix of formal and informal speech—

Almene protested immediately.

But she was wrong.

Almene—

I was the biggest coward in the world.

"No, Almene. I am a coward. I’m so much of a coward that I couldn’t even accept the feelings of a woman I like. Instead, I toyed with her emotions and then tried to leave."

I liked Erfa.

I wanted to be with her.

I wanted to be happy with her for a long, long time.

But I couldn’t.

Because if she stayed with me, she would eventually meet a tragic end.

"I have to leave soon."

Was it the alcohol?

Or was it because, for the first time, someone was actually listening to me?

My thoughts spilled out.

"I have to go far away. How could I accept Erfa’s feelings knowing that? If I did, how much would she suffer after I was gone? That’s why I had to push her away. But I didn’t want to hurt her. So... So I kissed her. I didn’t want her to feel abandoned. But that’s a contradiction, isn’t it?"

It was.

Even I could see what a pathetic contradiction it was.

If I had really wanted to avoid hurting her, I should have never kissed her in the first place.

I should have been cruel, heartless—made her hate me.

But I couldn’t.

I was a fool.

A hopelessly indecisive fool.

"I see."

"So that’s what happened."

At their quiet responses, I let out a bitter laugh.

This 𝓬ontent is taken from freeweɓnovel.cѳm.

"I’m trash. A cowardly, pathetic piece of trash. I don’t even deserve to be near Erfa."

Tears welled up in my eyes.

The two princesses moved closer and embraced me.

Just as I had comforted Iomene before, they now patted my back.

"You’re leaving to fight the evil left in this world, aren’t you? You’re a seer, so you must have foreseen the misfortunes to come."

"It must be terrifying to go out and fight demon worshippers and devils. But it’s okay to rest for now, Your Holiness. You can sleep peacefully tonight."

...What?

I wasn’t leaving to fight demons.

I was running away.

Hiding, so I wouldn’t be dragged to hell.

But—

My tongue was sluggish.

The warmth of their comfort, the way they held me, made me feel like everything I had bottled up inside was finally breaking free.

Before I realized it, I was crying in their arms.

The terror of hell.

The fear of being murdered by those who once revered me.

But in their embrace, those fears felt just a little lighter.

I cried for a long time.

Maybe it was the alcohol.

Maybe it was the first genuine comfort I’d received since my reincarnation.

But after my emotions had poured out—

A deep exhaustion settled over me.

"Come on, Your Holiness. This way."

"We’ll help you."

Their hands guided me toward the bed.

"Don’t worry, Your Holiness."

"You helped us. Now it’s our turn to help you."

"You can leave whenever you need to. Do what you must."

"And don’t worry about Erfa. We’ll take care of her."

...What?

What were they saying?

I couldn’t understand.

My mind, dulled by alcohol, only registered the warmth and comfort surrounding me.

Their voices felt distant, as if drifting down from the heavens.

"We love you, Your Holiness."

"And... we’re sorry. We planned this from the start. The Dulaney Stigma—it’s useful. It lets us dispel the effects of alcohol. So Almene and I kept it on ourselves the whole time."

"If we didn’t do this, we knew you would never accept our feelings."

"We’re sorry. But this is your fault too, Your Holiness. You took our hearts and then tried to leave. That was wrong. You’re the one in the wrong."

Something soft, warm, and undeniably pleasant began touching my body.

I was so tired.

Maybe they had just tucked me in?

"Wait, Iomene. If you suddenly put it in like that—ah♥... ngh♥"

"Since our senses are shared, it feels like doing it with two of you. How strange."

Too tired.

I had been through too much.

Goddess—

I’ve spent all this time healing people.

I was planning to give up being a saint and disappear quietly.

So just for now—

Just for a little while—

Let me sleep.

That was my last thought—

Before everything faded to black.