Johannes, who had been watching the priest’s back, wiped his cheek with the back of his hand.
Thinking that he was left alone with Iris, even though it wasn’t a closed space, his face flushed, and sweat began to form on his palms.
Taking a deep breath, his chest rose and fell deeply.
Turning his gaze back to Iris, Johannes’s face lost its calm again and flushed bright red.
He scratched the base of his neck out of habit from tightening his hood’s strings but only then realized that there was nothing to hide his face.
At this rate, Iris would definitely notice his reddened cheeks.
Hurriedly, he stepped back and gestured toward Iris, wanting to talk without showing his face as much as possible.
“Iris, follow… follow me.”
After barely managing the words, Johannes covered his face with his large hand.
How pathetic—he stammered again.
Though he was usually quiet around others, he never acted like such a fool; yet, standing in front of Iris, he became utterly hopeless.
It was a speaking habit he couldn’t break, even though he knew it.
From Johannes’s perspective, having loved Iris all his life, she was a harder presence than most people.
There was no time to think about looking cool; his mind always went blank, making him act like a fool.
They had started jogging together and even did morning calls, so he hoped things might change, but he was still just as clumsy.
‘I’m so frustrated I could go crazy.’
Feeling stupid and pathetic, Johannes had no control over his actions or speech.
When would he ever get used to Iris?
Maybe it was impossible for him to do so in his lifetime.
As Johannes tried to calm himself by brushing away the flush on his face, a cheerful voice rang out behind him.
More precisely, it was a sharp, suspicious voice, but to Johannes’s ears, clouded by rose-colored glasses, it sounded like jade beads rolling on a silver platter.
“Weren’t you talking with that priest?”
“We’re done talking. I’m free now.”
Johannes started to walk.
Iris, who had her eyes narrowed into triangles, relaxed her expression slightly at Johannes’s usual stammering tone.
Though a villain, he was also an old classmate she’d recently become friends with.
Naturally, her heart softened.
She kept her eyes fixed on Johannes’s broad back and followed him.
Johannes headed toward the Path behind the Central Congregation Hall.
It looked like the path led into a small Park, carefully paved for the worshippers to take walks.
Iris, tangled in complicated feelings of betrayal and disappointment toward Johannes, sighed softly and asked,
“So, you want to go for a walk?”
“Yeah…”
Johannes answered in a faint voice and continued walking.
He was so tense that he almost twisted his ankle, stumbled, then gathered himself and tried to walk straight again.
Watching his consistently clumsy figure, Iris’s expression darkened.
‘Of all people, I never imagined he’d be a villain. I never even tried to use Status Panel Search on him because I didn’t think he had any abilities… wait a minute?’
Her brown eyes widened with sudden realization.
It was time to try something she hadn’t done before.
While caution was necessary with other villains, she was already friends with Johannes.
If she touched him naturally, he wouldn’t suspect a thing, so it shouldn’t be difficult.
Just as she hesitated whether to reach out, Johannes stammered and spoke.
“Iris. I… didn’t expect you… to come here.”
“Huh? Ah, it’s nice seeing you here. My friend Johannes! I never thought I’d see you here. Not even in my dreams.”
“Me too… I’m really glad.”
Johannes shyly replied, lowering his head.
Iris, smirking fully, shot a sharp glance at his broad back.
Just as she was about to feel better, the betrayal boiled inside her like a raging fire.
They had just become friends, and now he was a villain—a bad guy who did evil things.
The feeling of betrayal was indescribable.
“I’m so happy. Is it okay to be this happy?”
Johannes’s feelings were the complete opposite of Iris’s.
The temperature gap between them was huge, but Johannes didn’t notice Iris’s anger as he only looked straight ahead, his heart pounding as if it would burst.
He was simply grateful for the Blessing of the Enraka Goddess, basking in the warm sunlight.
This moment walking with Iris inside the Enraka Church felt like a dream.
Jogging together, seeing each other every weekend… if this continued, maybe someday they’d get married at the Enraka Church.
They’d become a couple everyone congratulated.
Lost in growing fantasies, Johannes barely stopped a smile from escaping and shyly said,
“From now on… we’ll, we’ll see each other often. Jogging and weekends too…”
“Oh… jogging. Yeah, we agreed to jog often, didn’t we? I totally forgot.”
“F-forgot? But we jogged together yesterday…”
Johannes shrugged his shoulders and looked sullen.
He remembered every little thing about Iris like grains of sand, but she didn’t seem to care.
Ignoring Johannes’s reaction, Iris crossed her arms and continued,
“By the way, Johannes, you seem pretty important here. The priest said you’re the head… the son of the head of this place. I had no idea all through school. You’re such a huge deal.”
“Ah… well, not even the others know, except you. Before I became an adult, I never even came here.”
“I see.”
Iris raised her eyes disapprovingly.
Though she asked on purpose to surprise him, he answered so calmly it was infuriating.
Actually, Johannes might be as sly as Raika.
It made no sense for someone appointed as the next head of such a wicked place to be innocent.
He was also one of the main villains in this story.
‘If he does bad things without realizing they’re bad, then he’s pure evil in his own way.’
Or maybe he pretended to be clueless and feigned ignorance.
That actually made sense.
An ordinary citizen wouldn’t know what goes on inside the Enraka Church.
If it weren’t for a special skill like the one that reveals story developments, Iris would have only thought Johannes was rich because he was the head’s son.
She might’ve envied him and tried to get close.
As she guessed, Johannes never thought Iris knew anything.
Only the high-ranking officials and a few special believers knew of his powers.
Ordinary worshippers were completely unaware.
So even though Iris had no connection to the Enraka Church until recently, Johannes could never have guessed she knew about his abilities.
He was fully aware that what he did was wrong.
He only did it because of his father’s coercion and always felt tormented and desperate to escape.
Johannes mulled over Iris’s words.
He loved being called a “huge deal.”
Just as he had been touched by Iris finding his speech amusing, “huge deal” sounded special coming from her.
“Huge deal… am I really a huge deal?”
“Huh? Yeah, sort of. Everyone probably thinks so. I certainly do.”
Iris narrowed her eyes and smirked.
At that moment, Johannes, who had been leading the way, suddenly stopped and spoke with a trembling voice.
“R-really? I’m not that much…”
She thought even more highly of him.
Johannes’s mouth curled into a wide smile.
He felt like he could fly to the heavens at any moment.
His step lightened as he happily walked.
He almost slipped on a puddle of mud at the side of the trail and nearly fell.
Though he managed not to fall, he twisted his ankle.
His tall frame swayed, and Iris gasped in surprise and caught him.
“Ugh!”
“Oh my! Johannes, are you okay?”
Grabbing his sturdy arm, Iris helped him lean against the Fence.
Johannes grimaced in pain from his ankle.
He had twisted it badly; his shin was burning.
Iris forgot all her earlier annoyance and worried over him.
Then, suddenly, she snapped back to her senses.
‘Wait, this is my chance. I can check his Status Panel.’
She quickly looked around.
There was no one else on the quiet Path besides them.
Holding onto Johannes’s arm again to perform Status Panel Search, she asked,
“You look like you’re in a lot of pain…”
“Uh… I’m f-fine…”
Johannes blinked rapidly and shook off Iris’s hand.
He was afraid he might expose his hidden power in front of her, like last time.
Before, he had been wearing jeans and barely managed to keep it secret, but now, dressed in his flowing silk priest’s robes…
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