My Past Life is Riddled With Many Sins - Chapter 68

“There are a lot of people paying unnecessary attention to my every move.”

Although his excuse for his ungentlemanly intrusion was met with a sharp retort, he was unfazed.

Suddenly, Regina remembered an incident where an unidentified group had attacked him.

‘Has that issue related to his personal safety not been resolved yet?’

She had hoped this life would be peaceful, but why… She inadvertently looked troubled.

“So I’m trying to stay as hidden as possible, making sure you’re not noticed.”

What kind of nonsense is that?

“Does ‘as much as possible’ include breaking into the women’s dormitory at night?”

“It’s not that hard to do.”

It wasn’t a matter of difficulty, but of propriety. It seemed Friedrich’s sense of morality, shattered in a previous life, hadn’t fully healed. Originally, he wasn’t this reckless.

Regina eyed him warily and suddenly realized something.

“Then you won’t be approaching me during the day, right? Since you have to hide that you know me.”

It made sense why he hadn’t approached her like Prince Iskanda or Skyler had. Thinking that she had one less person to guard against until she left the academy made Regina feel relieved.

“Well, maybe. It’s ‘as much as possible,’ after all. Who knows? I might do something even crazier if I lose it.”

His ominous words came as he stared intently at her. Regina took some comfort in the fact that he said ‘if I lose it’.

“Just tell me what you want.”

He slowly closed and then opened his eyes. The sight of his large, silvery eyes opening and then reappearing through his dense eyelashes was something Regina watched with bated breath.

“There’s something I want to ask you.”

“What is it?”

“Do you trust me?”

…Could it be that he and Prince Iskanda had conspired together?

Regina thought skeptically. Both of them showing up on the same day, spouting the same line, it felt like some sort of a joke. But soon she remembered that they weren’t close enough to orchestrate such a scheme.

In fact, none of the seven were on good enough terms to engage in petty conspiracies together. Naturally, the culprit behind their enmity was, of course, Yekarna.

Regina felt guilty again and tried to turn her gaze away. But she was promptly caught. Friedrich’s hands cupped her face with just the right amount of pressure to not feel humiliating, sending a slight shiver down her spine.

“Look at me when you answer, Regina.”

His voice was gentle, his fingers subtly brushing a stray hair behind her ear. Despite the tenderness, a sense of dread enveloped Regina.

The adage that ‘the eyes govern the impression a person makes’ was true. With such eyes, how could anyone believe his kind acts were anything but calculated? There was only one way to handle this. Answer his question quickly and send him packing.

“I trust you.”

“On what basis?”

He calmly asked and pressed her for an explanation.

“We haven’t known each other very long, you know.”

“That’s true… but you’re affiliated with the temple. If I can’t trust a priest of Itoz on this continent, who can I trust?”

“And if I were to leave the priesthood, would you stop trusting me?”

That didn’t really matter. Regina’s trust in him was solely because he was Friedrich. However, she couldn’t confess this outright and had to fabricate another reason.

“I’d still trust you. Just looking at you makes one feel trust bubbling up. It’s your face.”

“What about my face?”

“Uh, how should I put it? It’s like, your face radiates a pure and benign energy? A sacred aura created from your noble character, sublime nature, and endless compassion for the world, that a worldly person like me can hardly bear to look directly at it….”

As she mustered all her soul into this flurry of flattery, Regina caught Friedrich gazing down at her with an expression that screamed ‘try harder.’

‘Please, have mercy, spare me.’

If he was to show any human compassion, she wished it would be the kind that comes with action, not just empty sympathy. Real generosity, not just feeble pity.

He chuckled softly, then moved his hand to caress her cheek, almost as if he was praising her effort.

“For some reason, you often avoid my gaze. Were you thinking all that because of my face? Like I seemed from another world, that you can’t even look at directly?”

“Yes, yes. To a commoner like me, a priest is an unreachable being.”

“But we are this close now.”

His fingers softly traced the area below her eyes.

“If you allow it, we can get even closer.”

Regina stayed silent. Something must have gone wrong with his reincarnation. Friedrich in his previous life was the epitome of chastity and decorum, the dream of every woman, a man seemingly crafted from their collective hopes.

His fingers continued their path, now trailing up her cheek to her ear. His touch outlining the earlobe sent a chilling thrill down the back of her neck. Regina tensed her toes to restrain herself from flinching. Just as she was about to speak to stop him.

“There’s something new here.”

His gaze had shifted to her left hand, particularly focusing on the ring on her fourth finger. Startled, Regina fumbled.

“It’s, um, Senior Darien visited me earlier today and gave it to me. I’m explaining because I don’t want you to misunderstand. It’s not an engagement or anything, and we’re not dating…”

As she rambled her justifications, Regina was engulfed by a sense of deja vu. This tightness in her chest was similar to times in her past life when she had been caught frolicking with others by him.

“Why are you still wearing a ring given by a man you’re not even dating at this hour?”

Well, they might not be dating, but they had been married over two centuries ago, hadn’t they…?

As the trash-like way of thinking from her days as Yekarna started to seep into her thoughts, Regina shook her head slightly, trying to clear her mind.