The golden flames entwined around my wound disappeared.
My flesh looked clean, as if it had never decayed.
It purified the poison, but it didn’t heal the wound.
Blood flowed profusely from the gaping flesh.
“Heal me.”
Eliya said in a choked voice.
The physician hurriedly opened the first aid kit and explained.
“The wound is quite serious. We’ll start with emergency treatment, but a proper healing is necessary afterward.”
“Then do it. Do everything you can.”
Nodding, the physician began to staunch the bleeding.
“Ugh…! Gah….”
I almost screamed.
The agony of the gauze being stuffed into my torn flesh and squeezed was indescribably painful.
‘Whoa… This is….’
I clenched my teeth so hard it was audible and silently cursed.
This hurt more than being stabbed.
Adrenaline was wearing off, and the pain was vivid again.
Eliya looked at me with anxious eyes.
Tears were still rolling down her cheeks.
That wasn’t the problem.
She was nestled in my arms, half on top of me.
‘Heavy….’
But I couldn’t tell her to get off.
There was no time to say anything; she clung to my collar desperately as if afraid something bad would happen if she moved even a little away.
‘It’s my fault for hugging her without permission….’
In the end, I held her close while receiving treatment.
Eliya glared at the part of me being treated.
“Miguel.”
Miguel, who had been waiting near the door, stepped forward.
“Yes, my lady.”
“Ria.”
“Yes.”
“You two know where Narcissi is hiding, right?”
A topic I didn’t quite understand was brought up.
“I told you before. It’s time to line up.”
“…Yes, my lady.”
“It’s time to make a choice. We can’t postpone any longer. No, we won’t postpone.”
“……”
“If you’re going to become my enemy, run away. I have to kill you. But if not, bring me all the information about Narcissi that you’ve hidden from the Bevel Family. Not a single thing left out.”
Ria seemed like she was about to say something but shut her mouth instead.
Instead, Miguel spoke.
“But my lady… there’s no proof of the Duchess….”
“Do I really need to voice obvious assumptions?”
Does this mean the one sending the assassin is Narcissi?
I didn’t understand why that conclusion came to mind.
But Eliya seemed certain.
Ria was the first to kneel.
Soon after, Miguel followed suit and bowed his head.
“…I will obey your command, my lady.”
Their voices were grave.
“Good. I look forward to your cooperation.”
As Eliya spoke calmly, Miguel got up and hurriedly disappeared somewhere.
Ria appeared to be trying to stay by Eliya’s side.
Eliya’s gaze returned to me.
By then, I had finished staunching the bleeding and was on the verge of dying from disinfecting my arm.
Eliya looked up at me with droopy eyes.
It was strange to see her looking worried.
That expression didn’t match Eliya at all.
‘Who knew I would see so many unfamiliar faces?’
Faces I could never have imagined before my possession.
Yet, strangely enough, I also felt a sense of willingness.
I tried to smile as if to say it’s okay.
Eliya’s brows twitched.
She stared deeply into my eyes.
Unlike her worried gaze just moments ago, her eyes now seemed entirely different.
As if she was determined to dig deep into something hidden within.
Her eyes, glowing with a mad fire, gazed at me for a long time.
For a moment, I found myself staring back at her as if bewitched by that fire, even while receiving treatment.
Through the hand gripping my clothes, it felt as if something was seeping out of my body…
“Now, we’re done with what we can do here.”
A physician named Mei said.
She hurriedly tidied up the first aid kit.
“The wound is deep, and it must not go untreated overnight. I’ve arranged for a priest to be dispatched to the nearest parish. We need to move you to the treatment room first.”
There are quite a few methods to treat wounds here.
Of course, there’s the traditional way of visiting a doctor or pharmacist, but you can also find wizards trained in healing magic or priests using divine powers.
However, medical knowledge still holds value, so even with supernatural healing, a professional medical person must provide guidance.
“Okay. Let’s go.”
Eliya stood up immediately, searching for her red blanket and cat doll first.
In the meantime, the physician asked me.
“Can you stand?”
I twisted my ankle while sitting and answered.
“Yes. I can walk by myself.”
Before long, Eliya was ready and stood beside me.
With the red blanket draped over her neck and the cat doll cradled in one arm.
That sight was oddly amusing, and I couldn’t help but chuckle.
Unlike me, Eliya was serious.
She took my hand with her free hand.
Warm, soft, and small.
“Let’s go.”
Eliya walked briskly, leading the way ahead of the physician.
I was led by her small but reassuring hand.
*
The boy walked through the village.
Once a humble village where he had spent his days as a shepherd.
The lively voices of the residents echoed like distant echoes.
The laughter of children playing.
The clatter of meals being prepared.
The humming of a woman hanging laundry.
The ringing of bells to signal prayer time.
The echoes distorted his senses.
His sight and smell were taken away without consent.
A farmer led cattle through the fields.
His sheepdog barked and raced from afar.
The rich aroma of stew boiling from leftover cuts wafted through the air.
A cool, refreshing breeze on a somewhat chilly afternoon.
A calm and settling sky.
A peaceful landscape.
The shadow of daily life, which seemed everlasting, pierced his senses and fled into darkness.
The boy walked through the village.
Now walking through what has become ruins.
No children of his age remained on this path.
Between the walls of old houses, once filled with warm family chatter, now silenced.
He walked through the cold, hunched ruins, robbed of warmth.
Flashing blades.
Spraying blood.
Scattered screams.
The deaths of his parents.
The self he had hidden.
In the blurry memories, the landscape he had seen then was harrowingly clear, like a blade in his mouth.
Even after several days, the boy had not left the ruins.
He just walked, lost in thought.
He wandered aimlessly.
He was lost.
Why had it come to this?
Would things have changed if he hadn’t died?
He couldn’t find answers to different actions.
The answers to this behavior were hard to accept.
Unhappiness that had come without reason was like a disaster.
The reason those clad in black armor with blazing patterns had come for.
He did not know.
That boy discovered a strange shadow at the entrance of the village.
Is he seeing things?
It was not so.
The shadow was clear.
So clear it was white.
It was a person clad in a white robe, resembling the shining moon.
He stopped in front of a ruin, clasped his hands together, and prayed.
After finishing a low mumble, he pulled out an ivory ornament from his robe.
A short chain.
At its end hung a round emblem like a full moon.
That person prayed towards a house where no one lived, then shook the ornament and prayed again.
As he turned around, he found the boy.
Startled, he paused, then approached the boy.
Murky golden eyes looked up at him.
The man spoke.
“So there’s someone who survived. Are you okay?”
The boy replied.
“I don’t know.”
The man looked down at the boy, then nodded.
“Those eyes, they could signify a child of revelation. And you have the qualifications.”
The boy didn’t understand those words, so he remained silent.
…..
“Let’s take revenge on them.”
“Revenge?”
“Yes, revenge. We’ll avenge you so no one can make you sad again.”
“…I don’t know how?”
“I’ll help you.”
“Who are you?”
“I am….”
…….
The boy took the man’s hand.
On the man’s robe, yellow curves were engraved as an unusual emblem.
Like cut and fallen fingernails, something thin and sharp.
A design that resembled a crescent moon.
*
“Ugh….”
I feel like I’ve seen a similar landscape as before in a dream.
It’s faint, so I can’t be sure.
Did I fall into a deep sleep? My head feels foggy.
Having been moved to the treatment room, I soon received treatment from the priest.
The religion that the Bevel Family follows, serving the god of this world.
I was treated by a priest of the Sun Church.
Under Mei’s guidance, the healing was successful.
Although faint pain remained, the wound was nearly healed.
After applying ointment to prevent it from reopening and wrapping it with bandages, I finished the treatment and fell into a faint sleep.
‘Why are my hands so heavy….’
I struggled to open my eyes and looked at my heavy left hand.
There was Eliya.
She had fallen asleep beside me while keeping vigil by my sickbed.
Her hand rested on mine, and she lay on the bed with her face against it.
‘Why is this precious person sleeping in such an uncomfortable position….’
She had been beside me during treatment, but I never expected her to still be there.
She was sleeping soundly without realizing I had woken up.
I quietly observed the sleeping Eliya.
The red blanket draped like a cloak.
And the cat doll she used as a pillow.
Both were gifts from me.
‘She looks like a cat, resembling the doll….’
Lately, Eliya always carried those two things wherever she went.
I wondered why.
Somehow, I feel that I’ve become something more than just a noticeable candidate to Eliya.
What does she think of me?
It’s a reality I don’t want to acknowledge, but I can’t deny it forever.
Suddenly, a memory came to mind.
One day, Eliya responded to my question.
“It’s mine.”
I hurriedly shook my head.
Suddenly feeling self-conscious.
Am I getting ahead of myself just because I saved her a few times?
What’s wrong with me?
What good is it to become special to her…?
‘…….’
Well, there is. Um, to be honest, it’s not non-existent.
It’s true, but….
‘…Ugh. I don’t know.’
I don’t understand.
I’m not smart enough to cling to problems I don’t know.
If I don’t know, I just let it be.
I just saved Eliya again this time.
She might have survived without me, but right now, that’s all that matters.
‘By the way, her face has healed a lot.’
Eliya’s cheeks used to be chubby.
From getting beaten, of course.
That’s also why she wore thick makeup.
But now, Eliya’s cheeks are like glutinous rice cakes.
‘Hmm. Ugh….’
Soft, white cheeks.
That touch I felt just before dying.
I suddenly had the desire to touch them again.
I know it’s a crazy thought….
But the more I look at them, the more I want to touch them, and I turned my head.
But my gaze was pulled back like a magnet.
‘…I can’t do this.’
Just a little, let me touch them.
I’ve saved those cheeks, so isn’t it okay?
If we think about it, she crawled into my bed without permission, right?
Touching her cheeks is nothing compared to that.
“Lady…?”
I softly called Eliya.
She was deeply asleep, not waking up.
I carefully glanced around.
There was no one in this room except for Eliya.
Slowly, I reached out.
Her cheeks, rounded because she was resting on the cat doll.
My finger cautiously moved toward its target like sensing the air.
I swallowed without realizing.
Unlike my tense self, Eliya breathed slowly and continued sleeping blissfully.
My trembling finger finally made contact with her cheek.
Squish. The cheek was pressed.
‘Oh… What is this….’
It was warm, like a freshly steamed dumpling.
Or perhaps like a freshly baked white bread.
Eliya didn’t wake up.
The urge to touch more surged within me.
I decided to be a bit bolder.
I pinched her cheek with my thumb and index finger.
Just a little.
As I pressed, her warm and taut cheek yielded against my fingers.
‘So cute, no, um…. She is cute…. It’s a fact that she’s cute, so….’
The warm softness touching my fingers felt warm enough to melt my heart.
No matter how fearsome the bad woman may be, her cheeks aren’t to blame. Hmm.
I lingered for a moment in that warmth.
An eerie feeling suddenly washed over me, causing me to glance around.
Fortunately, as I had checked earlier, no one was there.
‘Phew….’
I exhaled silently, glancing back at Eliya and nearly died of a heart attack.
Eliya was looking at me.
While I was pinching her cheeks.
Rubbing her sleepy eyes, Eliya gazed at me with half-awake eyes before quietly asking.
“…What are you doing?”
I forgot how to breathe.
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