Chapter: 159
Thanks to Noah’s Divine Power, his wounds healed rapidly. However, he struggled to regain consciousness. Relieved to know it was only fatigue preventing his awakening, Lian set aside his worries and began searching for the rest of the party with Noah on his back.
With the Forest Guardian dead, the mist had cleared, making it easy to locate the others. Fortunately, there were no casualties.
The monsters had been knocked out or driven mad by the mist’s mental attacks as well.
The assembled party headed straight for the Duke’s House.
‘…Something feels off…’
Inside the carriage returning to the Duke’s House, Lian was sweating bullets and rolling his eyes with anxiety.
“…”
“…”
Iris was avoiding eye contact with the Duke, who occasionally glanced her way.
And right in the middle of them was Lian.
In the suffocating silence, Lian felt like he was withering away.
‘The atmosphere here is pretty grim since I couldn’t help out much… but shouldn’t there be a heartwarming and touching vibe between these two at least?’
He had imagined a scene where they would embrace and tearfully shed their emotions, but reality felt as arid as a desert. At least he was relieved that the Duke’s gaze held warmth.
‘Could there be something I’m not aware of between them? Did they argue while I wasn’t around? -… I mean, I haven’t seen them apart since they met.’
They hadn’t been glued together, but neither had they been far enough apart to not recognize each other.
‘Hmm… maybe they’re just flustered by my sudden family appearance…?’
After finding a somewhat reasonable explanation, Lian rubbed the back of his neck. Iris glanced at him while their eyes suddenly met with the Duke’s.
With a face that scrunched up and eyes narrowing ominously, it was obvious the Duke was displeased. Iris turned her head away quickly as if she had seen something she didn’t want to see. The Duke’s eyes flickered slightly.
“…”
Iris’s expression seemed to quiver even more fiercely than the Duke’s as she looked away.
‘Family…’
Was it because they shared a similar color? Or did their magic possess similar qualities?
Iris couldn’t tell, but as soon as she faced the Duke, she realized he was indeed her family. But she wouldn’t acknowledge it. She simply couldn’t.
‘One brother is more than enough family for me.’
Every time she felt an instinctive pull towards the Duke, flashes of the past came to mind.
…Iris, we are not family.
As memories of her brother, who denied their special bond and ultimately whispered he would leave her side, surfaced, Iris’s mind went cold.
‘I don’t need other family.’
Lian, unaware of this gaping divide, could only groan in silence, continuing to ponder. Even amidst the unspoken conflict, their march toward the Duke’s House went on.
*
The party’s pace could hardly be called swift; there were two main reasons for this. The first was physical stamina. While Lian’s Divine Power and the Wizards easily resolved their injuries, their energy, drained from the mental turmoil of the mist, had yet to recover.
The second reason was that they hadn’t yet discovered the ‘enemy’ behind this incident. With traces of Undead and remnants of magic where the Forest Guardian had lingered, it seemed that the real enemy had yet to reveal themselves – that was the party’s conclusion.
Uncertain when an enemy ambush or trap might strike, they had to proceed with utmost caution.
Even in the late afternoon, around 3 or 4 PM, their pace slowed for this reason.
“We’ll prepare camp here.”
As he pointed to a reasonably spacious area, the soldiers sprang into action. The knights pitched in so the Duke wouldn’t have to wait. Tents went up quickly, and a campfire was lit.
As meal time approached, they began preparing a simple stew from the meat they had acquired while traveling. The Wizards set up alarms to alert them if anyone approached, while knights patrolled the area, dispatching wandering monsters. Rangers carefully observed the surroundings for signs of enemies.
Only when they concluded the area was safe could the party finally take a breather. Of course, since they remained uncertain about potential ambushes, only half of them rested while the others stayed alert. Meanwhile, the delicious smell of food wafted through the air.
“Meal preparations are complete!”
At the cook’s announcement, half of the resting party began to eat. Once they finished, the ones on watch switched out and joined in the meal.
After the food was consumed, the group settled into comfortable spots, sharpening weapons or chatting with their comrades to check on each other’s condition.
“…”
“…”
In the bustling environment, silence fell in one spot—where Lian and Iris sat side by side.
Since leaving the forest, Iris had significantly reduced her speech, and she remained tight-lipped even when alone with Lian. Though conversations would flow if he initiated them, the atmosphere felt notably different than usual.
‘It’s probably all that confusion caused by the Duke, right?’
It wasn’t hard to figure out the reason, but the real challenge was figuring out how to resolve it.
‘I can’t just force them together… but trying to persuade her… hmm…’
Being about family made initiating conversation tricky.
‘Ugh… Noah would handle this so well! Where the heck is he?!’
Noah always disappeared like a gust of wind right after finishing a meal, only to return as the group prepared to depart. From the fact that the Duke and Commander didn’t seem to mind his absences, he probably wasn’t going far.
While internally searching for Noah and shedding silent tears, Lian shook his head lightly. (To anyone else, Lian’s head probably looked spinning like a drill, but thankfully no one had seen him.) He clenched his fists and thought.
‘If we keep digging each other’s graves, who knows what disaster could strike? This isn’t that kind of world!’
In this dark fantasy world, confirming each other’s feelings typically meant one party was already dead.
‘Not on my watch!’
Lian turned to Iris with a serious face and opened his mouth.
“Um, when you met Iris, how was it… um, what was it like?”
As he cautiously asked, Iris quietly looked up at him. Her silvery hair flowed gently, gracefully framing her beautifully sculpted face, which fixed its gaze on him.
She was at the age when her beauty blossomed like a flower, and it was almost mesmerizing.
“…Why do you ask?”
“Um, um?”
“Why are you asking about that person?”
Iris’s counter-question caused Lian to finally gather his wits and respond awkwardly.
“Well, since it’s a family I haven’t seen in a long time, I’m curious—”
“That person is not my family.”
Before Lian could finish speaking, Iris’s icy voice cut him off. He widened his eyes in surprise and stared at her, noticing her downcast gaze and deeply furrowed brows.
“My only family is my brother.”
“Iris, but…”
“I don’t need any other family!”
Iris raised her voice, staring fiercely into Lian’s eyes. In her gaze lay determination that her opinion was the correct one, intertwined with waves of anxiety.
‘Uh-oh, what do I do now?’
As he attempted to persuade her, he only heightened the tensions. In the heavy silence that followed, Lian broke into a nervous sweat internally.
‘This situation is perfect for Noah…ugh…’
What could he possibly do to ease Iris’s heart? Just as he racked his brain…
“Chuin-nim!”
“Wah!”
Something familiar approached from behind. Red hair swished past his shoulder as Jess’s soft cheek pressed against his.
“Wait a second, Jess!”
“Grrr…!”
With her tail wagging excitedly, Jess issued a delighted sound. The loveable force against his back made his waist stiffen and shoulders rise.
“Hehehe, Chuin-nim likes it!”
Seeing Jess blissfully display her affectionate mood subtly relaxed the tense muscles in Lian’s body. Whether large or small, she really was Jess, so he rested his hand atop her perky ears, and her tail wagged like crazy. He worried she might just take off!
“Hehehehe!”
Thinking that Jess seemed to have permission to cuddle beside him, she plopped down into his lap, drooping her ears and yanking his hand atop her head. Just as Lian instinctively started to pat her, a white hand reached out from the side and grabbed Jess’s bright red beast ears.
“Yow! Ouch!”
“Get off my brother this instant!”
The Duke’s chilling voice was a hundred times colder than when he’d declared Jess wasn’t his family!
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