Chapter 10
10
Kirill placed Nina on the examination table he had wiped down with strong liquor, and the medical room door opened, and someone came in.
“Ah, Young Master.”
Nina gave an awkward smile.
Adrian's shadowed eyes and long, slender fingers revealed his delicate and sensitive nature, but he always wore a gentle smile on his face. But today was different.
He saw Nina's condition, gritted his teeth, and then let out a long breath.
“What did I tell you?”
His voice was low and calm. Nina shrank back.
“Don’t go around alone.”
“You really are…”
He touched his forehead.
He had known Nina for 10 years.
He thought he knew her well, but these sudden actions baffled him.
“But I–”
Nina opened her mouth but then screamed.
“Such drama.”
Doctor Kirill, who was pressing on the affected area, said indifferently. Nina trembled all over in pain.
She couldn't even speak.
It hurt so much that she could only gasp for air from her lungs.
“This won’t do. Tie her up.”
Kirill gestured with his chin and took out scissors and a knife.
The examination table kindly had restraints attached, but Jin pressed her arm down tightly with his own hand.
Nina looked at him with tearful eyes, and Jin sighed deeply.
Vice-Captain Louis, who had followed Adrian in, tried to hold Nina's legs, but Adrian held Nina's legs instead.
Kirill neatly cut off her pants and boots, revealing her swollen ankle. Jin frowned at the exposed wound.
“This is bad. The ankle bone must be crushed inside. It’s going to hurt a lot. Why don’t we just put a gag in her mouth?”
At Kirill's words, Jin brought a leather-covered wooden gag and held it out to Nina.
“Ugh, I hate this.”
“Then do you want to bite your tongue off?”
Jin glared, and Nina bit down on the gag and closed her eyes tightly.
Only Kirill spoke calmly.
“It’s not just broken, but there’s poison too… Where… Hold her tight.”
While Kirill treated her silently, Nina's body twitched like a fish a few times before drooping.
“She’s fainted.”
Vice-Captain Louis said in a low voice.
As the vice-captain, he was one of the older members of the Jet-Black Knights. Now in his early thirties, he neatly tied back his light brown hair, and his eyes were always closed.
Even with his eyes closed, he was just like someone who could see.
No one in the Jet-Black Knights had a clean past, so they didn't pry into each other's affairs, but Nina had asked Louis once.
Wasn't it inconvenient to walk around with his eyes closed?
Louis had answered, ‘I can see too well, so I can see well even with my eyes closed.’
“It’s better that she fainted.”
Kirill said, clicking his tongue.
Vice-Captain Louis looked at Adrian and then at Nina.
When the young Adrian became the leader of the knights, everyone knew. He was a discarded piece from the Duke's family.
A bastard sent to die.
More than anything, Adrian himself knew it.
A subtle and awkward atmosphere.
The Duchess's words to either leave him to die or cooperate in killing him outright.
The face Nina made when she joined in that atmosphere and called him cheerfully, “Young Master!”
‘Why are you here?’
That was exactly the face he made.
It was the first time he had seen such a blank face in the half-year since he became the captain.
After that, Adrian drastically reorganized the Jet-Black Knights.
When the mortality rate dropped significantly and everything ran smoothly, the way people looked at him changed.
Even if the Duchess promised to call, it wasn't as important as my life right now.
After that, Nina and Adrian survived while many knights died and were replaced.
Three years later.
Now nineteen, the captain of the knights had strength and experience that wouldn't be lacking anywhere.
Nina was strong too, but her way of speaking and acting—Louis still couldn't forget the shock when Nina declared herself to be ‘the cutest Nina in the world’—didn't inspire awe like Adrian did.
If Adrian earned loyalty from people, Nina earned affection.
Her cheerfulness and kindness, chattering in a bright voice, drew people in.
Her bright personality deeply permeated the bodies and minds of the tired people here.
There was something about Nina that made even her selfish behavior feel charming.
So everyone could tell that Nina was very precious to Adrian.
Of course, to the knights as well.
In a place like this, it's easy to lose your everyday life, but Nina tried not to forget that everyday life and cherished the little things.
How precious a ‘sense that isn’t twisted’ is.
The people who came in at first ignored and cursed at Nina. Then, as time passed, they realized how precious it was.
The bouquets of wildflowers that changed in glass bottles with each season.
The pure white sheets fluttering in the wind.
The jam made with lots of tree nuts.
The chipped teacups and unknown tea, and the tea time with them.
The warm meals together.
Those things made them a family.
She made them a family.
“It’s done.”
Kirill said, releasing the hand wrapped in bandages.
“Is she okay?”
At Adrian's question, Kirill lit his pipe and nodded.
“I don’t have to cut anything off.”
“The poison?”
“We have no choice but to leave this to Nina’s stamina. I’ve removed as much as possible…”
Kirill looked at Adrian and shrugged.
“Still, Spirit Contractors tend to have strong resistance to poison, and besides, Nina is a contractor of a Spirit related to cold, so she won’t be helpless against poison.”
Kirill added.
“Like back then.”
Back then.
Adrian tried to protest at the words but then lowered his head again.
Jin asked anxiously.
“Anyway, she won’t be crippled, right?”
“Yeah.”
Having been assured, Jin’s strength left him, and he sighed deeply, releasing her arm and removing the gag.
Adrian also released the hand holding her leg.
“…It really hurts. Kirill was mean…”
At the mumbling voice, Kirill chuckled.
“Already awake? You seem fine since you’re saying things like that.”
Her recovery was monstrous, Kirill clicked his tongue.
With a tear-streaked face, Nina looked at Jin.
Jin had a pitiful expression but was also angry, and he said in a sharp tone.
“You get into this state because you go around alone, you know? Instead of prohibiting new recruits from acting alone, we should prohibit you first.”
“Are you going to nag me when I’m in pain?”
“Nag? Does this sound like nagging to you? You really…!”
Before Jin could shout, Nina quickly raised her voice.
“Young Master, I have something to say!”
Adrian said in a low voice, suppressing his anger.
“What is it?”
Adrian's voice was cool as if it had sunk into water, and Nina swallowed.
“Someone drew a Magic Circle near the Barrier.”
Silence pressed down on the medical room for a moment. Vice-Captain Louis asked.
“A Magic Circle? Can you explain in detail?”
“Yes.”
As Nina tried to get up from her seat, Jin helped her up.
Her head was dizzy, and she felt hot as if she had a fever. Nina swallowed dryly and explained simply.
“There’s a Magic Circle drawn with stones on the ground right next to the Barrier that anyone can see. I don’t know if it’s from a sage, a cult, or a temple.”
“We should report to the Duke’s family.”
Louis’s face hardened.
Jin snorted.
“What is the Duke’s family good at besides replenishing humans? They don’t even do that well these days. It’s obvious even if we tell them.”
“We should also tell the temple… Huh?”
As she was speaking, Nina’s nose started bleeding, and she wiped away the blood.
‘The blood is black?’
Nina lost consciousness as she was.
