Chapter 11
11
\ \ \
The night fortress was silent.
Adrian sat next to the bed, listening to Nina's feverish breathing.
Wheeze.
Her rough breathing and feverish cheeks weighed heavily on his heart.
He re-soaked the washcloth and placed it on her forehead.
He first met her when he was nine years old.
At that time, he had already given up most of his life.
Even as a child, he knew that he didn't have much time left to live.
When the young kitchen maid came in and smiled brightly at him, saying, 'Hello, Young Master,' he was embarrassed but thought it was a mistake.
At that time, no servant in that mansion called him 'Young Master.'
Everyone was watching the new Duchess, and they also saw the Duke's indifference.
The title of Young Master was not for him, a bastard. Only the Duchess's firstborn was the Young Master.
But Nina persistently called him 'Young Master.' She took his side.
It was so strange that he even thought she was a new type of assassin sent by the Duchess to kill him.
But she wasn't.
Strange, but she wasn't.
Since Nina was the only one who called him Young Master, Nina was the only one he had to protect.
And then the shock when she called him 'Adrian.' That sense of liberation.
Adrian exhaled and carefully removed the hair stuck to Nina's face.
Whenever she was sick, his heart constricted. His mouth went dry, and it was hard to breathe.
"...Young Master...?"
Her mumbling voice was very hoarse. Adrian gently held a reed straw to her lips.
After taking a few sips, Nina sighed, closed her eyes, and murmured.
"It reminds me of the old days..."
Knowing what she was thinking, Adrian frowned. That incident that should never happen again in their lives.
The incident where he stayed up all night praying that Nina wouldn't die.
When Nina drank the tea given by the Duchess instead of him.
The tea poured by the Duchess was clear and transparent. The golden-red color of beautiful black tea.
He could tell it was poisoned even without drinking it, but he didn't hesitate to pick up the glass.
He had some resistance to poison, and he weighed the idea that it wouldn't be bad to drink it here and establish himself as a victim.
But when Nina snatched the glass from his hand and drank it in one gulp, everything changed.
"Nina...!!"
It was the first time he had called her name like that.
Seeing the bright red blood flowing from between Nina's hands covering her mouth, he looked up for help.
That's when he realized anew.
He had no one on his side.
The lined-up servants stood silently with indifferent faces, as if nothing had happened. The maid collected the cup that had fallen on the floor and put it back in its place.
The Duchess smiled gently and refilled the glass.
An elegant, aristocratic smile.
Just like he always smiled, she was smiling like that too.
He hugged the chilling Nina and ran out of the mansion. He pulled out a horse, rode it, and ran to the Knights.
In the dark night, he called his Spirit. Darkness opened a quick path for him, and through its deep shadows, he crossed the long distance and arrived at the group.
It was the first time he was so grateful to be a Spirit Contractor.
I didn't even have the luxury to think about it back then.'
Nina in his arms intermittently vomited blood, and now even that movement had completely stopped. Her rough breathing became small and weak, and he could only beg her.
When he arrived at the Knights and laid Nina down in front of Kirill, Kirill said with a dark expression that he couldn't guarantee her life.
He prayed for days.
Fortunately, Nina recovered, and Kirill said it was thanks to the Spirit.
'But again.'
This is happening again.
He swallowed a sigh.
It felt like Nina was getting hurt because she was with him. He knew he had to keep her away, but he couldn't because of his selfishness.
Of course, Nina wasn't the type to be separated just because he wanted to.
Childhood friend.
Nina casually referred to their relationship that way. Adrian didn't particularly deny it either.
It's not wrong.
It's not wrong, but it feels like it's not enough.
Adrian replaced the washcloth again and whispered to Nina.
"Go back to sleep."
She smiled at those words. He smiled without realizing it. Nina soon fell into a deep sleep again like a good child.
Adrian leaned back in his chair.
'Magic Circle.'
He rubbed his forehead.
Troublesome things were happening inside and out.
Duke Louveaen has three sons.
Himself, a bastard, and two children of the Duchess.
The firstborn died three years ago, and Adrian survived a poisoning crisis. He probably didn't like that he controlled the Jet-Black Knights, a military group.
But after that, the Duchess seemed quiet.
'Is she trying to break the Barrier?'
If the Barrier is broken and the pollution pours out, he couldn't even imagine how much Bellac would pour out.
'It would be better to inform the temple.'
It would be better to inform the temple that manages the Barrier than the ducal family.
Adrian thought so and closed his eyes.
\ \ \
-You can definitely meet again. If you...
The voice says as if making a pledge. A kind and gentle voice.
Nina opened her eyes.
The kind voice was still so clear that she teared up. But...
'I don't remember what kind of dream it was.'
Only that last word remained in her memory. Was it a sad dream since she kept crying?
'But it was a kind voice.'
Is it because of the fever?
When she touched her forehead herself, she didn't have a fever. The fever was gone, but muscle pain remained.
Nina opened her mouth.
"My whole body hurts."
"You're alive if you can say it hurts."
Kirill said, puffing out pipe smoke.
When she turned her gaze, Kirill was sitting in a chair wearing his usual white gown.
He sometimes wore a monocle, but he said his eyesight was very good even without it.
Kirill was also very rough, befitting the rough Jet-Black Knights.
His healing touch, his words too.
"Kirill, don't you think that sometimes warm words of comfort or a gentle touch are necessary for a patient?"
"Am I a doctor?"
"Weren't you a doctor?"
"No. I'm a researcher."
Kirill tapped his pipe outside the window with a face that said, 'What nonsense are you talking about?'
"No way. I firmly believed that Kirill was a doctor all this time, no way. I was examined by someone who isn't even a doctor."
As Nina muttered in an absurd voice, Kirill grinned, saying, "I'm better than most quacks."
Putting his hands in his pockets, Kirill said.
"Anyway, it's fortunate that you're resistant to poison. If it were someone else, they would have been buried over there long ago."
Nina nodded at his words, pointing in the direction of the cemetery.
I agree.
Kirill stopped himself from telling her that the Commander had stayed up all night nursing her before leaving.
Instead, he advised.
"Still, you have to watch for at least two weeks. Don't move unnecessarily. You just woke up after three days."
"Three days? Oh my gosh."
Nina blinked in surprise and quickly raised her head.
It was a rabbit-like movement that sensed a presence. It was such a wild animal-like movement that Kirill flinched without realizing it.
"It's quiet."
Nina said in a low voice, and Kirill nodded.
"The fortress is empty today."
"Don't tell me you abandoned me and moved? Without taking Kirill either?"
Carefully lowering her firmly fixed ankles under the bed, Nina hugged her side and groaned.
"No, most of the members are exploring the Barrier today."
"Yes?"
"That Magic Circle you reported. Someone from the temple came and went to look at it together."
"Someone from the temple?"
"Yeah, since there are outsiders, he took all the elite as escorts."
"......"
Nina swallowed her breath.
The annihilation of the Knights.
She knew it in her head, but something was strange.
Young Master was always cautious and always dispersed personnel.
'Is this it?!'
Even the temple, the temple.
Isn't the final boss of the story from the temple?
