Chapter 15
15
The surroundings were pitch black.
“Huh? Wow? Really?”
Nina breathed out a “ha” sound, then shouted and jumped up and down. She jumped again, surprised.
“Ah, my body is so light. Amazing.”
She did a backflip in place and laughed cheerfully. Her luscious, long hair was so smooth that it could be untangled with just a finger comb.
“I can’t believe it’s really silver white…”
Nina marveled at her hair color, which resembled a snowfield in the moonlight. Surely her eye color had changed too.
‘My eyesight seems to have improved quite a bit compared to before. I can see clearly even at night.’
Her eyesight had deteriorated after being poisoned, but now that her body had been remade, she should be fine.
Nina looked up at the moonlit night sky. It was the same night sky as before. It didn’t feel like two years had passed at all.
Looking back at the Barrier, Tae Yang and the Winter Spirit Crests were engraved in the air like a Magic Circle, shining near the collapsed wall. They pulsed with life in gold and silver.
‘The Spirit sealed it. Thank you.’
Originally, several priests would have had to sacrifice themselves to erect the Barrier, but that wouldn’t happen now.
Nina greeted them in her heart. She would probably never see a Spirit again as long as she lived.
“But still, two years, two years have passed.”
Adrian wouldn’t have killed his family in the meantime, would he?
She sincerely hoped he hadn’t. Who would like killing their own family?
Even if they were a terrible family, she hoped that the situation wouldn’t push him that far.
Nina groaned and examined her clothes. She was still in her black uniform.
She was still barefoot on one side. She should be grateful that the bandage was still wrapped around her foot.
“Judging by the position of the moon… everyone should be asleep.”
There might be people in the nearby fortress, so she made that her primary goal. Nina started running. Her limbs felt light.
Goodness.
It was like she had become a cheetah. The joyous exclamation that burst out of her was clear and bright.
“North Wind, swift feet that bring winter.”
The wind wrapped around her limbs, and her speed increased in an instant.
Each time she pushed off the ground, she shot forward three or four meters.
Was it just her imagination, or did she seem to be even faster than before?
The fortress she arrived at in an instant was dark and empty.
For a moment, she thought it had been completely evacuated, but upon closer inspection, it didn’t seem to be ruined, and it was being maintained.
‘Should I sleep here tonight, then?’
The gate to the main castle wouldn’t open until dawn anyway.
Most of the buildings were locked, but the infirmary was open. It was old, but there was a blanket.
Nina dusted off the blanket and suddenly raised her head.
Then she threw the blanket down and ran out of the building.
‘Bellac!’
The sound of wings cutting through the air. Nina looked up at the sky and frowned.
It was a Bellac in the shape of a winged lion. The lion Bellac circled sharply in the air at tremendous speed. Its target seemed clear.
“Can’t even let me sleep!”
Nina shook her fist at the Bellac in anger and started running after it.
Nina suddenly realized that she didn’t have any weapons in her hands, so she broke off a suitable branch.
Then, to secure her vision, she climbed up a tree and lightly kicked the branches with her feet, lifting her body above the forest.
‘Ah!’
Three of those lion-like Bellacs were attacking the fortress. Only three knights were responding in the fortress.
Nina’s body fell down and then soared up again.
“One down for now!”
Nina shouted and grabbed the branch tightly with both hands.
“Winter that silences everything! You who freeze everything you touch, even its breath!”
The branch she was holding froze white.
The lion Bellac, which had not recognized the existence flying in from above, was kicked down by Nina, who had fallen from above.
“Kkeuheong!!”
“Iyaap!”
Nina accurately stabbed the branch into its neck, kicked off the falling Bellac, and lifted her body to land safely on the ground.
The inside of the fortress was in shock.
Jin’s fingertips felt frozen. He had stiffened for a moment and was almost hit in the head by another Bellac, but Vice-Captain Louis pulled him away.
“Get a hold of yourself.”
At Louis’s words, Jin stammered, “But, that, well.”
White hair cut through the dark night sky like a shooting star.
The Nina he knew certainly didn’t have that hair color…
But…
Adrian gritted his teeth. His fingertips trembled, and he felt like he would drop his sword.
“Darkness, rise and swallow your enemy.”
At Adrian’s incantation, one of the Bellacs clinging to the fortress wall was grabbed by the shadows.
Adrian’s sword cut off the head of the panicking Bellac. Black blood clung to the lamplight, glittering like ruby fragments.
“Heuyak? Young Master?!”
Only then did Nina recognize the person in the fortress and raise her voice. Hearing that dazed voice, Adrian ran.
The third Bellac glided down, aiming for Adrian’s back as he ran, and bared its claws.
“Kkueaek!”
But before that, the spear Louis threw pierced the Bellac. Adrian stabbed the Bellac that fell to the ground, finishing it off.
When the sound of flapping wings stopped, silence fell all around.
Nina stood still in her place. She didn’t know what to do.
As if to confirm, Adrian called her from the darkness.
“Nina.”
Nina gritted her teeth and then smiled.
“Yes, it’s the cutest Nina in the world.”
Adrian dropped his sword and ran over. He stopped in front of her, out of breath despite only running for a short time.
In the darkness, the two looked at each other. Nina stared blankly at Adrian.
She knew that two years had passed.
He was no longer a boy. He was a full-fledged adult man. The boyishness was gone, and he was someone that anyone would turn back to look at.
Two years.
Two years had passed.
“Young Master, you’ve grown so much…”
As Nina said awkwardly, Adrian moved. One step, two steps, three steps. Adrian approached at a pace that was neither fast nor slow and hugged her.
“Ah!”
Nina made a short sound and smiled faintly. She felt like she would cry if she didn’t smile.
He hugged her tightly enough to crush her. His cheek touched her hair.
“Nina, Nina, Nina.”
His arm strength was so fierce that Nina felt like she would be crushed.
He hugged her tightly and then slumped down on the spot as if he had lost his strength.
“Yes, I’m here.”
“Nina.”
His hands caressed her cheeks, and his voice called her.
As if trying to confirm her existence with all his senses, he demanded her. Nina willingly responded to his demand.
“How, how, you.”
His words came out in broken fragments.
Looking at his Rose quartz colored eyes, which were mixed with anger, sadness, joy, and hatred, Nina whispered softly.
“I’m sorry.”
“If you knew me, you…”
How could you do that to me?
How could you decide to leave me alone here?
The words didn’t come out. The emotions he had been suppressing exploded, and he grabbed her shoulders tightly with both hands.
“Adrian.”
Nina whispered.
Even looking at her changed golden eyes and white hair was painful for him.
“It was my fault.”
He collapsed at her whisper. What could she have done wrong?
What?
Throwing herself to save him?
Throwing everything away?
Coming back like this?
“No, no, Nina. No.”
Nina cupped his tear-stained cheeks.
Nina’s heart ached at the deepened shadows in his distorted eyes and his gaunt, sharp face.
“But I came back.”
Even though she tried to smile, tears kept welling up, so Nina cried as she smiled.
Even after two years, Adrian was still Adrian.
Not some stranger.
Adrian hugged her tightly again.
“Yeah, it’s enough that you came back.”
That was enough.
The dark Violet Forest. The smell of Bellac blood. The two were reunited.
