Chapter 38
Breathing Life
Liana hesitated for a moment before him.
Then, as if urging her on, a large hand gestured once in the air.
Liana cautiously took his hand, watching his expression.
His firm hand supported her without wavering.
As she took his hand and boarded the boat, the small boat gently rocked.
Liana carefully balanced herself and sat on one side of the boat.
As she sat down, Shed pushed the boat out onto the lake and climbed aboard.
The two of them sat facing each other in the small boat.
Just like they had done so long ago.
Liana, lost in thought, raised her head.
Before she knew it, the boat was gliding lightly across the surface of the water.
The small rowboat created long ripples on the lake as it moved towards the center.
As the sun was obscured by a wisp of cloud flowing across the blue sky, shadows fell over the lake below.
The vegetation on the shore, which had only recently undergone Purification, had not yet grown and was dying in a dull light.
The weeping willows, with their withered leaves and long branches, were eerie, and the moss clinging to various places gave off a damp feeling.
Luise's expression grew heavy at the sight of the darkened lake.
But soon the clouds cleared and the sunlight shone again.
Then, the desolate swaying willow branches seemed to come to life, and the green moss spread out like a soft carpet.
With just the shadows receding, the landscape shed its gloom and transformed into a warm beauty.
Nothing had changed, yet it was as if the world had been completely transformed by a single ray of light.
Liana raised her head towards the sunlit sky.
The sunlight fell on her cheeks as well.
Shed, who was rowing, gazed silently at her sitting in the sunlight.
Yes, you were like this on that day too.
It was the first day he had accompanied Luise on a boat ride.
He was a slave and was not allowed to board the boat with a noble lady.
The people of the Count's family made him wait by the water.
Luise and a knight boarded the small boat.
The knight rowed and took her around the lake.
It was the slave's duty to watch from a distance.
He listlessly stared at the girl enjoying the boat ride.
The boat went far out into the middle of the lake.
But at that moment, the boat carrying Luise lost its balance and shook, then capsized in an instant.
"My lady!"
Shed called out to her without realizing it and ran towards the lake.
Although there had been an accident, he believed that the knight who was rowing would surely save Luise.
However, the knight was just splashing around in the water.
Was he a knight who couldn't swim? Or had he gotten a cramp in his leg or panicked?
No... Strangely, it seemed to Shed that he was deliberately not saving her.
It was as if he was intentionally capsizing the boat and trying to drown Luise.
Lupus, the slave, quickly looked around, but it seemed that all the servants and maids were distracted and had not seen her fall into the water.
Luise, who had never learned to swim, was terrified and tried to grab onto the overturned boat.
It took Shed less than three seconds to assess the situation and jump into the lake.
The place where the boat had capsized was in the center of the lake, the deepest part.
Even if he swam as fast as he could from the shore, it would take several minutes.
He desperately cut through the water and swam, but in the meantime, Luise had completely disappeared from the surface.
'Damn it...!'
Reaching near the boat, Shed dived into the lake to find the missing Luise.
He saw the unconscious girl through the clear water.
The slave dived deep down after the girl.
In the middle of the clear lake, at the deep bottom. A white body was sinking into the dark underwater.
Shed held his breath and reached out with all his might towards the sinking life.
A cold body touched his fingertips.
He pulled the icy body into his arms.
He held the girl and swam towards the surface where the sunlight flickered.
His breath, which he had held deep in his lungs during the desperate and rough swimming and diving, was slowly running out.
As his breath grew weaker, he held Luise even tighter.
And finally, he reached the surface, which seemed as if it would never get closer.
"Huff, haa..., my lady...!"
He shook the girl in his arms to wake her up, even putting aside his own panting breath.
But the limp girl showed no reaction.
It felt like his heart was freezing.
Shed hugged her and headed for the nearest shore.
The cold body lay heavily on the grass.
There was no time to think about anything else. He quickly untied the ribbons of her clothes that were constricting her body.
And he pressed down on her chest several times.
Looking at her bloodless, pale face, he became afraid.
It seemed as if her slender life would be extinguished at any moment.
How long had she been in the water?
In his desperation, he couldn't even estimate the time.
The anxiety that it might already be too late grew stronger, but he couldn't give up like this.
The slave dared to kiss the lady's lips and breathe life into her.
He breathed into her cold body again and again.
And then.
"Cough, cough!"
After a long time, a breath burst out from her frosty, pale lips.
She coughed up water as if in pain and breathed erratically.
"My lady, are you alright?"
Shed patted her to calm her down.
Only then did Luise's breath gradually return to its original rhythm.
The corners of her eyes were red.
The fear of death was clear in her watery eyes.
Shed hugged her trembling, cold body tightly.
"It's alright, my lady."
That was all he could say.
It's alright. You are here, alive in front of me.
Shed, who had lived cursing God, thanked God for the first time.
He felt like he could forgive the God who had given him all kinds of trials.
The trembling of the small body in his arms subsided.
"Thank you, Shed..."
A living voice flowed into his ear.
Luise raised her soaked face.
Clear eyes looked up at him.
His heart skipped a beat.
Only then did Shed realize that he had forgotten his status.
The slave hurriedly let go of the lady.
Belatedly, Luise's appearance came into his eyes one by one.
Her thin clothes were wet, and her skin was visible underneath.
Because the ribbons that had been loosened to help her breathe, her clothes were loose, and a crescent-shaped mark was revealed above her white collarbone.
At that moment, he felt an emotion that a slave should not feel.
An insolent and vulgar emotion that he should not dare to harbor towards the lady.
"I will... call someone."
As Shed stood up from his seat as if running away, a slender hand grabbed him.
"Take me too, Shed."
She staggered to her feet as if telling him not to leave her alone.
The wind blowing over her wet clothes was cold.
Her small body was trembling with cold, and her pale lips looked precarious.
He couldn't just leave her alone any longer.
The slave dared to embrace the lady in his arms.
That was the beginning. Whenever the lady of the Ideana family took a boat, she always had the Lupus slave on the opposite side.
And Shed loved the time when they were alone, far away from the world, the time when the girl completely trusted him.
There was such a time.
And now, the boy who had become the Duke was sitting the maid across from him and going out on the lake.
"Liana."
At his call, Liana, who had been looking up at the blue sky embroidered with barriers, turned her head.
"The Leicester family plans to systematically rebuild Paradel from now on."
He brought up the story he had shared with his vassals and Eclaus.
The old Ideana had fallen. But thanks to that, they were able to build a new city on a blank slate.
He intended to make Paradel a planned city. He would divide it into blocks to create districts and arrange buildings and spaces suitable for them.
It would be a much more efficient city of space, but perhaps it would mean the loss of Liana's old memories.
But Liana just nodded silently.
As if his decision was natural.
At that time, the boat heading towards the lake gently stopped and floated on the surface of the water.
"I want to hear... your opinion."
"My opinion?"
"At least you know Ideana the best."
Liana, or rather, Luise Ideana, was the person who knew the land of Ideana the best as far as he knew.
A person who had dreamed of the land's prosperity and prosperity with the vassals since childhood.
At Shed's question, Liana stared at the calm surface of the water for a moment before parting her lips.
"...It would be a little easier to organize if we started from the Lethe River."
The Lethe River was the lifeline that passed through Paradel and Ideana. Supplies would come and go along the large river, and a market would inevitably form around it.
"The fishermen who catch fish in this Lake Anteros used to sell their fish on the banks of the Lethe River."
Liana said in a calm voice, looking at the clear lake.
There are no fish living in Lake Anteros now, but now that the Purification is over, fishing will start here again someday.
"Money will circulate around the market, so main roads and the financial industry will be located around it. It should also be directly connected to the gate where supplies come in by land."
Gradually, a new map of Ideana was drawn around the river and lake.
Roads and blocks suitable for the terrain were built, and residential areas, commercial areas, inns, squares, and government offices were drawn according to their relationships.
"The northern walls will have to be reinforced higher than the others. Because..."
"Demon Beasts often appear."
As Shed answered, Liana nodded.
He, who had gone out hunting Demon Beasts, would know well the threat coming from the north.
Liana mentioned several shortcomings and regrets from the previous Ideana.
The same was true of roads that could not be newly developed because buildings were already in place and people were living there.
She knew everything about this land.
The advantages and disadvantages of the hills, the direction of the river and the problems according to the season, the roads leading to farmland, and the differences between the roads leading to other cities.
She knew and could think about every corner that others would find difficult to consider.
Shed looked at Liana's flushed cheeks as she talked about Ideana.
Her cheeks, which had been pale, were gradually turning a rosy peach color.
Gradually, her voice echoed in his head, and he became deeply immersed in her as if falling into a fantasy.
Was it because the spring sun was too hot?
Shed gradually felt the heat rising in his body. The heat that spread from his solar plexus spread throughout his body.
He tried to block the sunlight with his palm to shake off the unknown heat.
A small shadow fell on his face, but the scorching heat throughout his body did not subside.
And that heat was gradually consuming his body.
It was strange. His chest was stuffy and he was suffocating.
The stuffiness was soon filling up to his Adam's apple.
"Haa, haa..."
He let out a hot breath and unbuttoned the buttons that had filled up to his collarbone.
"Your Excellency, are you alright?"
Then Liana's voice brushed past his ear.
Her feather-like voice tickled him.
Along with a tingling sensation throughout his body, an abnormal impulse swallowed him.
