While Others Became Female Leads In Romantic Fantasy Novels, I Became A Closet Monster
Chapter 28
The table was covered with salves and bandages I had scavenged from the infirmary.
“Maybe I stole too much.”
I neatly organized the medicine and waited for Dedrick while working on the homework he had assigned me.
By now, my skills had improved to the point where I could write several words without looking at a reference.
Even my handwriting seemed to be subtly starting to resemble Dedrick’s.
‘It’s only natural since Didi is the one teaching me.’
Specifically, since Dedrick’s handwriting was so beautiful and elegant, I was intentionally trying to emulate it.
I was diligently transcribing with various thoughts drifting through my mind when—click—the door opened.
I dropped the pen I was holding and rushed toward him in a single bound.
“Didi! You’re b—”
My voice, raised in excitement, died in my throat. Unable to welcome him with the vigor I intended, I froze right where I stood.
There wasn’t a single part of him that was unscathed. He was covered in wounds from head to toe.
Blood from his forehead was matted into his black hair, which was thick with dust and dirt.
A split lip, swollen cheeks, torn clothes, and a limping leg.
‘This is just too much!’
To do this to a boy who’s still so young…
Hot tears welled up in my eyes. Dedrick, who had been standing still like a sinner, flinched at my reaction.
“Are you crying…?”
At his question, I shook my head and gently pulled on Dedrick’s hand.
He looked at me and traced a faint smile.
Are you okay? What exactly is okay?
Looking like that, how on earth can you be okay?
I bit my lip, suppressing the urge to demand answers.
I knew how much Somerset bullied him because it was in the novel.
But this was the first time I had actually seen him this injured.
Vaguely… I had thought that since I was here now, everything would be fine.
And since Dedrick had told me not to worry too much, I truly believed it would be okay.
That was why I had been so foolishly excited while gathering the bandages.
My breath trembled involuntarily.
“…Sorry, did I startle you?”
“I’m sorry for showing you this side of me.”
I bit my lip as I looked at Dedrick, who was apologizing despite having done nothing wrong.
Taking a deep breath, I shook my head.
“What do you have to be sorry for?”
“It doesn’t hurt that much. It happens all the time.”
He spoke calmly, as if it were a practiced phrase.
At those words, the tears that had been brimming finally spilled over.
Because it seemed so familiar to him, because this level of injury really seemed like no big deal to this child, I couldn’t hold back the tears.
I could see Dedrick panicking at the sight of me, but the tears simply wouldn’t stop.
“…Why are you crying?”
Why am I crying?
Frustrated, I let out a sharp cry.
“Because you’re hurt!”
And yet you just keep saying you’re okay like a fool…!
“Because you… are hurt…!”
Because I feel so sorry for you, accepting all of this so calmly…
“Waaaaah!”
In the end, unable to continue, I wailed at the top of my lungs.
Thirty minutes ago.
Somerset immediately followed after the departing Joanna.
Left in the training ground were Dedrick, collapsed and covered in blood, and the knights of the White Hawk. Jacob rushed to him at once.
“Young Master!”
Jacob, barely managing to help him sit up, was momentarily lost for words.
“How could they… do such a thing…?”
“…I’m, fine.”
“We must go to the infirmary immediately…”
Dedrick shook his head firmly. Then, leaning on Jacob for support, he stood up.
“Check if anything is broken.”
Jacob suppressed the heat rising in his eyes as he examined the boy’s body.
Fortunately, nothing was broken. Dedrick hadn’t just been taking the hits blindly.
Jacob knew Dedrick had used his sword to block just enough to prevent bones from snapping, but the lack of a fracture didn’t mean it didn’t hurt.
“…Fortunately, nothing is broken.”
Jacob’s voice trembled slightly.
“That’s a relief. Thanks to you, Sir, nothing broke.”
He opened his mouth to speak but closed it again.
‘Before I started teaching him, were broken bones just a daily occurrence?’
Once again, Somerset had gone too far. Jacob picked up the wooden sword Somerset had used, which was lying on the ground.
Then, he slammed it against the floor for all to see.
With a loud crack, the wooden sword snapped in two, revealing the iron core embedded inside.
Dedrick glanced at the wooden sword, then turned his gaze to the White Hawk knights standing around and spoke.
“It seems you sirs have finally abandoned the code of a knight.”
“Well…”
Dedrick spoke coldly as he looked at them.
“It’s nothing new, I suppose.”
Dedrick turned his back. Jacob tried to catch him, but he gently declined.
“I want to be alone. Thank you for your concern, Sir.”
Dedrick limped out of the training ground.
Jacob spoke as he gathered the broken pieces of the wooden sword.
“It seems they have forgotten both the code of a knight and their master. I will not let this matter pass quietly.”
He immediately followed after Dedrick.
“You must at least let a doctor look at your head. It could be serious if left alone!”
At Jacob’s insistence, Dedrick eventually stopped by the infirmary and was able to leave only after being told there were no major issues.
They tried to treat his other wounds, but Dedrick refused. Jacob sighed at his stubbornness and spoke.
“I will escort you to your door. You cannot walk with that leg. Please, at least allow me that much.”
Faced with a resolute Jacob, Dedrick eventually had to be carried on his back to the front of his room.
“You must treat your wounds.”
“Don’t worry.”
Jacob gave a stiff bow with an angry face and departed. Dedrick stood hollowly in front of the door.
Realizing his condition was worse than he thought, he hesitated to enter the room immediately.
‘Should I go in? What if she’s shocked?’
But he had made a promise.
That he would return immediately after the sparring ended. That he wouldn’t hide his injuries.
It was the first promise he had made to the girl. They had even linked pinkies to seal it.
He didn’t want to break his first promise to her.
‘Mother said that promises are meant to be kept.’
He pointlessly brushed some dust off his clothes and placed his hand on the doorknob. After letting out a slightly trembling breath, he carefully opened the door and stepped inside.
Along with the sound of a chair dragging, he heard the girl’s bright voice.
“Didi! You’re b—!”
The smile rapidly vanished from the girl’s face, which had been beaming as she welcomed him.
Her pupils shook uncontrollably, and she froze in place like a stone statue, staring at him.
‘I did get hurt quite a bit today…’
He spoke softly as if to soothe her.
The girl said nothing.
Instead, her breathing began to tremble as if she couldn’t calm herself.
Yet, for some reason, the corners of Dedrick’s mouth kept turning up, and he toyed with them with his hand.
Though he felt very sorry that the girl was beyond upset and appeared shocked, an inexplicable joy blossomed within him.
The fact that there was someone who worried for him completely.
Dedrick added, coaxing her.
And at that moment.
The girl’s cheeks, already pale, turned even whiter.
She trembled as if she had heard something she shouldn’t have, and then the tears she had been holding back came pouring out.
Teardrops as large as her eyes fell like rain.
As he watched her face turn red with rising heat and her gray eyelashes grow damp, Dedrick’s nose also began to tingle.
The girl, who had been clenching her fists and screaming in a trembling voice, finally burst into a full sob.
“Waaaaah!”
Watching the girl wail her heart out, Dedrick smiled even as his own nose turned red.
‘I have a monster who cries for me.’
This girl showed him every single day that he was not alone.
“How, on earth, could they do that to a child…!”
Dedrick’s hand flinched as he watched the girl sob.
Is it okay if I hug her?
The girl wept sorrowfully. It was the first time he had seen her cry while revealing all her emotions.
Those tears made Dedrick feel a sense of relief, as if the constant weight in his chest had been cleared away.
“That son of a bitch.”
At the sudden outburst of profanity, Dedrick suppressed the urge to laugh in such a serious situation.
Then, he reached out his hesitant hand and pulled the girl into a hug.
Her warm body heat seeped into him.
“It’s okay.”
“I told you not to just say it’s okay!”
Now she was starting to snap at him.
Dedrick hugged her even tighter, fearing the girl squirming in his arms might pull away.
“I told you to say it if it hurts!”
“…It hurts a lot.”
As he mumbled with his face buried in her shoulder, her violently moving body came to a dead stop.
“I sto— borrowed a lot of medicine.”
The girl said, her voice wet and trembling like a bleating lamb. He buried himself deeper into her to avoid letting her see him smile.
