Chad chanted an unfamiliar incantation, and black fog rose up behind the dark mages.
Chad and his companions disappeared into it, and soon, a boar monster leaped out from the fog.
The monster, densely covered in snakes instead of fur, was ghastly at a glance.
‘I have to stop it…!’
Rukna crawled on the ground. The monster stared at Rukna with its bright red eyes, snorting and pawing the ground with its front hooves.
Soon, those huge tusks would pierce through her body.
While Rukna struggled with all her might to gather holy power, the monster was preparing to charge at her, stomping its feet so hard that the ground shook.
No!
“No!”
A scream identical to Rukna’s rang out right beside her. The voice belonged to the school nurse, Gale.
“Rukna, Rukna!”
Gale was approaching her, groping the air with both hands.
How the teacher found this place was a mystery. For now, Rukna stopped Gale from getting closer.
“Don’t come, it’s dangerous!”
But Gale didn’t stop. Rather, she began running desperately towards the direction of the sound.
Gale, who usually failed to locate the direction of sounds properly and greeted the wrong way each time.
That Gale was now running straight towards her beloved student.
[This is the timeline separator]Gale had originally planned to travel with the theology professor.
“Our Rukna must be standing guard beyond this stone wall, right?” She smiled brightly, placing one hand on the palace’s rear garden wall.
The theology professor, who wanted to hold her hand, regretfully looked at his other hand grasping the cane and answered, “Yes.”
Excited by the thought of traveling with her, he had slathered his hair with so much oil that it didn’t easily come loose even when he nodded.
“According to the information I secretly obtained from the temple, this area is where Rukna stands guard.”
“Thank you for telling me, Professor.”
“It’s nothing.”
The professor was proud that his specialty was theology. If it were any other subject, he wouldn’t have had connections with the temple.
“By the way, it’s a shame our Rukna has to merely stand guard when she would enjoy the banquet too. Even if she pretends to have no desires, she must have imagined dancing with a dashing man.”
“First dance with the prince? Are you really talking about Rukna Golden, the military academy graduate?”
That child would more likely dream of dancing with a princess than a prince. Then Gale pushed up her dark glasses and smiled widely.
“Oh my, you remember our Rukna without forgetting!”
“How could I forget? You always talk about Cadet Rukna whenever we meet. So I end up hearing about her every day.”
Which also meant that he visited her every single day without fail. The theology professor blushed as if he had just confessed his feelings.
“I’m so glad. I was disappointed that everyone easily forgets our Rukna.”
“You say that every time too, you know?”
“Did I? Hoho.”
“Haa.”
Maybe he should just confess his feelings outright.
The theology professor was sighing deeply, holding his forehead, when he suddenly lifted his head. An immense dark magic power began flowing out from inside the palace walls.
“What in the world is happening at the palace…?”
Kwakwang!
At the same time, part of the tall palace wall collapsed with a rumble, raising a cloud of dust. The theology professor enveloped Gale with his body to protect her. Fortunately, there was no damage.
“It seems the Red Eagles have attacked the palace!”
The theology professor surveyed the inside of the palace through the gaps in the collapsed wall.
When the corpse of a black monster dropped down through the opening, he screamed in surprise.
What a way to ruin his image.
As the theology professor clutched his pounding heart in regret, Gale grabbed his sleeve.
“Then what about our Rukna? Is Rukna in danger?”
“I don’t see the male priest. But there’s a female priest who resembles Cadet Rukna collapsed in the 2 o’clock direction. She seems to be facing off against the monster in a very dangerous situation… Teacher?”
The theology professor called out to Gale, who had started running ahead.
She was rushing forward haphazardly, roughly swinging her cane in front of her.
Normally, she would have tripped over a stone or went the wrong way, but she miraculously advanced straight towards Rukna.
“No, Teacher!”
Rukna shouted at her while lying down, but to no avail.
Provoked by the sound, the monster stopped pawing and charged straight at Rukna.
It was trying to pierce through her torso with its tusks, each as thick as a child’s body.
Rukna squeezed her eyes shut.
Soon, an immense impact like being hit by a carriage lifted her body into the air, then she fell back to the ground.
A ringing sound filled her ears and the surrounding noises faded, but the pain was less than expected.
Her vision turned white, then gradually returned. The first thing she saw was Gale’s blood-covered face.
“…Wake up. Wake up, Rukna!”
Even as she vomited blood, Gale was pouring all of the red medicine she had onto Rukna.
You’ll be okay, you’ll be okay. Please! She chanted those words like a spell, trembling.
‘It’s wet.’
Her clothes felt completely soaked with something. Rukna lowered her gaze.
A red liquid, either blood or medicine, was drenching her priest robes. Judging by the pain being less than expected, it didn’t seem to be her own blood. Then…
“Teacher?”
Rukna examined Gale’s body closely. The side of her torso was gouged as if someone had torn out the flesh, and blood flowed endlessly from it.
The monster’s tusk had pierced Gale’s side.
Fortunately, it missed the vital points, but the damage was severe. Thanks to her, Rukna avoided serious injury, but there was no reason to be happy about it.
“Don’t hurt. You mustn’t get hurt, my child.”
Gale muttered those words as if she felt no pain at all, only concerned about Rukna’s wounds.
She spread the golden elixir she had brought in a glass bottle over Rukna’s wounds, leaving none to spare.
“Wait, you should apply the medicine on yourself, Teacher.”
“You, are you okay?”
“I’m telling you, you’re hurt! The blood is terrible, ugh…”
Rukna tore her priest robes to stop the bleeding from Gale’s side. When the blood didn’t stop well, her hands trembled. But Gale only smiled happily at the news that Rukna was unharmed.
“Then that’s a relief.”
As if she had made the golden elixir for this very moment, Gale rejoiced innocently. Then she collapsed on top of Rukna’s body.
“Stay with me, Teacher!”
Rukna poured holy power into Gale’s wound. Thankfully, the holy power that had been difficult to draw out until a moment ago flowed out little by little.
However, this act only purified the contaminated area and boosted recovery power, so a doctor was needed to completely heal the external injury.
Please, Teacher. Rukna scraped off the medicine that had been applied to her own wounds and rubbed it on Gale’s side.
No. The medicinal effect must have already disappeared. Rukna repeated the action with trembling hands, shedding tears.
And she spoke to Gale, whose consciousness was gradually fading.
“You have to stay awake, Teacher. If you fall, you have to get back up, isn’t that what you said! That’s what you taught me!”
“Ugh, I regret saying that now.”
I thought you could only learn to get up by falling down.
I believed it was an adult’s role to apply medicine when you get hurt, but that wasn’t the case.
“Now that this moment has come, I regret it. I should have reached out my hand to keep you from falling even once when you were shaking. Instead of teaching you how to get up after being hurt, I should have been the umbrella to shield you from the rain at least once.”
Gale recalled the young Rukna who visited the infirmary with bruises or cuts.
Maybe I neglected you with the excuse that you were growing up. Just thinking that made her heart ache more than the side of her torso torn by the monster’s tusk.
“Don’t say weird things and open your eyes!”
“Haha, cough. I’m originally blind, Rukna.”
But right now, she could feel Rukna’s sorrowful emotions so strongly that her chest tightened. Don’t cry. Don’t cry, my child.
“Still, I’m glad. That I could protect you like this at least once. I’m really, really glad.”
I protected her this time. I protected my child. Gale mumbled like that, then lost consciousness.
“Someone, anyone?”
Help! Shouting could provoke the monster, but Rukna screamed in all directions.
While watching the theology professor running over, panting heavily, her vision was obscured by a red cloak.
“Calm down, Rukna.”
It was Matian’s voice. He had rushed straight to her as soon as he dealt with the boar monster.
“Tea-, Teacher, Teacher is!”
Rukna tried to take off the cloak covering her body, flailing her limbs.
She couldn’t move her body properly, exhausted by the medicine, but she still mustered all her strength.
“It’s okay. The professors and priests are moving Teacher Gale now.”
“Save her. Please, Teacher…”
“Calm down and take care of yourself first, Rukna. You’re burning up too.”
Matian wrapped Rukna tightly in the cloak and lifted her up. Rukna kept worrying about Gale and then fainted.
[This is the timeline separator]Her eyelids felt heavy. When she regained consciousness for a moment, she saw an unfamiliar ceiling. She had no strength in her body.
“…It’s poison. Handled only in the palace…”
The doctor’s voice was faint.
“The antidote.”
Judging by how well she could hear Matian’s voice, he must be very close to her.
“…The only way is to detoxify it by doing… If you are in a relationship with that priest, it would be better for you, young master, to help…”
“You’re a quack too.”
With Matian’s disappointed voice, she lost consciousness again.
And when she opened her eyes again, this time she saw a quite familiar ceiling. Where had she seen this before? As she thought that, a similar conversation was heard again.
“There is no separate antidote, young master.”
“Do you think I came all the way here to hear that nonsense!”
“I apologize.”
Who are you scolding like that, Matian? By the way, how is Teacher Gale doing? Rukna wanted to sit up and ask him.
But she couldn’t even move a finger, let alone speak.
Then she realized. Ah, I might really die like this. My body is facing death. A futile despair loomed before her eyes.
Male lead reborn without memories — but he still falls for her.
The person he finds displeasing in this life turns out to be his cherished wife-master in previous life…
Xie Zhi and Fang Xianxing who had known each other for less than three days through a blind date sat in the same car in front of the civil affairs bureau. They had a disagreement and failed to get married.
Xie Zhi immediately took out his phone, slid through his contacts, and randomly selected the next marriage candidate.
The woman snatched his phone and hung up. Looking at his phone wallpaper, she awkwardly changed the subject: “An ancient painting, eh? It looks pretty good, it’s just that the person in the painting looks a bit like me.”
When he heard this, he sarcastically mocked her for being so delusional, completely unaware that, the person in front of him was the reincarnation of Wen Ru, the famous prime minister of Yuan Shun whom he most admired…
The female CEO who doesn’t want to get married with a divorce agreement in hand × The male archaeological researcher who will only get married if he’s sure he can get divorced
