Naturally, I did not comply with the Captain’s request to open my mouth.

Instead, I informed him of a fact that wasn’t particularly new.

“…I have both hands and feet intact.”

“And?”

“It means I can prepare my own meal.”

“But you’re a patient.”

It seemed there was a big difference between his idea of a patient and mine.

To me, a patient meant ‘someone with fractures in two or more places or amputations, making movement difficult.’

Yet he kept treating me like a patient even though nothing was broken.

“My condition is completely fine now. If you give me the bowl, I can eat by myself… *cough* *cough*!”

While I was speaking, he suddenly fed me a spoonful of stew, causing me to choke.

I glared at him in protest, to which he burst out laughing.

“Come on, be good and eat.”

“I’m really fine, I tell you. You don’t need to feed me… *cough*!”

He scooped up another spoonful of stew and shoved it into my mouth.

Seeing that he would continue to force-feed me if I kept refusing, I gave up resisting and obediently opened my mouth to receive the food.

Still, I didn’t forget to grumble quietly.

“Isn’t this nursing a bit too unfriendly? Anyone watching might think you’re torturing me with food.”

“You’re comparing my heartfelt care to torture? I’m hurt. I was just feeding you vigorously, hoping for your quick recovery.”

“Any more vigorous and you might kill someone.”

Hearing my words, he let out a small laugh.

Eventually, his hand feeding me the stew became a bit gentler.

Thanks to that, I was able to eat more comfortably.

By the time I had almost finished the stew and bread, something I had momentarily forgotten due to the commotion suddenly came to mind.

“Ah, by the way, what happened to those imperial guards?”

“…”

“And did all our members return safely? You know, the ones who went north at that time. Maximilian, Oscar… and Karl too.”

If Karl had returned safely and was here, I could report to Ernant.

That I, who had disappeared, had returned to the Order.

Of course, since other members were also here now, it would be difficult to contact Ernant carelessly, but I still had to be careful.

So I first raised my body, which had been leaning against the bed’s headboard, intending to go check on him.

“I shouldn’t be lying here like this. I need to see Karl for a moment. I have something to tell him—”

“Yulia.”

Just as I was about to get off the bed, the Captain stopped me with a heavy voice.

I paused for a moment, waiting for his next words.

Meanwhile, he put down the nearly empty bowls on the bedside table and asked me.

“Don’t you have something to confess to me?”

“…”

“I have something to confess to you too.”

The previously warm atmosphere suddenly froze with those words.

Amidst the suffocating silence filling the space between us, I struggled to open my mouth.

“Something I need to confess…?”

“Was it really true that you got lost due to a monster attack in the north?”

“…”

The moment I heard that question, I immediately knew.

The lie wouldn’t work.

“…You knew everything all along?”

“Yes. From the moment I learned you had gone missing, the Winter Queen was the least of my concerns. I only thought about finding you, and after desperate efforts with the members, we were able to uncover the reason for your disappearance.”

He continued after a shallow sigh.

“You weren’t chased by monsters and separated alone. You—”

“Yes, that’s right. I was attacked by Raimont, the captain of the Emperor’s guard.”

Since he seemed to know almost everything, I confessed that much first.

However, I didn’t reveal Karl’s involvement in the incident.

The moment his crime was exposed, he would be in danger.

So I admitted half the truth, but the Captain shook his head.

“You weren’t just attacked by Raimont.”

“…”

“I already know everything. What Karl did to you.”

It felt like my heart was falling down a steep cliff.

I never imagined he would already know about his involvement too.

With my throat feeling like it was blocked by a stone, I managed to ask a question after several attempts.

“…What did you do with Karl?”

“Do you really want to know?”

“Yes. I need to hear it. Please tell me.”

Though I spoke firmly on the outside, fear was rising inside me.

I was afraid to hear the answer from the Captain.

Afraid that he might deliver the news of Karl’s death.

But I couldn’t run away from this, so I stood firm and waited for the answer.

Finally, his lips slowly opened, and at last, the answer to my question flowed out.

“Karl is dead.”

“…”

“I had asked him where he had hidden you. I was prepared to inflict pain if he wouldn’t speak. But before I could do that… he swallowed poison on his own.”

“…”

I finally heard the worst news I didn’t want to hear.

As I was being crushed by the sensation of suffocation, the Captain asked in a quiet voice.

“Do you resent me?”

Only then did I look directly into the Captain’s eyes.

In the golden irises I met, I could faintly read a sense of fear.

I also noticed his fingertips moving nervously.

The man who had been so fearful and anxious soon opened his mouth again.

“I understand. I know how much you cared for Karl. If you resent me… it can’t be helped.”

“No. I don’t resent you.”

“…You don’t resent me?”

The Captain showed a surprised expression.

Did he think I would pour out tearful resentment towards him over Karl’s death?

If he really thought so, he immediately asked in a tone of incomprehension.

“Why? I certainly bear some responsibility for Karl’s death. Although he swallowed the poison himself, I created that situation. If only I hadn’t pressured him during the interrogation—”

“But I would have done the same as you, Captain.”

I said firmly, to prevent him from blaming himself further.

Then I continued speaking to him, who still looked surprised.

“A member was kidnapped, so you had to interrogate Karl. That was unavoidable.”

“…”

“The ones who made Karl like that were the Emperor and… Karl himself.”

Yes, who else could I resent?

In the end, it was those two who drove Karl to his death.

Ernant, who deceived him.

And Karl, who betrayed us after being deceived by that Ernant.

“Of course, I’m sad. Even though he made the wrong choice at the end, he was my long-time friend. I’ll probably continue to be sad even after years pass. But it’s certainly not your fault, Captain.”

I reached out with both hands and gently cupped the Captain’s cheeks.

Then I lifted his slightly lowered head to make him look straight at me.

“You don’t need to feel guilty, and you don’t need to apologize. I just want to be comforted.”

“Comfort… In what way?”

“Comfort me in the way you’re most confident in.”

There are many ways to comfort someone in this world, but right now, we were probably both thinking of the same method of comfort.

Soon, he gently pushed me onto the bed and climbed on top of me.

It was time to receive comfort with body and soul, given with all his sincerity.

Taking advantage of the middle of the night when everyone was asleep, I came out of the barracks.

As soon as I escaped from the heat that filled the inside of the barracks, the cold immediately struck me.

I moved my steps, trudging along while tightly wrapping the Captain’s overcoat that I had draped over my shoulders.

When I arrived at a clearing a little distance from the campsite, I found the remains of something that had been burned.

The Captain had said that all of Karl’s belongings were burned here.

It would have been nice to send them to his family, but even such a small task requires manpower.

Since no member would do such labor for Karl who had betrayed us, all of Karl’s possessions ended up being burned here.

“…”

I silently gazed at the pile of ashes without a word.

No tears came out.

When I first lost him before the regression, I cried until my eyes were swollen.

Whether it was because this was the second time experiencing it, or because the sense of betrayal he had given me had melted away the sadness, I couldn’t tell the reason.

At that moment, I suddenly remembered the last words I had heard from him.

−”I’m sorry. I’m truly sorry, Vice-Captain.”

Those words of apology he offered after betraying me had hurt so much back then.

This time, I ended up returning those exact words to Karl.

“I’m sorry.”

Because I had successfully changed the futures of others, I believed I could also prevent Karl’s death with my power.

However, he left this world in a way I hadn’t anticipated, without giving me a chance to intervene.

Even if this fate was due to Karl’s own sins, a small piece of guilt still remained, painfully pricking my heart.

“…”

I silently put my hands together and prayed for his peace in front of that pile of ashes, the last trace of him.

Meanwhile, a gust of wind swept through, carrying away the remaining ash dust to somewhere.

It was a wind that would never return to my side again.

Translation complete. 100% of original text translated.