Without a word from Kirian, the anxiety I had barely suppressed surged, and I was suddenly scared. The short breath I had drawn scattered again.

“He’s alive.”

Kirian spat it out reluctantly.

“He’s fine.”

I thought I heard the sound of his teeth grinding.

“Just worry about yourself, sister.”

A chuckling laugh came from the corner then. Only then did I see Hiss, sitting hunched next to the mangled body of Elding.

Hiss’s laugh quickly turned into a cough, and his bent shoulders shuddered.

“I guess I have to thank his highness.”

It was a twisted voice of thanks, but even that turned into a cough again.

“Hiss!”

Hiss’s mouth continued to explode with a rough cough that made his whole body shake. It was dangerous if it continued this way.

“Kirian, I’m fine, so take care of Hiss[Dash].”

“What’s so pretty about an X that almost killed you?”

Kirian’s words, muttered under his breath, scraped my ear.

“Kirian!”

But there was no sign of remorse in Kirian’s eyes.

“The opposite. He was injured trying to save me.”

Kirian stretched his lips thinly. The red lips were bitten, and the color disappeared for a moment.

“Who created this situation in the first place?”

Kirian, pressing me close enough to his chest to make it difficult to breathe.

“Who dragged you here on the pretext of an absurd investigation?”

Even in the darkness, Kirian’s eyes sparkled, as if they were laden with poison.

It looked like he was restraining the urge to cut off the breath of someone right away.

Kirian wouldn’t move, not even if he died.

“Then let me down.”

I kicked my legs. It was not enough to shake off Kirian, but the harder he held me, the more strongly I struggled.

“Let me go. We can’t leave an injured person like this.”

Even if my nails dug into Kirian’s arm during our futile struggle, Kirian endured silently.

I tried to steady my trembling voice.

“If anything goes wrong. I won’t forgive you.”

Something like a wound brushed across Kirian’s eyes, his previously obsessive gaze momentarily faltered. But soon, he snickered.

“Cruel.”

Even as he smiled a twisted smile close to mockery, Kirian averted his eyes from me.

“You’re always a cruel person to me, sister.”

Not knowing what to say, I licked my lips, and Kirian put me down.

“Only have to keep him alive.”

Kirian, who still crouched down, approached Hiss and tore off the hem of his shirt to bind the gash in Hiss’s back.

“Ugh.”
Kirian’s rough touch drew a moan from Hees, but Kirian only tied the end of the shirt more roughly.

“Done?”

Kirian let go of Hees and strode back to me, then took my hand.

“Let’s go.”

“What are you doing?”

I tried to pull my hand away, but it was in vain.

“I’ll take you. Sister, you go to the village first.”

Kirian pointed at Hees with a chin gesture.

“I’ll take care of that later.”

“No.”

Kirian, who was about to pull me, hesitated.

“Hees is the one who’s injured, take Hees to the village first.”

Kirian slowly stroked the back of my hand with his thumb for a moment without saying a word. I couldn’t read his eyes because of his lowered gaze.

“Please.”

Kirian slowly let go of my hand.

“Alright. If it’s my sister’s request, I must oblige.”

(This is a time separator.)

It took only a few seconds for Kirian to reappear in front of me after taking Hees to the village. Lightning had flashed incessantly, but there were no Elding.

It must have been because of Kirian. I didn’t know what evidence had given rise to this belief, but I was certain.

As long as Kirian was there, the inexplicable confidence that no magic would appear.

So I spent a few seconds relaxing and blankly watching the lightning strike the surface of the lake.

I probably won’t be able to see lightning like before again.

The sound of Elding’s cries, the sting of blue mucus, Hees’s touch wrapping me and handing me a spear are still vivid.

It didn’t feel like a problem I had to solve, just a picture stuck in the corner of an encyclopedia.

“Will it be okay?”

I had a hard time breathing as I slowly traced the sticky red mark on my hand.

If I had been a little faster. If I had been agile enough to pull myself out. If I wasn’t a fake princess[Dash].

“It will be okay.”

Kirian appeared in front of me. He picked me up before I could respond.

“Don’t make that face, it’s just a scratch.”

“It was deep[Dash].”

“If sister cries over that sort of X, then.”

Kirian’s eyebrows twisted fiercely.

“I want to tear the wound open.”

It wasn’t until Kirian’s fingertips touched my cheek that I realized what was trickling down my cheek.

“Oh.”

I awkwardly wiped away the tears.

“This is rainwater.”

I felt embarrassed crying without a scratch while being perfectly fine, so I quickly made an excuse. I even forced a smile, thinking it might help.

“Sigh…….”

A warm breeze from Kirian’s sigh warmed my cold forehead and then dropped.

“Don’t make that face either.”

“What face?”

This didn’t work, and that didn’t work. A somewhat brusque voice popped out.

But what came back was an additional ban.

“Don’t force a smile. Sister did nothing wrong. So[Dash].”

Kirian, who roughly interrupted his words, ground his teeth again.

“Don’t smile like that.”

When I slowly closed my eyes, a shallow sigh sounded, and warmth spread across my forehead. Kirian, who quietly placed his forehead against mine, muttered softly.

“It hurts my heart.”