When an earnest voice called her name, Arasila opened her eyes narrowly with a hazy mind.

Through her slightly blurry vision, she saw Demian holding her hand like a lifeline, his head bowed as if in prayer.

Between strands of silver hair that had fallen, his sharp, slender nose bridge and eyes scrunched as if about to cry were visible.

Demian, why are you like that? Are you hurt anywhere?

She had many things she wanted to say, but her lips wouldn’t move. Unable to overcome her eyelids growing heavy as lead once again, Arasila fell into a faint-like sleep.

And the next morning, she opened her eyes completely with a much clearer mind.

As she rolled her bright, round eyes while wearing bandages on her head, legs, and shoulders, someone entered the room.

It was none other than Sally.

Bringing the morning medicine, she almost screamed upon discovering that Arasila had opened her eyes.

“Senior! Are you alright? Have you come to your senses?!”

“Sally, my eardrums are about to burst.”

Arasila replied with a slight frown but still smiling. Sally, who had rushed to the bed, grabbed her hand tightly while sniffling.

“Sob, I’m so glad you’re awake. Because of the dark magic bomb, you were unconscious for three days, and I was really worried.”

“I was asleep for three days?”

Arasila was shocked, not knowing she had lost consciousness for so long.

No wonder it hurt so badly when she fainted.

Sally, while sobbing, explained in detail about Arasila’s condition. Arasila reacted calmly to the news that her right arm and leg were fractured.

“It can’t be helped since I took a dark magic bomb head-on. It’s fortunate my limbs weren’t blown off.”

It was only because Arasila was a skilled practitioner that the damage from the dark magic bomb was limited to this extent. If it had been someone else, even bystanders would have been inevitably caught up and bedridden.

“By the way, where is Demian? Is he safe?”

Finally voicing the question she had wanted to ask from the beginning, Arasila wore a worried expression.

Although she expected he wouldn’t be seriously injured since she had shielded him, her heart was uneasy about any unforeseen possibilities.

“His Lordship is safe. He’s probably investigating the incident, shall I call him for you?”

Arasila was relieved by Sally’s unhesitating answer. She nodded slowly, smoothing her chest.

“Yes, please do.”

Sally handed over the medicine bottle and left the room. Arasila, groaning as she sat up, downed the transparent reddish medicine in one go.

As she grimaced at the bitter taste spreading in her mouth and looked for water,

Bang!

With a noise as if the door would be torn off, Demian appeared.

His hair was a complete mess from the wind, suggesting how urgently he had run, and his clothes were disheveled and unkempt.

“My lady…”

His golden eyes trembled finely as he gazed at Arasila. Taking rough breaths, Demian strode towards her.

“Demian, are you alright?”

“Why are you asking that?!”

Demian shouted, upset that Arasila was checking on his well-being first thing.

The one who should be asked if they were alright was not her, but him. The coward who used his wife as a shield and remained unscathed without a single scratch.

He grasped her slender shoulders gently so as not to hurt her and spoke in an intense voice.

“Do you know how worried I was? Why did you recklessly jump in front?”

“That’s because I was afraid you’d get hurt.”

“I would have preferred that. Rather than you ending up like this, it would have been much better if I had been injured!”

Demian lowered his head with a contorted face. His breathing was irregular and rough, as if he simply couldn’t calm down.

Blinking at the more intense reaction than expected, Arasila soon raised her uninjured hand and placed it on top of Demian’s hand.

“But I’m glad you’re safe.”

“…”

“I feel really proud thinking that I protected you.”

She smiled brightly and pulled Demian to sit on the bed. Then she reached out her white hand and pressed his furrowed brow.

“So relax your expression. Why are you like this when no one died?”

“…You don’t know how I feel.”

Demian turned his head sideways and replied in a suppressed voice. Arasila grabbed his cheek with one hand, turning it back to its original position, and said,

“I do know, why wouldn’t I? You were afraid I might die.”

“…”

“But I’m a bit of a tenacious person, and more than anything, I have no intention of leaving behind the people I care about.”

When she witnessed Iris’s death in her prophetic dream, Arasila vividly experienced the sorrow of losing someone close.

It was an indescribable pain, as if her heart was being torn into several pieces.

Demian must have had a similar experience with his mother’s death, so she could imagine how anxious and worried he must have been while she was unconscious.

Meeting his greatly wavering eyes, Arasila spoke firmly.

“So don’t worry. I absolutely won’t die, and I’m perfectly fine right now. Understand?”

Arasila poked Demian’s cheek and grinned.

His unsteadily pounding heart was calmed surprisingly quickly. With a much more relaxed face, Demian slowly nodded.

Satisfied at seeing him pacified, Arasila suddenly asked as if she had just remembered something.

“So what happened to Ken? Did you catch him and give him a good thrashing?”

“Unfortunately, we couldn’t. He committed suicide right after. We’re currently investigating to uncover who was behind it.”

Seeing Demian’s expression wasn’t very bright as he said this, Arasila immediately noticed that the investigation was facing difficulties.

“It seems it’s not easy to dig up the background.”

“It appears that the person who instigated Ken is not from the West or this village, but somewhere else. We haven’t found any related individuals or special evidence here.”

“Then we should return to the capital quickly. I’m fine, so let’s depart as soon as possible.”

Anyway, to properly treat her injured body, they needed to go to the capital.

No matter how good Ludi or Arasila were at making magic potions, there were specialists in healing magic potions.

Demian agreed to return to the capital, if only for Arasila’s sake. The doctor also diagnosed that her physical condition was not too strenuous to travel by carriage.

Thus, the return of the subjugation team was quickly set for the next day.

The front of the inn was bustling with people moving luggage.

Arasila came out with difficulty, leaning on crutches. Perhaps because not only her leg but also her arm was injured, handling the crutches was not easy.

Her posture as she staggered forward looked unstable, as if she might fall at any moment.

Demian, who had just finished talking with Isaac and turned around, spotted her walking unsteadily from afar and ran over with swift movements.

“My lady, be careful.”

Arasila, who indeed needed someone’s help, greeted him with a welcoming face.

“Ah, Demian. Could you support me? Since my arm is injured, it’s really…”

Her words were not fully finished. Without warning, Demian suddenly swept her up into his arms. Her blue eyes, round with surprise, fixed on Demian’s face.

“What, what are you doing?”

“I’ll carry you to the carriage.”

“No, I can walk…”

“It’s dangerous, so no. Hold on to me tightly.”

Demian spoke firmly and took a step towards the carriage. Arasila reflexively put her arm around his neck.

Demian’s embrace was warm and stable. His sturdy arms firmly supported her waist and under her knees.

As it was her first time being carried by someone, Arasila’s ears grew a bit hot. She also felt somewhat embarrassed, sensing the gazes upon them.

Demian carefully lowered Arasila onto the sofa in the carriage. His touch was as if he were handling a glass doll.

“I’ll return after checking on the mages and confirming the headcount. Please rest comfortably here until then.”

“Alright. Thank you.”

Demian quietly closed the door and left. Arasila watched through the window as he busily directed people and rushed preparations for departure.

Come to think of it, she seemed to have heard Demian calling her name while half-asleep.

‘Was it my imagination?’

Because her mind wasn’t fully clear at the time, she couldn’t be certain due to her unclear memory.

‘Hmm, it wasn’t an unpleasant feeling though…’

Since Demian’s voice was inherently low and pleasant to hear, she had been particularly pleased.

Thinking it was purely her imagination made Arasila feel slightly disappointed. Not that she intended to beg him to call her by name.

Not long after, Demian returned to the carriage, and the subjugation team set off towards the capital.

With her arm injured, making it awkward to read books, Arasila looked out the window with a bored expression and suddenly spoke up.

“Do you think the Vandermir ducal family instigated Ken?”

“The probability is very high, but we can’t rule out other possibilities.”

“What do you mean? Are there others besides them who want to eliminate you?”

Demian remained silent for a moment as if pondering, then slowly opened his mouth.

“I’m not certain. But it seems someone from the imperial family is involved in this incident.”

He told Arasila in detail about the conversation he had with Ben Diak when receiving the request from the imperial family. It was information he hadn’t shared before, thinking there was no particular need to worry about it.

Arasila’s expression became quite serious upon learning about the anonymous high-ranking imperial official just now.

“Have you offended someone in the imperial family?”

“…Not particularly. That’s why I suspect there might be someone in the imperial family with hidden connections to the Vandermir ducal family, or that this was done after receiving a short-term bribe from them.”

Demian hesitated slightly and deliberately omitted the story about Frederick in his answer. Frederick would still be a friend to Arasila, so he couldn’t easily express suspicion.

Moreover, he didn’t want to tell her about Frederick’s feelings for her with his own mouth.

“Hmm, that could be possible.”

There was no reason for the imperial side to try to eliminate Demian.

Unless they had personal animosity towards Demian or were in collusion with the Vandermir ducal family and wanted to maintain their power.

What’s certain is that they’ll only know for sure after investigating in the capital.

Audrey did not accompany Arasila to the West. The monster subjugation operation was dangerous, and originally she didn’t accompany on magic tower missions.

While quietly cleaning the mansion waiting for Arasila and Demian’s return, she nearly fainted when she suddenly saw her mistress return wrapped in bandages.

When Arasila was being carried out of the carriage in Demian’s arms, Audrey had laughed saying, “Oh my!” But when she properly checked her condition in the room, it was a mess.

“Madam, what on earth happened? How did you get injured like this…?”

Demian flinched at the question that fully conveyed her shocked feelings. The guilt that it was because of him stung sharply.

“All sorts of things can happen when subjugating monsters.”

Arasila brushed it off casually. She didn’t really want to explain the circumstances in detail in front of Audrey.

It could possibly be perceived as blaming Demian, who was still standing there without leaving.

Audrey kept examining the injured arm and leg with a tearful face.

“But you’ve never come back injured like this before.”

“People don’t just fall when they’re babies. Even adults who can walk well can fall anytime, it’s the same thing.”

Arasila patted Audrey’s shoulder and smiled brightly.

“And Sally and Ludi said they contacted the magic tower to send a specialist in healing potion production, so don’t worry too much.”

This was meant not just for Audrey, but for Demian as well.

Arasila looked at Demian standing tall behind the maid.

At him, who seemed ready to keep standing like a statue if she didn’t tell him to leave.