Chapter 6

Chapter 6

***

“Huh, responsibility?”

Helen looked up at him with a panicked look in her eyes.

“Yes. Responsibility.”

The man smiled happily as he repeated.

He looked so beautiful that Helen felt her face heat up.

“Thank you so much. I can’t tell you how much it means to me that you’re helping me.”

“Oh, I haven’t even solved the problem yet.”

“If you solve this mystery for me, I’ll give you everything. And if you have any problem, I’ll help you solve it.”

“No.”

That’s too much pressure.

Helen avoided the passionate man’s gaze.

Last night alone she acted like a fierce wolf,  what was she doing today? Helen wondered.

Helen got up from her seat where she could not sit close to the man at all because he kept saying thank you.

The man acted as if he was disappointed as he watched Helen move to the other side.

“Can’t you sit next to me? I’ve never done anything like this before.”

He had sat by corpses once, and they came and wanted to kill him, but he had never answered their questions or spoken to them.

And the next day, the bodies that were steadily piled up disappeared.

“You’re the first person I’ve ever seen alive.”

Helen felt a twinge go up her spine as the man spoke.

“A live person?”

Helen was scared. As soon as she entered the library, the man had the sword on her neck.

He asked if she was there to kill him. Helen touched her neck as she recalled what happened the other night.

“I didn’t mean to scare you. It won’t happen again.”

The man said as if he had read her thoughts.

“Are you afraid of me?”

“….”

“You aren’t answering.”

‘You’re in trouble. I’m the only one who can help you.’

A red warning light flashed in the man’s head.

“Look ….”

Helen, who was nervous, flinched as the man reached out.

“What, what’s wrong?”

The man eventually took his hand back.

“I’m sorry.”

His shoulders drooped as if he was discouraged, and he was just staring at the window as if he had noticed Helen was afraid to make eye contact.

There was a moment of silence, then Helen gathered up her courage and asked.

“What is your name?”

“My name?”

“I can’t keep calling you, you…”

He was a scary man, but if she could help him, she would return to her peaceful life again.

But when asked, the man’s unhappy forehead was wrinkled deeper.

“I don’t know.”

“…What? You don’t know your name?”

“I told you. I don’t remember.”

“You don’t even know your name?”

“I really don’t know anything. I don’t know where I came from, why I was locked in this library, why I started coming in here so often at night, what country I was born in, or even if I’m a lowborn or a noble.”

The man’s face was calm as he spoke. Three years had passed since he had come to know that he had no memory of his own.

It had been longer than that. But he stopped counting after 3 years.

When Helen heard his words, her face was stained with astonishment.

‘What in the world is this man doing?’

How could he be so nonchalant when his life was threatened? The sight shocked Helen, and before she knew it, she let out a dying sound.

“Oh.”

Helen was startled and covered her mouth.

Would it be disrespectful if she showed her surprised expression?

The man smiled softly as he watched Helen store her expression.

“I think I’m a knight like you said. Since I’m good with swords.”

“Yes.”

“I knew one thing about me after I met you. Thank you.”

After meeting Helen, the man’s mood was at an all-time high.

He was meeting someone he could talk to for the first time, except for himself, and that person was very kind and helped him.

The man spontaneously got up from his seat and sat down next to Helen.

Helen’s efforts to move her seat earlier were wasted.

“Are you always this unconcerned by nature?”

“I am unconcerned?”

“Yes. You’re too close.”

Helen’s cheeks turned slightly red.

How could the man be so shameless?

He held her hands after meeting her twice, embraced her, and sat next to her and exchanged warmth.

There hadn’t been many men she’d met separately besides him, but none of them were this friendly. Helen’s face flushed and the man chuckled.

“I’m sorry.”

He was too quick to apologize.

‘You don’t seem to be a nobleman. …… It’s rude to say this, isn’t it?’

Helen looked out the window, cooling her hot face with her hand.

Her reflection in the window was like a red tomato.

‘Calm down…!’

Her heart raced so wildly even he was sitting next to her. However, the man seemed fine.

Taking a deep breath, Helen opened her eyes.

Her redness lessened slightly as she checked her reflection in the window. Then she saw the man was staring at her.

“Why are you looking at me?”

“It’s just unusual.”

“Me?”

“Your hair is golden, I’ve never seen the sun, but I think it’ll be this color if I see it.”

The man touched Helen’s hair with his hand.

He took a handful and smelled the scent.

Helen was more shocked that this man had never seen the sun once than the fact that he was holding her hair and smelling it.

“You… You’ve never even seen the sun?”

“Yes.”

“Why… Why?”

“Others don’t seem so surprised like you do.”

The man smiled and let go of Helen’s hair.

Helen hurriedly rearranged her hair, which had become a mess because of the man’s touch.

“I don’t know what to tell you. It seems like I always fall asleep during the day.”

“Huh?”

“To be precise, I faint in the daytime.”

“And you wake up at night?”

“Yes, that’s right. This is where I always closed my eyes, and this is where I always opened them. I think I can’t get out of here.”

“How long have you been in the Emperor’s library?”

“Hmm… three years…? 5 years…?  It could be longer than that. I can’t remember.”

Every day was the same. At first, he tried to escape on his own, and even broke this hellish library.

However, he could not go outside as if there was an invisible barrier that prevented him from leaving.

He tried to reach out to others for help, but oddly enough, he didn’t see a single ant nearby.

So every day was the same, and time passed.

It was a boring and lonely time. The occasional assassination was a welcome situation.

“You must have a hard time….”

“Yes. That’s why you have to keep coming.”

The man leaned his head on Helen’s small shoulder.

Helen giggled at the sight for some reason.

For the first time he felt so happy after meeting Helen.

‘Thank you.’

The man grabbed a handful of Helen’s hair. He whispered to Helen, as he fiddled it with his hand.

“Thank you so much.”

He didn’t know if he might have died already if Helen came a little later.

He was so heartbroken, so lonely, so fed up.

“I, I …. What did I do to deserve this?”

Helen was perplexed because the man was so close.

She wanted to push him away, but he was too big to be pushed back.

She felt so sorry for the man. And she understood his feelings.

She, too, had lived her life trapped in a tower.

But she could go out once in a while…

Helen slowly raised her hand, gathering her courage. She looked at the man who was fiddling with her hair, he seemed to like to touch it.

“If I can help, I will.”

Helen stroked the man’s hair. His dark hair was tangled in her hands.

She felt strange.

It was the first time she touched another person’s hair.

“Really?”

The man’s voice was full of expectations.

“Um, I said I would only help where I could!”

“I heard you.”

‘I’m afraid you’re going to scare me again.”

“No, I won’t.”

The man was afraid that Helen would disappear, and he wanted to hold her more.

Then he could be sure that this woman was not a fantasy.

But if he held her, she would yell, telling him not to come near her for a while.

Staring at her golden hair, the man raised his head towards Helen.

The man’s gaze confused Helen and she spat out what she thought.

“I think we need to escape. But how do we do that?”

“Escape …..”

The words were somewhat subtle. No conviction, no denial, and no question.

After those words, the man who had fled to think for a moment rose from his seat.

Helen looked up at him.

He was a very tall man, and he looked very intimidating standing in front of her.

“Let’s go.”

“Where?”

“I have something to show you.”

The man held out his hand. It was so obvious that Helen couldn’t help but to hold his hand.

“But I can just walk without holding hands.”

Helen tried to pull her hand out again.

It was uncomfortable to be too close to the man for no reason.

But the man seemed to have no intention of letting go, he ignored her words and walked on, holding her hand.

“Excuse me.”

Helen whimpered and tried to pull her hand out, but it was impossible.

“Hold on. It’s dark and these bookshelves fall easily.”

“Ah.”

Just as the man finished talking, Helen tripped over something and fell down.

The man immediately helped Helen sit up and hugged her. He rubbed her forehead.

‘What kind of chest is as hard as a wall?’

What chest is as hard as a wall?

“Look at that.”

The man said in a proud voice as if his prediction was right.

Helen nodded quietly at the look.

“By the way, what caught my feet?”

As Helen turned away to look down, a man blocked Helen’s view with his hand.

“It’s better not to look.”

The words were full of meaning.

Something squishy was felt on her feet, and the man’s words from earlier popped into her head.

“You are the first person alive.”

In an instant, an eerie feeling rose up her back and to the top of my head. As she rubbed her goosebump arm, the man stepped forward, obscuring Helen’s view.

“They’ll be gone by tomorrow night. I told you it would be hard to walk.”

‘And you didn’t tell me there would be dead bodies!’

The man said calmly, but Helen was already scared. She started to notice that there was a fishy smell in the air. She grabbed the man’s neck tightly in fear.

“Would you like me to hold you if it’s difficult for you to walk?”

“Oh, no, sir.”

“You can tell me anytime. Your word is my first priority.”

The man spoke naturally.

Then he walked first and kicked away what caught her foot.

Helen grabbed the man’s hand and walked on, her heart was burning for no reason.

She never thought she’d hear those words.

“Your word is my first priority.”

She had always been an afterthought, a subject of discussion.

For the first time, Helen’s heart fluttered at the respectful words.

“Thank you.”

The man couldn’t hear her as he was busy kicking something. Helen muttered to herself.