Chapter 68.1

9. Mind and heart

Yurina hurriedly checked Reynard from head to toe. The latter lay motionless and with a pale face, as if a real dead man.

If she hadn’t put her finger under his nose again and again, Yurina would have thought that Raynard was dead.

Now Yurina put her hand under his nose once again and exhaled in relief. Despite this, Reynard’s breathing was so weak that Yurina couldn’t calm her worries to the end.

“He’ll be all right, won’t he?”

“Yeah. Even though the wound was serious, the imperial mages made it in time. I was worried that he had spilled a lot of blood, but Mr. Reynard passed fencing as a pastime, didn’t it? His stamina shouldn’t be a problem.”

The physician of the Carthia House, Rodrik, replied in a calm tone. He had known Yurina since she was born, and he spoke to her as if comforting his frightened granddaughter. However, his words reached Yurina as if through a veil.

“Will there be any side effects?”

“He may be ill for a couple of days. Because the torn flesh and muscle had been forcibly spliced together by magic.”

And when Yurina’s expression quickly changed to panic, he hurriedly added:

“Even so, his pain will be no worse than after over-training with a sword. Don’t worry too much, milady.”

Even if it was just muscle pain, as he said, the pain was still pain. Yurina shivered and bit her lip as complex emotions flooded in her heart. Rodrik hesitated, and then patted Yurina on the shoulder.

Yurina looked at him and, under an effort of will, forced out a smile. But it was a smile that looked more like tears than laughter.

“When will he wake up?”

“I think it’s tonight or tomorrow morning.”

“I…”

Yurina was momentarily speechless due to the emotion that took her breath away and took a deep breath through her nose.

“Is there anything I can do?”

Rodrik looked into Yurina’s reddened eyes, and then moved his gaze to Reynard, who was still motionless.

He had seen Raynard since he arrived at the Carthia mansion.

In his eyes, Yurina and Reynard, who hung around the mansion all day long, were as cute as his own grandchildren.

It was nice to see these sweet little children grow up so well, but it always bothered him that one of them was suffering and the other kept blaming himself for it.

That’s when he grabbed Yurina’s hand and placed it on Raynard’s arm.

“Just hold his hand and you will give him strength.”

Yurina nodded slowly. Even after Rodrik left the room, Yurina continued to hold Reynard’s hand.

His normally warm hand was now like ice. Yurina slipped her fingers between his and squeezed his hand tightly. Usually Reynard responded in kind, but this time there was no movement.

‘And why am I so upset about this little thing?’

Yurina, who still managed to swallow her rising emotions, carefully folded Reynard’s fingers, which were helplessly outstretched. His hand clasped hers like she wanted it to be, but Yurina was completely unhappy about it.

‘Everything is fine.’

She tried her best to convince herself.

‘The doctor said everything was fine.’

However, despite such words, Reynard’s tightly closed eyelids reminded her of the scene she had seen before. The figure of Reynard, lying on the ground, and his entire torso is completely covered in red blood.

Rodrik was afraid that she would be shocked, which is why he spoke as calmly as possible. But Reynard’s injuries were not to be taken lightly.

Yurina gasped at the terrible sight and couldn’t bear to look at it anymore.

His wound was so deep that even his right shoulder blade was visible. Not a sharp blade, but they were large wolf teeth, and the flesh was torn to shreds.

It was such a serious wound that the three imperial mages were only able to heal it by joining powers. At the end of the procedure, the mages were exhausted with fatigue.

Yurina personally saw the process, but of course, the memory of that scene wouldn’t leave her mind for a long time.

Besides, if he got hurt because of her…

Yurina covered her eyes tightly with her free hand. It looked like she was about to cry, but suddenly she was interrupted.

“Milady.”

The lock clicked, and Betsy stepped inside.

“I’ll take care of Reynard. So go ahead and rest. If it goes on like this, you will fall unconscious.”

Yurina shook her head helplessly while continuing to hide her eyes.

“Stay there.”

“Milady?”

“Stay there.”

“I’ll wait in the next room. So if you need anything, call me.”

“Betsy.”

Betsy, who was about to leave the room, returned to the call.

“Yes, milady.”

“Did you mention that Reynard suddenly jumped out in front of me? Where?”

“So it was. Raynard suddenly appeared from nowhere. Probably used his abilities. And then…”

Betsy glanced at Yurina and paused.

“Say it.”

“A wolf was about to attack you when Reynard hugged you from behind.”

Betsy’s voice trembled slightly at this point. For Betsy, who considered Reynard to be a little brother, this also became a horror.