Chapter 18

It’s Altair!

She couldn’t see Altair’s face because it was half covered by his coat’s hood, but she could recognise him by his intimidating aura and chilling voice.

He’s back safely…

She was worried because the wish bracelet broke.

Fortunately, he didn’t seem to be seriously injured. His voice was lower than usual, but he showed no sign of pain, and his gait was fine.

As I thought, the bracelet broke because my skills were poor.

Nadia internally let out a sigh of relief. At that moment, Count Gallard, who was grabbing her wrist, squeezed it even harder, causing her great pain.

“Ugh!”

“You-, you are finally back, Baron Aylesford!”

Count Gallard, who had been shouting with arrogance a moment ago, hurriedly threw her hand away for some reason. Pushed by the tremendous force, Nadia staggered and collapsed to the ground.

Ah…

As she frowned, touching the wrist that was violently held, a huge shadow fell over her head. It was Altair.

He had taken off his hood and was glaring at Count Gallard fiercely.

“Count Gallard, you came and make a scene at someone’s house right when the owner was not present. Are you insane?”

“You-, you-, you’re back early, Baron!”

Count Gallard took out his handkerchief and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead at Altair’s blazing eyes. Even in his stubborn eyes, Altair looked scary.

“Why don’t you tell me what brought you here, Count? You’ll have to tell me the reason why you yelled at my knights and why you treated my wife so recklessly.”

“Ack!”

Count Gallard, startled, took a step back from him. The soldiers of Gallard firmly lined up behind the count, yet, his shoulders were shaking nonstop at Altair’s piercing gaze.

“I thought the baron can’t e back? Didn’t you say he’d be badly injured even if he returned?”

The Count grabbed a man among the soldiers and plained.

The despicable man seemed to think that he was whispering, but seeing how the count’s voice was clearly audible even to Nadia, it seemed that everyone there could hear what he was saying.

“I came here because I thought we could take the manastone mine without the baron, but that bastard is fine!”

“I-, I definitely heard that he went to catch the dragon on his own! It-, it’s incredibly strong, so fighting it alone would be like suicide…”

Altair, who had been quietly listening to the two trembling conversations, drew a sword from his waist with a smirk.

(schwing)

As the sword was drawn with a chilling sound, the grumbling count and the man shut their mouths at once.

“Blan.”

“Yes.”

Altair watched the two of them as he called for Blan.

“Bringing troops into someone else’s territory without approval is equivalent to a declaration of war, right?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Then, beheading the intruder right here would be self-defence.”

“That’s also true. It’s very legitimate…as defence.”

Blan emphasised the word ‘legitimate’ and drew a sword from his waistband. As if that was a signal, the knights of Aylesford who were surrounding them also began to draw their swords one by one.

(schwing, schwing)

Count Gallard trembled at the chilling echo ing from all sides and turned around. It looked like he was about to run away, but Altair was faster and reached out to grab his shoulder.

“Ack!”

“Where are you going? Huh?”’

“I’m-, I’m sorry! I went insane for a moment and made a mistake! This won’t happen again!”

“You should be apologising to my wife, not me.”

At Altair’s words, the Count turned to Nadia, who was sitting on the ground, and apologised in a slapdash manner.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

“You should apologise more politely, Count.”

Upon saying so, Altair kicked the count in the hamstrings. The count’s legs bent helplessly and he ended up kneeling in front of Nadia.

Having to kneel in front of a young woman while everyone was watching, the count’s face turned red with shame.

“Apologise. You haven’t done it properly yet.”

“…I’m sorry. I made a mistake. It won’t happen again.”

The Count apologised in a voice close to whispering and then jumped up from his seat in hast.

His legs were trembling, it could be either from fear or shame. And without delay, he turned and ran away with surprising speed. Because of that, his feet were twisted and he eventually rolled on the ground. But he quickly got up and fled away.

Altair did not bother to pursue the Count. It seemed that he had no intention of colliding with him in the first place.

“Would it be okay? He’s still a count…”

As Nadia got up and brushed off the dirt from her dress, Altair frowned and inserted his sword.

“He didn’t have the courage to fight against us anyway. That’s why he broke into an ownerless house like a rat and made a ruckus. And now that I’m at it, it seems like the dogs guarding the house couldn’t handle it properly.”

Altair’s cold gaze shot directly at the knights. At that, the knights simply lowered their heads as they had nothing to say for themselves.

“All of you will be disciplined for failing to fulfill your assigned duties. Go in and reflect on yourself.”

“Yes, my Lord.”

The knights bowed their heads with stiffened faces. Even Cain, who was normally cheerful, was rigid.

However, it was not only the knights who should be blamed by Altair. If the lord was away, she, the Lord’s wife, must protect their household as the owner as well.

Yet, the way she handled it got herself zero points. Far from showing her dignity as the baroness, she was overpowered by the count and got pushed to the ground.

“I-, I’m sorry!”

Upon saying so, she bowed apologetically towards Altair. Feeling Altair’s strong gaze piercing the top of her head, she couldn’t speak coherently and stammered.

“I was there…but I couldn’t handle it properly…”

“…”

Nadia thought he would get angry with her as he did with the knights, but Altair didn’t respond.

Wondering why, she secretly raised her head, and before she knew it Altair was only inches away from her.

She was so surprised that she was about to back away, when Altair reached out and grabbed her by the wrist.

“You’re going to get bruises. You’d better apply some medicine to it.”

“He just grabbed my wrist.”

“But hand marks are left like this. As I thought, you are too weak.”

Altair frowned and examined her wrist meticulously. Unlike the arrogant count, she felt strange at the cautious touch.

But…

A smell tickled her nose with Altair approaching. It was a smell that was no longer new to her.

Don’t tell me…!

As she searched for the source of the smell, she immediately opened the coat Altair was wearing. And to her horror, his abdomen was stained dark red.

“Bl-blood…!”

Trembling, she lifted her head and looked at Altair. His face was so calm that it was hard to imagine that he was injured.

“Oh, I got injured a little while fighting the dragon.”

“A-,a-, a little?!! A little doesn’t e with this much blood!”

She felt like she would faint at any moment due to her fear of blood, but she forced her eyes open and checked Altair’s condition. As if it was still bleeding, the dark red area was getting bigger and bigger.

“We-, we need to get a doctor right away!”

“No need. You don’t have to make a fuss over something like this.”

“What are you talking about?! If-, if you bleed that much, you’ll die!”

She bit her lip hard. Her parents, who had been in a carriage accident, also died from losing too much blood. It felt like the horrifying scene of her parents covered in blood with their eyes shut was still vivid in her mind.

“Hey….? Why are you shaking so much?”

Altair reached out and wrapped his arms around Nadia’s shoulders. The tremors did not subside even when his large hands were wrapped around her body stably. Tears welled up in her eyes.

“Don’t-, don’t be like this. Let’s-, let’s get treatment, okay?”

She grabbed Altair’s cloak with trembling hands and pulled it carefully.

Fortunately, Altair, who had rejected her offer thinking it would make too much of a fuss, did not refuse this time. It seemed her earnestness had been conveyed.

“Okay. I’m going to get treatment or whatever you said. So don’t be afraid, alright?”

Altair looked at her with a slightly nervous expression.

At that, she tightened her quivering grips on Altair, nodding vehemently. All she could think about was getting him into a warm, fortable bed.

❈❈❈

The urgently called in doctor got rid of Altair’s blood-soaked clothes without an ounce of hesitation the second he arrived. Moments after, a huge wound on his abdomen was revealed.

(Gasp)!

Nadia held tightly onto the hem of her skirt so as not to lose consciousness. Whilst the treated patient was calm, the acpanied guardian was about to lose her mind.

“Oh my. The wound is quite big this time. First, I’ll stop the bleeding and seal it up, then I’ll prescribe painkillers.”

Even though it was a huge wound that seemed fatal to her, the doctor just moved his hands leisurely as if he was used to it. Not only the patient, Altair, but also Pavel and Blan, who were sitting together, seemed to be undisturbed.

Why are they all so calm…?

It seemed like they were used to this kind of thing.

Ah. On a closer look…

Altair’s body was full of large and small wounds. Some looked very old, some looked recent.

It must have been very painful!

Just papercuts made her shed tears from the sore pain, it must have been excruciating if scars such as those were left behind.

It must hurt a lot right now, he must be holding it in!

Hoping to ease the pain, even if it’s just a little bit, Nadia approached Altair and talked to him.

“Does it hurt a lot?”

When she asked cautiously, Altair’s eyebrows twitched.

“And what if it hurts?”

“I-, I was wondering if I could hold your hand…When I was little, my mother would hold my hand when I was sick, and it would make me feel better… I’ve never been seriously injured like this though….”

Was it too childish of a solution?

As she mumbled and muffled at the end of her words, Altair’s eyebrows twitched once more. Briefly after, he held out his hand to her.

“It hurts.”

“Pardon?”

“I thought you said you would hold my hand if I’m hurt? Hurry up and grab it. I think it will be less painful then.”

“Ye-yes!”

At Altair’s urging, she quickly wrapped both of her small hands around his large one. Altair’s hand felt slightly hot. Perhaps he got a little sick because of the wound.

T/n: No, grrl. Pretty sure he’s blushing  Sly dude tho

❈❈❈

After the treatment, the doctor gave some precautions.

‘Do not let him move forcefully, tell him to take painkillers whenever he feels sick, and change his bandage every day.’

Nadia opened the door, recalling the doctor’s request several times so as not to forget. Altair was asleep with his eyes tightly closed, perhaps because of the side effect of painkillers.

The fact that Altair, who had been away from the couple’s bedroom for a while, was lying here made her feel strange.

But she soon shook her head, shaking off her thoughts, and sat down on the bed.

For now, let’s take good care of Altair until he gets better! This is the role of a wife!

As she looked down at Altair with enthusiasm, his eyelids seemed to tremble for some reason. But since he was asleep from drugs, it must have just been an illusion of her own.