CH 85

“You didn’t mention anything to the Young Lady, did you?”

“Yes, I didn’t. I just said everyone was fine.”

Maro responded with a tired face to Falden’s question.

“She’s a quite good-natured person. Even if she asks, just answer vaguely. Don’t fall for any leading questions.”

“If I didn’t answer, I didn’t, why did I fall for a leading question?”

Maro groaned and took the lead, only to stumble forward suddenly.

Before his body fell forward, Falden approached quickly and Hiik! He lifted Maro up and onto his shoulders like a bale of hay. 

“…Thank you, Your Highness.”

He, who had been grumbling, finally let go of his sullen mind. 

Falden entered the temporary barracks and laid him on an extra bed, then forced his mouth to open and gave him three bottles of potions one after another.

He will now take care of refilling the drained mana through mana breathing.

Falden turned and looked to the side.

On an extra bed made from roughly cut large trees.

“Ughhh, S, Serdel… Mother… Father… R, Redan… N, no… C, calm down…”

Addis, the heir and eldest daughter of Count Robbesta, was groaning.

“Haa.”

As he was washing his face dry with one hand, someone came into the barracks.

It was Redan. 

Having retrieved a basin full of rainwater, he silently took a towel and wiped Addis’ face, neck, arms, and hands.

Most of her upper body was wrapped in bandages, and blood was slowly seeping between them.

The more the bandages reddened, the more Addis’s face grew pale and tired.

One wound to save Redan.

Another wound, to save the adjutant.

Other than that, she fought with endless crowds of monsters.

It would have been okay if she had been treated right away, but she didn’t accept any.

Because the battle was so fierce, the number of wounded was endless, so she gave her spot in line away, and gave it away again to another person. 

Then the wizards encountered a huge problem.

“Damn it, I wish it wasn’t magi.”

Magi infected wounds couldn’t be cured with potions.

Any treatment was useless except for the healing magic of the wizards because the strong magi that was stuck like a tick in her wounds.

Helplessly, she’ll be receiving treatment tomorrow morning.

“…Redan. C, calm down…”

What kind of dream was Addis having? Addis shed tears as she continued to look for her family after losing consciousness.

At first, she called Serdel’s name and apologized endlessly that she was sorry, but later she looked for her mother, father, and lastly, Redan.

When she called him, she said the same thing over and over again. Like calm down, it’s okay, don’t get too excited, don’t go crazy, and come to your senses. 

And now. 

“….it’s really…hard…mother. It’s…really hard.”

She complained about the pain of life.

Redan’s hand stopped.

He raised his head and looked at Addis blankly. She was always a person ahead of him.

She always keeps her back straight. 

Addis never looked back even once. 

So, even though he knew that she had a weak heart, he thought she would be fine. 

But she wasn’t.

She had been tired for a long time.

To be honest, he was vaguely aware of it.

He just turned away.

Falden sneaked into the room after noticing the sobbing Addis and Redan’s increasingly dangerous aura while watching her.

“…Dame Addis is not an ambitious knight.”

“….”

“She’s just a simple and honest knight. A person who doesn’t have a desire for power is not fit to lead a family.”

“….”

“Dame Addis is the person most suited to knights. and Sir Redan. You are the person most suited to the position of the successor.”

Redan’s head slowly bowed down.

“Don’t you think it’s time to break down your barriers? I apologize in advance if I’m being presumptuous.”

To cheer him up, he gave him a few patted on the shoulder and left the barracks.

Redan moved his stopped hand again.

Tears welled up in his eyes as he carefully wiped Addis’ face. His body trembled as he pressed his lips together to prevent the sound of crying from escaping. 

He was afraid of the responsibility he had to take.

Even his father, whom he had admired, couldn’t protect his mother.

He thought and feared that he wouldn’t be able to protect his loved ones, and he ran away at that moment.

He thought he was going to die.

Giving up one made it easier to give up the two. Then later the three, then four.

Even though he kept throwing them away like that, he couldn’t let go of one thing, his obsession with the one who made his mother like that.

That alone has become a driving force in his life, forcing him to endure.

But then—.

While he was throwing his life away, his sister’s heart died.

Is this what he was hoping for?

His younger sister, who was only weak, was walking her own way, but he was the only one who stopped.

Like an idiot, just let him die.

Why would you save me!

If he dies, he will be able to meet his mother. Just leave it like that.

“I’m sorry… I’m sorry, Nuna…” 

He suddenly remembered what Serdel had said.

“Even a genius knight is a human.”

At that time, he thought she was overly worried about everything.

As Serdel said, a genius knight was also a human.

They can become weaker than anyone else.

She was an ordinary person.

It’s just that he didn’t know—.

Throughout the dawn, Addis groaned in pain.

Listening to it all silently, Redan took care of her.

No more tears came out.

A thin ray of light leaked in from the entrance of the barracks as the dawn had risen.

His gaze, which had been fixed only on Addis, moved along with the light.

“Whooo~” 

Then, with a deep breath, Maro opened his eyes.

“I survived.” 

He murmured and looked around. He and Henry, who arrived just in time, went to treat Addis.

After watching over them for a while, Redan got up and left the barracks.

The rain that had been pouring steadily suddenly stopped and a bright sky greeted them.

“….”

Perhaps because he had accepted Addis’ weak side, which he would have ignored before, his mind was strangely clear.

It seemed as if the foggy mist that had been covering his eyes had been lifted.

“The treatment is over.”

He went straight to the barracks at the blunt voice he heard from inside.

Addis was up.

Her complexion was very good.

“Are you awake?” 

“Sorry for worrying you.”

“If you know that, brace yourself.”

“Where does that mean?”

“Nuna, are you still a genius knight?”

As always, while grumbling, he helped her put on the armor, just in case she was still in pain.

Just in time, Falden, Damon, and Belters entered, they saw her and were relieved.

Falden nodded with an indifferent look.

“Come out and eat.”

“Did Your Highness make it again?”

“Then who makes it? I want to eat delicious food too. There’s no one who makes it as delicious as me. What can I do?”

Looking at the grumpy Falden, Redan suddenly burst into laughter as if he had remembered something.

“What is this, have you gone mad?”

“No, it’s not that. I suddenly remembered the soup Serdel made me when I was a child.”

“Ah, the soil soup.” 

Addis shook her head.

“It was a soup that a living human could never eat.”

“Then, holding the pot saved my life. There was a time when she was going to make food while we were away from our party, so I stopped her.”

Addis and Redan burst into laughter as they watched Falden, who looked serious.

No one talked about what happened last night.

After such a simple meal.

The battle resumed.

******

Five days have passed since then, but there has been no news from the wizard tower.

Serdel was not in a hurry, and she had expected it to be a while to some extent.

Rather, this late response is proof that they have been interested in watching Count Robbesta’s movements.

‘They would be reluctant to approach me, who entered the Imperial Palace twice in a row.’

Wizards have strong pride, a high nose, and a strong sense of superiority, but they also have a lot of curiosity.

They are wary now because they think their meeting with her will not end in a simple transaction.

The period will not exceed 10 days.

Knock, knock. 

It was the butler who came inside.

“Lady, Count Maient has sent a man here.”

Serdel’s brow wrinkled as she was about to drink the tea freshly brewed by her maid.

“Should I send them back?”

“No. You don’t have to. Bring him inside.”

She was smiling brightly, but Serdel’s mood changed in an instant.

After a while.

“I greet the Count Robbesta’s Lady.” 

Count Maient’s aide, after a brief greeting, pulled a letter from his arms.

“The Count ordered me to deliver a message and then asked for an answer.”

I quickly skimmed through the content.

I just heard that you came back safely? I’m so glad you didn’t get hurt. Did I worry too much?

At the bottom of the long-line of generic well wishing phrases.

He wrote that he wanted to talk to her alone, so he wanted to see her tomorrow.

It was obvious what he was going to say.

Serdel tore up the letter right away.