CH 31

(Lucia’s pov)

‘It’s dark.’

It was black, empty space as if nothing existed. I stared ahead, yes, it was as if I were dead.

‘How dare you.’

A resentful whisper buzzed around my ears.

There were no words to answer the wounded face that came into my mind faintly. No arms, no legs, nothing. There was nothing I could do.

‘I’d rather be happy.’

Rather than spitting out the selfish excuses where I didn’t intentionally try to deceive.

It occurred to me that it might be better to just say nothing like this.

~*~

As soon as I came to consciousness, I could feel that I’ve been lying down for quite a long time. Bright sunlight shone between the thin canopy of my bed and warmed my body.

There’s a theory that the fortress is gloomy, but it’s actually brighter and more pleasant than anywhere else.

“…Ah.”

I tried to say something.

Even though I was lying down for quite a long time, my throat didn’t feel bad. I felt light-hearted after waking up from the crisis. I then got up and looked around. Everything felt familiar.

My room, my bed, and above all, Tina is sleeping by the bedside with her beautiful blonde hair flowing down. Suddenly, I remembered Tina running towards me while crying just before my eyes closed.

“…Tina, how much did you cry? Your eyes are swollen.”

She held my hand tightly while she’s asleep. I carefully reached out with my other hand and tucked her hair behind her ears. Her sleeping position looked very uncomfortable, so I thought about waking her up and sending her to a room for a while.

[Leave her alone.]

I heard Sagna’s voice nearby. He’s been sitting by the window of my room while staring at me for quite some time. He then flew up and settled on my blanket.

[She’s been singing all day.]

“…”

[The wound healed to a certain extent so it should be fine, but she kept trying to sing until you woke up, so I sprinkled sleeping powder and forced her to sleep. So, leave her alone.]

“…Then I’ll take her to a better place..”

[We tried to do the same thing, but the princess held your hand tightly and wouldn’t let go. That little thing is powerful.]

Sagna shook his head as if he were sick of it. I laughed profusely.

Fortunately, Tina loosened her hand when I slightly patted her head. Sagna tried to look brave, but he just looked cute to me.

“That’s why I’m in such good shape from listening to healing songs all day.”

[Three days.]

“What?”

Sagna spread his wings and expressed three.

[You were down for three days.]

“…Three days?”

[The abdominal wound is still not fully recovered, so be careful. What the hell did you get stabbed with?]

“Well…”

I shut my mouth when a face popped in my mind while I was talking.

Right. He stabbed me. When I recalled that time, the wound had been quite painful.

‘In the end… it was a strange power.’

The warrior has never had that ability in the game. The ability wasn’t weak, for it was powerful enough to pierce me at once. I became troubled for a moment and asked Sagna.

“…Where’s the warrior?”

[Why are you worried about the person who stabbed through your stomach?]

“He could’ve just killed me and walked away.”

[Hm. He didn’t kill you. I thought you were that kid’s lover.]

I felt like I was out of breath the moment Sagna grumbled.

“…What?”

[It’s been three days since you have been down. All this time, the bloody warrior was standing motionless in front of your door.]

He’s persistent, even more than the princess. Sagna didn’t stop grumbling, for he continued.

[No matter how much Deran and Derakal attacked him, he stayed still. That crazy guy. But he let them both get tired.]

Sagna looked more tired than Tina after he finished telling her the story. He then fluttered his wings as if he had not seen it.

[He didn’t eat for three days, didn’t sleep, didn’t budge. Is he dead? Like I said before, I looked at him several times. His eyes are open, but he’s got no soul inside. It’s like a wedge.]

Every time I listened to Sagna, my heart ached. He must be very hurt. I bit my lips and asked in a low voice.

“Is he still doing that?”

[As soon as he heard about your wounds being healed, he went back this morning.]

“What? Why did he do that?! You should’ve told him to wait a little longer, then we could’ve at least talked…”

[I don’t know. He said you wouldn’t want to see him? Anyways, I don’t like him.]

I pushed the grumpy Sagna aside and hurried out of my bed. There was a sore pain in my abdomen, but I was able to move by limping.

“Put Tina to sleep here. I’ll be back before the sleeping powder effect goes away and the riot that’ll happen.”

[What? Hey, what are you talking about? You can’t go now with that body!]

“To the lord’s castle.”

[You’re kidding! You’re not done being the maid? We’ve found the mahone stones, so you can stop now!]

Sagna’s cries stopped for a moment, but I moved quickly again to overshadow any slight hesitation. He’s not going to see me? That made me feel even more bitter.

“I’d rather him swear at me for deceiving him.”

I didn’t expect this ending, but it felt worse than I thought. Where did it get so twisted? The date for entering the castle was earlier than expected, and Haron didn’t fall into the hallucination trap. There was also that mysterious power that came out of nowhere.

…The mask is broken.

I turned my head toward the direction of the lord’s castle.

I know that I don’t have to be involved with him now since my identity has been revealed. No, it’s better to not get involved.

“But I don’t like that.”

But he’s not going to see me? What can I do, I need to see him one last time. Still, I don’t want to have such a sad ending.

~*~

You would think that you’ll have the courage to do anything if it’s the last moment of your life.

I headed toward the lord’s castle at such a fast pace where no one could even tell that I was a patient lying down just before.

I knew it was reckless, but I couldn’t stay still, and I had faith that he wouldn’t harm me. He already had many chances to easily kill me in the first place.

The whole city was noisy all the way to the lord’s castle. Naturally, the main topic was about the warrior, the devil, and the crushing failure. Although I managed to escape the noisy streets and came to the lord’s castle, it was also in a chaotic mood.

I had not been there for several days so I could hear the whispers around me. In fact, there were people who knew I was the maid in charge of the warrior and they tried to sneak up and talk about him to me, but I ignored them all.

“Whoa.”

I took a deep breath in front of Haron’s room and opened the door with a knock.

“…”

I thought he would be healing his wounds or sleeping because he had just returned from the devil’s castle, but that wasn’t the case. He stood blankly by the window while looking out, and then slowly turned his head to face me.

“…Why.”

His wounded tone said to me quietly. There was no sadness, no pain, and no anger in his eyes. It was just empty. Looking at them, I could easily remember what Sagna had said to me.

Eyes that look completely dead.

I purposely pulled up the corner of my mouth and tried to laugh

“I’m at work.”

“…”

“But I’m afraid this will be my last day at work… huh.”

An awkward silence filled between the two of us. Haron turned his head away silently and looked out of the window again. His eyes were out of focus while staring out.

I slowly turned around and did what I would’ve normally done. Haron only stood there while I wandered around the room. I couldn’t predict what he was thinking at all.

‘…I don’t even know what I am doing.’

I came because I just wanted to converse, but it’s hard to do that when the other person is acting that way. The only way to measure the timing of the conversation was to work slowly. I came to work at a late hour, well after noon, and the time I usually get off of work is just around the corner.

‘Before I go back, I have to say something.’

In the end, I couldn’t say a thing, and then I heard the bell ringing from a distance. I thought for a moment if I should say I’m working overtime today, but I shook my head. I wouldn’t want to disturb his rest.

Now that we know we’re both safe and we’ve seen each other for the last time, that’s enough. I got up from my seat after organizing his bookshelf for the last time.

“Well, I’ll be going now.”

“…”

“Thank you so much for all this time. I’m not lying. I’m saying this from the bottom of my heart. And… I’m sorry I lied to you.”

He didn’t answer any of my comments. After a moment of hesitation, I turned around quietly and opened the door halfway. The door then closed with a bang.

He was standing by the window, but he then came right behind me and reached out to shut the door. I instantly became trapped between him and the door.

“…Stop.”

Haron carefully hugged me from behind.

It was a really bold move from him considering he had always been confused and flustered around contacts.

“I wondered… how it would’ve been if Lucia was an ordinary maid and I was an ordinary knight.”

He murmured in a low and lazy voice. An ordinary knight and maid. It was definitely a heart-warming story. At the same time, it was a sad feeling to compare it to the reality that could never happen.

Haron hesitated for quite some time in that state.

“…Maybe, if I choose to give up being a warrior… then.”

His voice became even lower, however it was more like a plea than a threat.

“… Would you come with me?”