Ch.39When Eyes Turn Red (5)

The light shatters.

The sunlight high in the sky collides with the snow, breaking into brilliant radiance and making everything around sparkle.

I turn my gaze from the red sunset that dyes the white snow crimson when I hear the commotion in the distance.

Knights approach, each carrying their family banner.

Some hold up the heads of beasts they’ve hunted,

while others show off sacks filled with animal carcasses as they head toward their respective houses.

“The knight should be coming soon. I wonder when he’ll arrive.”

“…He’ll probably be here shortly.”

So many people are coming down from the mountain. How many beasts have died?

Whenever I think about this, I find myself falling into unnecessary sentimentality, so I shake my head to clear my thoughts.

The anxiety lingering in a corner of my heart would soon disappear. Evan should appear any moment now.

“How many do you think he caught? Honestly, there’s no one here as strong as our knight.”

“Even Lord Adel probably can’t match Evan. Despite his age, his skills are top-tier even among experts.”

Rophena’s eyes sparkle at Lord Chris’s words.

I’m not sure how much Rophena, who knows little about swordsmanship, understood,

but I too was well aware that Evan’s abilities were beyond ordinary standards.

That’s why I told him not to feel burdened.

No matter how hard the knights here try, if Evan just puts in the effort, he could easily win.

“But doesn’t it seem noisy back there? I don’t see many knights coming down either.”

“…Hmm.”

My eyes narrow. Lord Chris looks out the window, then frowns and mutters.

“It seems there might be some problem. I should go check.”

“Let’s go together.”

“You can stay here. It’s probably nothing serious.”

“…Let’s go together.”

When I speak again, Lord Chris stares at me for a moment before nodding.

I felt I needed to see for myself.

Somehow, this trembling in my chest wouldn’t subside unless I confirmed it personally.

I was anxious. Though this hunting festival should have been completely safe, an inexplicable anxiety was suffocating me.

“It’ll be nothing serious.”

Rophena added those reassuring words out of concern, but my racing heart wouldn’t calm down.

I needed to see with my own eyes to ease this anxiety.

Though I didn’t know why I felt so uneasy, I was certain that seeing my knight in person would calm my heart.

As we stepped outside, in the distance I could see a knight covered in blood arguing with another knight.

Blood—seeing that red color made me frown. There was no knight here who would shed so much blood just hunting beasts.

A knight with torn armor, one side of it crushed as if by overwhelming force, trembled while holding a broken sword.

What reflected in his eyes was clear terror. With his mouth hanging open,

he just stared blankly at the other knight who was shouting at him.

“What nonsense are you talking about? Don’t say such absurd things! Didn’t Roman check this mountain himself? Such a thing couldn’t possibly happen!”

“But I saw it with my own eyes. It’s a troll. Nothing like any troll we’ve ever known. I saw James being torn apart with my own eyes. A person, torn by bare hands. How can we defeat that? If you had seen it yourself, you wouldn’t be saying this to me. That purple color! You don’t understand. You don’t know what I’ve seen!”

“You are weak! Even if a troll appeared, you should have drawn your sword and fought!”

“A troll? What are you talking about?”

Their gazes turn toward me—one filled with anger, the other with fear.

The angry knight, who had been breathing heavily, suddenly closed his mouth when he saw the emblem on Lord Chris’s armor.

“It’s a troll. There’s a troll up there!”

The frightened knight pointed toward the mountain peak.

After looking at his trembling finger for a moment,

Lord Chris followed his gaze and then turned to look at me, his lips quivering.

The shock in his eyes was evident, and as our eyes met, he immediately spoke.

“…It seems to be true. The problem is that I can also sense dark magic. We need to gather the knights. We should cooperate with Roman—”

“Lord Adel headed toward the peak. There was another knight with him, probably Lord Evan. I saw them both heading toward the peak, so they’re likely still up there.”

Evan.

I flinched involuntarily at that name.

Headed toward the mountain peak? Didn’t Lord Chris just say he sensed dark magic at the peak?

A troll and dark magic. I look at the frightened knight.

What happened to Evan then? My eyes flashed.

After quite some time, my cold gaze pierced through the knight, making him flinch when our eyes met.

“What happened to Lord Evan? Don’t tell me you just left him behind and came down.”

“…I, I had no choice. If I had stayed, I might have died—”

“So you ran away.”

Was this the reason for the anxiety in my heart?

I clench my teeth without realizing it. A bitter taste fills my mouth, and I exhale sharply before turning to Lord Chris.

“Gather the knights. We’ll search Mount Verdeng. Cooperate with Roman and find the two knights before sunset.”

“I’ll follow your orders.”

As I watch Lord Chris immediately move to call the knights, my eyes narrow as the anxiety in my chest grows.

Somehow it feels hard to breathe, and I exhale with difficulty. He would be safe. No, he had to be safe.

Why does the setting sun at the foot of the mountain look just like blood?

I take a step forward, trying to calm my trembling heart, looking toward the peak of Mount Verdeng where my knight would likely be.

#

“Haven’t you found them yet?”

The brilliant sunlight had disappeared, and the sky was once again filled with darkness and stars.

The thin crescent moon provided little light, so they illuminated the mountain with magic,

but it was still difficult to distinguish objects among the densely growing trees.

Yet the expressions of the knights searching the mountain were solemn,

because the people they were looking for were extremely important.

The Yuris family’s knight and Roman’s successor.

Moreover, the knight commanders who had sensed dark magic were urgently searching the area.

Occasionally, magic circles would illuminate the mountain, but they detected no trace of mana.

They said a troll was here, but why couldn’t they detect any response?

As if the troll had died and disappeared.

As time passed without finding any traces, the knights’ expressions began to darken.

They needed to head toward the mountain peak. But if there was a troll, and if dark magic was involved as testified, could they really face it?

“…Perhaps the troll has already been defeated. I no longer sense any dark magic. If Lord Adel and Evan defeated the troll, then we’re wasting time here.”

I turn my gaze toward Lord Chris as he mutters, and when our eyes meet, he gives a small nod.

Was it this frustrating to not be able to properly sense mana?

However, the disappearance of dark magic was clearly good news, so the knights began moving toward the peak.

Had they really slain the troll? But if not,

if the troll had merely disappeared, I frowned at the thought.

The image of my knight lying fallen before me flashed in my mind, and I closed my eyes tightly and exhaled.

That couldn’t be. He would be fine. Hadn’t Evan faced a dark mage before?

If he had no chance of winning, he would have retreated.

The path to the peak seemed unbearably long.

With each step, my anxiety grew, making my heart race until I could barely breathe.

I clutch my chest as my heart pounds. My grip turns my knuckles white, and my nails dig into my palm, drawing blood.

Breathing heavily through clenched teeth, I raise my head again.

Memories from childhood. I thought I had forgotten them, so why are they resurfacing now?

-Airin.

That warm voice calling my name echoes in my ears.

I didn’t want to hear it. I cover my ears, but as the voice continues, I squeeze my eyes shut.

Please. Wasn’t this a voice I no longer wanted to hear?

When that voice comes, my heart grows damp again, accepting the cold more easily than ever.

The winter’s bitter cold seeps in. The pain of a frozen heart cracking was more painful than anything.

Such things as I had seen would not happen again.

Evan was strong. He would surely cut down such a troll, even if there was a dark mage.

So, nothing should have happened.

“…We’ve arrived.”

When a knight said those words, everyone frowned at the stench that assaulted their noses.

Having lived a lifetime with the sword, having stained their blades with more blood than flowed in their own bodies, they knew this scent all too well.

“The scent of blood…”

“There seems to be a corpse.”

When they realized this, my lips parted slightly at the scene before me.

The moonlight shone through the towering trees, illuminating only that area.

The massive body of a troll with its head severed, and the troll’s head lying below.

And.

A knight collapsed beside it.

“…Evan.”

The forest bathed in starlight seemed to appear gray.

Under that bright light, the fallen knight showed no sign of movement.

I slowly move forward. With a dazed hand raised, I walk toward the fallen knight.

It was cold. His face was pale and covered in blood, making him look like a well-crafted doll.

My anxiety dissipated. No, an even stronger emotion flooded my chest.

My spine felt chilled. What was I seeing? Perhaps it was an illusion created by a dark mage?

But even after closing and opening my eyes, the scene before me remained unchanged.

Evan was still lying there, his hands that had lost their grip on his sword were helplessly sprawled on the ground.

“Evan Fried.”

I call his name again. But there was no answer.

My trembling voice reached the void, then scattered with the cold winter wind.

“…I told you not to get hurt.”

The handkerchief I had tied around his wrist was nowhere to be seen.

His hands, covered in protruding veins, were full of wounds, and the dried blood alone showed how fierce the battle had been.

The corner of my mouth twisted at the coldness I felt when my unconsciously outstretched hand touched his face.

“…Ha.”

If I had been just a little faster, could I have prevented my knight from ending up like this?

My chest felt tight. I wanted to pour something out right now, but I couldn’t identify this emotion.

My breath trembled. I clutch my chest.

The fabric of my dress crumpled in my grip, but I continued to hold it tightly.

I told him to return safely. Yet it ended like this again.

The human heart is truly fickle, realizing the value of something only after losing it.

A chill seemed to pervade my empty heart. Since when had I cherished my knight?

It was too late now. Just like when my mother died, all I could do was regret again.

Regret, and regret again. My blue eyes, tinged with remorse, wavered. The stars no longer sparkled.

The moon, hidden by clouds, no longer illuminated the surroundings.

All I could see in the darkness was red. Red—I clutch the snow-covered earth.

My hand stung where my nails had dug in and caused wounds, but I felt that if I didn’t hold on like this, something would break.

I close my eyes. Was it because I had been looking at blood? In the darkness, green seemed to shimmer.

It must be an afterimage from seeing red. I exhale a faint breath.

And when I open my eyes again, what I see is still black, red.

And green.

“My lady…?”

For a moment, it felt as if my breath was caught.

A voice I thought I would never hear again. The colors around me scattered at the sound of the voice in my ears.

Evan, who had been lying like a corpse, raised himself. And he looks at me.

Even in this darkness, that green was clearly visible, and I stared blankly at Evan with parted lips.

How on earth…

“I fell asleep for a bit, and it seems… quite some time has passed.”

“…Evan?”

“You look troubled, did something happen? I defeated the troll. Ah, Lord Roman is over there—”

I couldn’t explain why.

My body moved before my thoughts, and suddenly I realized I was embracing Evan.

But I couldn’t let go. Unlike before, his warm body temperature, the beating of his heart felt against my chest.

It was so reassuring,

That’s why I couldn’t let go.

“Stay still.”

Whenever his knight’s breath touched me, my chest tickled strangely.

It was warm. Despite his body being so cold from the winter wind.

His breath was the opposite, so warm that I couldn’t help but feel relieved.

If I let go of this hand, would he vanish like a lie? If what I was seeing was an illusion.

“…I’m not going anywhere.”

When his voice reached my ears, I looked up, and Evan smiled faintly and spoke again.

“Did I worry you?”

“…I wasn’t worried.”

At that, Evan narrowed his eyes. I was actually worried, but somehow it was difficult to say so.

Was there any need to explicitly say I was worried? As I stared into those eyes, his narrowed eyes curved gently. It was the face that always looked at me.

When I see that smile that dispels darkness and melts my perpetually frozen heart.

Why does heat always rise to my face? I unconsciously touch my cheek, and after a moment, Evan slowly speaks.

“It seems I’ve failed to earn your trust. Didn’t I tell you? I am your knight.”

“……”

“No matter what happens, I’ll stay by your side. So don’t make that expression. Wouldn’t it be much better if you smiled like before?”

How could I smile?

Just the thought that a person by my side had disappeared made my heart feel empty. Remembering that moment, I frown.

Wasn’t that moment just now? But now it was surprisingly as if nothing had happened, and I couldn’t help but smile wryly.

It was strange. He was just one person.

Just a knight like any other, yet he affected me so much.

After staying like that for a while, I slowly raised my head at the voice I heard.

“But… could you let go of me now?”

“Ah…”

At those words, I pulled away, and Evan, finally able to breathe, wiped his face.

Was it my imagination that his face seemed flushed? I realize that the surroundings are now bright.

It was no longer dark. The stars sparkled as they had when I first saw them, and the crescent moon illuminated the forest with its faint light.

The snow dyed red.

But it no longer looked ominous.

The anxiety that had lingered in my chest was gone, leaving only the impression of redness.

When looking at the red light, what remained in my eyes was a green afterimage. The world was dyed green.

And when I turned my gaze, what I saw were green eyes looking at me, and the corners of my mouth curved gently without my realizing it.

How did I feel about his existence?

But nothing came to mind immediately, so I sighed and slowly rose from my seat.

I would know someday, but not now.

I feared that the moment I became aware of these feelings, I wouldn’t be able to look at him with the same gaze as before.

Closing my eyes, I slowly spoke.

“…Take care of Lord Adel. We’re returning to the mansion.”

Now that we had found my knight, shouldn’t we conclude this matter?

Roman, the dark magic, and the troll. I felt that the connection between these three was no ordinary matter.

So I should investigate. The Roman duchy that hosted this hunting festival.

After briefly looking at Adel Roman lying covered in blood, I turned my gaze and stared into the void.

Unlike when looking at Evan, a rather cold chill lingered in my eyes.