Chapter 24: Where the Eyes Linger, the Heart Rests (6)

[24] 3. Where the Eyes Linger, the Heart Rests (6)

“____!!”

The boy jolted awake, a terrible pain surging through him.

He didn’t have time to look around. He simply clutched his chest and groaned.

Memories flashed before his eyes.

A massive Holy Knight, standing with the sunset at his back,

The sword that pierced his chest.

And the girl’s red eyes.

As soon as the pain subsided, he had only one thought.

Is My Lady safe?

And at the same time, he was finally able to take in his surroundings.

The night sky, studded with stars like the Milky Way,

The chirping of insects in the forest,

A crudely built tent,

And there, amidst it all, was a dirty girl.

“Rem…?”

The girl dropped the mushrooms and berries she had been holding. Her clothes, stained brown with dried blood and dirt, came into view.

At that moment, the boy couldn’t help but smile in relief.

The girl was alive. That alone was enough…

“You, you stupid idiot!”

A berry hit him square in the face.

“…!”

The boy, clutching his face, rolled on the ground. But the girl didn’t stop.

She punched him in the back, shouting.

“You! Stupid! Idiot! Dumbass! Moron! Numbskull! Fool…!! Halfwit…!”

The girl’s raining fists gradually slowed. Her red eyes grew wet and then tears fell.

“I really thought you were going to die…!!”

And then the girl burst into tears, She cried loudly, not even bothering to wipe her tears.

“…”

The boy, beaten up, looked at the girl with a dazed expression.

Then, approaching the girl with a deflated look, he said,

“I’m sorry.”

He gently pulled the crying girl into an embrace.

As if she’d been waiting for this, she clung to his clothes, burying her face in his chest. He gently stroked her back.

Until the girl’s cries finally subsided,

Until the sound of the Milky Way flowing could be heard.

***

Sparks from the bonfire flew up, tracing a scarlet path to the night sky.

Across that path, the girl explained everything that had happened.

And the boy’s reaction, after hearing everything, was something she had never expected.

“What in the world were you thinking?”

Anger was evident in his voice, and his furrowed brow clearly indicated his rage.

It was the first time she had seen him genuinely angry.

Feeling herself shrink back, the girl avoided his gaze.

“No, it’s just… at the time, it seemed like the only way…”

“Then you should have just let me die.”

A sharp light returned to the girl’s eyes, which had become gloomy.

“Just what are you saying? You’re saying I should’ve let you die?”

“Then at least, only one of us would have died.”

The boy ran his hand through his hair as if he was going crazy.

“Have you forgotten the story of Gleia?”

Gleia. The girl’s shoulders flinched at the name.

Would-be Saint Gleia.

She was blinded and killed for the crime of teaching holy magic to beggars. It happened only 30 years ago.

It was hard to believe that she wouldn’t suffer the same punishment.

But the girl looked at the boy with a determined look on her face.

“It’s fine, I have a plan.”

“If your plan is to hide it, then I…”

“It’s not that.”

The girl’s red eyes met the boy’s black eyes.

“Trust me, Rem. Everything will be fine.”

Her voice and eyes were steady.

But the boy couldn’t easily believe her. The life he had lived had made him that way.

Rubbing his eyes, he shook his head.

“What the hell were you thinking…”

The boy’s words set her heart on fire.

“What about you?”

The boy looked at the girl, who was sitting across from him, beyond the bonfire. She was staring at him with her intense red eyes.

“Why did you throw yourself at them?”

“…”

After a long pause, he finally answered,

“…It’s a servant’s duty to protect his master.”

His tone made it clear he was trying to make excuses. The girl, and even the boy himself, knew it was a lie, or at least not the whole truth.

The girl frowned, unsatisfied, and she retorted.

“It’s the same for me, it’s also a master’s duty to protect her servant.”

Then she stood up and said in a sulky tone,

“And I’m sleepy now, I’m going to bed.”

The boy looked at her and then nodded.

“…I’ll get your bed ready.”

***

And just like that, the sound of crackling firewood drifted into the night.

The girl was sent to a crudely erected tent, and the boy settled down next to the bonfire.

Wrapping himself with clothes that weren’t stained with blood, he tried to sleep.

But somehow, he couldn’t fall asleep, despite feeling heavy, as if his body were made of lead.

Perhaps sleep had flown away with the sparks, traveling among the stars.

And he wasn’t the only one who couldn’t sleep.

*Rustle, rustle.*

Even with his eyes closed, the sound of someone stepping on leaves reached the boy’s ears. Then came the girl’s sulky voice.

“I can’t sleep without my silk pillow.”

“…I’m sorry. But just try to…”

“So, let me use your arm as a pillow.”

Before the boy could say anything, the girl promptly plopped down next to him.

Forcefully pulling his arm straight, she rested her head on it.

A sweet scent wafted towards the boy’s nose. She must have bathed in a stream, because there was also a hint of rain mixed in.

A scent that set his heart pounding.

The boy felt warmth spread through his chest.

Unable to bear it, he was about to pull his arm away, when…

“Promise…”

It was a sleepy voice.

The boy asked, not expecting an answer,

“Promise what?”

“That you’ll never do that again…”

There was no need to ask ‘what.’

The boy opened his eyes and looked up at the night sky.

The stars seemed so close that they might fall if he were to poke at the edge. The twinkling stars were like dewdrops that had ripened.

He slid his thoughts over them, forming them into words.

“I don’t want to.”

The words that came out of his mouth had more laughter in them than he expected. The boy said with a chuckle.

“I didn’t really think about it back then. I just moved.”

The moment he saw the frightened look on the girl’s face, his legs just moved. Even though he knew it was a stupid thing to do.

“But I can promise you this.”

The boy set his lips firmly.

“I’ll never die.”

Looking at the stars reflected in his black eyes, the boy continued.

“No matter what happens, I’ll survive. Even if I have to crawl with my teeth, I’ll come back to you, My Lady.”

The boy smiled faintly and turned to look at the girl.

“Is that enough?”

“…”

But the girl was already fast asleep, her breaths even.

Realizing that his words had vanished into thin air, the boy scratched his head awkwardly.

And then, before long, he closed his eyes too.

Fortunately, this time, sleep came quickly.

To both the boy, and the girl who had been pretending to sleep.

***

“Not again! Not Another heart-wrenching story!!”

I looked at the Captain, sprawled out on the floor, with a pathetic look. She flailed her arms and legs like a tantrum-throwing child, shouting.

“I wanted to console you and offer support after hearing about your tragic past, I didn’t want to hear the entire saga of your conman life!”

I thought about retorting, but then, looking at the Captain’s face, flushed with alcohol, I decided to let it go.

Not because I felt sorry for her, but because she wouldn’t listen to anything I said in that state.

I decided to just continue with the story I was telling.

“Anyway, so we spent a week traveling back to the Vatican, and we had to…”

“What do you mean ‘we had to’? You must have been busy playing lovey-dovey! You cheeky kids!!”

I couldn’t just let that slide.

“Excuse me, Captain, but for six days out of that week, I never spoke to Clara for more than a minute.”

Suddenly, the Captain sat up, seemingly sobering up a bit.

“What? Why?”

“Why else? Because she was shy, of course.”

Remembering the exhaustion I felt back then, I shook my head.

“It was as if she’d finally realized she had feelings for me, she would blush and look away every time our eyes met. I was so frustrated because we couldn’t even communicate…”

“Wait, wait.”

The Captain, cutting me off, placed a hand on her temple as if she had a headache.

“You knew? That Clara liked you?”

“Yes.”

“Even back then?”

“…Do you think I’m an idiot, Captain?”

I glared at her coldly and added,

“Of course I knew. She was so obvious about it.”

The Captain’s jaw dropped.

I decided to ignore her and spoke,

“Anyway, after all that struggle, we finally reached the Vatican…”

“Then what the hell was all that shit about insurance and whatnot you were spouting in the library?!”

A shout loud enough to shake the entire tent, I clutched my aching ears.

“Captain, it’s the middle of the night. If you shout like that, you’ll wake…”

“This is ridiculous!”

The Captain grabbed the back of my neck.

“So you’re saying that if you had lived as her servant for the rest of your life, she would have just become your sugar mommy…!”

“She was 11, you bitch.”

I snapped back sharply.

“How long do you think the love of an 11-year-old could last? A month? Two months? I couldn’t bet my future on something so uncertain.”

And then, pointing at the Captain, I said.

“Honestly, even you must have had at least five or six boys you liked when you were a kid.”

“No, I didn’t.”

The Captain’s eyes suddenly darkened.

“I only had one. Just one.”

“….”

A thick silence fell.

It was a silence that even alcohol couldn’t lighten.

So I forced myself to break it and continued my story.

“…Anyway, so, we finally returned to the Vatican after all that trouble.”

***

Feeling his chest swell with emotions, the boy gazed at the building in the distance.

A platinum tower, standing tall in the middle of the all-white city.

The symbol of the Vatican.

*Thud-*

The girl who had been following the boy collapsed to the ground, tears welling up in her eyes, she mumbled.

“We finally made it…”

And then, she looked up at the boy. The boy too looked down at the girl, his eyes filled with joy.

“”Woohooooo!!””

Cheers filling the forest.

The boy and the girl hugged each other, jumping up and down, expressing their joy with their entire bodies.

…

…

…

Their excitement soon subsided.

Because now that they were in front of the Vatican, there was a problem they needed to discuss.

The girl who taught holy magic, and the boy who learned it.

They had broken one of the church’s most important taboos. And now if they were to be found out, they would be sentenced to death.

The boy looked at the girl with a determined look.

“My Lady, I’ll hide it somehow…”

The girl shook her head.

“I told you, I have a plan.”

“But…”

“Rem, it’s okay.”

This time, the girl smiled gently.

And then, she suddenly said something unexpected.

“Rem, do you remember how I looked tired a month ago?”

The boy nodded, though confused.

“Yeah, well…”

“I told you, didn’t I, that I was preparing something for you.”

The boy vaguely remembered her saying that. But he didn’t understand why she was bringing it up now.

“What does that…”

“If things work out, then you can look forward to it.”

With a giggle, the girl started running toward the tower.

The boy, who had been staring after her blankly, finally realized that another race had begun, without his consent.

The boy felt a smile spread across his face as he chased after her.

Right, if she’s saying that with so much certainty, she must have something up her sleeve.

And he didn’t have any other good ideas anyway.

Let’s just trust her this once.

Just once.

***

Naturally, the girl’s return threw the Vatican into chaos.

The most skilled priest in the Vatican immediately rushed over to treat her, and countless things were prepared to soothe her after the hardships she had endured.

But the girl refused it all.

She even declined the warm bath, simply washing herself with cold water and then putting on the plainest clothes she could find.

And then, she ran to her room.

She stopped under a tiny crack in the ceiling.

When light flowed from the girl’s hand and touched the crack, it became an empty space.

What emerged from that space was an old, weathered book. She took it and carefully cradles it in her arms.

She had found it in the archives a month ago.

And it was something she had planned to give to the boy once his wrist was healed.

Once the boy was a bit more mature, stronger.

Letting out a nervous breath, the girl muttered to herself,

“It’s going to be okay… Everything will be okay…”

And then she started running again.

Her destination this time was close.

“…Lady Clara?”

Ivan’s office. Ivan looked at Clara, who was breathing heavily, with a startled look in his eyes. Then he immediately knelt before her.

“I, a humble servant, greet the daughter of…”

“Skip that, and call Rem.”

The girl said, her eyes shining with barely suppressed excitement. Ivan, with a troubled expression, gestured to his assistant.

The assistant, nodding his head, left the office and soon returned with the boy.

“You called for me…?”

The boy looked back and forth between the girl and Ivan, confused. Ivan also looked at the girl curiously.

“Ivan, read this.”

The girl opens the old book she was holding and points to a passage. Ivan narrowed his eyes.

“The Saint’s companion is as follows…”

“Skip all that and just read the part with the asterisk.”

“…The saint’s companion shall be allowed to learn holy magic…”

A confused look appeared on Ivan’s face.

“Why are you showing me this old customary law…?”

The girl didn’t answer his question right away. Instead, she turned to look at the boy, with nervous eyes.

And in that moment, the boy realized what she was trying to do. He tried to shake his head.

No.

That’s absolutely not okay.

But against his will, his head bobbed up and down.

And it wasn’t just his head.

His entire body was frozen in place, as if he were paralyzed.

The boy’s bulging eyes turned to Ivan.

But the girl didn’t realize this.

She simply took his silence as agreement.

The girl took a deep breath and looked at Ivan.

Right, Ivan has always listened to her.

He had raised her, the daughter of a prostitute, in the position of would-be saint.

And he was the one who had brought the boy to her.

The girl opened her mouth with a stern face.

“I took Rem as my companion during this trip.”

Ivan’s face twitched slightly.

The boy’s eyes, struggling to move, became bloodshot.

“And I taught him holy magic.”

The girl placed a hand over her heart.

“I know it’s a sudden confession, Ivan. And I know it must be hard to accept. But…”

She looked up at Ivan with pleading eyes.

“Won’t you help us, Ivan?”

And then, Ivan smiled and answered,

“Of course.”