Chapter 27: Second Note – 1

“F-First, please go back.”

Vivian, after a long period of contemplation, finally spoke.

It was too sudden to make a decision today.

Elena, seemingly understanding this, did not try to persuade Vivian any further.

That light attitude also stimulated Vivian.

From the witch’s standpoint, it felt like she truly had nothing to lose.

Elena headed towards the window, the same way she had entered.

With one leg already out the window, she looked back without a hint of fear.

“Vivian, the only thing left is your choice.”

She paused briefly.

“If you’ve made up your mind, hang something by the window as a signal. I’ll come back then.”

Snap!

The witch snapped her fingers at the same time.

The candle she had lit went out with a sound.

In the room that suddenly darkened, Vivian blinked.

The witch’s presence, too, had vanished without a trace.

***

Growl…

It had been three days since Kailos left.

Vivian, too, was reaching her limit.

Her stomach growled with hunger, and her body felt devoid of energy.

She had tried to eat something, but all her efforts ended in failure.

If it had been the witch, would she have been able to tell if the food was poisoned?

Would she have been able to quickly uncover the people who had targeted her?

As she grew weaker, the temptation from the previous day became stronger.

Vivian headed to the river to drink water.

There were times when she chewed dirt or tasted something fishy, but the water from nature always brought her the most comfort.

“Ah…”

Vivian had the guards stand a distance away and drank the river water alone.

There was nothing better than water to fill her empty stomach.

She found herself waiting for Kailo.

She admitted that only with him around could she eat.

Fortunately, that wait would end today.

Kailo Alan was due to return soon.

As she thought of him, a question naturally crossed her mind.

Had he achieved any merits on this expedition?

Or had he been far more insignificant compared to others?

Vivian recalled the first expedition of her older brother, Lois Rondor.

He, who was called the future of Rondor, had participated in his first monster subjugation at the age of sixteen.

During that first expedition, he had successfully hunted the leader of the goblins, a hobgoblin.

Would Kailo Alan achieve a similar level of success?

Of course, she knew it was meaningless to compare them.

Lois Rondor had received help from his vassals and was sixteen at the time.

Meanwhile, Kailo Alan was an outcast in the punishment unit and only fifteen, with a smaller build.

It would be fortunate if he returned alive at all.

Suddenly, Vivian realized how much her attitude towards Kailo Alan had changed.

When she first assigned him to the punishment unit, she had naturally hoped he would die during the mission.

But now, she found herself waiting for his return.

How weak she must be to rely on her enemy… Vivian couldn’t grasp it.

“Lady Vivian!”

A familiar voice called out to her.

Vivian wiped her mouth and moved away from the river.

From afar, Scholar Crellin came running.

He said.

“The knights have returned.”

***

We trudged back to the castle.

Our steps were heavy, and the smell of blood was overwhelming.

The clattering of cheap armor wasn’t lively; instead, the sound of metal was weighed down with exhaustion, representing the mood of the punishment unit.

Several injured soldiers were carried back on stretchers, and some barely walked with the help of their comrades.

Valon, too, had to be supported by Wallace and Martin.

I, not in good condition myself, used my two-handed sword as a cane to steady myself as I walked.

But none of the young soldiers laughed at my pathetic state.

Everyone was in a similar situation, and because of this battle, I had earned some degree of respect from them.

Crossing the gates of Rondor Castle, I removed my helmet with the red bear insignia.

I wanted to wash up quickly, tend to my wounds, fill my stomach, and fall asleep.

It had been a long time since I acted on pure instinct without overthinking things.

My body was at its limit.

Vergor, who guided us to the punishment unit’s quarters, shouted.

“Injured soldiers to Scholar Crellin! The rest of you, wash yourselves and eat the food prepared inside. I’d like to tell you to take care of your equipment and store it in the armoury, but… we’ll leave that for tomorrow. Wash, eat, and rest. That’s all.”

The young soldiers of the punishment unit sluggishly moved to follow his orders.

Some seemed to have accumulated so much fatigue that they were heading straight to sleep.

I let out a long sigh as I moved.

It had been a long three days.

Thud!

At that moment, someone grabbed my shoulder.

Seeing the face of Vergro’s deputy, Coleman, made it hard for me to hide my expression.

“What now?”

“You’re going to report with Vergor, Kailo Alan.”

“…Sigh.”

“Follow me.”

Coleman headed towards Vergor, giving me no room for objections.

Though part of me wanted to ignore them and just return to rest,

…thinking that I might see Vivian’s face again for the first time in a while made me hesitate.

In the end, I followed Coleman.

I followed because it was an order.

The door opened, and I entered Vivian’s office with Vergor and Coleman.

The first thing that caught my eye was Vivian’s red hair.

She flinched as if surprised upon seeing me, covered in blood and filth.

Her red eyes stayed on me for quite some time.

I had never shown her such an exhausted state, and for some reason, I felt embarrassed.

“Vergor Winslay, as per your command, we have completed the monster subjugation and returned.”

Vergor opened the report.

Vivian nodded and replied.

“Th-Thank you for your hard work.”

“Yes. We have slain a total of seven hobgoblins and 179 regular goblins. You needn’t worry anymore about the northwestern area near the Lios River in Loctana.”

Spin.

“Huh?”

Suddenly, the world spun, and I stumbled slightly but managed to regain my balance.

I blinked my eyes a few times, trying to focus.

The world, which had briefly gone dark, brightened again.

“What…?”

As I looked ahead, I realized that at some point, Vivian had stood up.

She was staring at me with an expression I had never seen before.

It was such an unfamiliar look that I wondered if she was looking at someone else.

Vergor placed a hand on my shoulder, steadying me.

I gathered my breath and steadied my legs.

I must have been more tired than I thought.

Vivian finally sat back down.

Vergor continued.

“Lady Vivian, there is one more matter regarding the subjugation.”

“…Please, go ahead.”

“Yes. I beg your pardon, but I would like to request appropriate rewards for the soldiers who performed well in the battle. Our observation unit only watched, it was the young soldiers of the punishment unit who actually completed the battle.”

“I-I will prepare a banquet as a reward for everyone.”

“And one more thing. I would like to give special recognition to the young soldiers who killed the hobgoblins. I would like to promote them to mid-level commanders to lead the other soldiers.”

Vivian nodded again.

“S-So, I should expect seven new mid-level commanders?”

“No.”

Vergor firmly corrected her.

“There are only four young soldiers who killed hobgoblins.”

“B-But you said seven were slain…”

“Kailo Alan here took down four of them.”

At those words, Vivian froze.

Vergor gripped my shoulder tighter, and Coleman let out a short sigh.

At any other time, I wouldn’t have cared, but for some reason, seeing Vivian’s expression made me feel proud.

I wanted to smile at her, as if to say, “See?”

But then my vision went black again.

Before it completely darkened, I saw the floor rise up.

Without knowing why, my face hit the rising floor.

“…Kailo Alan…!”

“…Call Scholar Crellin!”

“F-First…!”

The surrounding commotion buzzed in my ears like a distant hum, as if my ears were blocked.

I tried to figure out what had happened, but I was too sleepy.

I felt a pair of small, cold hands on my cheeks, but… too exhausted, I just fell asleep.

***

Kailo Alan lay on a bed, his body wrapped in bandages.

Scholar Crellin said he couldn’t understand how Kailo had walked all the way here alone.

He had lost a lot of blood, and his exhaustion had built up, causing him to collapse.

But Crellin reassured that there was no danger to his life, so there was no need to worry.

That was during the day.

Now, the night had grown deep.

Vivian remained by Kailo Alan’s bedside, not leaving his side.

Scholar Crellin spoke to her.

“Lady Vivian, really, it’s alright now. His pulse is stable, and the wounds have all been treated…”

Despite his words, Vivian didn’t move.

She didn’t want to move.

She just quietly watched Kailo as he slept, lightly snoring.

Vivian couldn’t express how much she had been shocked when Kailo collapsed.

In fact, the entire castle had been in an uproar.

The death of Kailo Alan would have meant the end of the Rondor lineage.

The difference between tormenting someone and taking their life is vast.

Of course, that wasn’t the only reason Vivian had been shocked.

If it were, she wouldn’t have been so relentless in tormenting Kailo Alan all this time.

The reason Vivian had been so surprised was… because at some point, she had begun to see Kailo as something that would never fall.

As much as I had overcome every hardship and adversity, I might not have expected to see such a human side of him.

The image of him collapsing like a rotten old tree was still vivid.

The sight of someone I thought would never break actually breaking gifted me with a strange sense of fear.

It was a moment that made me realize once again how fragile humans truly are.

No one is immortal.

If someone as strong as Kailo could die, then perhaps the death of someone as weak as myself was also inevitable.

But was that all there was?

Was I just surprised that someone I believed wouldn’t fall had fallen?

Or was there another reason my heart felt so unsettled?

Could it be because, without Kailo, there would be no one left to check on my meals?

I wanted to believe that, but it didn’t seem quite right, considering that my once starving stomach wasn’t hungry at all now.

Vivian couldn’t tell.

Perhaps the bond she thought had faded was clearer than she had realized.

She might have seen a reflection of herself in his struggles, without shame.

It seemed like she was only coming to realize this now, after he had collapsed.

Scholar Crellin urged her again.

“Miss Vivian, the night is deep. You should return and rest. Nothing will change by staying here.”

Vivian wasn’t ignoring him.

She heard, thought about it, and came to the same conclusion every time.

“I’ll stay here.”

There had been a time when Kailo Alan had protected her.

She clearly remembered him telling her not to seek refuge in death.

Vivian justified her presence here in the same context.

She wanted to witness him in his moment of struggle.

Vivian looked back at Scholar Crellin.

“Please leave. I don’t need any more advice.”

At her firm tone, Scholar Crellin rolled his eyes and bowed deeply before leaving the room.

-Thud.

Left alone, Vivian gazed at Kailo through the flickering candlelight.

As she watched the faint beads of sweat forming on his forehead, a myriad of thoughts swirled in her mind.

Before long, however, Vivian gently wiped his sweat with a cloth.

She didn’t know why she was doing this, nor did she feel the need to search for a reason.

It was a truly strange feeling.

If he died like this, in a way, she might feel relieved.

Vivian still hadn’t forgiven the Alan family, who had slaughtered her entire family.

Especially if she could bring death to the undefeated knight, Jade Alan, she would have no more wishes.

The same went for Kailo Alan.

The son of the undefeated knight… the man who had insulted her, saying her family had died because they were weak.

If he died first, wouldn’t that be a fitting irony?

But there was also a part of her that didn’t want Kailo to die.

It was a feeling that was hard to explain.

And yet, so clearly, and so unmistakably, it had lodged itself in her heart.

-Swish…

Vivian softly wiped the sweat from Kailo’s forehead.

In response to her gentle touch, Kailo murmured as if he was in a dream.

“…Mother…”

His whisper tightened around Vivian’s heart.

The sight of someone who had always seemed so strong yearning for his mother’s embrace was both unfamiliar and pitiful.

His single word stirred a heavy sympathy deep within her.

Before she knew it, she found herself gently placing her hand on his forehead.

In his longing for his mother, Vivian saw a reflection of herself.

Knowing how painful that was, she wiped his sweat, as if she were soothing herself.

‘…So you’ve been struggling too.’

Vivian thought.

The pain he had always hidden behind bravado seemed to have finally surfaced.

Just as Vivian was suffering because of the Alan family, Kailo, too, had suffered at the hands of the Rondor family.

Though she resented him, his wounds were not a distant matter to her.

Realizing that they were bound by the same pain, her faint concern for Kailo grew larger.

In the end, Vivian couldn’t suppress the sympathy welling up within her and whispered softly.

“…Wake up.”

Knowing she might be disturbing Kailo, who could be in the midst of a pleasant dream, she spoke anyway, intent on troubling him.

“…Don’t enjoy a good dream all by yourself. Wake up.”

But as she spoke, her voice was already heavy with an inexplicable worry and concern for him.