Chapter 32: Swear – 2

Vivian had hoped for salvation, but she never truly believed anyone would come.

Given the situation around her, it made sense.

The flames were too intense, and the smoke made it impossible to see an inch ahead.

In such a situation, finding a person was like searching for a needle in a haystack.

Even if someone were found, escaping was an entirely different issue.

But in this situation, Kailo came.

Out of so many people, the one person she least expected to appear had shown up.

“…Why? Why…”

Vivian was so shocked and confused that she couldn’t finish her sentence. Kailo’s actions were beyond her comprehension.

Did he share any sense of loyalty or special feelings strong enough to risk his life?

On the contrary, weren’t they entangled in complete enmity?

The incident with the poison was fundamentally different from this situation.

In the poison incident, there had been no danger that Kailo needed to bear.

But now, the burning castle was an entirely different matter.

Kailo was here, risking his own life.

Just looking at the burn scars on his shoulder, it was clear how much danger he had faced to find her.

Seeing the seared flesh peeling off, she knew it would leave a scar he’d carry for life.

And the fact that he endured all of this to save her life was something Vivian simply couldn’t understand.

While Vivian was left speechless in her confusion, Kailo sighed and withdrew his hand.

Then, he tore his clothes.

Whether from water or something else, the fabric he ripped off was still damp.

Kailo squatted in front of Vivian, placing the cloth over her mouth.

His hand covered her nose and mouth.

“Hold it to your face.”

Startled by his words, Vivian couldn’t react right away.

But she could feel that breathing became noticeably easier thanks to the cool moisture from the cloth.

-Thud! Boom!

A column collapsed nearby with a loud crash.

Vivian flinched, wanting to turn her head toward the sound, but Kailo’s sturdy hand kept her head from turning.

“We don’t have time. Get ready to stand up. How long do you expect me to…?”

Kailo was about to urge her firmly when… he paused for a moment.

His urgency seemed to ease as he looked at her face.

Vivian had been trembling in fear of death, struggling to believe Kailo’s presence.

Her expression must have been something to behold, with this utterly incomprehensible situation swirling around her.

“…Were you crying again, huh?”

Though it sounded like an accusation, Kailo’s tone had softened.

His hand gently wiped the trace of her tears.

With his words and touch, an unknown emotion welled up in Vivian, causing more tears to flow.

She was so overwhelmed by the urgency of the situation that she didn’t even realize this was breaking down the distance between them.

“If I save you, will you swear to stop crying forever?”

Even in this moment, Kailo spoke with his characteristic mischievous tone, turning Vivian’s insides upside down.

However, Vivian could faintly sense that this was his way of comforting her.

Her heart felt lighter.

The place that had felt like the brink of death now seemed to show a glimmer of hope through his words and actions.

“Will you swear or not?”

“You… even in this situation…”

Watching her disbelief, Kailo smirked and spoke to her again.

“If you don’t want to, then get your act together. We have to get out of here, don’t we?”

He wasn’t wrong.

Vivian nodded, planting her hands on the ground to push herself up.

“Ouch!”

But her twisted ankle held her down again.

Kailo seemed to quickly grasp the issue from her expression and movements.

“…Honestly, you’re unbelievable.”

Realizing the severity of the situation, he furrowed his brows, lost in thought.

Yet Vivian couldn’t take her eyes off him.

Her gaze was entirely fixated on him.

All her attention was drawn to him alone.

After thinking it over, Kailo let out a sigh and said,

“Hold onto me.”

“What?”

“Quickly. I can’t get you out of here by just supporting you. The way is blocked, and we’re running out of time.”

“W-What do you mean… blocked? Then, how are we going to escape?”

“No time to argue. If we stayed here, you’d be dead anyway, so trust me.”

Vivian swallowed and nodded.

She now understood that following Kailo’s judgment was the right choice.

“Could you turn around? I’ll… climb on.”

Kailo shook his head, spreading his arms to open his embrace.

Vivian froze, unable to understand his intent.

Then Kailo lowered his shoulders, showing her his back’s upper portion.

Vivian’s breath hitched.

His back was red and ragged, burned from his shoulder down.

He wordlessly showed her that climbing onto his back wasn’t an option.

After seeing that, she couldn’t bring herself to say anything about riding on his back.

The only way to cling to him was by embracing him.

That was why he spread his arms.

But even though she knew this, she couldn’t easily bring herself to nestle into his arms.

She understood that she needed to rely on Kailo to survive, but something kept holding her back.

Over the past year, she had built up a long-standing animosity toward him.

Clinging to him wasn’t just a matter of survival.

Instead, it felt like tearing down the guard she had carefully built around herself.

She could feel that her relationship with him was slowly changing, but embracing him was an entirely different level of resolve.

“Quickly.”

However, Kailo’s urging snapped Vivian back to her senses.

She couldn’t afford to delay here.

The flames were growing more intense by the second, and she could instinctively feel that they had little time left.

So, Vivian crawled over and slowly moved into his embrace.

Kailo’s left arm wrapped around the back of her thigh, while his right arm supported her back and neck.

To make it easier for Kailo to carry her, Vivian clung to his right shoulder and wrapped her left arm around his neck, ensuring her arm didn’t catch on his left shoulder.

The two of them were tightly entwined.

Vivian’s heart pounded louder.

Thump… Thump… Thump…

How long had it been since she felt the warmth of another person?

How long had it been since someone held her?

The hug she had longed for was paradoxically happening in the arms of her nemesis.

And just as paradoxically, Vivian couldn’t understand why she felt so at ease.

Without realizing it, she clung to Kailo Alan tightly.

Like a drowning person clutching at anything, she held onto the feeling of security that she hadn’t felt in so long.

And, as she nestled in his arms, she could suddenly feel how much he had grown.

When they first met, they were of similar height, but now he was much larger than her.

His sturdy build, typical of someone from the north, now seemed to envelop and protect her.

Holding her securely, Kailo quickly scanned their surroundings.

Being so close, it almost felt as though she could read his thoughts and emotions.

Avoiding the fire, Kailo sprinted through the castle.

After running for a while, Kailo’s breath became labored.

In the castle’s heat, sweat poured from Kailo’s body like rain.

At first, she thought his clothes were just damp from water, but now she could see he was sweating profusely.

Being from a cold region, Kailo didn’t seem well-suited to heat.

Yet, despite his slippery grip from sweat, Vivian clung to him even tighter.

Then, Kailo stopped in front of a window.

It didn’t seem like he’d stopped because he was tired.

It looked like he had made a decision.

Kailo tightened his grip on her thigh with his left arm and pulled her closer with his right arm.

This brought her face even closer to Kailo’s chest, where she could almost feel his heartbeat.

“Kailo Alan… surely….”

Vivian whispered, as though sensing his next move.

But Kailo didn’t reply.

He simply gazed out the window with the same expression he would wear when striking down criminals.

Looking down briefly from the window, his face grew more resolute.

It looked to be a three-story height.

There was no guarantee they’d survive the fall.

Kailo let out a short sigh and held her even tighter.

At that moment, Vivian felt a strong conviction that he wouldn’t let her go.

“Only once. Close your eyes tight.”

Unable to say anything against it, she entrusted everything to his judgment and closed her eyes.

Kailo backed away from the window, then, as if releasing all his power, sprinted toward it.

Dodging the burning floor and facing the scorching heat, he ran forward.

Finally, he reached the window ledge and leapt with all his strength.

In the moment of free fall, Vivian felt a dizzying sensation.

The sound of the wind was deafening in her ears, and the cool, almost icy air enveloped them.

She felt like she was floating in the sky for a lifetime.

Realizing they were falling, she clung to Kailo even tighter.

Kailo, as if responding to her hold, pulled her closer.

Upon landing, Kailo rolled forward with Vivian in his arms.

Yet, she felt a strong shock that made it hard to breathe.

Kailo never let go, holding her securely to keep her safe.

Kailo and Vivian lay on the ground after their escape, with Kailo breathing shallowly, trying to steady his breath, and Vivian struggling to calm her pounding heart.

Vivian stayed still, wrapped in his arms, knowing she was alive.

She could hardly believe they had escaped the flames.

Kailo, finally catching his breath, lifted himself slightly and checked Vivian’s condition.

“…It seems like your leg is broken…”

Vivian silently looked at Kailo’s leg.

His left leg was twisted in an unnatural direction.

Seeing the awful sight, she quickly turned her head away.

Knowing he was injured while saving her only heightened her guilt.

Finally, she asked the question she couldn’t in the flames.

“Why… Why did you save me?”

The question left him with a sigh he hadn’t expected.

What answer should he give?

How could he even start explaining?

Whether she wanted a clear answer or a reasonable excuse, he doubted she would understand.

He himself didn’t fully understand why he did this; how could he make Vivian understand?

If he had any intentions, they were hard to explain.

With such complicated feelings, he felt it would be a hassle to explain anything.

Whether she believed him or not, or understood him or not, was becoming less important.

But as she looked at him persistently, he realized it would be harder to keep anything hidden.

With his body creaking all over, he managed to sit up.

Vivian, who had been lying on top of me, slipped down and lifted her upper body.

“Ugh…”

A groan escaped me.

The burns on my back and shoulders stung, and my legs throbbed with excruciating pain.

I knew I needed treatment urgently, but it would take time before the retainers noticed our presence and came to find us.

So, it was better to clear up any questions while it was just the two of us.

“What’s so confusing?”

I asked her.

Vivian’s eyes trembled slightly, her gaze reflecting complete incomprehension of my question’s meaning.

I sighed and rephrased my question.

“Is the reason really that important?”

She bit her lip in silence, hesitating for a long time before finally forcing out her words.

“No… no hidden motives… the retainers, too… I mean, risking your life for me… why…?”

Her voice was laced with confusion, her eyes filled with anxiety and doubt.

It seemed she had decided to regard me as her enemy, seeking a definitive answer she could cling to.

“It’s important…! Because I still don’t know what your true motive is…! It’s so frustrating, it drives me crazy!”

“Motive? Here, where I don’t even have a single ally, what kind of motive could I possibly have?”

“You said it yourself!”

Vivian shouted.

“You said… you wanted to see me suffer more. Is that why you saved me? Even risking your life…! Just to torment me that much?!”

For a moment, I froze at her question.

If that had been my reason, it would have been easier.

But, just like her, I was also frustrated because I didn’t know why I was doing all this.

“…Do I look like such a devil to you?”

I asked her without realizing it.

Vivian shook her head quietly, gripping her clothing near her chest tightly as she spoke softly.

“No. And that’s why I’m even more confused… the one I should hate the most… keeps…”

She trailed off, covering her face with her hands, staying frozen for a long time.

I, too, felt frustrated with this conversation.

I didn’t know what to say to her, and she seemed to feel the same.

“…If you had stayed still, you would have been safe. There was no need to get hurt like this. Don’t you need a reason to act?”

With a look of urgency, as if determined to get an answer, Vivian whispered her plea.

I scoffed at her words.

“Safe? As if. It’s not like I’m in my hometown.”

“You keep forgetting; I’m in just as dangerous a situation as you are. Who knows who might show up and stab me in the stomach? Staying still won’t change a thing for me.”

Vivian continued to look at me, still unable to understand.

Maybe she was hoping for a reason that made sense.

I sighed and answered honestly.

“I don’t know the reason either.”

Vivian, as expected, couldn’t accept such an answer.

I would’ve reacted the same way if I were her.

She demanded with an increasingly frustrated tone.

“What kind of answer is that?! Saying you don’t know the reason?”

“Then what do you want me to say! Why does there need to be a reason when my body just moves on its own?”

I snapped back.

“…What?”

Vivian’s red eyes focused on me.

I looked directly at her, taking a slow breath before speaking.

“I don’t know either. Maybe I feel some sort of responsibility, some guilt, about you being left alone. Or maybe the Duchess of Rondor’s request keeps ringing in my head. Maybe it’s your brother’s… that keeps…”

Noticing her need for an answer, I tossed out something that might be easier for her to accept.

“Or maybe it’s just because you’re the least capable, and I’d rather keep you in that position. If someone else took control, my life might get harder, more complicated… so maybe that’s why I want you to stay here in Loctana.”

Vivian averted her gaze, looking slightly hurt.

That expression was so pitiful that I couldn’t stop myself from speaking further.

“Whatever it is, it’s just…”

“I just…”

She focused on me.

I bit my lip, hesitating before finally whispering.

“I just don’t want to see you die.”

Vivian froze.

I, too, fell silent afterward.

Her eyes searched mine, as if trying to find the truth.

It was an expression that seemed to suggest she was hearing the most unbelievable truth.

Perhaps, in a situation where everyone expected her to die, my words sounded especially out of place.

Her eyes held a disbelief that bordered on shock.

“So, all this time…?”

Vivian asked quietly, her tone cautious, as if she was asking the most sensitive and unbelievable question.

“…You’ve been doing all this… just to protect me?”

Her words came like a wall crumbling down before me.

I realized that I could no longer make excuses or add explanations.

There was no reason to hide my confusing feelings anymore; it was finally time to be honest.

Taking a weary breath, I looked into her wavering eyes.

At this moment, I laid everything bare.

“…Idiot. You’re just now figuring it out?”