Through my vision blurred with pain, I saw a familiar silhouette.
‘The solar eclipse hasn’t ended yet. Am I seeing things?’
I doubted for a moment, thinking His Highness couldn’t possibly be here, but the faint fragrance that suddenly wafted over told me my eyes weren’t wrong.
‘Why?’
Before my curiosity could be resolved, a roar echoed once more. Before my eyes could recognize what had happened, I heard a loud shout.
“Magic! Use water attribute magic!”
The flames that kept reigniting no matter how many times they tried lost their power in an instant. The burns I had already sustained didn’t disappear, but just the fact that the fire was out made it a bit easier to breathe. Only then did I see that the neck of the person who had cast magic on me was rolling on the floor.
‘Ah, the caster died so the magic’s power weakened.’
However, my thoughts didn’t continue for long. The pain that seemed to improve for a moment with relief came rushing back immediately. Even though I had sustained quite many injuries until now, it was painful enough to overcome all of that—it was truly terribly agonizing.
“Ugh, urgh.”
Groans of pain flowed out like bursting tears.
‘It hurts! It hurts. Why does it hurt so much?’
Even though I clearly knew the fire was out, the pain that came rushing in felt as if my arm was still burning. When I curled up my body on the floor, things that could have been sweat or tears poured out. My body, which had no resistance to such things, complained of pain.
“Bring a potion! Bring a healing mage quickly too!”
I felt someone far too similar to His Highness looking down at me. But the groaning and writhing only became more severe, and the figure didn’t move as if nailed in place. Even as the impulse to ask for help arose, reason restrained me, saying I shouldn’t act spoiled like that to anyone.
I gritted my teeth to avoid uttering useless words, and even my voice became muffled.
“I’ve brought it!”
“Your Highness! We’ll do it!”
“Stand back immediately!”
A loud shout that was hard to understand echoed through the room, and before long, the person who had been looking down at me grabbed my body curled up on its side. Even though they seemed to avoid grabbing the injured parts, pain spread throughout my body.
“Shh… Does it hurt a lot?”
Along with a question as if soothing a child, cool liquid was sprayed on my shoulder and arm. The parts that felt like they were burning or aching as if frozen solid gradually found their proper temperature. After the liquid was completely absorbed, pain was felt again, but it became more bearable than before.
‘Is it a potion?’
Perhaps because it became a bit more livable? The strength left my body that had been tensed up.
“Does it hurt a lot, hm?”
Words that seemed like I’d heard them just before entered my ears again. Having received some treatment, I now had the presence of mind to answer.
“I’m, I’m f-fine.”
Unfortunately for someone who was fine, my voice cracked quite a bit. The person who still looked blurry arranged my hair and answered kindly, “Yes. It must have hurt a lot.”
“Bring more potions.”
“Your Highness. Wounds caused by magic cannot be completely healed with potions. It would be better to consistently receive healing magic……”
“Do you think I gave that order without knowing?”
“I apologize.”
Before long, my shoulder became damp again. Not just once, but twice, three times. When enough reason returned to fear the price of the potions, I tried to refuse by extending my opposite arm, but it was useless.
“It’s not difficult to hold your hand.”
The clasped hand was trembling slightly. No, His Highness couldn’t possibly be trembling, so it seemed my hand was still shaking from pain.
“The healing mage has arrived.”
“Come inside quickly.”
My body was lifted up. I wanted to struggle, but I couldn’t muster the strength.
‘Where am I going?’
I didn’t have the courage to say I would walk myself, so I stayed still, and the swaying stopped soon. I immediately felt the soft texture of a blanket, but my eyes absolutely wouldn’t open. It was as if someone had forcibly closed my eyes.
“Your Highness, you must return before the solar eclipse ends.”
“I know.”
A voice more impatient than the one I knew was heard briefly. He whispered softly once more to me, who might or might not be listening.
“I’ll be back, so rest.”
I heard the sound of people busily leaving and someone approaching.
“I’ll begin treatment. You may feel a bit drowsy.”
Those words dragged me like a spell into the deep world of unconsciousness.
* * *
It was a sleep where even dreams didn’t visit. I knew I was in a sleeping state, but I didn’t want to open my eyes, nor did any particular prophecy come to me. I was just staying still in the darkness. As I did so, I felt like a bird before being born from an egg.
‘Should I keep staying like this?’
In this peaceful environment that seemed like the first I’d experienced since birth, such an impulse suddenly arose. But did someone read that thought? Someone placed their hand on my forehead. That cool hand didn’t fall away easily, as if it were just checking for a fever. Until the moment when the two body temperatures transferred to each other and finally became completely the same.
My consciousness that had been submerged was repeatedly pulled upward by actions like tapping on an eggshell. My hearing, which had been blurred, returned first.
“How long is he going to sleep?”
“It’s because he’s recovering. It’s a good symptom, so you don’t need to worry too much.”
I didn’t know when the hand had been withdrawn, and I no longer felt that touch. A strange sense of regret lingered.
“Is there anything else wrong?”
“No. He’ll need to receive treatment consistently for a week, but after that he’ll be able to move close to complete recovery.”
“Take responsibility for your words.”
It seemed they were talking about me. It was embarrassing to open my eyes, but it was also strange to be awake and just listening. When I slightly lifted my eyes, His Highness, who had been sitting beside me, stood up abruptly from his seat. Perhaps because I was still dazed, I couldn’t properly grasp the situation.
‘Ah, so the person I saw before falling asleep really was His Highness.’
My memories were somewhat fragmented, but what remained clearly in my mind was him pouring potions on me. Only such obvious impressions passed by quickly.
“Can you see well?”
“Yes. I can see well, Your Highness.”
I didn’t notice because I had been looking only at His Highness’s face since opening my eyes, but this wasn’t the bedroom. I understood that the location had been moved since such chaos had occurred, but it was peculiar that this was a space I didn’t know well.
‘I don’t know every location in the Imperial Palace, but I’m aware of all the places His Highness moves around.’
As I blinked in puzzlement, His Highness laughed lowly.
“What are you staring at so much?”
“I was wondering… where this is.”
“It’s the room I used when I was young. It was when my mother was still alive.”
I’d heard that His Highness’s mother—that is, Empress Aina—passed away when His Highness was twelve years old. So this room was one that had been used a very long time ago. If he hadn’t used it at all since then, it made sense that I wouldn’t know about it. I didn’t know why we came to this place in particular, but I had no intention of questioning it.
“The bedroom was too dangerous, so I moved. I used it often as a trap to catch rats, and there were too many rat bastards who rushed in not knowing their place.”
“Ah, thank you for explaining.”
Actually, more than where this was, I was more concerned that His Highness’s way of speaking had strangely softened. I couldn’t tell if it was because I had protected the corpse, or if… by any chance he had realized my identity. In fact, it seemed more likely to be the former than the latter. I had never heard of a dead person coming back to life, especially returning through another person’s body.
‘And even if he is suspicious, I can’t tell him.’
Who knows how long this state would last, so how could I confess the truth to His Highness? I stopped worrying about things that weren’t certain yet and turned my thoughts in another direction.
‘At least hasn’t he withdrawn his suspicion that I’m a suspicious person pretending to be Tienas?’
It didn’t seem like he would speak so kindly with such a gentle expression to someone he didn’t trust. His Highness was also someone who could deal with enemies while showing no hostility at all, but he wasn’t someone who would bother with such an act against the weak.
‘Something has definitely changed.’
I wanted to keep observing his expression, but I didn’t dare look again for fear it might be seen as rude.
“Sir Aila.”
At the sudden call, I quickly raised my head. The face of His Highness I met had no smile, but it wasn’t a very dark expression either. If I had to express it, it was ‘a face whose depths couldn’t be known.’
“If it weren’t for you, Tienas would have almost burned. Thank you.”
The scales of my contemplation tilted toward ‘So he did lower his guard because I saved the corpse?’
“Since you protected what’s precious to me, this time tell me what you want. Excluding what you requested last time, I’ll grant anything.”
It was an unexpected statement, but this time a wish came to mind immediately. If I voiced this, he might become wary again, but I couldn’t endure without saying it.
“I hope you will bury Sir Tienas’s corpse in the ground.”
