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Chapter – 19
After taking out my anger on Brick, I felt refreshed. I hadn’t liked him from the moment he treated Razette rudely.
“Serves him right.”
No matter how much of a thug Brick acted like, he was still a knight belonging to the count’s household.
Well, now he’d been reduced to cleaning horse manure, but even so, he wouldn’t have the guts to lay a hand on his lord’s daughter.
The quarters for low-ranking knights were located quite far from the count’s residence. They were behind the estate, right where the forest began. Naturally, I headed into the woods.
I wondered if it might be dangerous, but soon decided it would be fine.
There were no wild beasts living in this forest. It didn’t seem particularly dangerous.
Breathing in the cool night air, I looked up at the dark sky filled with stars and kept walking.
Sometimes the leaves blocked my view, but the pale yellow stars scattered across the black sky were beautiful.
“Ah, this cabin must be… that cabin.”
I stopped almost instinctively. The cabin directly ahead entered my field of vision.
The moment I saw it, a sharp pain stabbed my chest. At the same time, a memory I had only experienced indirectly resurfaced.
That accident.
The cabin where only Rizenn had returned alive.
“I didn’t know it was here.”
Perhaps because it stood alone in the desolate forest—or because I had seen it in a dream—I immediately recognized it as the cabin where the accident had happened.
I had vaguely assumed it was somewhere deep in the woods.
It was surprising how close it actually was. But then again, it had been a children’s hideout, so that made sense.
My breathing grew tighter.
‘It’s okay.’
I tried to calm myself.
It’s fine. That’s all in the past.
That was when—
‘What is that…?’
A light leaked out from the cabin. It was so faint you wouldn’t notice it unless you looked closely.
‘Does someone live there?’
A chill ran down my spine. That couldn’t be. After the incident where the count’s son died, no one ever came to this cabin.
So what was that light?
Not knowing what might be inside, the smartest choice would have been to run away.
But instead, I opened the cabin door.
Grabbing the handle was difficult. My trembling hand kept stopping in midair. I finally managed to turn it.
Creeeak.
The old wood groaned.
“…Calib?”
I froze the moment I opened the door. The person inside was Razette. He was sitting with his back against the wall, and his eyes widened as he flinched at the sound of the door opening.
“…Sister?”
His handsome brows furrowed.
“Why are you here…?”
“No—why are you here?”
The dim space was lit by a single candle. There was no sign of anyone living there.
The cabin looked exactly as it had been left after the fire—charred black in many places.
Cobwebs hung everywhere, as if no one had cleaned it. The atmosphere was eerie, like something might jump out at any moment.
“I asked first. Why did you come here?”
He wasn’t happy to see me. For just a moment, relief flickered in his green eyes—but it vanished instantly, replaced by wariness.
“I was taking a walk and saw a light.”
“So you didn’t come because you had something to say to me?”
“I didn’t even know you were here.”
He tilted his head slightly.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
More than anything, I wanted to know why Razette was here.
“If you don’t have a reason, it’d be better if you leave. Staying here…”
He trailed off, as if he didn’t want to say it out loud. Then he stood up and looked at me, still standing there blankly.
“I answered you. Now it’s your turn. Why are you here?”
Razette didn’t answer.
It was frustrating.
Instead of responding, he let out a small sigh and walked toward me. He gently took my wrist and smiled.
“I’ll walk you back to the main building. Let’s go.”
It was a fake smile.
I followed him absentmindedly. Why was he in this cabin? Alone? At night?
After Calib died in that horrific accident, no one ever came here. You could tell just by how neglected the place was. The count had abandoned the cabin where his son died.
“What do you mean you’ll walk me back? Aren’t you coming too?”
“I have something to do here.”
“Something to do?”
What business could he possibly have in this place?
I scanned him from head to toe. He was wearing only a thin shirt and carried nothing in his hands.
With just a single candle lit, what had he been doing here?
A bad feeling crept over me.
“There’s… something.”
He still didn’t explain, not so much hiding it as simply refusing to say it himself.
“Fine. Let’s go. Walk me back.”
No matter how much I asked, he wouldn’t answer. I decided to leave the cabin first and think later.
I hated this place. With Rizenn’s body, the cabin felt overwhelming.
Just as we were stepping out—
My foot slipped on the uneven floor.
As I fell backward, Razette tried to catch me, but he lost his balance too.
His body crashed into a shelf.
Unfortunately, there were plates on it.
Like the cabin itself, the plates had been left untouched since the accident—cracked, warped, barely surviving the fire. They wobbled dangerously.
“Cali—!”
The plates fell.
Pinned beneath Razette, I realized they were about to smash into his back and head.
I tried to call out to him, but my body moved before my mouth.
I shoved Razette away.
Caught off guard, and already trying to get up, he was easily pushed aside.
“Sister!”
“Ah—!”
His shocked voice rang in my ears as he rushed toward me—but the plates were faster.
They shattered violently as they struck my back.
Fragments scattered everywhere, and several of them embedded themselves into my skin.
A sharp, burning pain spread across my back.
“Ugh…!”
I reached up with trembling hands. As I touched my shoulder, I could feel the shards.
When I tried to pull them out, Razette grabbed my hand.
“Why would you—”
He looked completely shaken. So shaken that he even forgot to call me “sister.”
He carefully brushed away the shards on my back. Even that light touch hurt enough to make my vision blur.
“I—it hurts!”
“Are you okay? Rizenn, look at me.”
“I’m not okay… it hurts…”
Tears welled up.
Taking the blow for Razette had been insane. I wished I could’ve pushed him away and avoided it myself, but there hadn’t been time.
“It hurts… so much…”
“Why did you get in the way?!”
“And you say that now—!”
Neither of us was thinking clearly. He looked confused, unable to understand why I had been hurt instead of him.
In his panic, Razette even forgot to act like Calib and snapped at me.
He tried to lift me.
“Ah!”
The pain was unbearable. I shuddered violently and clung to him instead.
It was contradictory, but I couldn’t think straight.
Like an animal struggling to survive, I grabbed onto him desperately.
“There’s glass stuck in my back… ah—!”
A warm sensation spread down my spine.
I didn’t need to look. From Razette’s expression alone, I knew my nightgown was soaked red.
“I need to see.”
Razette untied the straps of my nightgown.
Cold night air hit my blood-soaked back, and I clenched my teeth at the sting.
“We need a doctor. The glass is embedded.”
He tried to lift me again.
As my body bent, the shards dug deeper.
“Ah!”
I burst into tears.
Shaking my head, biting my lip until it bled—
“It hurts. Don’t.”
“Then I’ll get a doctor. Stay here.”
He gently laid me down and stood up.
As he headed for the door, panic surged.
“Don’t go.”
Every movement sent waves of pain through me. I couldn’t even reach out.
“You can’t just leave me like this.”
“I need to call a doctor. I can’t carry you.”
“It’s night. You’re leaving me here alone—? I’m hurt. I can’t even move.”
Honestly, I was scared.
The dark forest. The cabin where the accident happened. I didn’t want to be left alone here.
“Then what do you want me to do?”
Razette looked down at me, frustrated.
But he couldn’t move. My words had stopped him.
“Y-you… pull them out.”
“What?”
He stared at me in shock.
“You want me to remove the glass?”
“Yes. I don’t want to be alone here.”
We couldn’t go together, so this was the only option.
“I’m scared. But if you carry me, it hurts so much I feel like I’ll die…”
Even now it hurt. Moving with glass still inside me would only push it deeper.
Razette slowly approached.
Instead of arguing, he placed his hand on my back.
His cold fingers brushed over my skin.
“It’ll hurt, but bear with it. You can do that, right?”
He wasn’t really soothing me—he was feeling for the shards.
“Do it quickly. Okay?”
