MFBO 20

Chapter 20

I swallowed hard. I was so scared that my hands trembled. Lying down with my back to Lazette, I buried my face in my hands.

Wouldn’t it hurt less if I couldn’t see anything? I bit my lips hard, trying to stifle a moan.

“Why are your clothes…?”

Suddenly, I heard Lazette remove his clothes. When I peeked, a shirt flew straight toward me.

“I have to stop the bleeding. Otherwise, it’ll get worse.”

“Oh.”

If the glass were removed, blood would pour from where it had pierced my skin. Lazette was more thorough than I had expected.

“If it hurts, bite my arm. Your shoulder works too.”

Even now, I was barely holding onto my senses because my back hurt so much. But just thinking about removing the glass lodged in my back made me feel a pain I’d never experienced.

Pulling out flesh that had been pierced? Crazy. I had asked him to do it, but this was madness.

“Wait, wait. Let’s rethink this.”

“Why?”

“I… I don’t think I can do it…”

“You just need to lie still. I’ll take care of the rest.”

I quickly thought about whether there was another way. Maybe I could send Lazette away for a moment? I seriously considered it.

But thinking about staying alone in this dark, terrible cabin afterward made my chest feel tight.

Which choice would be better?

“Come on, ah, do it.”

“Don’t hurt me. Okay? Take it slow. It already hurts.”

In the end, I chose to endure the physical pain.

I begged softly, hoping it would hurt less, but Lazette only let me bite his arm.

He brushed his fingertips lightly across my back.

It seemed like he was trying to remove the glass, but even that tiny touch made my body shiver. I had no choice but to bite down hard on Lazette’s arm.

“Just a little longer.”

Through tightly shut eyes, tears slipped down my cheeks.

When I came to, I was in my room. I must have fainted, as I had no memory after biting Lazette’s arm.

“I… it hurts.”

I stared blankly at Lazette. He must have just placed me on the bed. He knelt on the bed, keeping my back toward the ceiling, and untied the strings of my pajamas. Confused, I twisted slightly, and he said,

“You need to take off your clothes. Stay still, don’t move.”

“Why…? Didn’t you remove all the glass earlier?”

Could there still be some left? The thought of going through that excruciating pain again made my eyes well up.

“I need to treat it. If we leave it, it’ll get worse.”

“Is all the glass gone?”

“I removed everything I could see. But we should show it to a doctor in the morning.”

Thank goodness. I felt relief. Lazette let out a small sigh and wet a towel to clean my back.

“It’ll sting a little.”

I buried my face in the pillow and nodded. All I could do was hope the pain would end soon. Every time the damp towel touched my wounded back, I flinched. A pained whimper escaped me.

“Now I need to apply the ointment. Hang in there a bit longer.”

“It hurts… be gentle, okay?”

“I am being gentle enough.”

He scooped some ointment onto his hand and spread it over my back carefully. It felt as if he were barely touching me, yet it was somehow more stimulating.

Lazette carefully tended to my reddened, swollen back.

Every time the cold ointment touched me, I tensed my shoulders. My vision swirled. I bit my lips hard and furrowed my brows, closing my eyes.

“Why did you do that?”

Lazette, still applying ointment silently, asked suddenly.

I opened my mouth to ask what he meant, but only a whimper came out.

“I just don’t understand why you did it.”

I couldn’t answer, still letting out involuntary sounds. Lazette didn’t seem to expect an answer anyway, just continuing to treat my back. Unlike me, who was writhing in pain and crying, he seemed calm.

“Then, in that situation, you just… watched?”

I managed to answer. He could have been hurt.

“So why…”

“…Because it was you.”

I gasped, barely able to get the words out.

“How could I just watch plates fall on your head?”

Silence filled the room. His fingers paused briefly on my back. My tearful breaths echoed.

Then Lazette broke the silence.

“When I look at you…”

His voice was lower than before.

“Sometimes I wonder… what family even means.”

“…”

“Why does family make people so desperate, so pitiful?”

He didn’t finish his sentence.

Lazette was wrong. I hadn’t saved him because he was ‘Calib.’ I saved him because I cared about him in that moment. Not Calib. Lazette.

But I didn’t say that. It would have required mentioning Calib’s death, which was taboo, so I stayed silent.

Not yet.

“Done. Show it to the doctor tomorrow. For today, just rest.”

Lazette got up. I desperately grabbed his wrist as he tried to leave. Moving even slightly made my back sting.

“Ah, don’t go, don’t go.”

I didn’t want to send him back to that cabin. I had a strong premonition that something bad would happen if I did.

“Stay here tonight, and tomorrow…”

I couldn’t finish my sentence. His waist filled my line of sight. He had removed his top earlier to bind my back wound on the way here. Now his upper body was bare.

And near his waist was a torn wound. Recent, red, and raw. My gaze was drawn upward.

“Wh-what’s all this?”

My room was bright, and his back was fully exposed. It was a mess.

As if someone had deliberately inflicted them, long, deep cuts ran across his back. Older scars were darkened.

“Why are there so many scars on your back…”

I realized in that instant.

‘Because of me…’

No, more precisely, because of Lizien.

Lazette had been trained to become Calib, and the process involved corporal punishment under the Count’s orders.

‘Stay still, Lizien. Only then can your sibling be with you longer.’

Lazette, having to imitate Calib, sometimes trained at the cabin, where he was punished.

I only realized this now.

The moment I opened the cabin door, Lazette flinched. Seeing me, he relaxed. That’s why.

The air in the room instantly grew heavy.

“When did it start?”

I took in the scars but didn’t dare touch them.

No answer came. I added, feeling my question might not be clear.

“When did you start getting these scars?”

Finally, Lazette looked at me. His gaze on my face seemed strange, confused.

“…I was curious earlier. You didn’t know?”

“I didn’t know.”

Neither Lazette nor Lizien had known about the punishment or the scars.

“It wasn’t agreed with my father. I really didn’t know.”

“You didn’t know…”

Lizien had brought him here and even placed a spell on him. It made sense that Lazette assumed I knew. I nodded.

“I really didn’t know. If I’d known you were treated like this… I wouldn’t have let it happen. How long has it been like this?”

“Not that long, really.”

He seemed to believe me, though his face was still a little confused. From the scars, I guessed the punishment had lasted quite a while.

I was furious. How could this happen? Even if Lizien had brought him here, even if she started this madness, the Count’s treatment was insane.

“Don’t hold back anymore.”

Lazette, bound to the Count’s house without memory or parents, could only endure that time. He couldn’t tell anyone, keeping the pain to himself.

My heart ached.

“You don’t have to. I’m here for you.”

“…”

“Remember I promised to protect you? I said trust only me… ugh.”

At that moment, Lazette’s firm hand pressed lightly on my back, then lifted. The timing was terrible. Was it on purpose? I wondered.

“Oh, that was an accident. Sorry.”

His voice didn’t sound particularly apologetic. I clenched my teeth, breathing hard. I couldn’t see his face, so I couldn’t tell if it was intentional.

“The ointment didn’t spread properly. I need to redo it.”

I had lifted my upper body to hold his wrist, twisting my shoulder. Lazette sat behind me again to reapply the ointment.

“All done.”

His fingers slid off my back as he organized the ointment container.

The pain seemed to ease a little, either from the ointment or the passing time.

I twisted slightly and saw him putting the container back in the drawer. I reached out and grabbed his arm.

“Why put it away?”

“I applied it all.”

“But you didn’t get any on yourself.”

“Oh.”

Lazette finally seemed to realize.

“I’m used to it.”

His casual words made me angry. I felt a surge of frustration.

“Why are you used to this? Give me the container!”

He lifted the string of my pajamas that had slipped under my shoulder and tied it behind my back.

“I need to keep it open while it dries. You’re too careless, so I have to tie it up.”

“Don’t change the subject. Come here.”

“You have no shame. I could tell from how you took off your clothes anywhere.”

“When did I…”

I remembered the day I had ditched him in town. That incident was never brought up.

“I’m fine, sis.”

“Really? Are you sure?”

“I said I’m fine. Thanks for worrying.”

He put the container back in the drawer.

I stared at his back. He didn’t seem to notice my gaze, or he was pretending not to.

I staggered closer behind him. Every step made my back ache. After just three steps, I felt like I might collapse.

“Still doesn’t hurt?”

I pressed my fingers firmly against his back. His body jolted.

“See? It hurts. Sit here, I’ll apply the ointment.”