Chapter 8

For some reason, the magic beast looked flustered. The expression “looked flustered” didn’t really suit a magic beast, but seeing its eyes rolling this way and that, it honestly looked just like that.

“What on earth… are you doing?” A magic beast couldn’t possibly speak human words, yet she found herself talking to it anyway.

—Kieeeeeeeh!

However, the magic beast, which had frozen just a moment before, suddenly flashed its eyes and roared sharply.

“Hk!” Ah, it was just saying a quick prayer before eating!

Revelin was appalled to realize she had turned into someone who stood there obediently, neither running nor attacking, while the magic beast said its prayers.

At that moment, a sharp light flashed across the pitch-black sky. As a light plunged downward rapidly like a falling meteor, a fierce gust of wind blew.

Before she could even process what had happened with her eyes, the giant magic beast staggered and toppled over sideways.

—Thud-boom!

The ground shook heavily as the magic beast collapsed. What is this? What on earth just happened?

While she was staring blankly at the suddenly dead magic beast, she heard leisurely footsteps. Tap, tap.

A shadow fell over her head. “There’s a person here.”

Following the voice, Revelin raised her head. The black hair fluttering against the backdrop of the pitch-black sky looked as though a piece of the night sky had been torn away, making it impossible for her to look away.

She made eye contact with the owner of the voice. Why, why on earth… is he here?!

Revelin held her breath. The man, who had been walking slowly, came to a dead halt upon seeing Revelin’s face. He tilted his head. As if something beyond the hazy fringes of his memory had surfaced, the man narrowed his eyes.

“What is this?”

Taking long, unhurried strides, he strode right up to her. Kneeling on one knee, he lowered himself to match the eye level of Revelin, who was still sitting on the ground.

“Have by any chance… we met somewhere before?”

The person who had saved Revelin was Chedwin.

Didn’t he leave the capital? Why, why is he here?! Revelin was inwardly appalled.

In the original story, Chedwin had definitely left the capital the moment the victory banquet ended!

“No. This is my first time seeing this face.”

Back then, she had only seen a face half-lost to delirium, so the impression was entirely different. Unlike that day, his blue eyes shone with sharp clarity.

The progression had diverged from the original story. In the original work, the knights had arrived late, and naturally, Chedwin hadn’t entered this contaminated zone, either.

Don’t tell me my purifying Chedwin’s contamination ended up altering the original plot?

If so, did that mean the probability of her brother surviving had increased, too?

“Are you unable to speak?”

Chedwin scanned Revelin thoroughly from head to toe. His gaze swept all the way down to her fingertips and then back up to her face.

Though she had hidden herself in a robe, Chedwin’s eyes immediately caught the outing clothes made of high-end fabric, the dust-free sleeves, and the clean, unworn shoes.

She was a bit grimy with dirt from when the workshop collapsed, and the smell of dust hung around her rather than a pleasant scent, but she couldn’t hide her well-groomed hair or delicate hands.

“You look like a young lady from a noble household.”

Chedwin instantly figured out Revelin’s identity.

“……No. I was just so startled… that words wouldn’t come out.” “What should I call you?”

Hesitating, Revelin kept her mouth shut.

If she chatted with him and Chedwin ended up recalling memories of that day, it would spell trouble. Moreover, she didn’t want to give him even the tiniest opening to get entangled with her brother.

Chedwin was still inside a contaminated zone right now. If he didn’t change his trajectory, the man before her would eventually suffer a mental collapse, plunging both the empire and her brother into mortal danger.

Still, he’s the one who just saved me, so I ought to offer a proper expression of gratitude.

When Revelin maintained her silence, Chedwin’s face crumpled after a long wait. He stood up.

“If you’re going to be unhappy about someone coming to your rescue, you can walk back alone.”

Tipping his head as if he were ready to walk away by himself right this instant, Chedwin turned his body around.

How petty! I saved your life back on that balcony, you know?! Though you probably don’t remember! And since I have no intention of revealing it, I can’t say a word about it either!

“R-Ruby. And… thank you for saving me.”

She hated the idea of obediently coughing up her name, but she threw out a nickname just in case. Besides, Ruby is technically correct, isn’t it? That’s what my father calls me!

Stopping in his tracks, Chedwin turned halfway around to look down at Revelin.

“Ruby, is it?”

He rolled her nickname low across his lips. “Normally, wouldn’t you state your family name first? Skipping straight to your given name—you move fast.”

Realizing that Revelin had no intention of mentioning her family name, Chedwin didn’t press any further.

“Never mind that.”

Instantly returning to stand right in front of Revelin, he held out a hand. “Can you stand?”

Wow. She had thought about it during the triumphal procession and back on the banquet balcony, but this man was truly massive.

He’s tall, he’s built like a tank, and his hands are huge, too.

Revelin’s unusually petite hand was placed right on top of Chedwin’s large palm.

“Thank you.”

She tried to grip his hand and stand up, but her vision spun with dizziness. Strength drained entirely from Revelin’s legs, and she slumped right back down to the ground.

I used way too much power during the purification.

Still, she was thankful she hadn’t spat up blood like she did when purifying Chedwin on the balcony. Doing something like that would look genuinely bizarre.

Even if I had used just a tiny bit more power, I would have spat blood and passed out just like that time.

She had gotten lucky. With any luck, if she just sat here for a little bit, her stamina to move would probably return.

She just hoped this man would be willing to wait until then.

“Umm, if you could just wait a tiny bit for me to get up—” “Hold on tight.”

“Pardon? Agh!”

Whoosh, a rush of wind blew past. Feeling her body lift into the air, she was hoisted straight up in a flash.

Startled out of her wits, Revelin instinctively grabbed onto Chedwin’s shoulder. Scooping up both of Revelin’s legs with one arm and lifting her effortlessly, Chedwin tilted his head with utter nonchalance.

“Pardon the interruption for a moment.”

You’re supposed to say that before picking someone up! Even my brother has never carried me like this!

It was mortifyingly embarrassing, but perhaps because she was being held higher than the tall Chedwin, it was also terrifying.

“This posture seemed better than leaving you behind alone. If you’re dissatisfied, I can put you back down.”

If she asked him to wait together until her strength returned, he sounded entirely ready to drop her and leave. Reading the room in a panic, Revelin frantically shook her head.

“No! Please save me!”

Chedwin’s footsteps, which had been about to stride forward, came to an abrupt halt. At the same time, his thick eyebrows twitched.

Wrinkling the corners of his eyes, he looked down at Revelin and tilted his head at an angle. “Strange.”

“Pardon?” “That posture feels familiar.”

Scraped raw by fragments of memory, Chedwin pressed his tongue firmly against the inside of his cheek. “Though this is the first time I’ve ever carried a woman like this.”

She was well aware of that. Even in the original story, Chedwin had zero interest in women. There were even rumors circulating that he had issues regarding heir production.

So why on earth was he bringing that up out of nowhere?

“You said your name was Ruby, right? Since I rescued you, I’d like you to grant me a favor in return.”

Chedwin didn’t take his eyes off Revelin’s face. “Say what you just said one more time.”

“Out of nowhere?” “You just said, ‘Please save me.'” I want to hear it again.”

…Could it be that he had some secret, unmentioned fetish not found in the original novel? The genre of the original work was a 19+ adult dark reverse-harem novel.

Since it was packed with R-rated tropes for all sorts of questionable developments, she had to remain suspicious and on her guard.

“……No thanks.”

Looking at Chedwin with a weird expression, Revelin flatly refused.

Understanding the meaning behind that gaze with a nod, he gently leaned his face against the vicinity of Revelin’s waist.

“W-Wait, hold on! Why are you leaning on me all of a sudden?!” “Then try saying, ‘I’ll go call someone’.”

“How on earth am I supposed to suddenly go call—Gasp.”

Wait a minute. Weren’t all of these lines things she had said somewhere before?

Cold sweat trickled down Revelin’s spine.

These are all things I said to Chedwin on the banquet balcony.

Only then did she realize what Chedwin was currently doing. The posture of leaning his face gently against her.

It was eerily similar to the posture from that day, when Chedwin had wrapped his arms around Revelin’s waist and looked up at her.

Don’t tell me… he remembers?

No way. Revelin’s eyes wavered frantically. Should she pretend to go crazy and smack him in the head right now? There was no one around, and they were inside a contaminated zone, so even if something happened, nobody would ever know.

“Hurry up.”

Chedwin’s long fingers brushed against Revelin’s chin and gripped it softly. Then, he turned her head to force her to look straight at him.

“I’m not putting you down until you do it, so go ahead.”