DBOFS 26

Chapter 26

“It’s not a big deal, you say?! Jade, you were starving—!”

“Lord Harris, you’ve gone hungry plenty of times yourself, so why the sudden fuss?!”

“……”

Harris’s eyes widened, as if shocked I knew that.

‘Well, of course. You were locked up in prison for years. Do you think you got three meals a day in there?’

As if those damn servants in that cursed fortress would’ve delivered provisions properly, counting the days one by one.

‘Skipping meals and going hungry was practically routine.’

That’s something mentioned in the early chapters of “Divine Retribution.”

Harris, who often didn’t even get enough food for one person, let alone proper meals.

Sometimes even the supplies they did send were low-grade garbage, so Harris would endure his restraints digging into his wrists and ankles just to “protest” directly to the servants.

‘Whenever he pushed back like that, they’d finally send proper supplies.’

Thankfully, the bread I had was edible, and the milk wasn’t spoiled, so it must’ve been right after one of those protests.

Anyway, Adrian went through hardship because of that too. If even one person couldn’t eat properly, how could two people share those rations?

‘That’s why Adrian also went hungry, and when he did, Harris gave him food first. That was the beginning of their relationship…’

The memory of my beloved bromance moment suddenly resurfaced, and my eyes grew teary.

‘Sniff… you two were the real deal.’

Sharing food when you’re both starving? If that’s just friendship, then I’ve never had a friend in my life. Don’t misuse the sacred word “friendship.” Just admit it was love already!

“…Jade?”

Harris looked at me strangely for some reason. His mouth opened like he wanted to say something, but no words came out.

Then it hit me. I was the one who ruined that touching moment before it even started!

‘Oh God.’

Did I really wreck my favorite ship with my own hands?

Regret washed over me, and my eyes grew wetter. There wouldn’t even be a “bro” left in bromance at this rate…

“…So don’t get so worked up over something this small.”

That’s not the problem. The real issue is that my favorite part was wiped out completely!

My voice was thick with sorrow.

“……”

“……”

Both faces around me seemed to change expression. The atmosphere grew heavy, but I didn’t care.

My ship hadn’t just sunk—it had crashed and burned.

‘At this point, I have to wake Adrian up.’

Because Adrian and Harris are real. No matter how differently they meet, they’ll return to that sticky, complicated, love-hate relationship.

Yes, I’m sure of it. I swear on my 21 years of being a fangirl!

“Starving… is a small thing, you say…?”

The former Duke’s voice trembled.

I wiped my teary eyes with the back of my hand and sniffled.

“At least… sniff! For us, it’s a common thing.”

For entirely different reasons.

In my case, because of my past(?) life as a rare disease patient, restricted diets were normal. I often had to fast for tests.

‘And at the end, I couldn’t even eat.’

I survived off IV nutrients. I couldn’t breathe on my own without oxygen support.

‘Of course, Harris became someone who could go without eating for entirely different reasons.’

Anyway, when you live like that, hunger and the desire to eat fade.

In short, I didn’t even realize I was starving. So that means Harris hadn’t eaten either this whole time?

“……”

After a long silence, the former Duke buried his face in his large hands.

“About that… I was supposed to manage the servants…”

“Oh, I don’t think the maids intentionally starved me, Your Grace.”

They were probably just running around in a panic because their supreme superior had summoned them. No time to focus on me. What reason would they even have to mess with me? I haven’t even done anything since I arrived.

‘And even if, by chance, it was out of hatred for me, no one would do something so obvious.’

They’re servants of the prestigious Godwin duchy, after all.

Even if it was deliberate, it wasn’t a big deal. I could just eat later, right?

‘You can eat any time, but you can’t retrieve an inheritance claim whenever you want!’

In short, we were done here.

I tugged on Harris’s arm and gave him a look to leave.

“You really are…”

Harris, who looked like he had much more to say, bit his lip. Then he stood up and glared at the former Duke.

“I’ll remember how Your Grace treated us.”

Leaving that bitter remark behind, Harris walked out the door.

Bang! The door slammed shut.

‘Why did he get that mad over something like this?’

Was it one of those things?

Like, “If you insult my guide, you insult me too?” Some feudal belief about how a servant’s honor reflects their master?

‘Sigh. It’s hard surviving in a class-based society.’

Reading the employer’s mind is tough.

I quickly tried to smooth things over in Harris’s place.

“Your Grace, please don’t take it to heart. Lord Harris probably just skipped a few meals from being busy and got sensitive…”

“…Is that true?”

“Yes, of course. So, we’ll take our leave—huh?!”

Before I could finish my sentence, the former Duke’s huge hand grabbed me.

“You’ve lived such a difficult life… going hungry so often… to the point where it feels normal to you?”

His deep purple eyes trembled.

The stern expression on his face melted into one of stunned disbelief.

“……”

A sincere face. More genuine than when he tried apologizing to Harris.

I was suddenly reminded of a scene from “Divine Retribution.”

When the former Duke realized just how painful and harsh Harris’s life had been—and began to interrogate Adrian.

“Then what did you expect? A man who betrayed even his own daughter and father—what do you think he did to the son he personally threw in prison?”

And Adrian, without hesitation, fired back.

“Even being stranded on a deserted island would’ve been better than that. At least there, your limbs are free, and you can look up at the sky.”

“But all we could do… was hold on and try not to die. In a prison where rain would flood the cells and heat would rot the corpses. Just waiting for the day when a scrap of stale bread might fall.”

“Yes, I only shared that prison for two years. But for Lord Harris, it was a lifetime.”

“And in all those years… no one in his family ever looked back at him.”

“……”

Adrian wasn’t lying.

The underground prison had poor drainage. The stone walls and metal bars made it swelteringly hot in summer and freezing in winter.

‘It wasn’t a place anyone could survive long. Well, it was prison, after all…’

If Harris hadn’t been an S-rank psychic, he would’ve died. Even Adrian barely made it through those two years.

‘Though he didn’t just survive—he grew stronger through mana training.’

Still, that doesn’t mean Harris’s suffering was ever compensated.

No matter how much of an enemy his son was, he couldn’t justify abandoning his own grandson.

‘Just like Adrian said.’

He needed to know the truth, regret it, and suffer for it.

“Lord Harris…”

I opened my mouth, almost mesmerized.

Grrrgle—!

A loud stomach growl stopped me.

“……”

The former Duke’s hand, which had been gripping me, froze. I awkwardly laughed and gently removed it.

“Ahem! Lord Harris wouldn’t want his story whispered behind his back like this.”

Snap out of it.

Unlike Adrian, I hadn’t spent two years building trust with Harris.

He told me himself—he planned to abandon me.

‘Ugh, my feelings…’

Sniff. I held back tears.

At the time, I pretended it didn’t hurt, but it still stung. My eyes welled up again.

Of course, I knew Harris. I knew his past, his present, and his future. And I still liked him.

‘But it’s one-sided.’

To Harris, I’m just a “suspicious and disrespectful guide.”

It is what it is. Only the strongest guide who suffers two years in prison together gets to have bromance. A low-tier extra like me doesn’t qualify.

‘Someone like me doesn’t even register to Harris.’

Let’s not act like a main character. Know my place. At best, I should just make sure no one finds out I’m a fake guide and survive.

“Heheh, unlike Lord Harris, I can’t storm off. Someone has to clean up after him.”

“Hmph.”

Harris snorted but still took my hand and walked off with me.

‘So I need to find my own path too.’

Since I was hired as his guide partner, I’d have to find a replacement for guiding.

‘The calming potion.’

I glanced at Anella, who was waiting outside.

‘Plan B, just wait for me.’

And so I didn’t notice…

Inside the office, behind the slightly open door, the former Duke’s sorrowful purple eyes were fixed on us—unmoving.

“……”

But the aging Duke couldn’t bring himself to call us back, and the door closed silently behind us.

A few days later, we arrived at the entrance to the Unknown Dungeon.