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~Chapter 131~
“…Aren’t you cold?”
A few minutes later.
I wiped my swollen lips and asked.
I was still hiding under a loose cloak, worried I might run into someone I knew.
Of course, the cloak wasn’t mine.
“This was supposed to be yours, you know.”
It was Karl’s cloak.
“Not really.”
“The weather’s cold. Patients should stay warm.”
“The winter here feels like spring compared to Saint Portu.”
“Still…”
I pouted, glancing at Karl, who wore only a shirt and jacket.
Originally, I had wanted to take that lazy guy’s cloak after knocking him out.
But Karl stopped me with his ridiculous logic.
“Another man’s cloak? You’d rather wear that than mine?”
He pushed with such reasoning that I couldn’t fight back.
Well… the truth was, his cloak smelled like him. And honestly, seeing his broad chest and muscles under his thin shirt wasn’t so bad either.
Still, I couldn’t help but worry.
When Karl looked at me wearing his cloak, his gaze softened.
“What’s with that look?”
“Next time, wear a proper shirt, not just a cloak.”
“Suddenly?”
“By the way… whose clothes are you wearing underneath?”
“I don’t know. Just something I grabbed to disguise myself.”
“Change it. I’d rather see you in my clothes than in another man’s.”
Before I could stop him, Karl started pulling his shirt off, right there in the alley.
“Hey—wait! What are you doing?!”
Was he about to put on a strip show in this alley?
I quickly pulled his collar back down and slapped his exposed abs.
“What if someone sees you?!”
“Are you jealous?”
“…Yeah, I am!”
Even if it was dark, he was the kind of man who would draw attention anywhere.
Just his face alone was enough to stand out. If he stripped on top of that—forget staying unnoticed.
Of course, that was an excuse.
The truth was, I just didn’t want anyone else looking at Karl.
Reading my thoughts, Karl laughed again.
“…Why are you laughing when you’re still a patient?”
I glared at him.
“But really… how did you get here?”
“Hmm.”
“Is your body okay? Did you even get permission to leave?”
“….”
“Jeremy might’ve let you, but Clark? Or the head maid? No way.”
I placed my hand on his forehead, unable to hide my worry.
Karl leaned into my palm with a pleased look.
“I didn’t tell them.”
“What?!”
“Shh. You’ll get us caught, Elaine.”
He whispered softly, pressing his cheek against my hand.
“What were you thinking?”
“Well, I didn’t completely sneak out. I left a letter.”
“That’s basically running away!”
Karl just shrugged.
“Saint Portu is used to my absence.”
“Still…”
“My vassals know how to manage the land. They’ve done it before whenever I went to the north.”
“And if monsters attack?”
“Didn’t my wife leave behind a perfectly good order of holy knights?”
“They’re all rookies!”
“Better than the old knights who never fought at all.”
“…”
“I also left a formal letter requesting cooperation with the ducal army. No one will question it later.”
“…”
“And if I’m really needed, I told them to disguise a soldier who looks like me.”
He had prepared everything… thoroughly.
I realized then—he hadn’t just rushed after me. He had tied up all the loose ends before leaving.
“…You didn’t answer one thing.”
“I think I did.”
“Your body. Are you really okay?”
Karl fell silent.
“Karl.”
I let out a sigh.
“…I’m fine.”
But his hesitation didn’t convince me.
I raised a brow. He smirked.
“What kind of patient looks this healthy?”
“I’ve seen one. You.”
“…Eyeball would confirm my condition.”
Karl’s eyes flicked toward my bag.
From the half-open zipper, Eyeball glared out at him.
“Stay out of this.”
Zip! I shut the bag firmly.
Ignoring its heat of protest, I pressed a finger against Karl’s chest.
“You don’t even know how bad it was, do you?”
“Elaine…”
“Do you know how serious it was?”
“….”
“The physician couldn’t figure it out. Healing artifacts didn’t work. Even divine power failed.”
I had never seen such a case. Nothing worked on him.
Even Captain Ista’s holy power had no effect—Karl’s body had rejected it violently.
“Do you know what it’s like, seeing someone precious lying there like a corpse—and being powerless to help?”
“….”
“You don’t even remember me slapping you, do you?”
“…You slapped this handsome face?”
“Yes. Hard enough to swell. Made you ugly. So what?”
“…That was my last weapon, and you wasted it.”
“But you still didn’t wake up.”
Even when the swelling went down, Karl didn’t open his eyes.
He kept breathing—that was the only relief.
But every day, I feared he’d stop.
‘…I thought I’d go crazy.’
His pale face haunted me.
I forced myself to stay calm because everyone else was already losing control.
Especially Clark—he looked like a walking corpse.
But just because I didn’t say anything didn’t mean I wasn’t suffering.
“I realized… being powerless in that situation is the most terrifying thing.”
“….”
“For the first time, I understood.”
As I spoke, anger welled up in my chest.
Anger at myself for being helpless, and anger at Karl for not waking up.
I looked up at him sharply.
“Do you even know how that feels?”
Karl opened his mouth, then closed it again.
Finally, in a calm voice, he answered:
“…Of course I know.”
Kailen—no, Karl—looked straight into my eyes, where a hundred different lights flickered.
“…”
The partner who had worried so much while I lay unconscious.
The one who now confessed, so honestly, how painful it was to be powerless.
Instead of answering right away, Karl simply held my gaze a little longer.
The way Elaine’s eyes shifted with so many emotions—it was a sight that never stopped amazing him.
Even if he saw it dozens, hundreds of times, he knew he would never grow tired of it.
How long has it even been since we met?
If someone had told him, back then, that he’d leave his own land behind and come all the way into enemy territory for a woman he hadn’t even known for years like his retainers… his past self would have laughed.
He would’ve called it nonsense. He would’ve gotten angry at the thought of abandoning his dukedom, no matter how trustworthy his vassals were.
She doesn’t just make me want to be a better man… she makes me blindly follow, without hesitation.
Perhaps that was Elaine’s power.
But Karl also had his own reason for coming all this way.
“You know?”
Elaine’s voice cut in, her face hard, as if she had cycled through every emotion and settled on anger.
“Yes.”
“If you really know… then how could you—”
Thump.
As always, Karl cupped her cheeks with both hands.
“Don’t you dare brush this off like that!”
“Like that?”
“You’re just trying to kiss me and make me forget!”
“…Now that you’ve said it, I really do want to. So… am I allowed?”
“No, you’re not!”
Her small hands grabbed at his, trying to pull them away. Even that defiance was adorable.
Karl resisted the urge to bite her flushed cheeks and instead spoke slowly.
“Elaine… I once told you about my parents.”
“…What about it? Don’t drag your parents into this—”
“And how they died.”
“….”
“I still dream about it. Even now.”
