IBWMD 61

~Chapter 61~

Of course, I knew quite a bit about Karl.

‘But still.’

Was he always this rude and cynical?

Had he been taken care of by someone after his family passed away when he was young? How did he end up becoming a monster hunter?

‘There’s still a lot I don’t know.’

Questions flooded my mind like soaked seaweed, and I was taken aback by my own curiosity.

At the same time, I felt a subtle tension. Karl stopped in his tracks.

“…”
“…”

As the Duke’s dragon flames cast a faint yellow light through the air, I felt the atmosphere shift slightly.

‘Why does this feel so tense?’

Why was Karl’s mouth opening so clearly? Even the wicked way his tongue moved…

“You’re curious about me.”
“…”
“You want to know.”

His voice, heavy and muffled as if it was dragging on the ground, broke through my scattered thoughts. The festivity of the festival finally wore off, and I snapped back to reality.

‘Ah.’

What did I just say?

‘And what was I thinking?’

Here I was, standing in a place full of the Duke’s memories, asking Karl about his past?

I just asked about another man’s story, didn’t I?

No, that’s too much.

‘Elaine Pascal, have you lost your mind?’

I quickly added, trying to fix the situation.

“…No. Never mind.”
“…”
“Forget I said anything.”

“Elaine.”

“Wait! Don’t come any closer!”

I took a step back, avoiding Karl, who was slowly closing in.

“If you really want to know, I’ll tell you everything.”

“No, I mean, wait a sec…!”

The way he was approaching me, eyes shining in the backlight—his usual vibe was completely different.

‘Why is he looking at me like that?’

Like a hunter, watching its prey…

The moment I thought about it, a strange memory resurfaced, and I couldn’t help but shiver.

‘Can I bite it?’

The words I’d heard before rang in my ears.

Without thinking, I instinctively reached out.

It was like the image of a dinosaur trainer calming a beast from a movie—without realizing, my hand reached forward.

“Calm down, Karl.”

“…”
“Shall we… try some deep breaths?”

I took a step back without thinking.

Crunch.

“Ouch!”

Something sharp poked into my foot. I jumped back like someone who had just scraped their fingernails on paper.

At that moment, I lost my balance.

“Elaine!”

Karl’s hand shot out, grabbing me with great force.

“Wait… ack!”

Thud.

“…”
“…”

When I came to my senses, I realized I had collapsed on top of Karl in the grass.

‘What the hell just happened?’

Karl’s face was way too close—so close I could almost see the soft fuzz on his face.

My heart was pounding in my chest. I looked down at Karl, trying to gather my thoughts, as a rational voice tried to make sense of the situation.

‘…It’s not a big deal.’

Right. It’s fine.

I’ve used him as a support to steady myself before.

This was nothing compared to the time I had to lean on him or had him hold me up on rough paths.

‘Yeah. It’s nothing.’

But still…

‘Why does everything feel so dramatic, like I’m under the spotlight?’

The grip I had on Karl’s hand was inexplicably warm, and I felt an odd pressure building.

In my dazed mind, I thought about how his golden eyes would look if he were crying.

‘I bet it would be so beautiful…’

‘If I tasted it, it might even be sweet.’

I caught myself thinking some absurd thoughts, but then, with a hairbrush of realization, I snapped back to reality.

‘When did we get this close?’

“…”

“…”

No, seriously. We were this close now. I could feel his breath, his soft skin…

Yet, somehow, I was frozen in place, unable to move.

Meanwhile, Karl continued moving closer.

I could push him away, but if I did…

His nose brushed against mine.

And then I thought I felt something soft and warm touch the area below my nose.

At that exact moment…

Thud.

Suddenly, the world spun.

“Karl? …Ack!”

Immediately, I was overwhelmed by an intense dizziness. Cold air rushed past me, blowing through my body.

‘No.’

This wasn’t just wind.

It felt like mist—cold, but then heated up, giving off a strange sense of breath.

‘Breath… from something.’

I looked up.

Above me, the sky was suddenly filled with red and black hues. A massive, yellow eye was staring down at me.

A blazing, immense eye.

“…”

For a moment, I felt like I was going to be crushed. I almost instantly understood what cosmic horror was.

But it felt strange. This eye… it felt familiar.

“A dragon?”

I said it absentmindedly, and the yellow eye slowly shifted, almost as if it were smiling.

It was a sharp, warning smile.

Whip!

The world shifted once again.

Flap, flap, flap.

The sound of birds flapping their wings in the forest broke through, and I was thrown back into reality.

It felt like a monster had swallowed me and then spit me out.

‘What was that?’

My head was still ringing. Slowly, I felt a strong hand cover mine.

“Elaine!”

Breathing heavily, I felt the air settle around me, the cold night air of the mountain and the faint hoot of an owl in the distance.

The noise around me came alive.

Karl’s hand.

“Elaine. What’s wrong?”

“…”

“Are you okay?”

Karl’s face was pale as he gently touched my head.

“Did you hurt yourself when you fell?”

Looking at his reaction, it was clear that he didn’t see what I had seen.

I looked up at the sky, still feeling the cold air around me.

“…It’s nothing.”

Even as I said that, I was hoping that what I’d just seen wasn’t real.

That it was just a hallucination.

Our original plan failed miserably.

I mean, the rushed plan to take the Duke’s belongings and give them to him as a gift… that scam-like plan.

“…Instead of giving it to him, it looks like we just ruined it.”

The items in the hideout were mostly broken.

The only thing that remained in one piece was…

“I didn’t think it would break so easily.”

It was a small dragon-shaped sculpture, smashed under my foot.

“It’s a good thing if the Duke doesn’t get angry.”

I grumbled as I walked back to the inn.

By now, the night was deep, and there were hardly any people left on the streets.

Snow was falling. It was a heavier, thicker snowfall than the snow globe Karl had given me.

“I guess the gift is…”
“That’s not what matters.”

Karl cut off my words, calm yet firm.

“What you should be focusing on right now is meeting with the doctor when we get back.”
“A doctor at this hour? I don’t want to be a nuisance.”
“But…”
“It’s fine. I’m just dizzy. If we’re calling the doctor for me, we should also call the one for your headache from earlier.”
“I don’t collapse from things like that, but you…?”
“I won’t collapse.”
“…”
“I was part of the Imperial Knights. If I wasn’t strong, would I be climbing mountains with you at dawn?”

I muttered, still feeling strangely touched by Karl’s concerned tone. He was clearly worried about me.

It was oddly comforting to feel that way, especially since I was glad that the conversation was focused on something else now.

‘If we talk about other things, I won’t know how to respond.’

…Like the events that happened just before I started feeling dizzy.

‘Maybe it’s better if we just pretend it never happened.’

The moment felt like a trick of the New Year’s festival—some kind of playful prank.

‘If we actually talk about it, both Karl and I might get into trouble.’

Since Karl wasn’t bringing it up, I figured he was thinking the same thing.

I had to push away any lingering feelings of frustration or confusion.

“We’re here.”

Soon, the inn came into view.

I said it with mixed feelings—half relieved, half disappointed.

“Thanks for bringing me here.”

As I was about to rush inside, his hand grabbed mine. I flinched for a moment.

“…Next time.”

Karl carefully took my hand and lowered his head.

“Next time, we’ll go together.”

“…”
“To pick the Duke’s gift.”

There was a subtle warmth in his voice.

‘Hey, didn’t you want to pretend none of this happened?’

Isn’t that why you didn’t say anything?

‘So why are you doing this now?’

I wanted to question him, but as I looked at his face moving toward the back of my hand, I couldn’t speak.

‘Is he doing this because he thinks I’m uncomfortable?’

So, are you doing this now because you didn’t want to bring it up earlier and just wanted to do this now?

My ear turned hot. It was strange that, even though I felt uncomfortable, I didn’t want to pull my hand away.

Slowly…

A warm and soft pair of lips touched my hand…

“…Miss?”

Just before his lips met my skin, I heard a voice.

“…”
“…”

It was Beth and Jeremy walking toward us, their eyes meeting ours.

‘What is this combination?’