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Chapter 25
Damia could not answer the man’s question.
‘My identity? I’m curious about that too!’
Why she had died and come back to life.
Why she had returned at the age of thirteen.
What this strange power was.
Damia knew nothing.
“Who’s behind you?”
The man, who had been crouching, slowly stood up and glared at her.
New flesh was growing irregularly where his skin had melted. It was a grotesque sight.
“Who must be so powerful to create someone like you?”
Moreover, he seemed to have completely misunderstood something.
“Do you think staying silent will save you?”
He spat a curse and wiped the blood from his lips.
‘It’s not that—I just have nothing to explain!’
Having witnessed Damia’s mysterious power, he now seemed more cautious than before.
“I don’t have much patience.”
He kicked the glass bottle containing the healing potion, sending it flying.
Damia bit her lip, losing one of her most important weapons.
“Now that you know, I won’t make the same mistake twice.”
He pointed at her hand with his chin.
“Just be careful with your bare hands, it seems.”
It seemed he had finished assessing Damia.
“You have no choice, kid. Who are you working for?”
“……”
“You’ve got talent too precious to just kill off. I might even take you under my wing, so be honest.”
He slowly licked his lips.
If he wanted, he could have subdued Damia right then and there.
Both Damia and the man knew it.
‘This is about my limit.’
Though she tried to act calm, her legs trembled.
‘What should I do?’
She could hardly breathe comfortably now.
“Light ahead!”
At that moment, a sharp shout was followed by the thunderous sound of hooves.
“Increase speed! Or I’ll go first!”
“Ha, but we’re at our limit, Young Viscount!”
“No! I can’t live without her anymore!”
The melodious, overly romantic voice sounded oddly familiar.
‘Could it be…?’
Damia wondered how Cassian had managed to appear at just the right moment, but there was no time to hesitate.
She inhaled deeply.
“Young Viscount! Over here!”
She called out with the last of her strength.
“…Wait.”
“Yes?”
“Stop for a moment!”
Cassian’s shout mingled with sounds of clattering, as if the group had nearly collided while rushing to a halt.
‘Did he hear my voice?’
A glimmer of hope flickered in Damia’s purple eyes.
He hadn’t pinpointed her exact location yet, but Cassian was close.
“Ah, damn it. This is troublesome. It’s bad timing to run into him now.”
The man cursed coldly.
He hadn’t expected anyone to be tailing him.
“……”
His vertically slit pupils locked on Damia.
It seemed he was gauging whether he could still snatch her and escape.
“Young Viscount! Please, over here!”
Sensing the danger, Damia pounded on the carriage.
She had to signal her location to Cassian somehow.
“Over there!”
Hearing her desperate signal, the approaching sounds of hooves grew louder.
“Damn it, this brat!”
The man, losing his temper, grabbed Damia by the collar.
“Do you really want to die? I was planning to keep you alive for a bit to extract something!”
“L-Let go!”
Even reaching out to strike him was impossible with her short thirteen-year-old arms.
“Let go, I said!”
Damia kicked desperately in midair, but the man’s grip only tightened.
The slit pupils that stared at her burned with a terrifying murderous intent.
“Young Viscount! Save me!”
The torches of what seemed to be Cassian’s party drew closer.
“Ha, pleading to be killed already.”
“If you kill me now, you’ll never find out who’s really behind this.”
There wasn’t anyone behind her, but Damia bluffingly threatened for her life.
“If I die, he absolutely won’t stand by quietly either!”
The threat seemed to work; the man’s grip loosened slightly.
He now appeared wary, as if realizing that whoever might be behind her could be lost forever if he acted rashly.
“Here! I’m here!”
Damia seized the moment and shouted again.
The man ground his teeth and violently threw her aside.
He seemed to realize that a delay might result in running into Cassian’s party.
“If you tell that Sarkis bastard about today, I’ll make you regret it more painfully than death itself.”
“Young Viscount! Over here!”
“Well, that bloodline only trusts what it can see with its own eyes anyway, so they probably won’t believe you.”
Finally, he made a decision, abandoning the carriage and disappearing into the darkness.
‘I have to get to him!’
Her will was strong, but her body was drained of all strength.
Damia slumped, reaching out with her hand.
“Damia!”
Soon after, Cassian arrived.
As soon as the boy dismounted, he dashed toward Damia.
Cassian’s sweat-drenched face looked like a scene straight out of a painting, even in this chaos.
“Sniff… Young Viscount…”
Damia, lying on the ground, instinctively reached her hands toward him.
Cassian Sarkis glowed faintly even in the dark night.
It really felt like meeting a savior.
“Why… did it take you so long to come…?”
In front of the Young Viscount, she tried to act more mature, but the relief overwhelmed all her resolve.
For the first time in her life, Damia let herself whine.
“Damia.”
Cassian, stepping forward, stopped as tears fell onto the girl’s pale cheeks.
The boy’s red eyes trembled violently.
“Sniff…”
Damia didn’t notice that Cassian had frozen stiff.
Her accumulated tears blurred her vision.
“Waaahhh…”
“D-Don’t cry. Please…”
The wait was short anyway.
Cassian wrapped his trembling hands around Damia.
Cassian Sarkis froze, facing a situation he had never encountered before.
The girl pressed herself into his arms. Her crown of hair touched his chin.
“I’m… sorry I came so late. It’s all okay now.”
Cassian finally managed to speak comforting words.
The usually composed Young Viscount fumbled, his face flushed.
The accompanying guards poked each other with elbows, trying to stifle their laughter.
“It’s alright. Nothing like this will happen again.”
Cassian murmured lowly as he patted Damia’s back.
He had no idea how to soothe a young girl.
‘She loves desserts so much… why is she still so skinny?’
His hands, tense from anger at Marquis Ponti, pressed lightly as he tried to comfort her.
Damia flinched and cried even harder.
“It’s okay. Don’t… cry.”
Cassian, at a loss, pulled her closer. Damia gave off a sweet, unidentifiable scent.
It smelled like wildflowers, milk with honey, and the soft fragrance of clean bedding.
Cassian swallowed dryly, his heart tightening with an unfamiliar anxiety.
“Sniff… but…”
For some reason, the girl continued to cry endlessly, and her tears now soaked Cassian’s chest.
‘Huh…?’
At that moment, Cassian’s heart, normally unmoved by almost anything, thumped loudly.
The boy stared at his gloved hands in surprise.
‘It’s not bare skin, yet why…?’
An unusual nervousness made his mouth go dry.
