IQSBM 11

Chapter 11

In the darkness, our gazes met.

Calix’s eyes slowly drifted down to my lips, then lifted back to my eyes.
At the look that seemed to demand an explanation, cold sweat broke out on my back.

I’m screwed. Since when has he been awake?

Just as my mind was turning completely blank, my survival instinct took over.

“You’re awake?”

I sat up as if nothing had happened, brushed off my sleeves, and spoke to Calix.

“With this, the hangover treatment is complete. You can rest easy now.”

Then I added grandly,

“How is it? Feeling refreshed?”

Calm down. Stay calm. Act natural. You prepared an excuse! You can do this, Liana.

Only then did Calix slightly raise himself, still wearing a doubtful expression, and spoke.

“You treated my drunkenness?”
“Yes.”

Calix rubbed his face once with both hands, then nodded slightly and repeated the words.

“I see. But…”
“Yes?”
“Just now…”

He trailed off, looking a little awkward after bringing it up himself.

That’s understandable. Of course he’d be curious.

Your reaction is perfectly normal, but this is all I can answer.

“Oh, you mean how your face was right in front of mine? I inhaled the alcohol through your nose. That’s why.”

This was how terrifying survival instinct could be.
At my reply, Calix blinked several times, as if he’d heard something completely unexpected, then spoke as though entranced.

“Oh. The alcohol. Through the nose.”
“Yes. There’s a treatment like that. It’s the latest trend—guess you didn’t know.”

I’d gone so far as to label Calix as someone behind the times.
Of course, there was no such trend.

I’m truly sorry.

I’ll apologize later.

“I see.”

Now officially someone behind the times, Calix fell silent for a moment before speaking again.

“…I didn’t know.”
“Oh, I see. That’s understandable.”
“……”

An awkward silence began to settle between us once more.

Click—

“Hey, are you done? I hear voices.”

Like a savior, the vice-captain appeared with perfect timing.

“Oh? Captain, you’re really back to normal?”

Never before—and never again—had I been so glad to see the vice-captain.

“Vice-captain! I’ve completed the mission. Look, he’s fully awake, right?”
“Indeed. Impressive as expected. Thank you!”
“Then may I take my leave now?”
“Yes, go ahead.”

All I could think about was getting out of this room as fast as possible.

After receiving permission from the vice-captain, I glanced back—and met Calix’s gaze, fixed on me.

His face was full of things he clearly wanted to ask, but I pretended not to notice and quickly looked away.

“Then I’ll be going now. I wish you all a refreshing night without hangovers.”

The moment the door closed, I ran straight toward my room.

I’m doomed. Run, run!

Even then, my pounding heart showed no sign of calming down.

“What happened?”

At Calix’s question, Damon answered quickly.

“Ah, you overdid it a bit today, sir. And you have a schedule tomorrow morning, so I was worried you might have a hangover. I asked Liana for a favor.”
“Unnecessary.”

Calix replied curtly. Damon checked his expression and quickly took a step back.

“Haha! Still, you must be tired, right? Get some more rest. Yes, yes.”

Click. Thud.

With Damon gone as well, the office fell silent.

Calix let out a deep breath. When the moment flashed through his mind—Liana’s breath brushing right before his eyes—his head grew dizzy again.

“Ha…”

After staring blankly at the ceiling for a while, Calix exhaled and stood up.

What is going on?

In truth, Calix had a secret he could tell no one.

Not long ago, he had died once.

No—more precisely, he thought he had died, but when he opened his eyes, he had returned to the past.

Just before his death, there had been a woman who kissed him.

Calix recalled the woman who had poured all her strength into him in that final moment—the woman with the same face as Liana, who had never let go of him even as she vomited blood.

As the memory of their lips touching resurfaced, Calix unconsciously covered his mouth. His face felt strangely warm.

In that instant when her final breath entered him, an intense sensation flowed through his entire body—like being released from long-standing shackles.

And when he opened his eyes, he had returned to the past.
Awakened.

Calix clenched his right hand. Brilliant golden light gathered in his palm and flowed through his entire body.

The power of protection.

It was a mysterious power said to manifest once every few generations in the imperial house of Reinhardt—the authority of the holy knight who founded the empire, passed down to protect it.

It was said that any heir who possessed the power of protection became the next emperor, regardless of rank.

Calix’s mother had believed until her dying day that the power had been inherited by her son. The golden light in Calix’s eyes, she said, was proof.

But in the end, I never manifested it.

He had felt as though some power flowed within his body. But whenever he tried to give it form, it felt blocked, as if something were stuck inside him.

At least, that was how it had been before his regression. But now—

It’s different.

The first thing he felt after returning was an overwhelming power surging through his entire body. It was as refreshing as a long-blocked river finally breaking free.

It was powerful enough to make him regret that he hadn’t awakened sooner. His life before regression had been nothing short of—

Horrific.

He had lived his entire life in hiding. Just as the empress ordered, he never revealed his true name, concealing his identity wherever he went.

And yet, even that wasn’t enough. In the end, Valdier took everything from him.

The blood and tears of his comrades whose throats were cut trying to protect him, the horrific pain of arms and legs being severed—and the chilling smile of his half-brother who took pleasure in watching it all—left him utterly powerless.

Perhaps that was why, at the very end of that despair, the warmth of the woman who held him felt so incredibly comforting.

It was ridiculous, but he regretted that even as he died, he never asked her name. And then, like a lie, after his regression, she appeared before him again.

Liana.

That was her name.

At first, he was merely intrigued by the mention of a priestess-in-training among the applicants. He hadn’t thought much of it then; deciding to see her had been almost absentminded.

But the moment he saw her face running across the training grounds, he knew.

It’s her.

The person who had kissed him in his final moments. The one who had ensured that, at least at the end of his painful life, he did not suffer.

His heart felt as though it dropped. The woman he thought he would never see again stood boldly before his eyes.

Though she looked like she might collapse, she kept running forward, even leaping over a fallen applicant ahead of her.

Unlike the woman he’d met in the prison, she seemed full of life.

Watching her, Calix smiled without realizing it. He was curious why someone who had clearly been a saintess would come to take the recruitment test for his mercenary corps—but that didn’t matter.

Just the fact that he had met her again filled him with an interest in life he hadn’t felt in a long time. A small breeze seemed to blow through the bleak existence he’d been merely enduring day by day.

Yet strangely, her life now seemed different from before.

Before his regression, she had undoubtedly been a saintess. Though Valdier denied it, the power Calix had felt from her was difficult to explain otherwise.

But now she even failed the priest aptitude test and was expelled from the temple.

Calix wanted to keep her by his side and watch her.

She was clearly the same person, yet living a different life—and he wanted to understand why. He wanted to see the life of hers he had never known, to learn more about her.

Perhaps then he might understand, even a little, why she had kissed him before his regression, and why the power bound within him had awakened after that kiss.

But what was that just now?

Hearing movement outside the door, he pretended to be asleep. Liana entered the room and approached him.

She came close enough for me to feel her breath…

Curious about what she intended to do, he stayed still.

She seemed to stand there for quite a while even after coming close. Then, when her breath neared his lips, he couldn’t hold back any longer and opened his eyes.

In that instant, his heart nearly stopped. It was exactly the same as before his regression. Liana was gazing at him with those sorrowful eyes whose meaning he couldn’t decipher.

He knew it couldn’t be, but he wanted to ask if she had come to save him again this time. Of course, he couldn’t ask. He’d be called insane.

As expected, she offered an utterly unexpected explanation—and then disappeared.

For some reason, her retreat left him feeling a little regretful.

Of course, even if I’d stopped her, there wasn’t anything more I could’ve asked…

Calix forced his thoughts of Liana aside and concealed the power of protection that wrapped his body once more.

He hadn’t revealed his awakening to anyone yet. If he displayed this power carelessly, it would only be a matter of time before rumors reached the imperial family.

And then there’s no knowing what the empress and Valdier would scheme.

He hadn’t yet decided how to deal with their plots. Until he could choose a path that would better protect those dear to him, he would have to move as quietly as possible.