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Chapter 15
As soon as those words ended, a knight who had been speaking seriously with another approached Sir Jared.
“Commander, there’s a report you need to hear right away.”
“A report? Is it urgent?”
“Yes. Just now, from the capital…”
The reporting knight faltered, glancing briefly at me and As.
Sensing instinctively that this was not something outsiders should hear, I quickly spoke up.
“Sir Jared, please tend to your duties. As and I can handle our meal on our own.”
“But…”
Sir Jared frowned, looking worried.
I shook my head and continued.
“I can’t burden someone as busy as you. Besides, As said he knows a good restaurant nearby. Thank you for your concern.”
I firmly drew the line.
Sir Jared hesitated as if wanting to say something more, then sighed and nodded.
“…Understood. If you need help, please don’t hesitate to ask.”
“Thank you, Sir Jared. Then we’ll take our leave here.”
After bidding him farewell, I left immediately with As.
From behind, I could still feel his reluctant gaze. It seemed Sir Jared regretted not being able to help us further.
“Doesn’t he seem like a really good person? I mean Sir Jared.”
When I felt his gaze fade, I said this to As.
As froze for a moment, then slowly raised the corner of his lips in a smile.
“Really?”
“Yeah. He was even willing to take his own time to point us to a famous restaurant since we’re outsiders and might struggle. That’s not something everyone would do.”
Some might call it meddling, but to someone as unlucky and directionally challenged as me, it felt like the hand of an angel.
Besides, Sir Jared and I had just met for the very first time today.
“To show such kindness to a complete stranger… he must be a truly good man.”
“…Maybe that’s for the best.”
“Hm?”
“It’s nothing.”
As shook his head with a bright smile.
I tilted my head in curiosity but didn’t press further.
Right now, the most important thing was making sure As ate properly.
By the time we finished eating and returned home, it was already close to noon.
Between writing a report to the Emperor and tending to house chores, the day slipped away in a blur of hard work.
“Already this late…”
Completely worn out, I collapsed onto the bed.
One by one, the little Quiels gathered around me.
“Time really does flow like water.”
I was already twenty-five.
Absentmindedly stroking the Quiels rubbing against my cheek, I lamented the merciless passage of time.
At some point, I must have dozed off.
Knock, knock.
Half-asleep, I was stirred by a sudden sound.
‘What was that? A dream…?’
Too drowsy to open my eyes, I wondered vaguely.
Was I confusing dream and reality? Was that sound real, or part of a dream?
My thoughts multiplied even as my eyelids stayed shut.
Just as I was drifting back into deeper sleep—
Knock, knock.
The knocking came again.
This time it was clearer, and I realized it was no dream.
I opened my eyes with a huge yawn.
“As… is that you?”
Rubbing away the tears from yawning, I asked.
The door, silent for a moment, slowly creaked open.
“…Einra.”
As entered, clutching a pillow tightly to his chest.
Bathed in pale moonlight, he looked fragile and lonely.
He stepped hesitantly into the room, only to stop near the door without coming further.
“As, what’s wrong? Are you hurt?”
It was the first time he had ever come to me at night with a pillow, so I widened my eyes at him.
Half-hiding his face behind the pillow, As averted his gaze and murmured.
“…I had a nightmare.”
“A nightmare?”
As I tilted my head, those strange symptoms he had shown the first day flashed vividly in my mind.
‘N-no… don’t…’
‘S-stay away! Don’t look at me!’
His face, drenched in cold sweat and twisted in torment.
His little arms desperately covering his face, as though in a seizure.
Tears streaming endlessly down his cheeks.
‘Was that… all because of nightmares?’
What kind of nightmare could torment a child of barely ten years old so much?
My expression hardened. My grip on the blanket tightened.
As spoke again, haltingly.
“I was scared… I thought if I saw you, Einra, I’d feel better, so…”
His words came out in broken fragments.
He seemed hardly aware of what he was saying, which made my chest ache.
Suppressing a sigh, I said softly:
“Then… should I help you sleep?”
As flinched, lifting his head in surprise.
His widened eyes stared at me.
“…You’d help me sleep?”
“You said nightmares scare you, right? I’ll stay with you. If it looks like you’re having one, I’ll wake you right away.”
“…If you put me to sleep, you won’t hate me for it?”
After a long pause, he asked that.
His knuckles turned white from gripping the pillow so hard.
It was a familiar question—I had heard something like it before.
With a stern face, I answered firmly:
“I told you before. I will never hate you.”
“…”
He said nothing.
Moonlight slanted slowly across the room.
Silence hung thick, heavy enough to catch even a breath.
I was about to break it when his low voice finally came.
“…Einra, you offered to help me sleep first.”
“Of course. I just said so, didn’t I?”
“So even if you regret it later, it won’t matter.”
“Why would I regret it?”
I frowned.
If anything, sending away a child terrified of nightmares would be the greater regret!
‘Did someone once regret it before, and hurt him that way?’
The thought struck me, but I shook it off.
It didn’t matter. I would never regret this.
“Come here, As.”
Smiling, I stretched out a hand.
Slowly, As approached and slipped under the blanket.
The blanket was big, and he squirmed for a while before peeking his eyes out to look up at me.
His ruby-like eyes shimmered faintly in the moonlight.
I found myself staring, almost entranced, before quickly shaking it off with a laugh.
I patted his chest lightly.
“Good night, As.”
At my gentle words, his eyelids lowered slowly.
Moonlight caught on his long lashes.
After a few blinks, he looked at me again.
In a soft whisper, he said:
“…Good night, Einra.”
Breathing quietly and evenly, Einra was soon sound asleep.
But Arkes, unable to rest, rose silently from the bed.
There was no way he could sleep with her beside him—his heart pounded far too wildly for his small body to endure.
Kneeling by the bed, he gazed at her face, illuminated white under the moonlight.
Tentatively, he reached out and brushed her brown hair with his fingertips.
The hair he had longed for slid gently through his little fingers.
The face he had missed so desperately was now right beside him, peaceful in slumber.
The person he had yearned to stay by his side… was finally here, breathing softly next to him.
And that alone made him unbearably happy.
“…”
But a child’s body was fragile, far too vulnerable to such emotions.
After a moment of strained breathing, Arkes lifted the strands of hair in his hand and pressed them to his lips.
“…You were the one who reached out to me first.”
“…”
“You said you wouldn’t regret it. Isn’t that right?”
His crimson eyes, shadowed in darkness against the moonlight, curved faintly.
“It doesn’t matter if you don’t love me back. Even if I cross the line…”
“…”
“As long as you don’t hate me.”
His low, delicate voice dissolved into the still night air.
And from the one fast asleep, no answer could ever return.
