PDHTFV 22

~Chapter 22~

“Yu…”

I almost called out his name but quickly shut my mouth. I needed to be careful about how I addressed him in front of others.

‘Why is he here? What happened?’

It had only been two days, but I thought I’d finally have some time to enjoy freedom away from Yushen’s watchful eyes…!

I didn’t know why he came, but there was no reason for him to show up where everyone could see.

I looked around at the members’ faces and saw they were just as surprised and confused as I was. Nobody seemed to expect Yushen to be here.

‘At least it’s not just me who didn’t know.’

I let out a sigh of relief and tried to quietly slip away.

But then, something strange happened right in front of me.

Like a miracle, the members split into two lines and a path opened up.

‘…What’s this?’

I had no idea why this was happening to me.

I glanced around and saw people glancing back and forth between me and behind me.

Suddenly, I felt nervous.

‘This feels like déjà vu… Like my first day at work.’

I slowly turned around. The moment I did, I regretted it—Yushen was staring right at me.

The air instantly went still. I could feel everyone’s attention fixed on us.

I didn’t dare move. I didn’t want to break the silence.

Just then, Yushen smiled at me with a curved mouth.

I frowned and looked away.
‘That smile gave me chills.’

Yushen looked like a devil threatening to control my life.

From the whispers around me, I knew I wasn’t the only one who felt that way.

“Captain!”

“Oh, Hebranne.”

Just then, Hebranne, the mission leader, rushed over to Yushen.

It looked like Yushen had made a surprise visit without telling anyone. Otherwise, the leader wouldn’t show up late like this.

The leader quickly ordered everyone to go back to their tents.

I hurried to blend in with the group and move away, worried he might call me out.

Thanks to that, I could hear what the other members were thinking.

“Why did the Captain come all the way out here?”

“Yeah. Did something happen at the temple?”

“Was there an attack? Is there a war?”

“Hey, don’t say things like that!”

I nodded along. Our ancestors always said that words can become reality—so it’s best not to say worrying things.

After checking the mood, I went back to my tent.

I sat on my cot, deep in thought about why Yushen was here.

Honestly, I felt guiltier than the others, so it bothered me more.

Logically, it couldn’t be war or an attack on the temple—if it was, Yushen would have to stay in the center, not come all the way here.

And he came alone, so maybe it was for personal reasons…

‘…Is he really here to watch me?’

Judging from how persistent he’s been, it was a reasonable suspicion.

I’ve never met anyone this clingy in my life.

Maybe it was time to think of a way to shake Yushen off. I didn’t have much else to do here anyway.

Ding—

The bell I’d hung at the entrance to warn against late-night intruders rang.

I turned to the door, and saw Yushen coming in, pulling back the curtain.

He sat down right next to me, like it was the most natural thing.

“…Why are you sitting here?”

“There’s nowhere else to sit.”

“….”

“If we’re going to talk for a while, should I stand the whole time?”

Still, sitting together on my bed in a small tent? Really?

Don’t you know men and women aren’t supposed to sit together alone?

“If it bothers you, Miss Montrose, you can stand.”

Technically, he wasn’t wrong, so I had nothing to say.

I also realized that since joining Luche, Yushen had started dropping formal speech with me more often.

But honestly, it made sense for the boss to do it first. Even if I was fine with it, I didn’t like when Yushen spoke casually to me.

‘…Is this hypocrisy?’

Either way, I needed to get used to it.

“I just need to coordinate our story with you, Miss Montrose.”

“What?”

I frowned and stood up, shocked.

“You want to do what with me?”

“…Is it that shocking to want to get our stories straight?”

Oh, wow.

I slapped my forehead and sat down again.

Of course, he just meant to match up our stories—not literally anything else. I should’ve realized right away.

‘Yushen really is my nemesis!’

Trying to calm my nerves, I looked at Yushen again.

He looked at me like he couldn’t understand what I’d just done.

I smiled, pretending nothing had happened.

“Go ahead.”

“Are you sure you’re not sick?”

“I’m totally fine.”

His deep purple eyes were full of doubt, so I blinked innocently.

Yushen tilted his head and continued.

“If your prediction ability is real, it’s not something common, right?”

“No, it’s not.”

“Aydin and I decided to keep it a secret for now.”

I had expected that even if I didn’t ask, Aydin would want to keep it secret.

“But I approved your membership because of that ability, so you know you can’t just never use it, right?”

I nodded. I’d expected they’d ask me to do something as soon as I revealed my powers.

Now I was curious what kind of job he’d give me.

“You’ll serve as an advisor when Luche gets important missions.”

Advisor?

So he wanted me to look over their plans with my foresight and see which ones could succeed?

That wasn’t hard. I already knew most of what the central temple and palace wanted Luche to do.

But—how would I join as an advisor if my ability was secret? I was just a low-level medic here.

“Will I be an official advisor?”

“No. Your identity will be kept hidden.”

I didn’t ask for details. Both Aydin and Yushen would handle it.

“Okay, I understand.”

An awkward silence followed.

I waited, thinking there would be more, but Yushen just looked away, not saying anything else.

‘…Is that all?’

He didn’t need to come all the way out here just to say that. He could have waited until after the mission.

No, there had to be another reason!

What was he really here for, just making me uncomfortable?

I decided to just ask—maybe it would speed things up.

“Um, Captain?”

“Yes?”

“Did you really come all the way from the temple just to tell me this?”

“…”

“Really?”

“…No.”

Yeah, right!

From Yushen’s reaction, I knew I’d hit the mark.

From the very beginning, I’ve never understood a thing he does.

Well, it’s not like I ever could. If I understood Yushen, I’d have already proved I wasn’t Leana.

‘Still, he couldn’t have come just for that one thing…’

He definitely had something else on his mind.

I squinted at Yushen.

Should I just ask directly?

…No, he’d never tell me anyway.

The only reason I couldn’t let this go was because he was avoiding my eyes.

I was sure he was hiding something important.

Yushen glanced at me nervously, then finally opened his mouth.

“…How is your hand?”

But his voice was so quiet, I couldn’t hear.

“Sorry, what?”

Yushen scratched his cheek, embarrassed, and repeated himself.

“…Is your hand better?”

“Oh.”

I covered the bandage on my hand, which I hadn’t thought about in a while.

I didn’t realize he was still thinking about it—his own wound was worse than mine.

But why ask about this now?

I didn’t get it, but I answered.

“I’m fine.”

“Is there a scar?”

“No, the healer said there won’t be a scar. But isn’t it more important for your back to heal?”

Everyone in Luche would agree.
If the Captain got injured, no one could replace him, but someone could easily cover for me.

So I was telling him to take care of his own wound instead of worrying about mine.

“…My back is fine.”

Yushen answered seriously, as if I’d really asked about his back.

“Oh, good. That’s a relief.”

But why was his neck turning red? Did he really come all this way just to ask that?