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Chapter 34
I have no memory of being moved to the mansion, but at the very least, I probably didn’t arrive in one piece.
In that case, surely…
“I must have made a scene.”
I had promised I’d be fine, yet I returned covered in blood. It wouldn’t have been strange if someone said they were going to kill Xavier on the spot.
“Please don’t tell me he’s already been captured.”
My head instantly filled with chaotic thoughts.
Of course, I couldn’t harm Xavier while he was in the knights’ custody. Yet, oddly enough, I felt like Mathias might actually be able to do it.
Even though he was doomed to die eventually, if he attacked before facing punishment, Mathias himself could end up being punished. That would only complicate the situation.
There’s only so much protection one can provide.
One, noticing my worry, Sophia quickly added:
“M-Mathias is safe! No one touched him!”
“Really?”
He’d stayed still? That was quite admirable…
“Actually, he almost ran off to kill someone right away… but the Marchioness stopped him. She said if he went now, it would put you in a difficult position.”
…How am I supposed to ever repay that kindness?
Although her explanation was brief, I could roughly guess what had happened.
“Send a letter to the Marchioness immediately. Tell her I’m awake.”
Originally, the plan was to part ways after getting what we needed from each other, yet somehow, I ended up receiving a huge amount of help.
“Then… where is he now?”
If he hadn’t gone off to chop Xavier into pieces, there was no reason he wouldn’t have appeared by now.
At my question, Sophia looked a bit embarrassed—clearly finding it hard to say out loud.
Seeing that expression, I felt an inexplicable unease. Had another accident occurred? I parted my lips to ask what had happened.
Then…
“Aria!”
A familiar voice, and…
“?!”
A figure appeared from who-knows-where and immediately embraced me.
Yet, their hands and arms bore no weight at all, so I wouldn’t get hurt.
“….”
I inhaled deeply the fresh scent of grass and rolled my eyes.
‘Huh… they say talk of the tiger brings the tiger.’
This was exactly that moment.
“So… you went to pick herbs?”
When I asked why I hadn’t seen him when I woke up, Mathias nodded enthusiastically, as if begging me to praise him, like a wagging puppy.
I couldn’t help but let out a chuckle as I looked at the herbs he had brought.
Had he washed off the dirt? The roots felt remarkably clean under my fingertips.
“I told him,” Mathias slowly moved his lips, pointing to Enoch.
“That it would heal you.”
“….”
“They said this was the best.”
“So that’s why you went out and came back?”
“Yeah.”
Mathias carefully took my hand. His hands, now clean, felt much rougher than before.
He had dug into the soil to find the herbs; the cracks on his hands showed he had done it bare-handed.
Feeling guilty, I gently stroked his hands with mine, slightly bigger than his. As I caressed them, he muttered quietly:
“I was scared.”
His voice trembled subtly with deep emotion.
“I thought you might disappear.”
“You won’t disappear, I’m right here.”
“I thought you would.”
For once, he spoke so bluntly.
It must have been serious indeed—if it was bad enough that someone would even say he miraculously survived, it made sense that he would be naturally worried.
“I’m sorry. You must have been really scared.”
“I was.”
“But now it’s all over…”
“I wanted to kill them.”
“Oh, don’t say that.”
He suddenly veered off track. One could never let their guard down.
“Not yet, Mathias.”
He looked displeased and glanced at me cautiously.
“You attacked.”
“Still not okay.”
I warned him firmly again. This needed to be established early. While comforting him was one thing, reinforcing boundaries like this had to be done regularly.
‘Brainwashing is dangerous.’
Given his upbringing, he seemed to see slaughter as normal. No matter how gentle his nature, past habits or speech could surface unconsciously.
That would be harmful to him in the long run. Even now, he casually spoke of wanting to hurt someone.
“If you’re careless, you could get hurt too.”
“….”
Though he didn’t fully understand, I emphasized once more:
“Never. Hurting others is something only bad people do.”
“…Then?”
Mathias cautiously looked at me.
“You don’t like bad people, Aria?”
“Yes, I don’t. The ones who got caught were all bad people.”
“….”
“Are you going to become a bad person too?”
Explaining this to an adult felt odd, but Mathias’s mind was still that of a child. Physically grown, mentally almost a kid.
Hence, persuasion worked better than coercion.
“No.”
Just like that.
“Right? So you shouldn’t do it, right?”
Mathias hesitated briefly, then slowly nodded. He hadn’t fully understood, but the gesture showed partial acceptance.
Pleased, I put my hands down and opened my arms, signaling him to come in.
Noticing, Mathias’s eyes widened like a rabbit’s, and he slowly approached.
I embraced his broad shoulders and patted his back a few times to show approval.
“Thank you. I’ll use this well.”
“…Yeah.”
Mathias murmured softly in my embrace. A moment later, he placed his hand gently on my back, breathing out a languid sigh, as if touching something precious.
It was a sigh filled entirely with relief that I was safe.
While I had been unconscious, the outside situation had progressed rapidly.
First, several nobles, including Xavier and Marquis Odilon, were arrested as criminals. The rest at the auction were taken by knights one by one.
Some had apparently tried to escape through pre-prepared routes.
But after cross-checking the attendee list, everyone was captured—no exceptions.
“Thanks to that, we could also catch the illegal slave traders easily. If we’d been a bit slower, they might have escaped. The knights moved more efficiently than expected.”
Upon hearing that I had awakened, Marchioness Odilon smiled, clearly pleased with the smooth resolution of events.
“Thank you, my lady. I should have helped more… I ended up putting too much burden on you.”
Odilon shook her head.
“Don’t say that. Since they’re palace guards, it was actually easier for me to step in, and I found it rather enjoyable.”
And…
“It’s enough that you’re safe, young lady.”
