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Chapter 19
Isaac had met Enoch here many times, yet he still found him difficult to deal with.
“I really don’t know what kind of misunderstanding I’ve given him.”
Isaac narrowed his eyes and let out a slow sigh. He couldn’t fully understand everything Enoch said, but one thing was certain: Enoch was misunderstanding the relationship between that girl and himself.
To think he was misunderstanding the very things Isaac wanted to ask about.
As Isaac ran a hand through his hair, a low groan—“Mmm…”—reached his ears.
When he turned his head, he saw a familiar face lying beside him. It was Demilton.
“…Ugh.”
Staring silently at Demilton as he groaned as if trapped in a nightmare, Isaac pressed down hard on his furrowed brow.
“T‑that’s not the place, ngh—!”
As Demilton flailed his arms in a panic, Isaac grabbed a pillow and threw it at him. With another sigh, he climbed down from the bed.
“I should go.”
Isaac quietly changed his clothes and left the infirmary.
When the door closed, the room fell silent, leaving only Demilton behind—scratching his head as he stared blankly around him, utterly bewildered.
Morning sunlight streamed through the window. It was early morning, filled with the clear sound of birdsong.
“Mm…”
Seris, who had fainted the previous night, struggled to open her eyes.
With a slow groan, she pushed herself up in bed and covered her face with her palm. Her fallen bangs blurred her vision.
Through that obscured sight, she noticed a brightly colored ball of yarn.
Raising her head slowly, Seris spotted Cleora sitting on the edge of the bed, nodding off.
Her eyes, still hazy with sleep, gradually widened before shifting to Seris’s arm.
“……”
The horrific pain from dawn—forgotten in her sleep—flashed through her mind.
It had hurt so badly that screams had threatened to burst out no matter how hard she tried to endure it. But no matter what she did, she couldn’t even open her mouth. In the end, she had thrashed in agony and passed out.
Rubbing her arm, Seris examined it, wondering if something had gone wrong.
With pain that terrible, something had to be wrong.
Yet contrary to her fears, her arm was perfectly fine.
There were no tears, no fractures, not even small wounds.
Then what had that pain been?
“The treatment went well.”
Seris, still rubbing her arm, looked up at the voice coming from the opposite side.
Cleora, who had been asleep just moments ago, stretched her body with a long yawn.
When Seris stared at her in a daze, Cleora smacked her lips and grinned.
“Thanks to your cooperation, we finished without any major problems.”
“Co…operation?”
Could forcibly gagging someone and making them pass out really be called cooperation?
Watching Seris trail off with conflicted eyes, Cleora jerked her chin.
“Still, it’s a relief.”
“A relief…? What is?”
“The injury wasn’t that severe. Honestly, I thought it was really bad. I was worried I might go crazy treating it—or that you’d go into cardiac arrest—but that wasn’t the case. You endured it well.”
“…Cardiac arrest? Then you recommended this treatment knowing I could’ve died?”
“Why? Is that a problem?”
“Well, that’s—”
“I told you. I made the suggestion, but the choice was yours. And I said it, didn’t I? You didn’t seriously think treatment would be possible without any price at all.”
Seris wanted to protest, but nothing came to mind—and above all, she knew Cleora wasn’t wrong.
She merely bit her lip tightly.
Cleora watched her in silence, then clicked her tongue with a sigh.
“Time really has passed. I use shadow healing, and I get suspicion in return.”
“Shadow… healing?”
“Back in the day, even the imperial family would bring armfuls of gifts, begging me to treat them just once. The physical and spiritual drain was so severe that I usually refused. And I used it on you—someone who isn’t the emperor or even royalty—without asking for anything in return. Do you understand?”
“……”
“Tsk, tsk. Instead of smashing your head on the floor in gratitude, you ask me if I knew the risks? The nerve.”
Even as Cleora frowned in exasperation, Seris’s expression remained tense.
She slowly lowered her gaze to her arm and applied strength little by little.
In the past, even this much force would have sent a sharp pain shooting down from her elbow. But now, there was no pain at all.
‘Is it really… true?’
Seris had heard of shadow healing before.
A family art passed down only to the direct descendants of the Eisenbold family—those who could wield shadows. Shadows could harm or even kill people, yet at the same time, they could heal. Its healing power was said to be so extraordinary that it could awaken those in comas.
However, since the direct line had died out, the technique was thought to exist only in legend, which was why Seris had never sought it out. And yet—shadow healing.
It was hard to believe. But considering what she had seen at dawn and the condition of her arm now, she couldn’t deny it.
Seris clenched her trembling lips and looked up.
“Then… are you truly a direct descendant of the family?”
“What, you thought I was fake? I told you already.”
Cleora smiled broadly and tilted her chin.
“I am Cleora Vern. The last master of this family.”
“……”
Seris couldn’t fully believe those words.
After all, a legend from seventy years ago—thought to be dead—returning alive in the form of a child was not something easy to accept.
But it didn’t matter. Whether the woman before her was truly Cleora or an impostor wasn’t important.
“…Thank you for the grace and mercy you have bestowed upon me.”
Seris got out of bed, knelt before Cleora, and pressed her forehead to the floor.
“Seris den Cuarto.”
The fact remained unchanged: the person before her was the rightful heir of the Eisenbold family—long believed lost—and her benefactor.
“I swear upon my convictions and my life to become your sword.”
“……”
Cleora silently watched Seris bowing before her, then narrowed her eyes.
For some reason, Alzas came to mind.
‘Grandfather or granddaughter—exactly the same.’
Cleora let out a soft snort of laughter.
“All right, all right. Do explain yourself well from now on. I’ll be looking forward to seeing how the Cuarto family’s successor is reborn.”
In her good mood, Cleora’s smile shone brightly in the sunlight.
A room sunk deep in ominous darkness. In the pitch-black space where not even light could seep in, only five pairs of eyes floated.
“Hey… are we really going to do this?”
A trembling voice came from a pair of black eyes, clearly frightened.
Opposite them, another pair blinked once before flashing with resolve.
“We have to. Are you planning to live like this forever?”
“But…”
“Just trust me. This time, it’s perfect.”
Eyes of various colors fixed on the brown pair.
Though he told them to trust him, the four pairs staring back were filled with doubt rather than faith.
“You said that last time too. Do you even know what kind of mess we’re in now?”
“If you hadn’t said that, we would’ve just passed by. Since when did you start caring so much about knightly pride?”
“Yeah. Shouldn’t you take responsibility for all of this?”
“Take responsibility!”
As voices piled on, the brown-eyed one faltered, then stomped his foot hard.
“You bastards! You’re pushing the blame onto me now? I’ll tell my father to cut off all deals with you!”
“T‑that’s…”
“……”
“Sorry…”
When the brown-eyed one snapped, the others fell silent as if they had never talked back.
He let out a deep sigh, rustled about for a moment, then his eyes lit up.
“This time, I’ve thought it through. So don’t worry.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. If you just listen to me, we can get out of this shitty situation.”
“Hm…”
“Think about it. How hard is it when shadows follow you everywhere? You can’t even complain, and it feels like you’re being watched no matter what you do… Aren’t you the same?”
“Well… yeah.”
They didn’t say everything, but since they all felt the same, silence followed. The brown-eyed one snorted as if to say see?, then hardened his gaze.
“But will it be okay? They say she’s a direct-line candidate.”
“No need to chicken out. Who cares if she’s a candidate or whatever? You think Eisenbold will change overnight just because a direct line shows up? And she’s not even the real deal—just a candidate. Think about it. If not now, we’ll never get a chance for revenge.”
“……”
“Don’t be scared, assholes. I’ll take full responsibility.”
Something rose abruptly from the darkness and pointed in one direction.
“Open that door, go out, grab that girl, teach her a lesson—and make her take back all the weird stuff she did to us.”
“Okay.”
“Yeah, got it.”
“Bastards.”
After facing his loudly responding friends, the brown-eyed one turned around.
“Let’s go!”
Click.
With the sound of the handle turning, the door opened—and light poured in.
Squinting at the suddenly bright scene, the knights frowned, and then suddenly realized:
someone was standing right in front of them.
