TAVBZ 105

Chapter 105

Whether he knew my feelings or not, Enoch wrapped his arms around my waist and took some disinfectant from my crossbody bag.

“I’ll do it.”

“It’s uncomfortable. I’ll do it for you.”

Every time he spoke, his breath brushed against my ear. Damn it.

“Wait, ugh.”

I grabbed his arms with both hands, but a sudden wave of pain made me freeze. Enoch gently patted me.

“Margaret, relax.”

Hearing that made me feel like tears might fall. If it were the teacher, I’d never be able to relax.

Damn it, some kind of new torture method, I thought.

In the end, I resigned myself and decided to completely trust him with my body. I let all my tension go and leaned my back against his chest.

“It would be better to take off your jacket for now.”

Gritting my teeth against the sting, I took off my jacket and leaned against him again.

With just a T-shirt exposing my stomach pressed against him, I could feel the tense muscles of his chest pressing against my back.

‘This feels kind of… strange.’

I tried to shake off the awkward feeling and watched Enoch carefully.

He inspected the wound on my stomach while holding me in a hug from behind. I felt a little disappointed that I couldn’t see his expression.

‘…Wait, what? Am I crazy? Why am I disappointed I can’t see his face?’

“Hmm.”

At that moment, Enoch slowly removed the gauze covering the wound, and I held my breath, forgetting all other thoughts.

“Shh, just hold on a little.”

His soothing voice came to my ear.

It wasn’t unbearable, but his careful, porcelain-like handling made the wound feel even more painful.

After removing the gauze, Enoch opened the disinfectant bottle.

“Are you okay with this?”

He asked for my opinion, and when I nodded, he very carefully poured the disinfectant over the wound.

“Ugh.”

Damn it, it stings like crazy! I tilted my head back, resting it on his chest, and squeezed my eyes shut. Enoch reapplied the gauze and gently stroked my head with one hand.

“You did well.”

His voice near my ear was almost unbearably sweet.

Was Enoch always like this? Somehow, without seeing his face, he felt even more unlike himself than usual.

He avoided the wound and grabbed my thigh, pulling me slightly closer to him.

“We have to tie you up, so hold on a little longer.”

Enoch unraveled a long vine he had cut and threw it under the large branch we were sitting on.

The recoil from the force caused the vine to rise from the other side. Wrapping the vine like this several times, he securely tied both our legs to the branch. Then he tied my waist to the tree trunk.

Up and down, and horizontally. Now, there was no way out—I had to stay clinging to him like a cicada.

I resigned myself and leaned comfortably against him. I told myself it was like leaning on a hard, uncomfortable sofa. Better than leaning against a tree trunk.

Then Enoch’s face gently fell away from my shoulder.

“Sorry, I’m just as uncomfortable.”

He muttered as if excusing himself and pressed his cheek against my shoulder.

“Enoch.”

“Hmm?”

“You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you?”

“What do you mean?”

“You’re torturing me.”

Enoch, who had briefly lifted his head, burst out laughing. His laugh, soaked in fatigue and unusually low, had a strangely seductive quality.

“Margaret.”

“Yes?”

“Nervous?”

He asked in a voice laced with amusement.

“Are you teasing me now?”

“Guess you just realized.”

He rested his forehead against my shoulder and laughed again. In that moment, I thought:

‘Ha, damn it. Why do I feel good being teased? I must really be crazy.’

The sudden thrill and tension from Enoch’s actions faded quickly, and I fell into a deep sleep before I even realized it.

The night before, I had stayed up all night at Jonas’s cabin, but meeting Enoch completely relaxed me. Even in the uncomfortable position, I slept soundly.

Suddenly, I opened my eyes. I sensed a strange presence nearby.

Peeking out, I saw movement. Under the tree where Enoch and I were sitting, a massive group was passing.

Startled, I flinched slightly, and Enoch immediately opened his eyes.

“That… looks like the evolved monsters Lord and I encountered,” Enoch whispered quietly into my ear.

As he said, the monsters I remembered from novels were mostly based on real Earth creatures (as with the ones I had encountered so far), but these were unrecognizable.

Some were two-legged giant fish shapes, some crawled like larvae, wriggling along, and others walked on two legs with large heads, resembling aliens.

All seemed like horrifying mutations of normal animals.

Even though it was morning, they roamed the forest freely.

‘Creepy.’

If we fell from here, we’d be done for.

“It’s okay.”

Warm words reached my ear.

“You’re not alone, so it’ll be fine.”

If Enoch fought with determination, even if he couldn’t wipe out the monsters, he could probably take them down or escape safely.

Even without seeing his face, his voice alone gave me a sense of relief.

Enji, who had been sleeping quietly on my lap, peeked open her eyes, looked at me, then down at the monsters, and startled, jumped.

She kept looking down, then at me, then down again, as if asking me to explain the situation.

I shook my head, signaling I didn’t know.

She wagged her tail curiously, peering down. I held her tightly, worried she might fall.

We stayed like that for a long time, holding our breath, until all the monsters disappeared from view.

Once they were gone, the tension melted. I let out a sigh, almost collapsing into Enoch’s arms.

“Ha. If we weren’t up in the tree, we’d be in serious trouble.”

“Thanks to you, we survived.”

Enoch added awkwardly.

“It would have been hard alone.”

I could hear his faint laugh. Feeling it while in his arms made the tremor tangible.

‘I’m still embarrassed.’

I awkwardly stayed in his arms but slowly lifted my waist.

“Shall we go down now? I’m really worried if Kaiden is safe.”

It wasn’t avoidance—I genuinely worried about Kaiden. I was sure he was alive, but there was always a possibility.

“As you said, we can’t stay here.”

After growling and keeping an eye on Kaiden every time, Enoch must’ve been worried too.

We untied the vines from our legs and climbed down. I tapped my legs and frowned.

“My legs are numb.”

Enoch knelt on one knee in front of me and looked up.

“I’ll untie them, sit for a moment.”

“No, it’s fine.”

“Better to let me do it.”

“I can handle this.”

I gritted my teeth and said firmly. If he untied my legs himself, my heart would race uncontrollably—and what if Enoch heard it?

‘No way. Protect my legs.’

I shook my head, shook out my cramped legs a couple of times, put on Enoch’s jacket, and adjusted my crossbody bag.

“Shall we go?”

Enoch reluctantly nodded as he stood.

I picked up Enji, placing her on my shoulder, and together with Enoch, we continued searching the forest for Kaiden.

Kaiden was wandering alone through the fog.

At some point, both Enji and Enoch had disappeared ahead. He scanned the surroundings, but the fog thickened, making it impossible to see even a foot ahead.

“Damn, the cabin should have been right here.”

A large three-story cabin appeared suddenly, but dense fog quickly surrounded it. After that, he had no sense of what was happening.

Every step toward the cabin thickened the fog, as if preventing his approach.

While cautiously walking, the fog suddenly cleared, revealing a door directly in front of him.

Kaiden collided with it.

Because the fog was so dense, he hadn’t realized there was an object there. He muttered a curse and stepped back.

“…This is the same cabin from earlier?”

He found himself in front of the massive three-story cabin again. No sign of Enji or Enoch.

Gripping his dagger tightly, he stared at the wooden door.

Margaret might be inside.

That thought erased all hesitation. He carefully opened the door.

The interior was silent.

The fireplace on the first floor crackled, and a hammock hung empty in front.

Because of the thick fog outside, the interior seemed dim enough to need a lantern, and it was eerie.

Then,

Bang.

A small noise came from upstairs.

“Damn, what now?”

Kaiden muttered a curse quietly and cautiously approached the stairs. It was too dark to see if Margaret was upstairs.

He hesitated briefly, then climbed the stairs. The second floor reeked of garbage—likely from the amount scattered on the floor.

He pinched his nose and scanned the floor. Nothing unusual, but it was clear many people had stayed here before.

Bang.

Another sound came from above.

Kaiden looked up instinctively. It sounded like someone calling him.

‘Could it be Margaret asking for help?’

There was no other explanation. He hurried up to the third floor.

It was even gloomier than the first and second floors. The stench from trash was overwhelmingly strong.

Covering his nose with his sleeve, he scanned around and traced the smell to a firmly closed door next to the stairs.

“Is the sound coming from here?”

A sign on the door read: “<Room of Rest> Sealed.”

Kaiden read it, puzzled, and turned the doorknob.

The door opened slowly. The room was pitch-dark with no windows. A little light from the door revealed a faint outline.

A complex magic circle was drawn in the center of the room, with a chair in the middle. A person sat on it.

“…Margaret?”

Kaiden approached in shock, when suddenly,

Bang!

The door slammed shut.

Startled, Kaiden turned to see a small blaze ignite. Candles placed around the magic circle seemed to light simultaneously.

The person in the chair was a silver-haired woman, head bowed, motionless—either unconscious or worse.

“Hey.”

As Kaiden cautiously approached her, forgotten memories rushed back violently, spinning his mind into confusion.

Deep within the Vatican, an underground laboratory.

The floor was etched with geometric symbols. On it lay young Kaiden.

Candles burned around him, encircling him along with the symbols.