VDBO 31

Chapter 31

The voice is exactly the same.

I looked up at him.

His eyes, which had been darkened with killing intent, regained their light at the sound of my call and shook violently.

It’s real.

Not an illusion. He really came to find me.

But how? This place has no connection to him at all.

Ignoring the questions filling my eyes, he took off his uniform jacket and draped it over me.

As the heavy jacket settled over my shoulders, my body, which had been swinging between heat and chill from tension, finally relaxed. The legs that had barely been supporting me began to tremble.

“Ah.”

“Are you all right?”

When I collapsed without holding out much longer, he quickly caught me. His scent was much stronger up close. He was barely more than an acquaintance, so why did it feel this comforting? My mind felt like it was melting, and a small laugh slipped out.

“Why are you here?”

I asked, looking up at him.

“Because you’re here.”

“Haha… That’s strange. How did you know to come? How did you know?”

I couldn’t hold back the laughter bubbling up inside me. My head throbbed violently from the headache. I was definitely not in my right mind.

“I was trying to send you a gift… but more importantly, are you all right?”

“Yes. I mean, I am, but…”

Mr. Schwaldt is late.

I forced my eyes open as they kept closing on their own. Even my eyeballs felt hot. I felt like throwing up would help, but even that wasn’t possible.

I was really at my limit now, so I lowered my head as if leaning it against his shoulder.

I don’t know why, but he was the first one who came to save me.

Because he’s right in front of me now.

So please, just endure me for a little while.

Valerie’s voice asking why I was here, if I was really okay, telling me not to lose consciousness and to hold on just a little longer, went in one ear and out the other.

How annoying. Whatever.

I couldn’t hold on any longer and lost consciousness right there in his arms.

Valerie firmly gathered her limp body into his arms. Her once-soft hair was completely soaked with sweat, tangled as if she’d been caught in the rain.

Blake Ariandel, whom he had met again, was a complete mess.

Why her clothes were like this, why she looked so sick, what kind of ordeal she had gone through—countless questions filled his mind, but the moment she collapsed into his arms, they all disappeared.

The hand that brushed aside the hair covering her cheek was as careful as could be.

Soon after, Joan and another subordinate who had followed while handling matters behind them approached.

“Did you find her?”

“Yes. We’re going back.”

“We’ll deal with the surroundings and follow right after.”

Valerie nodded.

Joan went ahead to guide them to the carriage, while Conrad, the other subordinate who had come with him, disappeared down the opposite corridor.

Valerie left the place with movements so gentle it was almost imperceptible, careful not to disturb her.

In front of the carriage, Valerie paused briefly before climbing in.

“Send a doctor there.”

“Yes, understood.”

The carriages split in two directions.

One headed to the imperial palace, the other to his destination. Since he couldn’t take her to the palace, he planned to go to the villa where he had taken her before.

“……”

Throughout the entire ride, she didn’t wake up.

Valerie held her tightly, afraid he might lose her if he let go.

If he hadn’t found her—no, if he had arrived even a little later—he was afraid to imagine what might have happened.

His gaze fell on her hand, which had belatedly clutched his clothes tightly. Even while unconscious, she was gripping it with a bloodstained hand.

When Valerie covered her small hand with his own, the tension finally slipped from her clenched fist after a moment.

The inside was ugly with bloodstains. He couldn’t tell whether she’d hurt herself while escaping or if someone had tried to harm her.

What mattered was that she was injured.

Still holding her, Valerie took a handkerchief from inside his clothes and lightly bandaged the wound on her hand.

It didn’t take long to arrive at the villa.

Valerie laid her on the bed and left the jacket she refused to let go of draped over her.

Watching her occasionally release rough breaths, Valerie brought a damp cloth and repeatedly wiped her forehead and cheeks.

As time passed, her irregular breathing gradually became steady, and her fever went down compared to before.

The tension that had hardened his shoulders slowly eased.

The carriage that had departed slightly earlier than Valerie’s must have traveled at full speed, because less than an hour after he arrived at the villa, a doctor came in.

It was her attending physician—the same one who had treated Blake once before at the imperial palace.

After the examination was over, the doctor also administered first aid to her bloodstained hand.

However, the doctor’s expression wasn’t bright.

She was still unconscious.

“How is her condition?”

“The most important thing is for her to regain consciousness. Her breathing is very weak, and it seems she was left in this state for far too long.”

“Left too long?”

“That’s likely. It’s a miracle she held on this long. Even back then, her heart and body seemed weak and unwell, so why did this happen again…”

“…That, I don’t know either.”

Seeing Valerie’s troubled expression, the doctor refrained from saying more.

The doctor said that hearing a rough outline of her condition before leaving the palace had been a great help, and cautioned that she needed to eat as soon as possible.

Then he said he would hurry back to the imperial palace to prepare the medicine she would need to take once she regained consciousness, and left.

In the cup the doctor handed over was a dark, murky green liquid filling it halfway.

Valerie stared silently at the cup.

He remembered the first day of winter when she had saved him.

Just how many secrets do you have?

Valerie, who had been guarding her side like a guardian spirit, straightened up. Rather than watching her weak and unconscious like this, he’d prefer she wake up and curse at him. He’d rather she throw something or get angry.

“…I will accept my punishment once you wake up.”

Valerie held the medicine in his mouth and slowly lowered his lips onto hers.

Inside a dark carriage, Schwaldt stared down the road taken by the imperial carriage that had carried Carvella away, his face wounded.

If he went any farther, the security would be too tight, so he had no choice but to keep watch from here.

Arriving just moments too late, Schwaldt saw Carvella being carried out in the arms of the Second Prince. He’d been delayed because he’d gone to Iscar’s base first.

“……”

Still, it was fortunate that one of the princes had saved Bella. It would have been better if it were the First Prince, but the Second Prince wasn’t a bad outcome either.

In the end, one of the two would have to be eliminated anyway. For now, it was time to see which one would be more useful.

After a while, someone knocked on the carriage door. Soon it opened, and one of his subordinates appeared.

“Have you checked everything?”

“Yes. None of the dead bore Irkas’s mark.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. We’re tracking those who escaped.”

At Schwaldt’s slight nod, the subordinate disappeared again to continue the pursuit.

Once he confirmed that Carvella was safe and his head cooled, an uneasy feeling crept in despite himself.

“Hearing it directly from Bella herself comes first.”

Schwaldt remained motionless in the darkness for a long time. It wasn’t until dawn that he returned to Bay.

I woke up with a heavy headache and felt light. It was midday, bright sunlight streaming in through half-drawn curtains. As the headache intensified, I pushed myself upright.

“…Ugh, my head hurts.”

I had no strength in my body at all, and my ears felt muffled, as if I’d fallen into water.

It felt like a place I’d visited at least once before, but no matter how much I looked around, I couldn’t figure out where I was.

Where on earth is this? What was I doing before I fell asleep?

I sat there blankly for a long time. No one came in, and it was eerily quiet.

“……”

Unable to endure the renewed wave of headache and drowsiness, I collapsed back onto the bed. What is this? Even a candle in the wind wouldn’t feel this weak. In the end, I closed my eyes again.

“…Tch.”

It hadn’t been long since I fell asleep again when someone kept trying to wake me.

“Blake.”

“Mm…”

When I clung to the blanket, not wanting to get up, I heard a low chuckle.

It didn’t sound like Ian. Besides, Ian would never call me like that.

“You need to wake up now. Eat at least a little on an empty stomach, then rest again.”

The voice was so polite that I almost mistook it for Ian again, but then it became clearer. At that moment, a chill ran up my spine. I quickly sat up.

“Ah.”