Chapter 8 – Part 3

Eli dashed towards Ruby without a word, unable to stop himself even though he knew he couldn’t reach her here.

She stood there, looking at him, speechless. It was strange that she didn’t even call him by name, but he pretended not to notice.

The same dream repeated itself.

Eli didn’t stop, trying to get closer to Ruby, who was moving away.

Sometimes there were threatening things—arrows, knives, and hot fire—that appeared and disappeared. There was also a faint pain.

It was as if they were telling him to stop or trying to tell him something. Part of him felt like it was telling him that Ruby was in danger, so he pushed through and ran harder.

He couldn’t remember how much time had passed in this place.

Then, gradually, water began to rise under his feet. The water, which started rising rapidly, quickly rose to his shoulders. This naturally slowed his pace.

Eventually, Eli’s face was completely submerged, and the churning waves made it difficult to see Ruby, and then impossible to see her at all.

He tried to swim, but the current was fast enough to keep him in place.

Just when he thought it might be the last time, he spotted a hand out of nowhere and squeezed it.

The sensation of being lifted from the water was the last thing he remembered.

* * *

Eli exhaled deeply and opened his eyes wide. The room was unfamiliar.

“You’re awake.”

The priest he’d seen once before smiled at him with a kindly smile.

“How are you feeling?”

“……good…….”

Eli made a sound to speak, but his throat closed, and a small, raspy sound escaped.

“Ah, hold on.”

Cedric was soon wrapping his arms around his neck gently. Maybe it was his mood, but his throat felt soothed.

“Is this a temple?”

And then the proper voice came out.

Eli sat up at the same time.

There was the priest in front of him, and he remembered heading towards the temple just before closing his eyes.

“Yes.”

“My wife must have come with me; is she okay?

Eli naturally checked Ruby’s safety first.

“She’ll be here soon. She’s been guarding this place the whole time, so I told her to get some rest. I treated the Marquis’s wounds, but you have been asleep for a long time.”

Eli suddenly remembered the arrow and ran his hand over the wound, hastily unbuttoning his shirt to check. The arrow was gone.

“Did you heal me?”

“I didn’t heal your wounds, but I am the one who got you up.”

“Did you do this before……?”

He asked, studying his face.

“Yes.”

Even though she didn’t specify the past precisely, the priest in front of him seemed to understand and replied.

When he wondered where he had seen him before, he realized that he was the last priest he had seen when she moved Ruby here.

“I’ve been blessed twice too much.”

Eli knew his condition better than anyone. Where the arrow had struck was a fatal spot—a spot that would have killed anyone.

“I’m glad you feel that way, …… and I know you’ve given generously.”

“I will repay you generously.”

“I look forward to it, Marquis. Well, I should probably get up now.”

With that, Priest Cedric left the room. As if he had been waiting for him to wake up.

Left alone in the room, Eli sat up and stretched. His muscles felt a little stiff, but nothing would prevent him from moving.

This, too, seemed to be due to the priest’s blessing.

He had to find out how those who attacked him were punished, and there was much more to find out about what had happened in his absence.

Most of all, he was glad that Ruby was safe.

Eli put his hand on the doorknob to step outside.

The door opened of its own accord, and Ruby’s eyes widened at the sight of Eli standing in the doorway.

“Ruby.”

She stared blankly at his voice, then moved, reaching out and running her hands up his arms, over his shoulders, and up his neck. Eventually, she reached up to his face with her hand and looked into his eyes.

“Do you see me……?”

“……Yes.”

“Do you see this?”

Ruby lifted one index finger and waved it in front of Eli’s eyes.

“Your index finger.”

Eli’s eyes followed the movement of her index finger, a clear gaze.

Ruby’s eyes soon filled with tears as she realized he was truly alive.

“Does my face make you cry?”

Eli wrapped one hand around Ruby’s hand as it moved closer to touch his face, and with the other hand, he gently touched her cheek.

Ruby pulled Eli into a hug.

“You promised to protect me for a lifetime, and if you leave like this, what am I supposed to do?”

“I’m …… sorry.”

Eli also hugged Ruby, who was talking to him, not knowing what to say.

“If you do this again, I’m going to divorce you for real, and I’m going to keep what you gave me through Leton and send it to the Emperor.”

Ruby spoke so earnestly through her tears that Eli couldn’t help but laugh at how adorable she was, even threatening him with divorce papers.

“Yeah, well, even if you don’t like it, I will live a healthy life.”

It was a playful comment, meant to get Ruby to smile, but it didn’t seem to get through to her. Instead, Ruby tightly grasped his clothes, indicating that it must be so.

* * *

A few days after leaving the imperial palace, the carriage carrying Aren arrived at the Lauf convent, where she would be staying.

“Alight.”

Knights grabbed her arms from either side and pulled her out of the carriage.

The gag that had been placed in her mouth as they set off was removed by the knight halfway through, leaving the ropes around her wrists intact. It served as a reminder of her plight.

When she stepped out of the carriage, she was greeted by the Mother Superior and a woman who appeared to be a nun. The Mother Superior’s face was sharply set, her eyes emotionless, while the nun wore a curious look in her eyes, but with a hint of amusement in them.

Arlen had to brace herself. The convent of Lauf was notorious for its notoriety. Some of the nobility used it to punish those below them. Arlen knew what it was like, as Marie was a frequent visitor.

She just didn’t expect to end up here herself.

“We will take you from here.”

As she said that, the Mother Superior’s eyes fell on the rope around Arlen’s wrists. She motioned for them to untie it.

The imperial knights untied her ropes and climbed into the carriage, which soon drove away, leaving only the Mother Superior, the nuns, and Arlen.

“Follow me.”

With those words, the Mother Superior trotted ahead.

Arlen stared after her, unmoving, but her demeanor showed she didn’t care.

“In this place……”

The Mother Superior had barely finished speaking when she heard someone rushing up to her.

Naturally, the Mother Superior and the nun following her turned to find the source of the sound.

There was an old woman in shabby clothes, disheveled hair, and wide-eyed, haggard features, advancing menacingly with a knife.

“Oh my! What is that? “

The startled nun stumbled backward.

The Mother Superior, though not as belligerent as the nun, was also stunned.

The old woman with the knife was a terrifying sight indeed. The signs of hardship were evident, with sunken eyes filled with a hint of life, perhaps more than expected. Of course, there was also the feeling that she, too, had contributed to the wrongs done to those who came to the convent.

But it was not the Mother Superior nor the nuns who she had come to visit, but Arlen.

Recognizing the strange woman’s quick pace, Arlen took a step backward, but the old woman began swinging her knife wildly at her.

Only then did the nuns and the superior call for help, and they rushed in and subdued the old woman.

“I’ll kill you, you b*tch……!”

Even when grabbed by a burly man, the old and deranged woman struggled fiercely to break free. Despite her age, she seemed to possess considerable strength, enough to challenge the men restraining her. Even as the knife fell to the ground, she reached out, attempting to grab Arlen.

When things had calmed down somewhat, Arlen, who was calming her panicked chest, suddenly felt something running down her cheek. She casually touched her cheek with her hand and found blood on her hand.

Alarmed, she rubbed her cheek to clean it, but the blood didn’t stop flowing, turning her face and hands red.

“My……, my face…… my face!”

Arlen’s panicked voice was enough to draw attention away from the old woman.

Arlen’s face was covered in blood, which had gotten everywhere from the way she’d rubbed her face.

A large gash, still oozing blood, ran down the length of her cheek.

“Call a… a physician. Tina, Sister Tina. Quickly…!”

The Mother Superior muttered in surprise.

“No, no. No……. No!”

Arlen despaired, still rubbing her wound with her arm. She didn’t want to believe in this reality.

This face was the only thing she had left after losing everything.

It was the reason the Emperor hadn’t let go of her even after he was married, the reason her pride was still strong enough to make the knight who carried her away as a criminal at her behest glance at her.

So, the beautiful face had been the foundation of Arlen’s confidence that, once back in society, she would be able to capture anyone’s attention again.

“Ah…….”

Unable to bear the hopelessness of the situation, Arlen fainted.

Only the grotesque sounds of the old woman who had created the whole situation, laughing at her, echoed through the convent.

TL NOTE: More advanced chapter of this story is already up to the site. Visit dusk blossoms for more advanced chapters and stories