Chapter 35

“Wait a moment.”

Kaiden looked down at the hand Rohana had grabbed, finding it unfamiliar.

“Where are you going?”

“I’m going outside…”

“Is there still something that needs to be handled outside?”

“…No. I’ll be in the sitting room, just outside the door.”

“You’re not going to your private quarters?”

“Staying in the sitting room would still put some distance between us, which could be dangerous.”

“Is there really much difference between the two?”

“Well… it’s just my preference.”

Without a moment’s hesitation, Rohana spoke clearly.

“Then rest here.”

Kaiden’s usually composed eyes slowly blinked.

“Rest here…?”

“Rest here.”

“Then, what about you, Rohana?”

“What about me?”

When Rohana firmly closed the door, the bright light from outside was blocked, plunging the room into sudden darkness.

If he wasn’t going to tell her anything, she would just find out for herself.

Rohana thought to herself.

“For the sake of the contract, both of us need to stay healthy and alive.”

As Rohana pulled Kaiden toward the bed, he followed slowly, unable to resist. After seating him on the bed, Rohana lay down first on the opposite side. The only sound filling the silence was the wind outside the glass window.

When Rohana cautiously looked back, she saw Kaiden still sitting upright. Only the sharp lines of his nose and jaw were visible in the moonlight.

How much time passed, she wasn’t sure. But soon, the drowsiness from the medicine overwhelmed Rohana, and she unknowingly drifted off to sleep, only to wake up startled.

It felt like she couldn’t breathe again, her body reacting in shock as she gasped for air.

And then she saw him.

Rohana slowly closed and opened her eyes. The erratic rhythm of her heartbeat began to stabilize, and her trembling hands grew steady.

She felt reassured.

His sharp, serene eyes were gently closed, and his silver-gray hair was slightly disheveled.

Rohana, without realizing it, reached out her hand. But the rustling sound of the sheets was too loud, and she hastily pulled back.

As she hovered on the edge of sleep, drowsy from the medicine, she gazed at Kaiden’s sleeping face.

It was strangely familiar.

The face illuminated by the moonlight.

Suddenly, chills ran down her spine.

‘It can’t be…’

Though she hurriedly covered her mouth with both hands, a small gasp escaped.

***

Kaiden carefully got up from his spot and stepped out.

He shook his head, amazed at how he had fallen asleep, even if just for a moment.

‘I can’t believe it.’

He ran a large hand through his hair and strapped his sword back on. The blade of blue metal gleamed menacingly.

Outside, in the still dark night, Heath and two combatants, Iz and Galad, stood around the perimeter.

The other subordinates, who had been bowing deeply, quickly vanished when Kaiden dismissed them with a glance, relieved to be sent away.

“Any confirmation of the assassins?”

His cold and calm voice carried an icy menace that only those who had been with him for a long time could recognize. Even Heath felt his heart skip a beat.

“None, absolutely none. All of them were unidentified,” answered Galad, a young man with curly brown hair, his voice tinged with frustration.

“The original plan seemed to be assassination. But when Your Grace killed the main hitman, one of the remaining backup operatives likely started the fire,” Iz reported sharply.

“The starting point?” Kaiden asked.

This time, Heath responded.

“The servant’s quarters right in front of the lady’s room.”

Heath pointed to the room at the far end of the third-floor west wing.

“What makes you think it was impulsive?”

“It was sloppy.”

Kaiden’s eyes gleamed sharply.

“A fire wouldn’t have much effect on us. Sure, it wouldn’t have been ideal if it had spread, but…”

Iz tilted her head slightly, causing her platinum-blonde bob to sway.

“R.D. knows about the Duke’s abilities to some extent. It’s strange to attack with fire.”

Heath nodded in agreement.

“Then why did they do it?” Galad scratched his head in frustration, his curly hair becoming even more tousled.

“Because they couldn’t kill with a blade, they set a fire. What else could it be?” Iz retorted.

“Your Grace, may I ask just one thing at this point?”

Galad added with a frown.

“With talks of Nopthal’s independence going around, why on earth did you agree to a marriage with Hanover in the first place…?”

A loud bang interrupted Galad’s words as Iz slammed the table, sending a warning glare.

Kaiden remained silent, deep in thought. Galad’s words weren’t entirely wrong.

‘What to do next?’

“Clean up and head back inside,” Kaiden ordered as he dismissed the others and returned to his quarters.

Rohana, still affected by the medicine, was sound asleep.

Kaiden recalled how she had tried to reach out to him when he was lying down.

And how she had gazed at him for so long.

Sitting beside her, Kaiden carefully extended his hand and touched her porcelain-like cheek with his rough fingers.

He closed and opened his eyes tightly. She was asleep just as she had been back then.

Like an angel.

As if she had come to take him away, now that he was dead.

Kaiden cautiously lay down next to her.

He took in her presence from a distance, close yet not quite touching.

He was tormented by the thought that she might remember or recognize him, not from seeing him kill someone, but from seeing him covered in blood again.

***

It was early dawn when the moon had set, and the light of day was faintly blue. Cold dew settled on the leaves and on the shoulders of the two young souls.

With a start, the boy, who had been sleeping tensely, opened his eyes wide and looked around in shock, only to see a girl sitting in front of him. Only then did the events of last night come back to him, one after another, like flipping through a photo album.

How long had they been like that? The girl’s long eyelashes fluttered and then opened.

Her violet eyes were directed at the boy.

“Are you…?”

Her voice was hoarse from the early morning.

“How are you feeling?”

“Who… are you?”

The boy moved his body as far away from Rohana as possible and asked. His startled eyes quickly filled with hostility.

“Can you move?”

The boy’s eyes quickly scanned Rohana’s hair and eyes at her question. Rohana waited patiently as he did.

Suddenly, the boy noticed that the blood that had been pouring from his body had stopped, and his brow furrowed deeply.

“How did you… heal the wound?”

Rohana’s face brightened.

“You’re… really okay, right? That’s a relief.”

In any case, it was such a relief.

“What?”

“Even an eight-year-old’s strength can be useful.”

It was a wound that couldn’t have been managed by a child’s pressure, so it was truly a relief.

“Who are you?”

The boy growled in a low, wary voice.

“That doesn’t seem important.”

Rohana quietly placed a finger to her lips, signaling for the boy to be quiet.

“What are you planning to do? Were you in the middle of running away?”

The boy’s sharp eyes gleamed beneath his jet-black hair. His dark eyes glinted coldly in the moonlight.

“I have to get out.”

As the boy forced himself to rise, a groan involuntarily escaped from between his lips.

As his small, thin body wobbled, Rohana, startled, reached out to help him, but he sharply rejected her. Even so, his gaze remained fixed on her.

“Should we expect a pursuit party to arrive soon?”

At the boy’s words, Rohana shook her head.

There was no reason for her to think so.

The boy, who had been staring down at her, glanced at his side again and, unable to believe it, looked back at Rohana.

Catching his breath, the boy straightened up and left behind some incomprehensible words.

“Don’t get caught, ever. By anyone.”

“Don’t get caught… by what?”

Don’t get caught by what?

“That you were here?”

Without saying a word, the boy looked back at her once and then limped away. It was a bright moonlit night.

***

When she woke up in the morning, Kaiden was gone.

Rohana ignored the strange emptiness in her chest and got up. The shock of last night struck her head again, fiercely.

It was definitely that child.

“But…”

Rohana held her head.

“The hair color is different… How could someone possibly…?”

Was it perhaps a strong hallucination from the medicine? As she finished preparing and stepped outside, she found Heath waiting.

“My Lady, how are you feeling?”

Remembering how Heath had supported her during last night’s fire, Rohana couldn’t help but greet him with a bright face. Heath’s usually cold demeanor towards her seemed to have softened slightly.

“And you, Sir Heath?”

“Please feel free to address me more casually now.”

Rohana simply offered a brief smile without saying much more.

“This way.”

The outside was somber. Besides the assassins, there had been one casualty at the mansion, and Rohana’s heart grew heavy as lead.

“And… the Duke…?”

“The Duke is currently at the main estate’s fire site.”

Of course.

Rohana nodded. The thoughts that had crossed her mind last night now seemed like a lie. Had she been so startled, or was it the effects of the medicine that had caused her to imagine it all?

“I’ll be staying by your side from now on. The Duke was very upset last night…”

Heath explained.

“He was very upset?”

“We didn’t expect a fire to break out.”

“I see.”

After hesitating for a moment, Rohana asked Heath.

“What about last night’s events…?”

Rohana furrowed her brow.

“You can hear the details from the Duke,” Heath said, a bit awkwardly, his voice gentle.