Chapter 7 – Trauma (Part 7)

“Fernan, Fernan.”

Ellerdin called urgently. Fernan, who had been leaning on Ellerdin’s shoulder, slowly opened his eyes.

“It looks like we’re at the nest.”

Ellerdin said, barely holding Fernan’s body in place.

Fernan scanned the surroundings with his barely visible vision.

In a large circle, all sorts of items were piled up.

“I’m sorry. I’ve caused you trouble.”

Fernan staggered into the nest. He collapsed onto the shimmering ancient coins. Only now did the strength slowly return to his body.

“No, you weren’t too heavy.”

Ellerdin smiled and sat beside Fernan. Fernan blinked and looked at Ellerdin.

“But… your face is red. Haven’t you struggled too much because of me?”

At his words, Ellerdin was startled and covered her face.

“No, no. It’s not because of that!”

But Fernan didn’t seem convinced. He apologized again and closed his eyes. He needed a brief rest.

Once she confirmed Fernan had fallen asleep, Ellerdin fanned her flushed face with her hand and stood up.

‘It really isn’t because of that….’

Thanks to the power filling the cave, even though she supported Fernan, who weighed more than twice her own weight, it wasn’t tiring at all.

However, the problem was that her senses had become too sensitive, leading to strange thoughts.

Everything, from Fernan’s breathing to the movement of his muscles, felt twice as intense as usual.

But that wasn’t why her face was turning red.

‘It’s just… I didn’t expect it to feel like that.’

Ellerdin covered her face with her hands and squeezed her eyes shut.

The incident happened when they were halfway through the cave. As Fernan’s consciousness slowly faded, merely supporting him became difficult.

Since her arms couldn’t fully wrap around Fernan’s waist, she chose to carry him on her back.

But she realized it was a big mistake as soon as she touched Fernan’s body.

Ellerdin was startled by the unmistakable sensation of something beyond the waist and quickly moved away from Fernan.

Her face flushed as if it would explode at any moment.

Trying hard to stop her gaze from lowering, she began dragging Fernan along the floor.

‘Fernan wouldn’t know, right?’

Ellerdin glanced at the sleeping Fernan.

He was still in a deep sleep, regaining his strength.

‘Calm down and quickly find the book.’

Ellerdin lightly tapped her cheeks.

***

Fernan blinked as he woke up. His head was clear, as if the strength that had been taken away had returned.

He quickly got up and looked for Ellerdin. He saw a small figure sitting in the distance.

“Ellerdin.”

Fernan touched her shoulder lightly.

“Eek!”

Ellerdin was startled and turned to look at him.

“Oh… you were concentrating. I’m sorry if I startled you.”

Fernan said awkwardly with a smile.

Ellerdin, quite startled, didn’t say she was okay but just waved her hand.

‘Surprise…’

Even though quite some time had passed since they entered the nest, her body’s senses were still vivid.

While she was fiddling with her hands to suppress her heightened senses, Fernan carefully sat beside her.

His gaze turned to the ancient book Ellerdin was holding.

“What is this…?”

Fernan’s eyes narrowed.

Ellerdin held up the book.

“It’s a book written from a demon’s perspective about the Great War. It feels more like a journal, so I was reading it.”

Fernan skimmed through the book. It wasn’t particularly nutritious content.

Ellerdin seemed to feel the same way and closed the book.

“But Fernan, why did your mother and father choose this place? In fact… in other books and in this book, it doesn’t seem like humans have never treated them favorably.”

At Ellerdin’s question, Fernan’s eyes widened. As if he hadn’t even considered such a thing.

He was silent for a moment before opening his mouth.

“Maybe… for fun…?”

“What?”

“Hmm… my parents probably didn’t need the goodwill of humans… They often said the demon realm was boring, so they probably came just for fun.”

At Fernan’s words, Ellerdin looked shocked and opened her mouth.

‘Come to think of it, they would be much stronger than Fernan, so they wouldn’t need human goodwill.’

But even so, another question arose.

“Then why did they maintain a friendly relationship with the Emperor?”

If they came simply to enjoy life, there would be no need to listen to the Emperor.

At Ellerdin’s words, Fernan let out a light laugh.

“I asked my mother about this part too.”

Recalling his happy childhood, Fernan continued.

“I once got angry, asking why we had to listen to that human. Then my mother said that if we came to this country, we should follow its laws.”

“Your mother is amazing. How could she do that?”

Ellerdin said with sparkling eyes. At her words, Fernan gave a mischievous smile.

“In fact, that’s just the surface reason. The truth was told by my father.”

“The truth?”

“Yes, my father said he was amazed because it was the first time a living being gave him orders.”

“…Even the Emperor of the Empire was just a child to your mother.”

Her overwhelming power was awe-inspiring.

The desire to meet his mother grew stronger.

“Is there anything else you’re curious about?”

He asked in an excited voice, as if he liked such questions.

Fernan’s little finger gently intertwined with Ellerdin’s.

Due to her heightened senses, Ellerdin’s shoulder flinched.

She suddenly remembered that they were the only ones here. The air began to flow strangely.

The places they touched were hot, and her thoughts slowly came to a halt.

Struggling to think with her mind going blank, Ellerdin shouted.

“Monsters! Monsters!”

But even at that cry, Fernan didn’t look surprised and just gazed at her intently.

Avoiding his tender gaze, Ellerdin asked in a small voice.

“Why… Fernan, why do you kill monsters? It’s not even the law here.”

“Hmm… there’s no grand reason. It’s just that they have no self-awareness and kill only to live. I don’t like troublesome things happening because of such vermin, so I get rid of them. I only deal with those close to the castle, but coincidentally, the castle is close to human territories, so it unintentionally became a protective stance. Does that answer your question?”

Fernan’s eyes curved. Ellerdin’s head creaked as she turned it.

“I see…! I understand!”

The atmosphere seemed to be flowing strangely again. Feeling the subtle flow of air, Ellerdin bit her lip.

His red eyes lingered on her lips.

“Hmm… shall we go now? I think I’ve confirmed enough of what I needed.”

Ellerdin scratched her cheek and said. Fernan withdrew his lingering gaze and responded with an innocent smile.

“Sounds good.”

***

She couldn’t even remember how she got back to the room from the garden.

The strange atmosphere from earlier kept coming to mind, so she couldn’t look at Fernan’s face properly.

After hastily responding to Parin’s question of whether they had returned safely, she fled to her room and lay down on the bed.

Her heightened senses still hadn’t calmed down.

‘It’s because I’m tired. Because I’m tired.’

Ellerdin buried her face in the sheets and closed her eyes.

As she forced herself to sleep, she naturally drifted into a dream.

“Foolish thing.”

Thud, a staff hit the ground. A heavy voice echoed in her ears.

At the Earl’s voice mixed with anger, Ellerdin turned around.

He was glaring at her with fierce eyes. The Baron standing next to him sneered and said.

“If you’re useless, you should at least do something else well. You’re still incompetent.”

Ellerdin stared at them with cold eyes.

It was truly strange. For some reason, she wasn’t afraid of the people in front of her.

Her mind was rational, and her body remained calm without a tremor.

Ellerdin looked at them with unusual eyes and shouted.

“I’m no longer the weak and useless person you say I am. So there’s no reason for me to be treated like that by you.”

As soon as she finished speaking, memories that had relentlessly tormented her in her past life shattered.

Cracks appeared on the faces of the Earl and the Baron as they crumbled.

The shouting directed at her gradually disappeared.

Fernan watched Ellerdin’s sleeping face.

Judging by the peaceful smile on her lips, she seemed to be having a good dream.