25. Shall We Burn to Death Together Like This

The bedroom door remained closed as I had left it earlier.

I briefly considered whether I should call and wake him.

From the beginning, deciding to intrude uninvited this late at night wasn’t the right thing to do.

So whether I should wake him or not was no longer a consideration.

Still, quietly checking for additional injuries without waking him would probably be good for both us.

‘I’m sorry. Please forgive me just this once.’

I apologized to him inwardly and slowly opened the door.

The darkness in the room had deepened much more than before. But my eyes, accustomed to the dark, could adequately distinguish objects.

Finding the bed where the young master lay was as easy as eating cold rice.

He still lay motionless in place, as if dead. Somehow, my hands felt sweaty.

Only then did the specific procedure of what I was about to do come to mind.

Could I do it?

Check his condition without waking him?

I held my breath and slowly calmed my heart.

I felt somewhat nervous.

Though he didn’t seem like the type to get angry if caught sneaking in, I didn’t want him to know I had come.

Thinking about it, I had no idea whether he was a light or deep sleeper. Realizing this made me newly aware of our distant and shallow relationship.

When strictly considered, I seemed to know almost nothing about him. That fact wouldn’t change much in the future.

After all, we were meaningless acquaintances who would part ways whenever the contract ended.

So it would be best if my secret visit to his bedchamber tonight remained forever unknown to anyone. This applied not only to others but to him as well.

Though I was holding my breath, I was so nervous and tense that I couldn’t even feel the discomfort.

I extended my trembling hand over the bed.

The young master, sleeping without a sound, was like a lifeless statue.

In the blue darkness, he lay quietly with his eyes closed, wearing a peaceful expression as if he would never wake again.

I directed my gaze to his two hands, which had appeared seriously injured earlier. His pale hands were soaked in the white moonlight.

Though the torn wounds didn’t magically heal with my power, at least the serious bleeding had stopped. The affected area was somewhat dried, but overall, it didn’t seem much different from the terrible appearance earlier.

The lacerated wound running across his palm actually looked even more miserable than before due to the dried bloodstains.

I briefly considered whether I should hold his hand.

Since I had already stopped the bleeding, there wasn’t much more I could do. Moreover, I decided against it, thinking that the momentary action of holding his hand might wake him.

I inhaled as quietly as possible, gathering my resolve inwardly.

Since I had just come to check if he was alright, it seemed best to quickly observe his condition and leave.

‘Please…… don’t wake up.’

I carefully brought my hand to his collar.

The buttons I had undone earlier were still there. I carefully tried to pull back his collar to check inside.

The moment my trembling hand touched his collar, my heartbeat grew so loud I could hear it with my ears.

Looking at the young master’s face, he still seemed to be in peaceful sleep, unaware of anything.

Since I kept feeling nervous, it seemed best to check beneath his top all at once.

I gathered my resolve inwardly again and lifted his collar. Though it was just a moment of lifting that thin and delicate collar, time seemed to stretch, and everything moved slowly.

Seeing what was inside, I couldn’t help but doubt my eyes.

It was strange.

Beneath his shirt, I saw something completely different from what I had expected.

Compared to the wounds on his hands, which could be considered nothing, his body was covered in injuries. His chest looked as if it had been slashed with a large weapon.

Moreover, they all seemed to be wounds from different times, as the colors varied. But every one of them was a deep and serious injury.

Startled, I staggered backward, letting go of his collar.

As if my thoughts were completely paralyzed, I couldn’t do anything.

I didn’t know what to call this overwhelming and suffocating feeling I was experiencing. It felt like being hit hard in the solar plexus by something due to the great shock.

Why was the young master’s body in this state?

I wanted to deny it, but now I didn’t even want to guess the reason.

This was too overwhelming for me to handle rationally.

The idea of checking his condition starting from the shirt had long since fled. I no longer had the confidence to bear seeing such horrific things.

My whole body began to tremble.

I must be a really bad person.

The fact that I felt fear before pity proved it.

I too wasn’t much different from those who believed the rumors and avoided and distanced themselves from him.

It was then.

Someone’s shout from outside awakened my dazed consciousness.

That voice gave a very urgent impression, being very pressing with an extremely consistent tone.

Ridiculously, the sound still didn’t properly register in my ears, which had just barely escaped from shock.

However, I could roughly tell where the sound was coming from. It was from outside the window.

Someone was shouting with a consistent voice from outside.

“Fire!”

Even when I understood those words, I still felt like I was dreaming.

As if my senses were numbed, that cry felt distant.

I seemed to smell something burning faintly, but the sense of reality still hadn’t returned at all.

I didn’t know why I felt so dazed. My mood was dreamy, as if drunk. My whole body felt languid, as if all strength had drained from it, and I couldn’t move my legs at all.

I needed to get outside before this building burned down, but for some reason, I lacked the motivation.

I had never particularly wished for death.

Nevertheless, for reasons I couldn’t understand, escaping felt extremely burdensome.

Then at some point, I saw it.

It was a pair of teal eyes quietly looking at me.

Unfortunately, it was harder than ever to meet his eyes.

I didn’t know when he had regained consciousness, but he was looking at me with a clear gaze.

The shape of his shirt, which I had carelessly unbuttoned, was still the same. He didn’t complain to me at all, as if he hadn’t noticed anything.

The acrid smell of smoke filled the room. Unlike before, I could now clearly smell the burning odor.

Something very cold touched my hot eyelids.

Though I was a bit surprised by that sensation, I had no strength to even make a trembling movement.

“Rosie.”

The cracked voice calling me was sunken lower than I remembered.

“You’re crying again.”

Only then did I realize he was wiping my eyes. But I couldn’t quickly express gratitude or apologize to him. My voice wouldn’t come out because my throat was choked.

I needed to tell him there was a fire outside and we should escape quickly, but I couldn’t.

If he hadn’t been a patient, if he hadn’t been the only one carrying on the bloodline of the ducal family, would he have faced this situation?

That fire didn’t seem to be a coincidence.

Someone who noticed he was here had undoubtedly come after him.

I was convinced after seeing the numerous wounds on him.

They were all very fatal, suggesting he had narrowly escaped death.

Nevertheless, he was struggling to live.

How much better it would have been if I had more proper healing abilities.

The hot tears that had been pooling in my eyes now flowed down my cheeks one after another.

Those tear tracks running down my cheeks felt as hot as if burned by fire.

The tears that quickly welled up again blurred him before my eyes. Therefore, I couldn’t tell what expression he was making at all.

I could only see that he was still lying in place, fixing his gaze on me.

He didn’t say anything about my unauthorized entry. His kindness was always too much for me.

Come to think of it, I hadn’t done anything for him so far.

His father had already paid a considerable cost, but I hadn’t saved him.

Yet he never blamed or resented me.

Why?

Through the window, I could see bright flames flickering.

The fire seemed to have spread considerably down there already.

I reached out my hesitant hand from earlier and grabbed his hand, which was carelessly placed on the blanket. His breathing sounded a bit surprised, but as always, he didn’t push my hand away and just left it be.

My throat still felt hot and blocked by something.

Ridiculously, after several attempts, the words that finally came out of my mouth were neither a warning nor comfort.

“……Shall we burn to death together like this?”