Chapter 4 (Part 7)

“Put me down, quickly!”

Once the dining hall door closed and Sellakia confirmed the long corridor was empty, she shouted in a small voice.

She struggled in his arms, trying to get down herself, but Tenus held her tightly, making it difficult.

“What are you doing? Put me down already. Your hand is injured.”

“Didn’t you ask me to hold you?”

Tenus shrugged nonchalantly but didn’t stop walking.

Fortunately, no blood was dripping onto the floor. The dress, lavishly adorned with frills, was excellent not only for hiding the dagger but also for concealing blood.

“I did it to hide the bleeding. I was trying to conceal your blood with my dress.”

“How considerate.”

The more Sellakia moved, the more Tenus’s grip tightened around her. The struggle was getting on her nerves.

Looking down at Sellakia, who was stiff as a log in his arms, Tenus spoke lightly, as if joking.

“This much won’t kill me.”

“If you’re not going to put me down, just be quiet and walk faster.”

“Would it be better for you if I died? Then you could leave this mansion as you wished.”

“Who do you think I am, Aldrich? I have no intention of stepping over a corpse to leave!”

“Really? Then I’ll have to adorn the front and back gates of the Duke’s estate with graves soon.”

Tenus spoke with a serious expression. Just as Sellakia furrowed her brow, as if she had heard something she shouldn’t have, they finally reached the bedroom.

With Sellakia in his arms, Tenus had no free hand to open the door. Sellakia, catching on, reached out and opened the heavy bedroom door, and Tenus pushed it closed with his shoulder as they entered.

“Put me down now!”

In the middle of the bedroom, she almost grabbed him by the collar as she yelled. Tenus slowly set her down.

“When did you start disliking my touch?”

Sellakia, standing upright, tugged sharply on Tenus’s left arm. This time, Tenus didn’t evade her touch.

“You…”

A deep red line was drawn on the inside of his wrist. Dark red blood was flowing continuously from it. Just looking at it made her frown.

“I just severed a vein to get some blood. The wound isn’t deep.”

“Madman!”

Sellakia finally spat out the words that had been stuck in her mouth. She had always thought Tenus was a man hard to understand, but now she knew why.

How could a normal person understand a madman!

“Why did you interfere? I could have handled it myself.”

“I should be the one asking. Why didn’t you ask for my help?”

“This is my business. It has nothing to do with you.”

“…Nothing to do with me?”

There was no point in answering the obvious. Instead, she prioritized finding something to stop the bleeding.

Sellakia frantically looked around the bedroom, which seemed unnecessarily spacious today.

Thud, Tenus dropped the dagger he had been holding onto the floor. Then, he carelessly wiped his bloody hand on the sheet and grabbed Sellakia’s chin as she busily moved around.

“Ugh.”

“Sellakia Seidon.”

The rough voice, split and hoarse, struck her ears harshly.

“……What?”

“If you wanted to handle the situation on your own, you should have drawn the sword and stabbed your opponent, not foolishly aimed it at yourself.”

“……”

“If you try to solve problems in such a pathetic way again, know that I won’t overlook Aldrich’s actions.”

The chilling voice crawling on the floor made her skin crawl.

Sellakia looked at Tenus with a face full of things to say but pushed his arm away with all her might. There was no time for a quarrel. She immediately went to the window and untied the curtain cord.

“Aren’t you going to answer?”

Under Tenus’s cold gaze, Sellakia wrapped the cord above Tenus’s wound. It was a knotting technique she had learned from her mother long ago.

“I don’t want to hear lectures from someone who foolishly practiced that method.”

“Did I have another choice?”

Tenus tilted his head crookedly and continued.

“If I had chosen another method, you would have disliked it, wouldn’t you?”

“That’s… true, but.”

What Sellakia wanted was to slip out of Aldrich’s scheme like a slippery eel. She had no intention of confronting him, even if it meant enduring some sacrifices.

She especially didn’t want to do anything that might arouse suspicion or caution, so it was best to conclude the incident by putting Sophie at the forefront. She was prepared to bleed in the process if necessary.

If Tenus had tried to help and made things bigger, it would have been troublesome. It was quite surprising that he acted with consideration for her feelings.

“It could have gone terribly wrong, and you could have gotten seriously hurt. Have you forgotten your one and only duty already?”

“I had no intention of dying. I was just going to prick my palm a little, like you.”

“With that sword? If I hadn’t stepped in, your hand would have been split in two.”

Sellakia’s hands, which were tying the knot with great care, suddenly tensed.

However, she couldn’t find the words to refute. If luck hadn’t been on her side, that might have really happened. Her trembling hands wouldn’t have been able to handle the sword delicately. Unable to control her strength, she might have cut her hand more than planned or revealed the act.

“I urge you, don’t do anything even slightly dangerous.”

“Then how should I have handled that situation? Should I have just watched Sophie being dragged to the underground prison?”

Sellakia muttered as she continued the knotting technique her mother had assured would never come undone, repeating the act of making a loop and threading the cord through it.

“I don’t know. When caught between the devil and the deep blue sea, what is the right thing to do?”

It was a question she had pondered since childhood but still couldn’t answer.

After her parents passed away and she suddenly faced cold treatment in the mansion, Sellakia chose to do nothing. The result of living by letting things flow as they would was her current situation.

A position where her life was threatened, where she was plagued by false accusations and slander, a lonely place where she could rely on no one.

She had left Viscount Lensch’s family, declaring she wanted to live properly, but nothing had changed. In fact, her situation had become more precarious.

It seemed her past judgment wasn’t quite right.

Thus, she resolved to leave the Duke’s house. This time, she genuinely wanted to find her rightful place.

Venturing into the world alone was no easy task. It required as much courage as throwing oneself into the deep blue sea.

Her attempt to save Sophie was along the same lines. Having changed her mind, she no longer wanted to remain passive as before. Even if it meant paying with blood.

But she still couldn’t be sure.

Is this really the better way?

Wasn’t the old way the right one?

Tenus said nothing until Sellakia finished the knot, lost in a problem she couldn’t solve.

He seemed to be deep in thought, and when he saw the completed knot, he let out a chuckle.

“You seemed confident, so I thought you might have learned medicine. But you tied my arm with a knot used for sails?”

“There are exactly two knotting techniques I know.”

Sellakia held up two fingers with a sly smile as she watched the bleeding from the wound slow.

“One is the knot I used on your arm. And the other is the knot used for hangings.”

“…What?”

“If you don’t want to test the second knot on your body, keep quiet.”

Of course, her mother had taught her that it was for fishing hooks, but she had hinted that it was also used for hangings, so it wasn’t entirely incorrect.

Fortunately, the flow of blood from the wound gradually slowed. The knot seemed effective. Just as she felt relieved that all she needed now was medicine, there was a knock, followed by the door opening without waiting for a response.

Startled, Sellakia quickly moved to shield Tenus with her body. Of course, her small frame was insufficient to hide his sturdy physique.

While she struggled to cover Tenus, her eyes met Mark’s. He held up a glass bottle with a slightly embarrassed look.

“…I thought you might need this.”

“Bring it here.”

Tenus was endlessly calm, as if he had known Mark would come.

“It’s a hemostatic agent.”

Mark bypassed Sellakia and handed the glass bottle to Tenus.

He acted like someone who already knew the truth of the situation. 

If so, hadn’t others noticed as well?

Sellakia wore a slightly anxious expression, but Tenus glanced at her and spoke.

“Mark is the most skilled among the Seidon Knights, so he noticed. The others won’t know. Especially Aldrich.”

Tenus’s low, resonant voice was quite effective in instilling trust. Feeling reassured, Sellakia looked at the glass bottle filled with fine particles like flour.

“Is that cuttlefish bone powder by any chance?”

“Yes, Madam, you know it well.”

Cuttlefish bone powder was a common household remedy for hemostasis in seaside villages. It seemed Mark had brought his personal supply.

“But with a wound like this, wouldn’t it need to be sutured…?”

Sellakia looked worriedly at Tenus’s wrist.

“It’s fine. This is enough.”

Tenus carelessly sprinkled the hemostatic agent. It was just a light gesture, barely enough to count the white particles with the n*ked eye.

Unable to watch any longer, Sellakia took the bottle from his hand and generously sprinkled the cuttlefish bone powder as if a sudden snowstorm had hit.

Mark, who was timely with the bandage, skillfully wrapped it over the wound. It was the same knotting technique as before.

Mark looked at the unusually tied bandage with curious eyes, but instead of commenting on it, he reported on his duty.

“The maid has been taken care of.”

Sellakia almost asked about Sophie’s whereabouts but decided against it. Mark nodded, as if his duty was done, and quietly exited the room.