Trembling with a grief that pierced her to the core, Clodine stretched out one arm and reached for Ahazan’s scabbard.

No, just as she was about to touch it.

“…This is a problem.”

A distant voice, faint as if from a dream, cut softly through reality.

It was Ahazan.

Clodine froze.

Her tear-blurred gaze shifted slowly, fixing on his face still lying as though lifeless.

Afraid she had imagined it, she didn’t dare speak.

She couldn’t even breathe.

She simply stared.

Then, as if he had been waiting, Ahazan slowly lifted his eyelids and looked down at Clodine, who had collapsed over his chest.

“Before I hear everything you have to say to me…”

As he spoke, he shifted slightly, a faint groan escaping as his brows furrowed in pain.

Then he continued,

“…I can’t even close my eyes in peace.”

Clodine said nothing.

Tears fell silently from her eyes as he spoke, as he finished, she couldn’t even process his words.

All she could do was force herself to believe, He’s alive.

“Ah… Ahazan…”

She called his name again, her voice hoarse and breaking, as though she couldn’t rest until she finally received an answer.

As if to soothe her, Ahazan gently stroked her small body with one hand.

“Mm.”

His gaze rested on her, blinking slowly and a faint smile touched his lips, as if to reassure her.

“I’m here, Clodine.”

The moment those words left him Clodine pressed her forehead against his chest and broke into sobs.

The tears came endlessly, pouring out without restraint until his armor was soaked through.

“Stop crying and look at me.”

His voice, low, steady, with a trace of laughter sounded as calm as ever.

But he was injured.

Badly.

And knowing she was the cause of it Clodine couldn’t bring herself to lift her head.

“You told me to come back… but you won’t even look at me?”

Even then, another thought crept in that her face, drenched in tears, must look too pitiful.

She quietly tried to wipe it away without him noticing.

“Was it a mistake to wake up without reading the room? Should I faint again?”

“You idiot—how can you even say that right now…!”

His ill-timed joke finally made her snap.

Without even wiping her face, stained with tears, blood, sweat, and dirt, she lifted her head sharply and shouted.

Ahazan let out a quiet chuckle, amused by her reaction but as he saw that the fear in her eyes had not faded at all, his smile slowly disappeared.

From the beginning, her request to switch horses had not suited her.

Curiosity, the kind that leads one to say ‘what if I try this?’ belonged to those who enjoyed such things.

Clodine was not like that.

Even when riding with him behind her, she would stiffen her entire body. And yet, she had suddenly asked to ride alone.

He hadn’t been able to understand her intention, and so he had hesitated.

But when she pressed further, wearing such a wounded expression, as though she had been humiliated before everyone, he had no choice but to give in.

Even then, he had believed he could handle anything she intended.

He never imagined, that her intention would lead her into danger in his place.

If anything, it would have made more sense for her to still resent him… to seek revenge.

And if that had been the case, he would have accepted it without hesitation.

Anything for her.

So, he had grown overconfident.

Believing that no matter what she chose to do, there was nothing he couldn’t bear for her.

“I was so scared… so scared… Ahazan, I really thought… I thought you would… because of me…”

Clodine scolded him, her eyes still brimming with tears resenting him for his reckless act.

Ahazan watched her.

That tearful face, so fragile, so beautiful, it stirred something dangerous within him.

A strange, overwhelming fullness, like tasting a forbidden fruit.

For a fleeting moment, he didn’t want to stop her tears.

So instead, as if scolding her, he lowered his voice and spoke.

“You don’t have the right to say that to me.”

And yet.

his hand, gently brushing her damp cheek, remained impossibly soft.

“What did you see before we set off?”

When she only blinked at him in silence, he clarified.

“I’m asking how you knew the horse would end up like that.”

The horse that had died today, after Seth had grown old, had been his companion through countless battles.

Ahazan knew everything about that horse.

Every detail.

Though it had the fierce spirit expected of a Perseion warhorse, it was never the kind to endanger its rider.

And certainly not, a creature foolish enough to frighten someone who had ridden with its master before.

And yet, of all times, for such an accident to occur the very first time Clodine rode that horse alone, it was not something that could simply be brushed aside.

Clodine, who had insisted on switching horses today as though she had anticipated something like this and the horse, which had never once shown madness before, suddenly losing control as if in perfect timing with her deviation, none of it could be coincidence.

As if she had already decided she must tell him, even if he hadn’t asked, Clodine did not hesitate.

She told him exactly what she had seen.

“I’m not completely certain… but I saw something strange inside the horse’s mouth.”

“Something strange?”

“Yes. Something purple. I’ve seen something like it before, when I was young… That incident happened because of it… and after that, I became afraid of horses for a long time.”

Ahazan knew all too well what incident she was referring to.

And in that moment, anger surged up within him.

He knew how badly she had been hurt back then, how deeply that experience had scarred her, how it had left her with a crippling fear of horses.

And yet, she had been willing to face that again.

That alone made him furious.

“So you knew something like that might happen… and still chose to switch horses with me?”

“…I… I didn’t have a choice, Ahazan… At the time, I wasn’t even sure what I saw was real… And if I had raised suspicion carelessly, I thought it might interfere with what you’re trying to do.”

“Then you should have just let me be the one to suffer the accident.”

“What? How could you even say that—”

“If you thought that far ahead, then you should have realized what would happen when you switched horses. Isn’t that right?”

Pain must have surged through him again, his brows twisted sharply as he forced the words out through clenched teeth.

“You thought that if you were in danger, I’d just stand back and watch from a distance, didn’t you?”

That’s ridiculous.

How could you possibly not understand, not even a little, how I feel?

Ahazan’s expression tightened, his displeasure unmistakable.

Then, he lifted both hands and gently but firmly cupped Clodine’s cheeks.

As if forcing her to listen, he spoke clearly.

“Sacrificing yourself will never be a way to save me.”

If anything, it would only mean killing me with your own hands.

A death worse than death. A pain worse than pain.

“I almost went through something far worse than dying like an idiot, trampled by a horse I trained for over ten years.”

Clodine looked at him again, her eyes brimming with tears.

Ahazan met her gaze, steady, unwavering.

“That’s what it is. Anything that tries to take you away from me.”

He wasn’t truly scolding her.

No, he didn’t even have the heart to truly scold her.

And yet, Clodine stood there like a child who had been harshly reprimanded,
large tears falling one after another, her face full of sorrow.

Seeing that pitiful, lovely expression, Ahazan almost smiled.

But he held himself back.

It wasn’t time yet.

Clodine needed to understand, to truly realize, what it meant to step into danger recklessly.

What it meant to treat her own life as less than his.

“Stop crying. If you keep crying like this… I think I’ll start to feel upset too.”

At that, Ahazan gently wiped away all her tears.

But now, they had to face reality.

They couldn’t remain here, exposed, until nightfall, wild beasts could attack at any moment.

The pain in his arm was worsening.

If it got worse, he might not be able to protect Clodine.

They needed to find a safe place quickly.

He had lost too much blood to move as he normally would, and retracing their path was impossible.

‘Where did we even come from…?’

How long would it take for the knights to find them?

Just as Ahazan was about to look around, trying to assess their location.

“…But what am I supposed to do… when my heart feels the same as yours?”

Her voice, so quiet it seemed like it might sink into the earth, yet filled with restrained grievance, as if asking, Do you think I stay silent because I have nothing to say?

Clodine’s voice pulled his attention back to her.