Chapter 34
I lament to myself that this is how I’m going out, but some part of me is glad—at least Elysia and the others managed to escape. I braced myself for his fist to crash into my skull and end it all, but the impact never came.
Someone had stepped between us. Through my fading vision, I could barely make out the faint outline of a woman with white hair.
‘Why does... she look so familiar…?’
Just as my body, freed from the mercenary’s grasp, started to fall again, a soft hand caught me. A warm sensation spread through my chest as she gently lowered me to the floor.
I finally managed to get a clearer view of her face, and an unfamiliar, yet unmistakable pair of striking crimson eyes came into focus. And then it came back to me—the dreams, the quiet days at the cabin, and her lifeless body lying in the mud as the rain poured down.
An indescribable mixture of emotion swelled up inside me—grief, disbelief, longing, relief—all twisting together until I could hardly breathe.
‘Am I dreaming again? No… then how is she here?’
‘Why are these feelings… when I don’t even know you?’
She reached out her hand, placing it lightly on my head, her fingers gently caressing my hair, and then spoke in a calm, reassuring voice,
“You can rest now. I’ll take it from here.”
For some reason, the gesture reminded me of my mother, who used to do the same when I was little. With those words, my eyelids slowly began to droop, the accumulated fatigue finally settling in my body.
Shirayuki glanced toward the severed head of the mercenary leader, its twisted expression still frozen in shock. She let out a soft sigh before turning back to check on Caelith.
A sound suddenly began to come from the headless corpse, followed by a faint buzz. She paused and looked back. A small, rune-inscribed crystal strapped to the corpse’s belt was blinking with a pulsing light.
She picked it up, turning it in her hand, a faint curiosity stirred in her chest, it didn’t resemble any magic artifacts she had seen before, but then again, the mages of the empire were never the type to stay still.
Then a male voice resonated from within the crystal,
“Oi. What are you idiots doing? I told you to contact me after you captured the two I sent you after!”
Shirayuki stared at the crystal, she was beginning to deduce what had exactly transpired. In a stoic tone, she replied,
“So you’re the one responsible.”
There wasn’t any reply at first, but then the voice came back on, this time even more arrogant as it demanded,
“Who are you? Where is the captain? Put him on—now.”
“Don’t bother looking for him,” Shirayuki answered. “He can’t respond, even if he wanted to.”
Silence followed. Only the faint hum of the crystal lingered.
“...”
“If this is how you want things to go, here’s your only warning.” she continued, unfazed. “If you try to go after them again in any way, not even the family backing you will be able to save you.”
“Y-you! Do you know who you’re talking—”
CRUSH
Shirayuki clenched her fist, pulverizing the crystal into sparkling dust that sifted through her fingers, her curiosity already long gone. She didn’t want to waste another breath on the man behind the crystal.
To her, he was just another insufferable nobility flaunting arrogance that wasn’t even earned—propped up entirely by whatever family sheltered him.
She bent down and lifted the unconscious Caelith into her arms, carrying him carefully out of the mercenary base.
Outside, she saw Elysia standing anxiously. The moment Elysia noticed Caelith in her arms, she rushed forward without a second thought. Kaelon, who had been comforting his sister and the small girl, also caught sight of them and froze for a moment, relief and concern swept across his face.
“C-Caelith!” Elysia reached her hands out, quickly checking the wounds covering his body.
“He’s fine, mostly—just overexerted himself. He should be up in a few hours,” Shirayuki confirmed.
Elysia choked on her words, tears welling up despite her best effort to hold them back. “Thank you… thank you… I don’t know what I would’ve done if you hadn’t been here.”
“You don’t have to thank me,” Shirayuki replied softly. “I would’ve done it even if you didn’t ask.”
Elysia nodded, wiping her tears. Kaelon walked up, trying to maintain a poker face, though his eyes betrayed him as he noticed Caelith cradled in Shirayuki’s arms.
“So… what happened to their leader?” he asked, seeing how her appearance was completely unscathed.
“I killed him.”
“Ah?” Kaelon blurted out, stunned. He hadn’t expected someone like her to dispatch their leader so effortlessly.
“That’s enough chit-chat,” Shirayuki cuts in, turning toward Elysia “We should get moving. My arms are getting sore.”
“A-ah, yes!” Elysia snapped out of her daze, quickly gathering herself and leading the way.
She then realized something and added, “Kaelon, Lilith, you two should stay at our place for tonight, seeing how far away your home must be from here.”
Kaelon didn’t object to her offer, but another issue remained. He pointed toward the little girl. Everyone’s eyes shifted to the girl trailing behind them. She shrank back, hesitation written across her small frame as she looked at the group.
“Yuna shouldn’t you be heading back to your dad? Why are you sticking with us?”
Yuna fidgeted nervously, her fingers twisting together as she glanced down at the ground, avoiding their eyes. After a few seconds of heavy silence, she muttered, her voice barely above a whisper,
“M-my dad… he passed away a few days ago. The medicine I bought… it didn’t work…”
She swallowed, shoulders trembling. “I-I’m sorry… if I’m a nuisance, I can leave right away…”
Kaelon opened his mouth, then closed it again, completely unsure what to say—guilt creeping across his expression. Elysia stepped forward, gently crouching down to Yuna’s level. She took the girl’s shaking hands into her own.
“You’re not a nuisance.” she pulled Yuna into her arms. “Not at all.”
Yuna’s eyes widened slightly, but she didn’t pull away.
“If you don’t have anywhere to go…” Elysia continued, her voice warm and steady, “you can stay with us. At least for tonight. And longer, if you need.”
“R-really…?” Yuna’s voice cracked as she finally lifted her teary eyes to meet Elysia’s.
Elysia simply squeezed her hand, offering a reassuring smile before standing up and brushing the dirt from her skirt. Then, without letting go, she gently tugged Yuna’s hand and began walking again, guiding her along the path with the others.
Lilith jabbed Kaelon in the side as she passed him. “You know, brother, you’re a bit insensitive at times.”
Kaelon stiffened, caught off guard. “H-huh? I didn’t mean—”
But Lilith was already running toward Elysia, leaving him behind with his half-formed excuse and a deepening scowl. He scratched his head in frustration before finally following them.
An endless open field stretches out in front of me. The stars in the night sky shimmer like scattered fragments of glass. A soft breeze rustles through the tall grass, brushing against my legs.
In the distance, I see a familiar figure. As I take a step forward, the grass sways open, and the world around me feels strangely lighter. The figure turns at the sound of my footsteps.
And the moment her face comes into view, my body begins to tremble.
“M-Mom…?”
There she was—my mother—standing before me, wearing the same tender smile she always gave me when I was little. My walk quickened without me realizing it, and before I knew it, I was sprinting toward her.
I didn’t care if it was reality or a dream. I just ran.
But no matter how hard I pushed my legs, no matter how desperately I reached out, the distance between us only grew larger and larger.
“N-NO—WAIT…!” I cried, stretching my arm toward her.
My plea went unanswered.
The world began to crumble—first the horizon, then the sky, then even the field beneath my feet. Cracks split across the ground, widening as the endless void rose up to swallow everything in its darkness.
As the abyss threatened to pull me deeper, I came face to face with ‘him’ again. Drifting in the darkness was the man who uncannily looked like me, every feature eerie. Self-loathing burned in his hollow eyes as we simply stared at each other.
“Who… are you? Why do you have my face?” Questions poured out of me before I could stop them, my voice trembling as I demanded answers.
He ignored me, his gaze piercing through my soul. When he finally spoke, two words echoed in the void.
“Find her.”
Huh? What does he even mean? Find who? What am I even supposed to do with that? I tried to ask for clarification, but a blinding light suddenly erupted around us.
When I finally opened my eyes, I was staring up at the familiar ceiling of my room. I groaned in pain, shifting my body slowly.
‘Ugh… What happened? How am I in my room right now?”
As my eyes roamed the room, I noticed the same white-haired woman sitting on a chair, her legs crossed as she casually flipped through a book. Cold sweats began to pour down my back,
‘Where in the world did she manage to find that… I thought I—’
“You’re awake,” she said, closing the book and finally turning her attention toward me. “I was starting to wonder if I should just wake you by force… but I guess that won’t be necessary.”
Setting the book aside, she added casually, “Quite an interesting taste in literature you have.”
My face twitched… Why does it have to be her?
