I Thought I Didn't Have Long To Live!

Chapter 71 (The man who appeared from the bracelet)

Time seemed to pass slowly.

The sharp blade of the sword pierced through Lariette’s skin, and the bright red blood dripped down the blade. All of this was captured in sight without missing a single moment.

A fishy smell spread through the damp air inside the cave. drip, drip. There was the sound of blood dripping down and dripping onto the stone floor.

Asrahan’s hand grabbed the woman who was collapsing. A slender body drooped over his arms.

“Lari…”

Asrahan tried to mutter my lover’s name, but even clapping his lips was too much. She was out of breath and her chest contracted as if she had been hit with a stone.

The breath from Lariette’s mouth touched his skin. It was as hot as a patient suffering from a high fever, but it was light as if it would break at any moment.

Her lilac-like eyes were revealed through her pink eyelashes. A sympathetic gaze, mixed with deep emotions such as love and guilt, turned to Asrahan.

“… Lariette.”

Asrahan moved his lips and called out her name. It was a desperate voice, fearing that her existence would be scattered if he did not spit it out.

However, even if the name was called, nothing changed. Blood spurted out, soaking her dress and staining his coat.

My lover, my savior.

My, Lariette.

She was bleeding and dying in his arms.

“This is crazy…! Hurry up and subdue him first!”

When Delwin saw Lariette fall right in front of him, he hurriedly snapped his body and shouted.

The princess dared to commit suicide with great enthusiasm, but now was not the time to be angry.

He knew that the only reason he had been safe so far was because he took Lariette’s life as a hostage. In other words, his situation was no different from a lamp in front of the wind now that he lost the hostages.

If there was any way to survive, the only way Asrahan fell into a panic was now. After realizing this, Delwin did not hesitate to take his subordinate’s sword and swung it towards Asrahan.

Chaeeng-!

However, what he soon met was blue eyes like a wild beast.

Clang…. The sword that Delwin was holding broke and fell to the floor.

But no one could notice the sound. It was because the heads of the men were tossing around faster than that.

“Argh!”

“Argh!!”

As the black blade moved smoothly in the air, flurries erupted everywhere. Some had their heads cut off without screaming, while others had their carotid arteries cut, gushing out like fountains of blood.

As more than ten of his subordinates died in an instant, the only surviving Delwin looked up at Asrahan with a pale and tired face.

Killing everyone with a few lifts of his hand. He was even holding Lariette in one hand.

Even if he was the Duke of Kandel, his skills were unbelievable. No, it was more surprising that they suppressed such a person for a while.

It was then that Delwin realized it. The fact that it was not Lariette’s life that he had taken hostage, but his complete safety.

A person with that level of skill would have been able to save Lariette even in the previous situation. Although he may have suffered minor injuries, he would have definitely saved her life.

Nevertheless, the reason Asrahan did not do so was because he did not tolerate any harm to her.

For Lariette’s perfect safety, he endured his own pain.

“Hahahaha!”

Delwin suddenly burst into laughter, forgetting the situation because he was ridiculous. He couldn’t bear to laugh.

“The result of trying not to inflict any harm was the princess’s death!”

What a joke! Delwin grabbed his stomach and kept laughing.

And his face, which was full of bright smiles, soon separated from his body and fell to the floor.

Thud… Asrahan ignored Delwin’s head, which had rolled to his feet, and looked at Lariette in his arms.

He killed everyone in an instant, but it was too long a moment for the one who was stabbed near the heart.

Lariette’s complexion was much paler than it had been a few minutes before. It wouldn’t be strange if she died soon enough.

“Duke, my lady…!”

Gerard, who returned from killing the remnants, soon discovered the situation and kept his mouth shut. His eyes fluttered back and forth in extreme embarrassment.

Because it was the first time. Seeing my master’s face like that.

As the anger boiling over like lava disappeared, Asrahan’s face was left with only bitter emptiness and melting sadness.

Something wet ran down his rough cheeks. As always, he thought it was the blood of the people he had killed, but this time it was different.

“Lariette.”

A hoarse, wind-filled voice scratched his throat. My heart was pounding and my eyes were so hot.

“No.”

A large hand gripped Lariette’s body tightly. The arm holding her trembled.

“Please….”

Drip, drip. Thick water drops from the reddened corners of his eyes fell on her skin.

It was that Asrahan Kandel was in tears.

When his parents passed away when he was young, when he wandered alone on the battlefield and struggled with loneliness, when a terrible curse corroded his skin.

He never shed a tear, and this was the first one he remembered.

“Please, don’t die.”

Asrahan prayed and prayed more earnestly than ever before, but to no avail. Reality is different from fairy tales, and she did not come to life just by scattering a few tears.

“Ugh… ugh…”

Still, the reason Asrahan hugged her and vomited crying was because there was nothing he could do about it.

The whisper of “I likea you” was still clear in his ears, but Lariette’s lips were swollen and there was no sign of moving.

Her hair, which was like cherry blossom petals blooming in spring, was covered in blood, and her playful purple eyes had long since disappeared under her eyelashes.

If only I could die instead. If I could die and she could come back to life, I wish I could.

The world where she died and disappeared meant nothing to Asrahan. In time Lariette became his everything.

“My lord, this…”

Gerard, who had already judged that Lariette was dead, approached him cautiously and handed Asrahan something shiny. It was a bracelet that Lariette often wore at one time, which was rolling around on the ground.

Asrahan stared blankly at what came into his sight. A beautiful bracelet studded with jewels. It must have been seen before.

He frowned at the fact that the priest gave it to her. But after listening to the explanation that followed, he pretended to understand.

Then she explain…

-Asrahan, don’t get me wrong! It’s just that Doha gave me a holy enchanted item for my health!

Suddenly, a different color flashes in Asrahan’s blue eyes.

Divine magic. It was obvious that it was insignificant, but maybe even a little more time could be earned.

Taking the bracelet, he took Lariette’s hand without hesitation and inserted it into the hole.

Just as Gerard was puzzled, suddenly a dazzling light burst from the bracelet on Lariette’s wrist.

What-!

“W, what…!”

Gerard bit himself in surprise at the completely unexpected situation. Asrahan stared at the empty space where the light was pouring without moving.

And soon a familiar figure appeared in the bright light.

The splendid priest’s robe fluttered in the wind with his long silver hair and the hair ornament that hung over it shook.

The long eyelashes slowly rose, and the eyes of the bird of prey shone sharply.

A man who shines more than anyone else, Doha.

* * *

After Lariette confided her secret and left.

Doha hummed at the fact that she was about to break up with the monster duke and hardened his face for a moment.

It was as if a suffocatingly thick aura was choking him in an instant. I felt a chill on my back as if I was covered in ice water.

It was the dirtiest and most reluctant intuition he had ever felt.

‘… What.’

Doha’s body staggered with a creepy energy that made his whole body tingle. I was not used to it, so it was difficult to understand what it meant.

‘This little… There was only one time.’

It was something I had experienced once when I was young and just entering the temple.

The aftermath was even greater because the energy had not yet been properly established in the body. As a young man, he suffered from a high fever for several days and was depressed for no apparent reason.

At that time, I couldn’t figure out the cause, and it passed naturally over time.

“Whew….”

Doha grabbed his forehead with his hand and let out a short sigh. He had grown several dozen times compared to then, and it was only at this level that he was able to shake it off quickly.

This time too, it will pass.

He struggled to ignore the ominousness that welled up in his heart and focused on driving away his dirty guts.

But after a few hours, he paid the price for ignoring his intuition.

“… What?”

Doha asked with a sullen expression on his face.

Joshua was slightly frightened and answered.

“I just got a letter from Kandel. He asked if you had seen Lady Lariette, I replied that we had never seen her today. Because it seems that the young lady came here secretly… I pretended not to know, but was I being harsh…?”

It was Joshua, who thought he had given a clever answer in his own way. She came here secretly, but he couldn’t answer correctly saying that she had come.

“When was that?”

“It was about two hours ago.”

It had already been three hours since Lariette had left.

Doha hurriedly tried to check her safety through the bracelet. Because he clearly remembered what she was wearing earlier.

But strangely, there was no response from the bracelet. If she was healthy, even information that she was healthy would come back, but if she wasn’t, it meant she was away from the bracelet.

Doha frowned and looked down at Joshua with ferocious eyes.

“Call Kandel and make sure she is okay. right now.”

Joshua nodded coldly, thinking he was overreacting.

However, after contacting the Kandel mansion and talking to the butler, he was forced to acknowledge Doha’s foresight ability.

“… The lady has disappeared. She hasn’t come back yet, and her location isn’t known….”

Before he could hear all of his words, Doha hurriedly turned and walked towards the door. He was about to go find her right away.

Startled, Joshua hurriedly ran and grabbed his clothes.

“You have to change clothes and go! Of course, Not to mention being caught by the lady, but the High Priest Gibralfaro…”

“I…”

But when he met Doha’s face, he stopped talking.

The glittering gold was full of madness that seemed to blow up everywhere in the capital at any moment.

“Do I look like I have time to change?”

Joshua couldn’t even apologize and put the clothes down. No, rather than letting go, the strength in his hands was released by itself.

Doha moved again without adding more. It was a waste of time to even do this now.

But just as he was about to grab the doorknob, a bright light suddenly burst out of his body.

The summoning magic hung on the bracelet had been activated.

Doha closed his eyes and surrendered himself to the magic.

And what greeted him when he opened his eyes was the figure of Asrahan, who was sitting in a dark cave, crying, and Lariette, who was lying in his arms.

The golden eyes of Doha were colored with embarrassment at the thought that they had discovered his identity and the magic of the bracelet when he saw Asrahan, but soon found Lariette and shook aimlessly.

“Rie…? Why? … .”

Why are you doing that? I came and you didn’t even greet me.

Doha, who was accustomed to her friendly greeting, thought like a fool. I’ve already seen the sword stuck in her.

As he took a step closer to Lariette, the sticky blood quickly stained his shoes.

Desperately, Doha recalled that it wasn’t from her, that it had flowed from a pile of corpses lying on the floor.

And just before he completely approached, finally, Asrahan’s mouth opened and a desperate voice resounded through the cave.

“Whatever you are, whatever you do on the bracelet. It doesn’t matter.”

It was a voice full of weeping. That didn’t fit in with the Duke of Kandel.

Surprised by this, Doha shifted his gaze, which had only been fixed on Lariette, to Asrahan. A face covered with blood and tears came into view.

“It doesn’t matter if you have a different feeling for Lariette.”

“What….”

It was too sudden to say now.

But the moment he met his gaze, Doha read his sincerity in those desperate eyes.

“So please, save her.”

Another drop of tears ran down Asrahan’s cheeks again. Asrahan continued without even thinking of wiping it.

“Just let her live.”

I will do anything to save her. Asrazan bowed his head and prayed.

Doha was silent for a moment, then slowly reached out towards her. As soon as his hand touched the area near her heart, a bright light burst out.

A little hope sprung up in Asrahan’s face, which had sunk horribly. Doha opened his mouth as if warning him.

“Don’t get me wrong.”

Doha looked at Lariette’s face with her eyes closed as quietly as a doll, and continued speaking.

“It’s not for the Duke, I’m doing what I want to do.”

* * *

And it was a week after Lariette opened her eyes.