I gritted my teeth and followed Theodore, who had gotten ahead of me.
Even though my vision was blurred with tears, my legs were trembling, and my lungs felt like they were about to burst, I couldn’t stop running because I was worried about Demimore.
The forest was eerily quiet, like a lie.
I wish I could once more hear the howling. No, perhaps it would exacerbate my anxiety. My mind was so disorganized that I was unable to think clearly.
I was eager to find Demimore.
Before I knew it, my baby hair was stuck to my forehead and I was covered in sweat. I ran hard after Theodore.
My vision was still blurry, and I was losing track of the fact that I was running. I stumbled at that point and tripped over a sticking out tree root.
“Ugh….”
It wasn’t until I fell down that my awareness came back a little.
As I groaned softly while lying on the ground, my mind went back to Demimore. I tried to get up quickly, but I couldn’t because my leg seemed to have lost all strength after I fell.
My palms were covered in dirt and had been scraped from the ground, but I felt no pain.
I guess Theodore heard me fall because he came running over to me as I was still attempting to stand.
“Are you alright?”
“Yes!”
I answered bravely and got up with Theodore’s help. Theodore sighed and brushed the dirt off of my body.
When his hand touched my knee, it hurt sharply, and I winced..
“Ah….”
“Are you alright? Were you hurt?”
Theodore grabbed my ankle and attempted to pull my pants up as I whimpered a little. I held his hand still.
“I’m all right. We must find Demimore first.”
Theodore slowly got up after hearing my words.
Even Theodore’s neatly arranged bangs were soaked in sweat and messy. He grabbed my cheek.
“Are you really okay?”
I hesitated for a moment at Theodore’s question.
“It may sound cold, but you are more important to me than Demimore. So if it’s hard for you, just say so. I can go alone.”
I rubbed my nose with the back of my hand and continued to speak with greater assurance.
“I’m fine. I can go.”
For some reason, Demimore seemed more important to me than me now.
“It’s okay. Demimore will be fine.”
I nodded at Theodore’s reassuring words.
Someone started barking from close to the tree over there as we were about to start moving forward slowly once more.
Theodore and I immediately entered a defensive position.
My jaw dropped and I nearly fell back on my heels as I recognized the glowing eyes in the woods.
“Arsene?”
I couldn’t quite make out the shape because it was in the bushes, but it was definitely Arsene standing there looking at me.
Theodore grabbed my wrist and spoke in a stern manner as I turned to follow him.
“You’re going to follow it? Do you know what that is?”
“I’m sure those eyes belong to Arsene.”
“Arsene?”
“The dog that helps me!”
I whined and pulled out the wrist held by Theodore and brought up the story of Arsene, Theodore relaxed his hand holding me with a blank look.
“……really?”
“Yes. I’m sure it’s Arsene.”
“Wait. Can we really follow him?”
Theodore followed me as I nodded with a confident look. But he had a worried look on his face.
However, there was no time to persuade Theodore. I had to find Demimore quickly.
Arsene didn’t look back and just ran forward, as if he knew I was following him well.
I diligently followed Arsene’s lead. Unlike when I ran vaguely earlier, my sight was clear and my footsteps were firm.
Once more, a growling noise could be heard. When that occurred, Arsene halted and growled upward. The growling noise that I could hear around me then vanished like a lie.
Instead, I heard grunts that sounded like they were being pushed by Arsene.
We ran for a while like that.
Arsene stopped abruptly and looked somewhere. Theodore and I sprinted in the direction Arsene was focusing on.
“Demimore!”
Demimore was on the ground.
A beast was loitering nearby, as if he was aiming at Demimore, who lay helpless.
I ran to Demimore and abruptly stopped as I spotted the wolf-like beast.
“Mary, are you all right?”
Theodore asked carefully from behind as I raised my bow and aimed at the beast. My hands started to shake.
Thankfully, the beast’s body was free of any curse marks. But what if I couldn’t subdue the beast right away and it ran towards Demimore?
Should I simply attack it?
I had a lot of ideas running through my head. Then, I felt a warmth on my thigh.
When I lowered my gaze, which was fixed to the beast, Arsene was rubbing his head against my thigh.
“Arsene….”
I realized how silly it was when I mentioned Arsene to Aiden and hoped he’d show up again this time.
I hadn’t really considered how priceless and appreciative I was that he was there for me when I needed him.
I said a small thank you, and he nodded and walked away as if he knew what I was thinking.
Maybe it’s just wishful thinking on my part to believe that Arsene knows what’s on my mind.
‘I can do it.’
Taking courage from him, I raised my bow again and took aim at the beast.
I remembered the first time I learned to shoot an arrow. As I sensed the wind, I let go of the arrow, thinking “now is the time.”
The arrow flew straight and struck the beast in the back, and he spun around, looking at the arrow in his back, before turning to face us.
He took a few steps toward us before collapsing in a heap.
“Demimore!”
After seeing that the beast had actually fallen, I hurried over to Demimore, who was dripping with sweat and had dry, white lips.
As I put my finger under his nose, I felt a faint breath and sighed in relief.
I shook him vigorously to wake him up. Theodore, who was behind me, stopped me.
“……Mary?”
“Demimore, are you all right?”
But my wild gesture must have had some effect because Demimore called my name. He blinked and put his hand on my cheek.
“A dream…?”
“Are you okay? What happened, exactly!”
Demimore smiled faintly as I cried. He gave me a faint smile and gently stroked my cheek and shoulder.
I wanted to ask him why he had fallen over, but he was struggling to breathe and couldn’t even speak clearly.
“Did you suffer from a curse?”
At my words, Demimore shook his head.
“Demimore, don’t fall asleep. This is not a dream.”
Theodore, who was sitting next to me, vigorously shook Demimore’s shoulder to prevent him from nodding off. Thankfully, he started to blink again.
“uhh, Ah…”
“What? I took care of the beast!”
“Anti… antidote… I need…”
Demimore gestured towards something, but I couldn’t understand what he was saying.
Theodore abruptly got to his feet and grabbed something from the floor.
Then he came back to Demimore’s side and held out what he had in his hand to me. It was a yellow liquid in a small bottle.
“What is that?”
“I believe it to be an antidote.”
I quickly opened the bottle and gave Demimore what was inside after Theodore said it.
Swallow it, you have to swallow it. Demimore’s feeble throat trembled, whether or not my pleading was heard.
Demimore’s breathing became more comfortable.
“Did he prepare the antidote knowing that something like this might happen?”
“Well, we also brought emergency medicine, so Demimore probably brought some too.”
Theodore, who responded, had a puzzled expression. Demimore was dozing off on my lap when I turned to look at him.
Why did he pack an antidote? What did Cameron do to Demimore?
Then I thought back to what I’d said to Cameron earlier, when I was so furious. Hopefully I won’t be detained for blasphemy…
“Isn’t he heavy? Give him to me.”
Demimore was dozing off in my lap when Theodore spoke, looking at him. Uh, he’s fine……. as soon as I thought of that, Demimore’s head felt heavier.
Oh, is he awake?
I gently shook my hand in Demimore’s face just in case, but there was no response. Was it a mistake?
“Give him to me here?”
“It’s okay.”
“Is he not heavy?”
“It’s better to leave him here because he might wake up if we move him unnecessarily.”
Thinking about Demimore sleeping on Theodore’s lap, it felt strange and off somehow…
I gently stroked Demimore’s hair. His long eyelashes trembled.
