John roughly grabbed her shoulder and pulled her. Without realizing it, she ended up sitting below him. The shadowy face she looked up at was completely different from what she usually saw. If he was usually a gentleman, now he looked like an animal. Maybe that’s why she felt like she was a prey with a predator in front of her.
‘Scary.’
The unfocused red eyes were filled with only madness. John suddenly looked at the nape of her neck and bit her neck hard.
“You smell delicious.”
Heat spread throughout her body along with the pain. Without realizing it, she closed her eyes and tried to get away from him.
‘This is a runaway of black magic.’
In addition to the rough movements, an unusual wave of black magic threatened to attack her.
“…it hurts.”
John paused for a moment at the words that came out of nowhere. At that time, she unintentionally held his hand, which was stained black.
“Ugh-!”
John contorted his face and complained of his pain. It seemed like it was painful to touch the part that had turned black as a side effect of the black magic. But John did not let go of her hand. Rather, it entangled his fingers even more tightly, preventing them from escaping.
‘Is there nothing I can do?’
She was frustrated because she didn’t know much about black magic. What John said was truly correct. There was nothing she could do if she stayed, and she didn’t know if she could lose her life like this.
‘No. Still, I said I would stay.’
Since they have decided to do so, they couldn’t despair here. She quickly spoke to the trees. Now she had reached a point where she could talk to them in her mind.
-Trees! It’s urgent! Do you know anything about the runaway?
Originally, when she was with John, she didn’t talk to him because she was afraid he would notice, but now was not the time to hide.
‘There is no answer back.’
Originally, the trees always answered right away when she spoke to them. It was to help her, the last fairy.
‘This doesn’t make sense to me.’
John’s dark magic holding me became stronger. At that time, John, who had buried his face in the crook of her neck, slowly lifted his face and looked her in the eye.
“Who are you talking to now?”
“Yes-yes?”
“You used strange power just now. No, who are you…”
The red eyes were covered with black magic and returned again and again.
‘Is it possible to have a conversation even if he loses his temper?’
But no such thing was said.
‘It could be that I don’t have any memories of the runaway.’
At that time, she remembered the advice the trees gave her.
-Even if it seems strange, sometimes try to act the way you want to. Because you are a fairy, there are times when you instinctively do the right thing.
-What does that mean?’
-A strange impulse arises within you. That moment will definitely come.
Suddenly, the tree’s advice came to mind clearly. Just as John’s face looked threatening, she quickly released one of her hands and placed it on his cheek. Unlike usual, she used informal language in a more friendly manner to give a friendly feeling.
“I am your wife. Your very dear wife.”
“…what?”
His voice cracked with pain.
“Such nonsense…”
“John.”
Looking at his face full of disbelief, she lowered her voice sadly.
“Don’t you remember? You said you loved me. That’s why I asked you to stay by your side even when you were on a rampage…”
“I?”
“As expected, I don’t know anything during a runaway.”
John gathered his thick eyebrows. But he didn’t shake off her hand that was placed on his cheek. She smiled as if everything was okay.
“But it’s okay. Because I love you John.”
“…me?”
“Huh. Otherwise, why would it be like this?”
A lie that he could tell because he was in a state of intoxication.
“It’s definitely less painful.”
“Okay. They say it’s because we love each other. They say that if you love each other, you can prevent a runaway.”
Honestly, she didn’t even know what she was talking about.
‘But John’s condition is improving.’
The dark magic that was threatening to explode just a moment ago seemed to have calmed down a bit. His condition has improved to the point where he could communicate.
‘If it continues like this, won’t the runaway end and things return to normal?’
John, who was looking at her face blankly, pulled her back and locked her in his arms.
“I guess that’s why.”
“Huh?”
“When I look at you, my heart continues to beat.”
She thought it’s because the magic power ran out of control.
“I’m still thirsty. I feel like my thirst is getting worse because of you.”
John, who was continuously kissing the nape of her neck, let out a faint laugh. Her face turned red from the non-stop skinship.
‘This is dangerous as is.’
John, who was usually slick, was dangerous, but John who spoke without thinking was also very attractive. He looked at her with reddened eyes.
“Why is it that the more I stick with you, the more I can’t stand it?”
“What is that…”
“I heard we loved each other? Then it doesn’t matter.”
He greedily stroked her waist and smiled coquettishly.
“I need to eat you.”
There was no time to stop John. He lowered his head and kissed her lips. The moment she felt like something hot had entered her eyes, her eyes suddenly turned white.
* * *
She blinked, clutching her throbbing head.
‘I think I kissed John…’
Suddenly, the surroundings turned white and they arrived in a strange space.
‘What on earth is going on? Does something like this happen in a runaway state?’
An eerie, cold wind passed by as if clawing her whole body. She looked around, stroking her goosebumps. It felt like she was in a prison. The structure was similar to the prison she saw when she went to see the Duke and Duchess of Libertan. As she took a step and looked around, guards suddenly appeared from the other side.
‘Maybe this is good?’
There was nowhere to hide. But strangely, the guards didn’t seem to see her even though they were looking at her from the front.
“Hey. She’s still holding on just fine? She said he was proud of herself and didn’t even pray until she passed out today. Reading is really reading.”
As soon as she heard that, her heart strangely started beating loudly.
“That girl is vicious, and Libertan is also vicious. I don’t know how people like that exist together. Not only did they torture her family in front of that child, they burned her to death. Still, they say they have to keep the heir alive, so they torture her inconspicuously at night and turn him into a slave in a coal mine during the day.”
“I’m holding on so far, but I wonder how long I’ll be able to hold out in the future.”
The guards, who did not notice her presence, continued talking among themselves.
“Honestly, even if I was a former slave, I don’t think I would be able to endure this situation for long. But that doesn’t mean the meal is good.”
“I think she will die in less than a month. The Libertan Dukes are usually terrible. You can survive with poison, but is that something you can do with just your heart?”
It seemed like they were talking about John.
‘Is this when John was being tortured by the Libertan?’
It was not an ordinary situation, especially considering that the guards did not recognize her.
‘Could this be like a dream from John’s past?’
First, she went straight in the direction the guards had come from. Then she saw a boy tied up in chains. A boy with black hair, leaning against the wall as if he had fainted. This was young John.
‘I guess I came into a dream of John’s past.’
Even though he was tortured and treated harshly, his outstanding appearance was immediately recognizable.
‘But…’
Young John’s condition was so serious that his heart ached greatly the moment he saw him. His arms are tied and pinned to the wall, and his feet are chained like a slave. He also had a huge weight attached to him, as if to prevent him from escaping.
‘How can you do this?’
She didn’t know if it would be because she didn’t know much about treason or the law. But anyway, how could you do this to a child?
‘You said you didn’t hurt yourself because you are the Duke’s heir.’
Wounds were visible on his bare feet. Even through the tattered clothes, small wounds were visible.
‘Is it true that all I had to do was keep my limbs alive?’
John’s past, which she witnessed with her own eyes, was much more brutal than she thought. She couldn’t capture all of this pain just by seeing it in the original. He was in shock for a moment and said nothing.
‘How hard was it?’
It was truly amazing that John survived here.
‘If it’s like this, it’ll be harder to resent it.’
How much pain must that child have suffered? She thought the abuse she suffered at Libertan was severe, but John had it harder than her.
“Sorry.”
She was sad that a child was experiencing such a terrible thing right now and that there was nothing she could do.
‘I guess this is a dream from John’s past. There’s nothing I can change.’
Feeling guilty inside, she approached the unconscious young John. There were prison bars, but perhaps because it was a dream, she was able to get through them. She squatted down in front of John, looked at his wounds, and brushed away his messy bangs.
“It must have hurt a lot.”
Even though her hand was passed through, she couldn’t even stroke his bangs.
“Is it too difficult right now?”
She said something inaudible to the unconscious man. Suddenly, young John’s eyelashes fluttered, revealing his bright red eyes.
“Ugh…”
Just opening his mouth seemed difficult as the pain was surging. She pulled her sleeve and tried to wipe the cold sweat from her forehead.
“…what…”
Young John opened his mouth in a confused voice.
“There is no one…”
Maybe he could hear her voice because it’s a dream. Or maybe he was feeling something intuitively. In fact, it didn’t matter if it’s a meaningless action. Because she wanted to do it.
“You may not be able to hear my voice, and nothing will change if I say this, but I’ll tell you anyway just in case.”
She swallowed hard and placed her hand over young John’s.
“Is it too hard right now? There will be moments when it’s hard to hold on and you feel like giving up.”
It was strange, but it felt like John’s red eyes were looking at her.
“But still, cheer up. You can do it. If you endure now, you will definitely succeed in getting revenge. You will be able to do what you want by overthrowing the Libertan duchy, which seems great now.”
Of course, she would die because of that. What she said just now, funny enough, was sincere.
“And when you get out of this prison, there will be someone to help you. There are people who care about you, take your side, and are loyal to you. So, although it may be difficult, please persevere.”
Then, tears welled up in the eyes of John, who seemed to have felt nothing until now. He swallowed his tears and shook his head.
“You can’t cry, John. Why are tears suddenly coming out?”
“Ah… As expected, you can’t hear my voice.”
There was no way the voice could be heard as physical force did not work. Hiding her disappointment, she affectionately cupped his thin cheek with both hands.
“It would be nice if my warmth could touch you.”
It was very difficult at Libertan because there was no one around me. It was because she felt like she was alone and had no place to hold onto.
“Of course, John, you are an amazing and wonderful person, so you don’t need my warmth. But I want to be of some help.”
She stroked his cheek and slowly kissed his forehead. Just like before, when John kissed her forehead to comfort her. Then John flinched and asked,
“Who is there? Why is there warmth on my forehead…”
Tears began to well up in young John’s eyes. She hugged little John tightly with a surprised face.
“Can you hear my voice? Or is my warmth reaching you?”
Maybe, something could be done. After hugging John for a moment, she suddenly got up from her seat.
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Translator Note:
Hello there! This is RJR. I hope you liked it <3
If you like my work please support me with Ko-fi or Patreon. Next post will be released on October, 18.
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