꒷꒦︶꒷꒦︶ ๋ ࣭ ⭑꒷꒦THERE IS NO WAY YOU LOVE ME ꒷꒦︶꒷꒦︶ ๋ ࣭ ⭑꒷꒦
Kieran let out a soft chuckle, dispersing his lingering thoughts.
The fact that stray thoughts kept creeping in made it clear that his physical condition wasn’t good. He felt chills as if his temperature was rising, and his mind felt sluggish.
He tried to reassure Alyssa, intending to dismiss it as just a simple cold, but before he could, she reached out toward him.
“Excuse me for a moment. Just a moment…”
Her slightly parted lips trembled faintly. Then, with cautious movements, her hand brushed his cheek.
Kieran was about to laugh at her sudden action and the way she handled him as if he were a fragile glass ornament, but then he realized something—the heat of her hand was unusually high.
“Your hand feels hot. Perhaps it’s you who isn’t feeling well,” he remarked.
At his words, Alyssa stood frozen in place. Her face turned pale, and she remained still for a long moment before shaking her head.
“No… no, that’s not it…”
“…”
“It’s not that my hand is hot… it’s that you are far too cold,” she murmured, her voice trembling with fear.
Her tone, heavy with unease, dropped like stones in the air. Suddenly, she spun around, her movements sharp.
“Is there anyone here who has studied medicine?”
The delicate voice instantly hardened, but the ends of her words quivered slightly.
Among the onlookers, one hesitantly raised a hand.
“I know a little…” a man said cautiously.
“Come here and examine him,” Alyssa commanded.
At her words, the man hurried over and began to examine Kieran. After checking his complexion and feeling his pulse, his expression turned grave in an instant.
“He’s frozen to the bone!”
The scholars around them erupted into murmurs. Kieran, however, was the only one who didn’t seem to grasp the seriousness of the situation.
“Have you been attacked by a monster before?” the man asked.
Kieran started to shake his head but hesitated. It wasn’t exactly an attack—it was more of a graze—but there had been one instance.
On the day Alyssa had collapsed, it was Kieran who had caught her. Without a second thought, he had reached out and pulled her into his arms.
The monster, in a desperate final act, had aimed for Alyssa’s neck but ended up only grazing her hair. In the process, the frozen monster passed between them and scratched Kieran’s cheek.
“A monster grazed me and left a small wound. It healed quickly, so I didn’t think much of it,” Kieran admitted.
“Oh, you shouldn’t have ignored it,” the examiner sighed regretfully as he looked over Kieran.
“Monster attacks never heal properly, no matter how minor they seem. You absolutely need proper aftercare.”
“…”
“It was a vine-like monster, wasn’t it? One that freezes everything it attacks,” he added.
At those words, Alyssa’s grip tightened. Kieran, sifting through his memories, slowly nodded.
“That creature swings its vines around, spreading its seeds,” the scholar explained gravely. “The ice spreads outward from wherever the seeds touch. In the Pendulum Kingdom, they have a cure, but without it…”
“Is there a way to treat it?” Alyssa asked, her voice trembling.
“There isn’t,” he replied, shaking his head. “Too much time has passed. The ice has spread through every corner of his body. It’s only a matter of time before it reaches his heart.”
Kieran mulled over the words with surprising calmness. It all felt surreal.
So this is how it ends? Tomorrow? In a week? Maybe even right now?
His thoughts drifted, and his gaze landed on Alyssa. She looked as if she had turned to stone, completely frozen in place. Her face had gone pale, her shoulders trembling as if she couldn’t breathe.
Kieran found himself more concerned for her than his impending death. He reached out to drape Alyssa’s cloak back over her shaking shoulders, but before he could, a sharp voice rang out from behind him.
“You absolute idiot!”
The booming yell startled everyone, and they turned to see Bertha rummaging through the pile of monster remains.
“That moron nearly had me fooled too. No cure? Why not just make one!”
“What are you talking about? You can’t just pluck Alkasus out of thin air—”
“It’s right here!” Bertha interrupted triumphantly, holding something up.
The scholar who was about to argue froze, his words dying in his throat.
Bertha held the body of a plant-like monster, its flower head burned to a crisp and blackened like charcoal. The stiffened creature dangled in her hand as she snapped the flower off its stem, revealing a lumpy black orb nestled inside.
With the treasure in hand, she sprinted toward the group.
“Here! Process this quickly!”
“W-what? Oh, okay!”
“Do it fast! At this rate, we’re going to lose his grace!”
Bertha’s sharp command jolted the scholar holding the orb into action. His hands moved swiftly, working on the lumpy sphere. After a few deft motions, the uneven orb began to soften and melt.
As the black outer layer flaked away, a dazzling red gem emerged, jagged and unpolished like a raw gemstone. Without hesitation, the scholar rushed to Kieran, holding the gem out.
“It’s going to be hot. You’ll need to bear with it,” he warned quickly.
Placing the gem on the back of Kieran’s hand, it started cool but rapidly grew hotter, eventually melting and seeping into his skin.
“Ugh…!”
Kieran clenched his teeth as a surge of heat spread from his hand. It felt as though boiling water was coursing through his veins.
The intense heat swept through his body before abruptly vanishing, leaving him drenched in sweat. He took a shaky breath, his face pale but relieved.
“Is he cured?” Alyssa asked, her voice faint, almost disbelieving.
The scholar carefully checked Kieran again before nodding.
“Yes, it’s done. It’ll take about a week for the heat to fully settle, but after that, he’ll be as healthy as ever. In fact, I’d wager he won’t even feel the cold anymore.”
“And during that week?”
“The ice will be melting, so it might feel a bit chilly, but it won’t affect his health.”
At those words, Alyssa finally exhaled, as though she had been drowning and had just reached the surface of the water.
“I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry,” she murmured, trembling as she bowed her head. Her lips were pale, nearly blue from the tension.
“Your grace, It’s fine.”
“It’s not fine!”
Her voice came out sharp and cracking, startling even herself. Alyssa froze, seeing Kieran’s surprised expression.
“…I’m sorry,” she said again, her voice breaking. “How could I… How could I let this happen…?”
Alyssa panted as she forced herself to speak, her throat tightening with guilt.
“It’s my fault.”
Kieran had almost died.
Because he had been by her side. If only Alyssa had been stronger, if she had been more alert—none of this would have happened. She should have dealt with the monster more thoroughly. No, she should never have avoided the monster in the first place.
The memory of his cold hands resurfaced. Even as she had held those freezing hands, she had failed to realize anything.
And yet, what had she dared to hope for? Alyssa now understood with excruciating clarity.
“It’s because of me…”
She should never have stayed by his side.
Late at night, when everyone else was asleep, Alyssa stood in the quiet hallways of the castle. The cold night breeze sliced across her cheeks.
It had only been a day, but it felt as though a year had passed.
After leaving the warehouse, Alyssa had pleaded with Kieran to rest and do nothing for the next week. Her desperate demeanor left him no choice but to nod in agreement.
Since then, Alyssa had thrown herself into work with a near-manic fervor. She couldn’t bear to stop; doing nothing felt unbearable.
Her behavior reminded everyone of the days before she met Kieran, when the head maid was still alive. The transformation was so stark that no one dared approach her.
For a long while, she carried on like that. Then, once the castle had completely fallen silent, she left the study.
Wandering aimlessly like a lost child, she eventually came to a halt in front of the corridor, standing there like a misplaced ornament.
She had nowhere to go.
She couldn’t bring herself to step into the bedroom she had shared with Kieran, nor could she find rest anywhere else in the castle.
Alyssa, who had been standing in a daze, turned her head at the sound of footsteps approaching. There stood her new personal maid, Mirika.
“Shall we go to the bedroom?”
Her voice was composed and restrained. Alyssa shook her head.
“Never mind, go in.”
“Your husband is calling for you.”
However, at the following words, Alyssa hesitated. Mirka did not urge her further and kept quiet.
Alyssa couldn’t bear to face Kieran, but she also couldn’t ignore his summons.
In the end, Alyssa took a heavy step forward. With every step, complicated and dark emotions left their mark on her.
When she arrived at the bedroom, Alyssa knocked on the door. Then, Kieran’s voice, low and calm, reached her ears.
“Mirika, has the lady arrived?”
Alyssa didn’t know how to respond. It seemed he had addressed Mirika, but Mirika had already returned to her room at Alyssa’s command.
Perhaps interpreting the silence differently, a soft sigh could be heard.
“Go back and tell her. If she does not come, I will go to her.”
At the end of the words, a dry cough was heard, making Alyssa feel like her heart had dropped. Without another thought, she quickly spoke.
“I’m here. Please don’t come out.”
There was a brief silence after her urgent reply.
“…Come in.”
At the concise command, Alyssa, who had been hesitant, slowly opened the door. The moonlight filled the room, which was not draped with curtains, and there, leaning against the bed, lay Kieran.
“I’ve been waiting for quite a while.”
He spoke with dry lips, his pale face evident in the dim light.
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