"Airen... just as I said... Airen..."
"Swen!!!"
Airen called Swen’s na over and over.
But he didn’t answer.
He had lost consciousness.
"No... No, this can’t be happening. Swen!! Answer ! Wake up!"
She grabbed him and shook him again and again, but there was no response.
Airen had no idea what was happening right now.
She had built the altar because he asked for it. She had crafted the drum because he said it was necessary.
She had believed in him even when he did strange things.
But...
She never imagined the result—
That burning rocks would suddenly fall from the sky.
'What... in the world did he do?'
Swen had said, "We need to communicate with the heavens."
He ntioned that three stars had vanished.
She didn’t understand what he ant at the ti. But Swen had always possessed an uncanny insight.
Everything he did must have had a purpose.
And now...
Did he do sothing that made the heavens drop a burning stone?
If that was the case—
What had he done to make himself lose consciousness imdiately after?
The answer was obvious with just a little thought.
Even though Airen had no knowledge of mystical forces, she understood one thing—
Making sothing like that fall from the sky would consu an enormous amount of energy.
No, this wasn’t just energy depletion.
It was beyond that.
Could it be...
'Did he risk his life... for this?'
It made sense when she thought about it.
Performing a miracle of this scale—
If he hadn’t staked his very life on it, that would have been even more surprising.
But why?
The mont she asked herself that question, fragnts of Swen’s words flashed through her mind.
"My na is Swen. As of today, I have been assigned to serve Lady Lyn Brans. My lord has commanded to reside here as your roommate for the ti being."
That’s right. That’s how we t.
It wasn’t under pleasant circumstances, but from the mont we t, he had always been there to support .
"What do you an? As long as Lady Airen is fine with it, I’d like to stay with you forever."
Even though he was caught up in my affairs with my lord, he never got angry.
He comforted instead.
"It’s fine. Learning more about Lady Airen is sothing I consider a great privilege."
He was always kind.
Even when I spoke of painful things, he listened to everything without hesitation.
"Lady Airen... I’m so relieved. So relieved that you’re safe."
No one in this country ever worried about .
But he did.
"The person I want to protect in this country is you, Lady Airen."
I was born to protect.
And yet, the right to protect was taken from .
But he—
He was the one who told he wanted to protect .
His kindness had always been unbearably sweet.
"Airen... just as I said... Airen..."
And now—
For my sake, he had defied orders.
For my sake, he had staked his life to perform a miracle.
All so I could achieve rit.
All so he could prove that my words were true.
"…Swen."
Tears began to spill from Airen’s eyes.
And then, she buried her face in Swen’s chest, sobbing.
"Don’t die, Swen… don’t die…"
Her heart clenched painfully.
The one who had believed in her, the one who had told her she was right, the one who had worried for her, the one who had wanted to protect her—
She couldn’t protect him.
She, who had spent her entire life protecting others, was failing to protect the very person who had said those words to her.
If—
If this man died, what would happen to her?
She had finally broken free from the shackles of the Brans family, finally started to move forward—
But if she lost the very man who had freed her?
"…No…!"
She couldn’t lose him.
She wouldn’t lose him.
Airen turned toward the nearest soldier and shouted—
"Bring a doctor! Right now!"
There had to be one here—
One of the doctors who had tended to the wounded soldiers.
"A doctor...?"
"Hurry!"
At her desperate cry, the soldier responded with a loud "Understood!" and ran off as fast as he could.
Even the soldier must have been shocked.
No one ever imagined Airen Juliet—who had always commanded others with unwavering dignity—
Would be crying like a child.
But Airen didn’t care about appearances right now.
She quickly checked Swen’s condition.
He was unconscious—
But his breathing was faintly there.
She didn’t know exactly how much strain communicating with the heavens had put on his body—
But she had to hurry.
'I won’t let you die... no matter what!'
At that mont—
She completely accepted it.
She had spent her entire life wanting to protect soone—
Only to be abandoned by the one she had sworn to protect.
But that was fine.
Because now, she had soone else she wanted to protect.
'I will protect you, no matter what…!'
For the first ti—
The target of Airen Juliet’s sword had changed.
A miracle that had never occurred in any tiline—
Had just taken place.
***
When I ca to my senses, I found myself wandering through a familiar alleyway once again.
Blue rooftops and white-walled buildings stretched around , forming a maze of narrow paths.
But this ti, I didn’t mind being lost.
The wind felt refreshing, the sky was a vast, comforting blue, and most importantly—she was here beside .
I knew who she was, and yet—
At the sa ti, I couldn’t quite grasp who she truly was.
That contradiction should have been confusing, but strangely, I accepted it without question.
Just as naturally as objects fall downward, just as the sun sets and the moon rises—
It simply was.
Hand in hand, I strolled through the empty alleys with her.
We didn’t encounter a single soul along the way, but that didn’t bother .
If anything, it made the mont feel even more peaceful.
After all, how long had it been since I had walked alone with her like this?
I turned my head—
And there she was, looking at with a smile.
Golden hair that shimred brilliantly, and eyes—
Eyes that glead even brighter, like liquid gold poured from the stars themselves.
Yes. This mont—
This fleeting ti spent with her—
And then,
The ground beneath collapsed.
I lost hold of her hand and began to fall—endlessly downward.
My consciousness faded.
*
"…Ah."
Awareness slowly returned.
About thirty seconds passed before I felt my heartbeat, before the scent of wooden furniture in the air tickled my nose—
And only then did I realize it.
That had been a dream.
The sa dream I had the first ti I slept at Airen’s house.
"……"
I slowly raised a hand and touched my eyes.
Tears.
I wasn’t sure why I was crying.
Had I been crying in my sleep?
No.
The dream was still vivid in my mind, fresh from waking.
It didn’t seem like a sad dream.
I had been walking through an unfamiliar town with an unfamiliar woman.
I rembered her golden hair clearly—
But everything else had already faded away.
Dreams vanish so quickly, don’t they?
But even as the mory of the dream slipped away, the reality around grew sharper.
I was lying in a worn-out bed.
The ceiling above—I recognized it.
This was the fortress commander’s quarters.
It was connected directly to the eting room.
When Carlints was absent, Miguel used it. When he wasn’t around, Airen had taken over.
And finally, the mories from before I lost consciousness started to return.
I had seen the teor strike Serpina’s army—
Then everything had gone black.
Right… The teor.
A teor had actually fallen.
I never imagined it would actually happen.
This whole plan—making it look like I had summoned a natural disaster—had one major flaw.
If I could summon lightning through a ritual, wouldn’t that make a wizard?
I had deliberately tried to make it seem not magical—building an altar, playing the drums, putting on a whole show.
But in the end, calling down lightning from the sky still resembled sothing straight out of legend.
If people started suspecting I was a mage, things could get annoying fast.
But at the very least, it had accomplished its goal.
The enemy had retreated.
And most importantly—
They had seen it happen.
But…
A teor was different.
There were no mages in this world capable of doing that.
In the later parts of the ga, when magic users awakened their ability to sense mana and erged on the continent, they used the usual elental spells—fire, lightning, earth-shattering attacks.
But no one—no one—had ever used anything as absurd as teor.
If anything, it would be easier if they just assud I was a mage.
Because what I had actually done… was far more incomprehensible.
As I mulled over that thought, I finally noticed sothing.
Sothing was pressing down on my lap.
"…Hup."
I shifted slightly, propping myself up in bed.
And only then did I see—
"……"
Airen.
She had fallen asleep, resting her head on my lap.
The sunlight stread in through the window, casting a peaceful glow on her sleeping face.
Beside her, on a small table, sat an empty dish—likely the remains of her al—and several dical herbs commonly used in this world.
Had she been tending to the entire ti?
"Lady Airen."
"……"
"Lady Airen."
I called her na a few more tis.
She stirred slightly on my lap—
And then, slowly, she lifted her head.
"…Mmh…?"
"Lady Airen. Are you awake?"
She blinked blearily, her gaze finding mine.
Her pupils widened slightly.
"…Swen?"
"Yes."
She just stared at , speechless.
Then—
A single tear slid down her cheek.
"Swen… you’re… you’re awake?"
"Yes. Sohow."
"Swen!!"
With a cry, she threw her arms around .
"Swen… thank goodness… I’m so glad you’re awake…!"
Her voice trembled with emotion as she clung to .
And in that mont, I realized two things.
First—
For so reason, I wasn’t wearing a shirt.
I could feel her tears sliding down my bare skin.
And second—
She wasn’t wearing her armor either.
Which ant I could feel her warmth very clearly.
"I’m fine. But… what about the fortress? What happened to Serpina’s army?"
"You saved it, Swen."
Her voice shook.
"A battle no one thought could be won… You did it. Even at the cost of your own strength."
"Cost…?"
Airen nodded as she looked up at .
Guilt was written all over her face.
"You pushed yourself too far. Just to prove right. Just to make sure I could earn rit."
"…Huh?"
"You risked your life, didn’t you? There’s no way… there’s no way you could’ve done sothing like that without putting your life on the line…"
Wait.
Was she seriously misunderstanding this?
They say when you don’t understand soone’s actions, you should try putting yourself in their shoes.
So I did.
From her perspective, what had she seen?
So lunatic muttering about ‘communicating with the heavens’ and ‘three stars disappearing.’
Then, he built an altar, started chanting strange words, and had soldiers drum along like it was so kind of ritual.
And on the day of the battle, he put on an insane performance, screaming "O HEAVENS!!" at the top of his lungs like a deranged prophet—
And then.
A teor fell from the sky.
And imdiately afterward, he collapsed.
"…Ah."
Okay.
Yeah.
I could see why she thought I had literally staked my life on it.
If I had seen that without any prior knowledge, I probably would’ve thought the sa.
Had it just been lightning, maybe not—
But a teor?
Yeah. That scread "sacrificial ritual."
"I’m sorry… Swen… Please… don’t ever risk your life for again…"
Airen clung to , sobbing.
Sothing in my chest felt warm.
I reached out, gently stroking her hair.
"Lady Airen. I’m fine. I wasn’t risking my life. I promise."
"Liar… idiot… Don’t lie to , Swen…"
"……"
I looked down at her trembling form.
Well.
No need to correct her now.
Instead of arguing—
I simply pulled her into a tighter embrace.
Because in the end—
The real miracle wasn’t summoning a teor.
It was saving Airen Juliet from Lyn Brans.
And right now, that mattered far more.
So for now—
I’d just enjoy the warmth.
***
As I rested in bed, regaining my strength, an unexpected face appeared.
"Oh-ho! Swen! I heard you finally ca to!"
‘…Huh?’
A familiar face.
A familiar voice.
A handso man with striking blue hair—
The fortress commander who had overseen the construction of this stronghold, and one of the key generals of Brans Army.
"Lord Carlints…?"
"Mhm! That’s right, Swen! It’s truly a relief to see you awake!"
I blinked in confusion as I looked up at him.
Why in the world was he here?
Reviews
All reviews (0)