One-Shot Transmigration: Sorry I'm Here To Ruin Your Happy Ever After Chapter 116

ical’s grip tightened around him.

"You say that like it would bother ," he answered.

Min jae let out a small breath that felt close to a laugh. "It would bother you?"

"No," ical replied. "It would scare . Only because I want you safe."

He adjusted Min jae’s weight in his arms and kept walking, steady and unhurried.

"And if sothing like that ever happened," ical continued, "I would take care of you. Every step. Every day. I would not disappear."

Min jae blinked up at him. "You sound very sure of that."

"I am," ical said. "You may not trust yet. But I am still sure."

They reached a shaded bend in the path. Leaves brushed ical’s shoulder as he carried Min jae through it. Min jae’s fingers loosened in the fabric of his shirt, almost as if the reassurance allowed him to relax a little more.

"You make it too easy to want things," Min jae whispered.

ical lowered his head slightly, close enough that Min jae could feel the warmth of his breath.

"Then keep wanting them," he said. "I can handle it."

He kept walking toward the carriage, holding him as if he had no intention of setting him down until they reached it.

They moved through the last stretch of the path, the forest opening just enough for the carriage to co into view. The driver glanced over but quickly looked away, giving them silence and space.

Min jae shifted slightly in ical’s arms. The movent was small but enough for ical to adjust his hold again, making sure Min jae did not slip even an inch.

"You should put down before he sees," Min jae murmured.

ical did not stop. "He already saw. It changes nothing."

Min jae pressed his cheek lightly against ical’s collar. "You are too calm about everything."

"Only because you are tired," ical said. "I can carry you for as long as I need to."

They reached the carriage. ical stepped close and lowered Min jae with a kind of patience Min jae was not used to receiving. He set him down on the seat as if every part of him mattered, then helped him settle back against the cushions.

Min jae drew in a slow breath. "You should not take everything I say so seriously. It was only a joke."

ical placed a hand on the seat beside Min jae’s hip, leaning in just a little. "You think I took it seriously?"

"You sounded like you did."

"I answered you," ical said. "There is a difference."

Min jae looked at him for a long mont, eyes softer now that the forest light no longer hid anything. "You are going to make people misunderstand."

"Let them misunderstand," ical replied. "You said you may get pregnant. I told you what I would do if you ever needed . That is all."

Min jae’s breath caught in his throat. "You do not deny anything."

"There is nothing to deny."

The driver cleared his throat quietly, waiting.

ical stepped into the carriage and sat beside Min jae instead of across from him. Their shoulders touched. Min jae did not pull away this ti.

The carriage doors closed, sealing the two of them in the dim quiet. The forest faded behind them as the wheels began to move.

Min jae leaned back. Fatigue pulled at him, but sothing warr settled in his chest.

The carriage slowed as it rolled through the estate gates. ical and Min jae sat together, shoulders touching lightly, still cooling off from the lake. The mont the wheels stopped, ical pushed the curtain open to look outside.

His entire expression changed.

Min jae noticed it imdiately. "What is wrong?"

ical did not answer. He stepped out quickly, and Min jae followed him down from the carriage.

The atmosphere of the estate felt wrong the mont their feet touched the ground. The courtyard was silent in a way it had never been before. No servants moved about. No guards stood at their usual posts. There was only a heavy, unnatural stillness.

And then they saw Odysseus.

The butler stood near the entrance, pacing back and forth with restless steps. His usually composed appearance was gone. His clothes were stained with dirt and streaks of dried blood, and his hands trembled as he kept running them through his hair.

ical quickened his step, and Min jae stayed close beside him.

"Odysseus," ical called, his voice sharper than usual.

Odysseus froze. When he turned, his face collapsed with relief and guilt. He tried to speak, but the words seed stuck in his throat.

ical frowned. "Tell what happened."

Odysseus swallowed with difficulty. "My lord... the estate was attacked."

The statent landed heavily.

"The king’s guards ca without warning," Odysseus continued, forcing the words out. "They killed anyone they reached. Your parents... and your elder brother... they were slain during the assault."

ical’s jaw tightened. Every part of him went still, but he did not interrupt.

Odysseus lowered his voice. "Your younger sister, Sanya, survived the attack, but she is gravely injured. The physician is treating her, but her chances are fading quickly."

The faint tallic scent in the air made sense now. It was the lingering sll of blood.

Before ical could respond, two figures approached at a hurried pace.

Vanadis was covered in cuts and dried blood while Saar walked beside him with a grim expression, he has just returned from his scouting.

He bowed shortly.

"Seraphine has acted. She frad you, Master. The king’s n are heading here right now. If they find you, they will arrest you on charges of murder, and the execution will be imdiate. There will be no trial."

Min jae felt his stomach tighten. ical imdiately reached out and clasped Min jae’s wrist, pulling him closer in a protective gesture.

ical’s voice was calm, but it carried a depth of restrained fury. "Take us to Sanya first. After that, we will leave the estate."

Vanadis nodded quickly. Saar stepped aside to lead the way.

ical’s expression remained steady, but Min jae could see sothing shifting behind his eyes. ical had left the house earlier as a man who wanted peace and a mont of comfort.

He returned to a nightmare that demanded strength instead.

They followed Vanadis and Odysseus through the corridor that led to the back wing of the estate. Every step deepened the silence around them. The servants who would normally move through the hallways were nowhere to be seen. Doors were left open. Lamps flickered weakly on their stands. The estate felt hollow, like the life inside it had already slipped away.

When they reached the small treatnt room, the door was half-open. A physician stood beside the bed, hands stained and trembling from the effort of trying to help soone far beyond the reach of his abilities.

Sanya lay on the mattress.

Min jae stopped in the doorway.

He felt the air leave his chest.

She was barely recognizable. Her small fra was wrapped in layer upon layer of hurried bandages, yet fresh blood still soaked through. Her breaths were thin, shallow, and strained, as if every inhale cost her more than she had left to give. Her eyes were half-open, glistening with tears she could not blink away, locked in silent pain.

It was ghastly. It was hopeless. It was cruel.

Min jae’s throat tightened, and he felt his vision blur.

She was so young. So gentle. She wasn’t supposed to die like this.

He turned his head slightly, searching for ical.

ical had not moved past the threshold. His body was rigid. His expression was blank in the way that only ca from shock so deep it did not reach the surface yet. He stared at his sister as though she were a stranger and a mory at once. As though his mind refused to accept what his eyes saw.

Min jae’s heart pulled painfully. He had never seen ical frozen. Not like this.

Slowly—almost stumbling—ical walked forward. His knees nearly buckled when he reached the side of the bed. He sank onto the small stool there and hovered his hand over Sanya as if afraid touching her might break her completely.

"Sanya..." he whispered.

Her eyes shifted slightly, the smallest movent, but it was enough. She recognized him. Tears slipped from the corners of her eyes, silent and helpless.

She tried to speak, but no sound left her lips.

Min jae felt his chest tremble. He wanted to step forward, to comfort ical, to do sothing but he knew this mont wasn’t his to interrupt.

The physician let out a long sigh.