The Original Work Got Ruined After I Quit Being the Sub Male 24

Chapter 24

What an unlucky day.

If my memory is correct, it wasn’t even an attack by monsters, so did the coachman make some mistake along the way?

‘I need to find the road first.’

I also wanted to quickly check if the other kids were safe…

When the dizziness subsided a bit, I roughly wiped the blood on my forehead with my sleeve, brushed off my pants, and stood up. Then I walked along the cliff, searching for any path I could climb up.

But I couldn’t find a suitable path.

‘What should I do.’

If I keep wandering around near the cliff like this, the sun will set. But I was afraid of getting lost in the forest if I went too far.

“Ret! Cedy! Are you there?”

I tried shouting just in case, but my voice just echoed in the forest and disappeared.

If I kept shouting loudly, I might unnecessarily provoke monsters, so I eventually closed my mouth and decided to move a little away from the cliff to survey the surroundings more broadly.

But despite those efforts, I couldn’t find a way to escape this forest until the very end. The trees were so dense that I couldn’t tell directions well, and it was impossible to gauge distant paths.

After spending time doing nothing but futile efforts like that for ages.

‘This is driving me crazy.’

Night was coming.

From the moment the sun began to set, thick darkness had already descended on the dense forest, making it difficult to secure visibility.

By then, my fear had also grown stronger.

I was hungry and thirsty, but more than anything, my limbs were trembling because I thought I might die if monsters spotted me in the middle of the night.

‘I need to find somewhere to hide my body.’

…I had endured well until now, but suddenly I felt scared and wanted to cry.

This might sound too childish, but I missed my mother and father.

The only heir of the Lowell Count family is about to die, Mother, Father.

I haven’t even had a proper romance yet and haven’t even come close to marriage. I don’t want to die. I was swallowing my fear inside when it happened.

‘Huh?’

A familiar scent came from somewhere. It was faint at first so I wasn’t sure, but when I focused on the tip of my nose, I realized it was a smell very similar to Cedric’s pheromone scent.

‘Is Cedy nearby?’

I didn’t know if he was close by or if he was far away but releasing pheromones with all his might so I could detect them from here.

I couldn’t tell if this was an action hoping someone would notice and follow the scent, or if something dangerous had happened.

Of course, if it’s Cedy, the former would be more likely.

What was certain was that if I followed the scent, there was a high probability I’d meet Cedric.

Rather than staying still and dying like this, let’s move instead. If I can just meet Cedric… if that happens, it would be much better. I could escape from the monster threat even a little.

Right after I resolved to move, I started running without hesitation. At first I got lost because the scent would sometimes break off or fade, but gradually I felt it more strongly.

It meant I was getting closer.

“Cedy! Where are you?”

No answer came back yet.

I was about to call his name loudly again.

Suddenly I heard a rustling sound from the bushes and stopped. Somehow it didn’t feel like a human presence.

My body stiffened and my heart pounded.

Looking closely, I could dimly see in the darkness something crawling on the ground and brushing through the bushes.

What slowly poked its head out from there was a large snake.

“Gasp…”

A monster incomparably larger than ordinary snakes flicked its tongue while blinking three pairs of red eyes.

As it gradually approached, I stumbled backward and fell. I was scared that if I showed any movement here, it would charge straight at me.

Soon the snake pulled its head back slightly and opened its mouth wide. I instinctively realized this was a signal that it was about to attack.

“Ce, Cedy!”

Without knowing it, I called for Cedric like a scream and squeezed my eyes shut.

I curled up my body tightly, hoping this cry wouldn’t become my final death rattle.

I was trembling with fear, but even after time passed, it didn’t hurt.

Of course, it was just a moment of a few seconds, but when I felt something strange and peeked my eyes open, something other than the snake’s teeth had pounced on me.

“Eddie!”

“Waaah!”

“Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere, huh?!”

I was too flustered to distinguish that voice, but soon I opened my eyes wide and could face Cedric’s pale face.

Next to him, the snake lay dead, torn in half. It seemed like he had grabbed and torn it apart with his bare hands since he had no sword…

Rather than feeling fear thinking about that, the relief and gratitude of being alive hit me much stronger in that moment. I couldn’t help but choke up and hastily embraced Cedric.

“I, I really thought I was going to die… *sob*.”

Normally I would never do such a thing, but given the situation, there was nothing embarrassing or awkward about it. After Cedric stiffened for a moment, I eventually felt him hesitantly embrace me back.

He was also trembling finely, perhaps because being alone was scary for him too.

Cedric took a big breath and hugged me tightly enough to feel suffocating. That pressure actually brought relief, and I tasted being alive.

How long were we like that?

When I calmed down a bit, I separated from him and faced him.

“Come to think of it, what about Ret? Did you meet her?”

“…No. She wasn’t near where I fell.”

“What should we do? If something went wrong…”

“Are you in a position to worry about Ret?”

Suddenly Cedric touched my cheek with his fingertips.

…Riette had better athletic abilities than me and had been called a tomboy since childhood, plus she was quite skilled in swordsmanship.

“Still, she’s a friend so I’m worried! Aren’t you worried either?”

“You were about to die just moments ago.”

“So I should be cowering? Huh? Hey, where are you going.”

“I found a place to hide earlier. We’re going there.”

He extended his hand to me, so I grabbed that hand and barely stood up. Embarrassingly, my legs were shaking so I had to walk while receiving his support.

“I… I came here following your pheromones.”

“That’s fortunate. I released them hoping you’d notice.”

So that’s what it was.

“Thank you.”

There was no response from Cedric. He just patted my head and moved his steps again.

…Is it because the fear from earlier still remains?

My heart was beating irregularly.

“Here it is.”

“…Ah, is it an abandoned cabin?”

“Yeah. It seems like a place hunters used and abandoned.”

Cedric barely opened the creaking door and entered, helped me sit on the old sofa, then lit an oil lamp that had some oil remaining.

I looked around the cabin flickering with gentle lamplight, then quietly stared at Cedric who came and sat beside me.

He found herbal ointment from inside a drawer, applied it to the wound on my forehead, then secured gauze to treat it.

“……”

“……”

A place cut off from the outside, seeming disconnected from the world. A narrow space where only the two of us had to rely on each other.

Looking at Cedric who silently took care of me in those two conditions and silence, I felt something like strange déjà vu.

‘It feels like something similar happened before.’

Much earlier than the memories I call the original work… when I was still ‘Edgar from the time when I knew nothing about pre-reincarnation events.’

Hmm. But it’s so long ago that it’s hazy.

“Didn’t it hurt?”

While I was struggling alone trying to grasp the outline of that memory, Cedric’s voice pulled me back from my thoughts and I snapped to attention again.

When I nodded to mean it was fine, Cedric finally let out a light breath as if relieved.

I silently fidgeted with the gauze placed on the wound area, feeling awkward. I kept only receiving help from Cedric.

“Are you okay? You’re not hurt anywhere?”

“Yeah. But… there’s one problem.”

“A problem? What problem?”

Cedric leaned slightly against the sofa backrest and made eye contact with me. The lamplight flickered in those quietly settled blue-green eyes.

“We’re stranded right now.”

“That’s right.”

“We don’t know when our party will find us either.”

“Yeah.”

“But, my rut is about to start soon too.”

A sudden ominous premonition ran down my spine.

“…Medicine?”

“I don’t have any.”

“What?”

Cedric’s eyes curved for a moment.

“I lost it.”

“……”

“When I came to my senses, it was gone.”

They say that when rut or heat cycles come, strong reproductive instincts paralyze all the nerves and minds of secondary gender individuals.

In serious cases, I heard that sexual desire so strong you lose your reason comes over you.

That’s why they control it with medicine.

But now, in the middle of the forest.

I’m the only one here with him.

“What should we do?”

“Right. What should we do.”

…Yeah. It seems like we’re in big trouble.

Author: Hyacinthus B

Hyacinthus