Chapter 185
My body was pulled into the light. Reflexively, I grabbed Luwen as he pushed me away. Using all my strength, I held onto him.
‘I don’t want to go alone.’
No matter which Luwen he was, he was still Luwen. I didn’t want to leave him in a place like this.
“Young Mas—!”
Luwen’s voice was buried in the light. The intense brightness pierced my eyes, making it impossible to see anything. But I still held onto Luwen. I was still holding him. I was certain of that.
Blink, blink.
A familiar ceiling came into view. First, I looked at the hand that had been grasping Luwen. My fist was tightly clenched, but there was nothing in it. Not even the feeling of having held something.
Of course. I had merely dreamed an unsettling dream.
Now, rather than the dream, I needed to find the real Luwen. My last memories were clear. We were in a building that was collapsing due to fire.
“Fei! Are you conscious?”
“Sis, ugh.”
“Drink some water first.”
My sister helped me sit up and placed a pillow behind my back. After taking a sip of lukewarm water, it became much easier to speak.
“Sister. Where’s Luwen?”
“Let’s focus on your recovery first.”
“I’m fine. More importantly, where is Luwen? Why isn’t he here?”
Though I was sore all over, it wasn’t unbearable. It seemed I had no serious injuries. Yet my sister wasn’t readily answering.
“Sister. Where is Luwen…”
“First, you need to recover. It’s been a week, Fei. You’ve been lying here for a week.”
“I’m fine now. I need to see Luwen. Otherwise, I’ll be too anxious. Is he badly injured? Is that why you won’t show him to me? Why won’t you tell me anything?”
Despite my pleading, my sister wouldn’t reveal his whereabouts. An unwanted hypothesis suddenly popped into my mind.
“…Don’t tell me something happened to him? If so, I can’t… Sister. I really can’t. I can’t live without Luwen!”
“No. It’s not like that. Calm down.”
My sister pulled me into a tight embrace. I clung to her desperately and cried. Perhaps because I had seen countless corpses of Luwen in my dream, though it was just a dream. I wanted to see him right now. Only seeing him well would calm this anxiety.
“Ugh, hiccup… Then take me to Luwen. I’m anxious… hmm?”
“Luwen is… sleeping. Let’s eat first and let you recover. Then we can go see him. If Luwen wakes up and sees you like this, he’ll be upset.”
“He’s really not gone?”
“Yes. If I lied and you found out the truth, you’d be even more shocked. I wouldn’t lie about something like this.”
“But I still want to see him… Just before the clinic collapsed, Luwen shielded me with his body. So…”
My sister looked at me with pitying eyes, then stroked my head and smiled.
“I know. You were buried in Luwen’s arms. The Count said it was a miracle that you weren’t injured, but I think it was a miracle created by Luwen.”
“…Is Luwen really okay?”
“Yes. Until now, it was only recorded in documents, but apparently one can emit sword energy externally even without a sword. It’s written in literature as ‘aura,’ a higher level of sword energy.”
I blinked. Is she saying Luwen achieved this?
“A day. For a full day, though we found you both, we couldn’t extract you. Luwen’s aura was raging, maintaining a certain area, making it impossible to approach. But having emitted aura unconsciously for such a long time, it’s natural that he’d be exhausted.”
“So he’s simply exhausted?”
“Probably.”
“Why ‘probably’?”
“I told you, aura is a realm that only exists in literature. No one knows much about it. That’s why the Count is investigating.”
“…”
“The conclusion is, there are no external injuries. But he still hasn’t opened his eyes. The most plausible hypothesis is that he’s in the process of recovering the energy depleted from using aura.”
“…If I eat, will you take me to him?”
“Yes. Would you like to eat?”
“Right away.”
* * *
I quietly gazed at Luwen, who looked peaceful as if sleeping. With not even the slightest movement, I became anxious about whether he was breathing properly, so I carefully checked his pulse by holding his wrist.
‘…His heart is beating well.’
Is it really just recovery from exhaustion? They said aura is a realm only remaining in literature. What if Luwen can’t open his eyes due to some undiscovered issue… Shouldn’t we be doing something?
Negative thoughts kept coming. Perhaps it showed on my face because my sister put her arm around my shoulders.
“He’ll wake up soon. Luwen hates worrying you.”
“…You think so?”
“Of course. So take care of your health while waiting. Imagine how upset Luwen would be if he woke up and saw you like this.”
My sister wasn’t wrong, but I wanted Luwen to wake up immediately and worry about me. Even if I caused him concern, even if it upset him, I wanted to look into his eyes.
‘…Was this how Luwen always felt?’
Suddenly, I remembered when I was sick. He was always by my side whenever I opened my eyes. Only now did I truly understand what those waiting hours were like for him.
“Sister, I want to stay here.”
“Will you be alright?”
“Nothing will feel right until Luwen wakes up anyway.”
My sister seemed to consider for a moment, then slowly nodded and said:
“If that makes you comfortable, do that. I’ll come by frequently to check on you, but Fei, you can’t forget to take care of yourself.”
“I’ll try.”
The thought that it was my fault for naively believing I’d be safe at the clinic wouldn’t leave me. Because of that, I wasn’t confident I could keep my promise, so I answered evasively.
‘At least Luwen’s hand is warm.’
If his body temperature had been cold too, I might not have been as composed as I am now.
“You did nothing wrong.”
As if reading my mind, my sister comforted me.
“…”
“Fei, you’re just a victim. And this incident won’t end just like that.”
I nodded while keeping my gaze fixed on Luwen. To be honest, the comfort didn’t really help. I knew full well that the First Prince was crazy enough to involve innocent people.
‘He’s the bastard who sold out the country and started a war. Attacks and arson would have been easy tasks for him.’
I should have been more careful until the trial ended. No, I should have closed the clinic entirely. Just stayed in the mansion, and then…
“Most of the people who got caught up in this are not in life-threatening conditions. The Count is monitoring them carefully.”
“…That’s a relief.”
“And the identity of the man who tried to kill you has also been revealed.”
The man who tried to kill me. I vividly remembered what happened when I was dragged to the second floor of the clinic. I hadn’t thought about it at the time, but if he had been someone accustomed to killing people, I wouldn’t have survived.
“Really?”
“There’s a small home of love in the slums.”
My sister told me about the man. Wandering as an orphan, he was raised by a couple who ran the home of love, and even after growing up, he continued to live with them, regarding them as his parents.
“He said killing me would protect something precious to him. Was it them?”
“Yes. A man claiming to be his younger brother came, crying and asking to clear his brother’s injustice.”
He pleaded that his brother was a hardworking and honest man. But to protect the now elderly couple and his still young siblings from losing their home, he had fallen for the devil’s whispers.
My sister said that the person who pushed them into a corner in the first place was likely the one who assigned this task, but…
“I don’t understand why he thinks it’s unjust.”
I mumbled unintentionally.
Whatever the circumstances, the fact remains that he tried to harm others for his own benefit. If Luwen were fine, I might feel differently, but right now, I couldn’t feel even a hint of sympathy for them. After all, everyone considers their own people most precious.
“I agree. How dare he ramble about injustice in front of me.”
I flinched at the anger in my sister’s voice and turned my head. Come to think of it, I hadn’t considered my sister’s feelings. If the situation were reversed, I would…
Since waking up until now, I had only thought about Luwen. Knowing full well my sister’s affection, how could I not consider her feelings at all? Being this selfish, do I deserve her love?
“I’m sorry, Sister. I was thoughtless…”
“Hmm? Why worry about such things? You woke up fine, so it’s all good. Honestly, I would have been the same. It’s natural to worry about the person you love.”
My sister stroked my head. It was a gentle touch.
“I brought up that man’s story not to instill guilt in you. The dead man left evidence.”
“Evidence?”
“Yes. A pouch containing a large amount of gold coins.”
I tilted my head in confusion. I wondered how a pouch of nondescript gold coins could serve as evidence.
“Among the many gold coins, there was just one that was different.”
The moment I heard this, a hypothesis crossed my mind.
“It was a gold coin used in Tuaso.”
So that was it.
Tuaso was a country that waged war against the Empire in the original story. Due to their shared border and a history of repeated invasions, their relationship was poor.
That’s why the shape of the gold coins they used and the patterns engraved on the bottom were different, and within the Empire, currency from Tuaso was not recognized—be it gold, silver, or copper coins.
‘To begin with, one can’t freely cross the border through ordinary means.’
Therefore, if one were to trace where the Tuaso gold coin came from, it would surely lead to the First Prince.
“And His Highness and I found the route through which it entered.”
My sister smiled coldly. It was a cold sneer, as if an enemy only visible to her stood before her.
‘So they found evidence that the First Prince is in communication with the enemy country.’
With just one Tuaso gold coin alone, even if suspicious, meaningful results would be hard to expect. But what if there was other evidence? If, supporting that, a Tuaso gold coin was discovered, and evidence was secured that it came from the First Prince’s palace…
‘Given the current Emperor’s disposition, he would surely reject the First Prince.’
He loved his child, but he also loved the Empire. He was someone who could be ruthless when he had to judge and decide as an Emperor. We would likely get the result we desired.
‘If his communication with the enemy country is discovered, it won’t end with just a fall from grace.’
Finally, we might be able to remove that bastard from the Empire.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
