Chapter 78
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The Male and Female Leads Broke Up - Episode 78
* * *
"Belita."
A voice called out from behind as she walked from the Command Center toward her room.
Aiden Byon had spotted Belita ahead and addressed her.
"Aiden Byon."
Belita turned to look back at him.
"Did you sleep well last night?"
"Pardon? Yes, I slept well."
He asked as though he knew she hadn't been sleeping properly until now.
"I also slept well for the first time in a long while."
"Why? Do you suffer from insomnia?"
"Yes, I have for a long time."
Aiden Byon had suffered from severe insomnia since childhood, with truly restful sleep being rare enough to count on one hand.
His circumstances, his surroundings—none of it allowed him to rest easy.
Especially lately, as his relationship with Belita deteriorated, sleep became increasingly elusive.
Yet yesterday, he had experienced something unusual: brief but profound sleep.
It was all thanks to Belita.
Since meeting her, a single ray of light had pierced through the darkness that had consumed his world.
I wanted to follow that light.
With her, it seemed I could obtain answers to all those countless questions I'd wanted to ask without ever having to voice them.
And in truth, that was the case.
When I was with her, the emptiness that dwelt in my heart seemed to fade into obscurity.
That's why I wanted to touch her.
I wanted to hold her.
I didn't want to let her go.
'But I....'
Against my will, I felt cracks slowly forming.
And when those cracks shattered completely, I would be forced to make a choice.
Yet I had never been given a choice to begin with.
That uncertainty and anxiety gnawed at me relentlessly.
So even now, if only for a single day, I wanted to be with her.
After all, I was far too insignificant a person to be greedy for everything.
So just a little....
Just for that brief moment, I could live my entire life.
That alone was more than enough for him.
* * *
'Insomnia, of all things.'
Hearing him mention that he'd suffered from insomnia for a long time stirred a wave of sympathy within me.
Yet for someone who couldn't sleep, the skin beneath his eyes was remarkably unblemished.
'It really is just natural talent.'
Here I was, with dark circles under my eyes from just a few nights of lost sleep.
Ah, a good idea just occurred to me.
"Would you like to take a tour of our Castle?"
"Pardon? The Castle, you say?"
"Yes, I think it would be good to familiarize myself with the structure of this Castle, and while I'm tired, I believe exhausting myself further might help me sleep soundly tonight as well."
Though there were psychological factors at play, if those couldn't be resolved, then physically exhausting myself seemed like a way to temporarily alleviate the insomnia.
Aiden's expression brightened at my plausible solution, and he nodded in agreement.
"...That does make sense."
"Right? So where should we start?"
"Perhaps we should ascend to the highest point first and survey the entire structure from above?"
"Mm, that sounds good. Let's go."
It was a reasonable idea.
And so we climbed to the Tower, the very peak of the Castle.
From the highest point, looking down below, the Castle and its surroundings came into full view at once.
"That must be where those Hagorus creatures live."
Beyond the wide River in front of the Castle, there was a Forest with densely packed trees.
The damp, oppressive atmosphere emanating from it made it unmistakably look like a monster's lair.
"It appears so."
"Have you ever seen a Hagorus before, Aiden?"
"No, but I have seen other monsters."
"Other monsters? Where?"
"A few years ago, while passing through another Village, I encountered a monster that had invaded that Village."
"And what did you do?"
Though I would soon see them myself, Aiden's account of his prior encounter was quite intriguing.
"It was trying to harm the villagers, so I killed it."
"You did that alone?"
"Fortunately, there weren't many of them."
"Wow, that's impressive!"
As I gazed at him with sparkling eyes, he let out a soft chuckle.
"Was it easy to kill?"
"Of course not. They're creatures with surprisingly tenacious lives."
"Ah, but with the blade of House Byon, you must have severed their necks in one stroke."
"...."
I'd heard that since the Empire's founding, the House Byon—that iron family—possessed a sword passed down through generations.
They said the blade was extraordinarily sharp and resilient, capable of cutting through anything without leaving a trace of its original form.
"So everything that touches that sword turns to iron dust and scatters into the air without a trace—is that right?"
"That's correct."
"Then Aiden is using that sword this time too?"
"I don't possess that sword."
"What?"
"The sword belongs to the Duke."
"Why is that?"
Now that I'd seen Byon Duke, he truly seemed like a heartless, stingy man.
His own son was heading to war, and he wouldn't even give him a ring or a sword?
Did he not care what happened to his son out there?
Unable to comprehend it by any logic I possessed, I found myself asking with unmistakable confusion.
"I'm not worthy of receiving that sword."
Not worthy?
Did he mean he wasn't worthy of it now, like me?
It seemed that way, yet the meaning felt subtly different.
"I have sufficient strength with what I already possess. So please don't worry."
"I'm... not really worried...."
I closed my mouth before adding 'I wasn't.'
That would have been a lie.
I couldn't bring myself to lie to him.
He gazed at me as though he knew everything, a gentle smile playing at his lips.
"Don't smile."
I spoke with a displeased expression, glancing at him slightly askew.
"Do you dislike my smile?"
At that, Aiden's expression hardened as he answered with utmost seriousness.
"No, that's not it...."
I liked it—I liked it very much. I didn't dislike it in the slightest.
Yet I couldn't tell him such things outright.
"Then you like my smile?"
But this man wasn't dancing around the issue with me—he was asking directly.
"I'm not answering. Figure it out yourself."
Embarrassed, I avoided his question.
"Then I'll think as I please."
With that, he broke into a radiant smile, displaying a beautiful expression that was incomparably brighter than before.
After that, we wandered through the Castle, familiarizing ourselves with where everything was and how to navigate it.
Finally, Aiden escorted me to my assigned room within the Castle.
"Get some rest."
"Yes, I'll get some good sleep tonight, Aiden."
"Thanks to you, Belita, I think I'll be able to sleep well. Thank you."
After exchanging farewells with him, I entered my room.
Like yesterday, it was a warm and cozy night.
Several days had passed since I began living in the Castle.
With no signs of monsters attacking, the days consisted of nothing but training.
'But I haven't seen Cain Maxius lately.'
Since I wasn't seeing him, I was relieved enough not to dwell on it.
Just as the sun was setting and I thought today would pass without incident, I was taking my rest when it happened.
Woop—!
Woop woop woop—!
The horn's blast echoed relentlessly throughout the entire Castle, consuming everything in its sound.
I immediately rang the bell hanging near the Bedroom.
The moment I rang it, Mary's voice came from outside the door.
"Miss!"
"Come in."
"You called for me? But what on earth is that sound?"
"The monsters are attacking."
"What? In the middle of the night?"
"Yes, hurry and get my armor on."
"Yes, understood!"
The horn's blast continued without pause.
The situation seemed grave.
"Hurry up!"
"Yes, yes!"
With Mary's help, I secured my armor firmly and rushed toward the Command Center.
"Belita."
"Aiden."
Aiden Byon approached my side with long strides, already clad in his armor.
"I suspected it would happen at night."
"Exactly. Let's go in."
"Yes."
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