Chapter 34
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Chapter 34
"Sigh."
I heard Enoch's sigh as he regained consciousness. I approached him again to check his condition.
"Aren't you going to explain why the Crown Prince is acting like this?"
"It would be better to hear it directly from him."
How could I divulge Enoch's trauma to others in such detail? Silence was the better choice here.
Enoch scrunched up the bridge of his nose and looked up at me. His eyes lacked focus—it seemed he hadn't fully regained consciousness yet.
Kaiden appeared genuinely startled by Enoch's condition. He ran his hand through his hair.
"Then getting an explanation will be difficult."
He seemed to think Enoch wouldn't answer directly.
"What happened to you?"
"I would tell you anything you ask of me."
I knew it was a lie. Kaiden had a peculiar talent for smooth talk when it came to me.
He stroked his chin and glanced at the dead Anacondas with a frown of irritation.
"I stepped out of the cabin briefly to chase away some stragglers."
Kaiden scratched the back of his head as he searched his memory, then continued.
"Suddenly I heard a loud crash, so I rushed back and found that creature. It was consuming something, though I'm not sure what."
An Anaconda devouring something—could any sentence be more unsettling?
My heart ached at the sight of the cabin I'd worked so hard to build lying in ruins.
"For Monsters to appear here, this place isn't a safe refuge after all."
At my words, Kaiden nodded seriously while scanning the surroundings.
"You're right. We'll need to find another refuge."
Kaiden dragged Rujeep, who had been unconscious near the River Bank, closer to the ruins of the cabin.
By then, Enoch had regained consciousness and approached me with a much calmer expression.
"It seems I truly cannot manage without you."
That was right. Enoch had every reason to be grateful to me. I shuddered thinking what might have happened to him before Kaiden if I hadn't been there.
Kaiden glanced nervously at Enoch and parted his lips as if to speak, but ultimately closed his mouth. He'd apparently decided against asking directly about Enoch's seizure.
"Your condition does seem to be improving, doesn't it? If you're feeling well enough, shall we all clean this up together?"
I offered Enoch some encouragement and changed the subject. Together, we cleared away the debris from the destroyed cabin and organized our belongings.
"Kaiden. Come here so I can treat your wounds."
I rummaged through the cabin ruins, found the medical kit, and had Kaiden sit on the ground.
"Enoch, I'm going to treat Kaiden's wounds, so please don't come close."
Enoch in the distance nodded and turned away. I confirmed he had fully turned around before speaking to Kaiden.
"Take off your shirt."
Kaiden removed his tattered mage's robe and stripped off his white shirt entirely.
I gazed in pure admiration at his exposed, well-defined abdominal muscles. No matter how I looked at it, could this really be a mage's physique?
Though not quite as impressive as Enoch's, his body was as solid as any seasoned knight's. His muscles were perfectly sculpted, his abdomen flawlessly defined.
If those were wounds from an Anaconda, they should have been poisoned, yet Kaiden seemed remarkably unharmed. Enoch had suffered greatly from Monster poison before—why was Kaiden so unscathed?
I wiped away the blood splattered across Kaiden's body with a damp cloth.
Why was I growing so tense?
Kaiden stared at me intently the entire time I was wiping his body clean.
I should have just told him to wash himself. My judgment was poor. For some reason, heat crept up my face.
I swallowed hard and wrung out the cloth to set it down, when suddenly Kaiden grabbed my wrist. He leaned his cheek against my hand and smiled beautifully.
"Keep going. Why are you stopping?"
I took a deep breath and withdrew my hand from his cheek.
"...That's not it. We really need to treat your wounds now."
I was reaching for the disinfectant when Enoch suddenly approached, pushed me aside, and sat down in my place.
"The blood seems to be cleaned off, so I'll tend to the wounds instead."
He took the disinfectant from my hands.
Enoch could handle minor wounds, but the injuries Kaiden had sustained were quite large and deep, so even after wiping away the blood, there seemed to be cause for concern.
I reached out in alarm to stop him, but when I saw the prominent veins bulging across the back of his hand holding the disinfectant, I understood.
It seemed he could control this level of pain through sheer willpower.
'Why is he going to such lengths to treat Kaiden directly?'
I looked at Enoch, unable to comprehend.
"What are you saying? I refuse. I won't accept treatment from anyone but Margaret."
Kaiden sprang to his feet and backed away.
But Enoch didn't budge, and with a stern expression, he wagged his finger at Kaiden.
"Be quiet and sit down."
"I refuse. Margaret, come here."
As Kaiden reached out his hand toward me, sitting beside Enoch, Enoch seized his wrist.
"Kaiden Blake Rohade."
"Yes, Your Highness the Crown Prince. I refuse."
Kaiden scratched his ear with his other hand and glared at Enoch irritably.
Watching the two men regard each other with lethal intensity, I let out a sigh.
"If you keep interfering with what I'm doing, I'm just leaving on my own."
The moment those words left my lips, a chilling silence fell. Both men became docile.
It seemed I was finally learning how to handle these two.
* * *
The next day, we ultimately decided to find another shelter and relocate.
With a Monster having appeared, this place was no longer safe.
Rujeep woke up late, and with an embarrassed expression, he awkwardly helped us pack, watching our reactions carefully.
Though Kaiden hurled a barrage of curses at him to get lost, Rujeep stubbornly remained and didn't leave despite hearing Kaiden's insults.
What was most surprising was Kaiden's physical resilience. He had suffered through the night with a fever raging from his wounds, yet by morning he moved about like someone completely healed.
'Could he have some resistance to poison?'
It was possible this was connected to the experiments he had endured when he was kidnapped to the Temple as a child.
The wounds I had discovered in front of the Cave last time were so severe that he couldn't get up, and...
Worried, I told him to rest quietly, but he wouldn't listen.
As if unconcerned, he bustled about from morning gathering fruit. Something about being hungry because he had exerted himself yesterday.
"Before we leave, I'll do some reconnaissance of the surrounding area. It would be good if I could learn something about that Anaconda before I return."
At my words, Rujeep, who had been gauging the reactions of Kaiden and Enoch, scurried over to me.
"I'll go with you. Surely two is better than one, wouldn't you say?"
Kaiden, who had rushed over immediately after, threw an arm around Rujeep's shoulders.
"Where are you going?"
Rujeep brushed away Kaiden's arm with a displeased expression, though he didn't seem truly angry.
Knowing just how foul his temperament could be, I found it rather remarkable that he tolerated Kaiden's rudeness so readily.
Was he truly so desperate to remain here?
Even Enoch, rarely agreeing with Kaiden, gave Rujeep a meaningful look.
"Then I'll go alone."
When Enoch approached me insisting it was too dangerous to go alone, I quickly raised my hand to stop him.
"I can go by myself. If there's danger, I'll fire this."
I pulled a flare from my pocket and waved it before him. Only then did Enoch nod reluctantly, though not before giving me stern warnings about running away immediately if anything dangerous occurred.
I offered Enoch a reassuring smile. He looked unconvinced, but I paid no mind and quietly slipped out of the Cabin.
Since we needed to relocate, I'd decided not to stay away for long.
Once I'd completely left the makeshift Cabin, I found the empty supply box I'd seen yesterday.
I suddenly remembered that in the novel, there had been a Supply Depot guarded by Monsters.
If I recalled correctly, that Supply Depot contained various modern weapons alongside survival kits and provisions.
I believed it was somewhere near the Bunker.
I searched around the empty box for any hint, finding nothing at first—or so I thought—until I noticed something beneath it.
A wooden plank-like object peeked through the soil, so I hurriedly brushed away the dirt with my hands.
Beneath lay what appeared to be a rectangular wooden crate. I excavated more soil and pulled the box from the ground.
The wooden crate's lid bore a silver metal latch, though no padlock secured it.
※HANDLE WITH CARE※
M67 Series Grenades
Incendiary Bombs
Upon reading the text inscribed on the crate's surface, I was thoroughly startled. Grenades?
Moreover, someone had deliberately erased the Korean characters and written "Incendiary Bombs" in the Langrid Empire's script beneath them.
Was it safe to open this crate? The warning clearly stated to handle with care.
I stared at the sealed box for a long while, deliberating, before finally steeling my resolve.
Well, death is death either way.
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