Chapter 62
Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
Chapter 62
* * *
Kaiden hung his mage's robe on a branch to dry, then checked Margaret's condition once more. She remained unconscious.
Building a fire in the middle of the night was dangerous, but leaving her as she was risked her body temperature dropping fatally.
"The bag...."
Now that I thought about it, the bag Margaret had been carrying was gone. The strap must have snapped when she was flung by the spider's legs.
Margaret had guarded the items in that bag as if they were her own life. I couldn't imagine how devastated she'd be when she learned of this loss.
"...First, we need to survive."
Kaiden knelt before Margaret and checked her pulse. His hand trembled as he brought it to her neck to feel for it.
Whether from tension, the impact of the fall from the cliff, or simply because she still hadn't opened her eyes—I couldn't tell.
Fortunately, her pulse was beating normally.
"Hah."
Relief flooded through me like a tidal wave.
I knew I would never forget the emotion I felt in that moment when Margaret fell over the cliff.
"Damn it, Margaret. Please, just open your eyes."
Kaiden muttered wearily, wiping his face with a dry hand.
Though I pleaded desperately, Margaret's closed eyelids didn't so much as flutter.
Slowly, I lowered my head and rested my forehead against her shoulder. Hot emotions surged up my throat in waves.
Margaret had fought desperately to survive, yet she valued her own life less than anyone else's.
Whenever danger arose, she sacrificed herself without hesitation for others.
It was the same when she dealt with the Anaconda before, and just now as well.
She could have used me as a shield to preserve her own life, but she didn't.
Kaiden had been watching Margaret closely.
Her personality and manner of speech—difficult to explain away as mere change—and her seasoned way of handling crisis situations.
The way she recognized and read a language I'd never seen before, and how she handled strange magical artifacts with such familiarity.
The Monsters that tried to attack her first whenever we were together. Yet somehow, a suspicious Monster egg that reacted favorably only to her.
She was extraordinary.
Moreover, she knew the secret of his earring—something he'd never told anyone.
She'd said she knew the person who made the earring. It was suspicious, but there was no way to verify the truth right now.
She seemed to think he wouldn't understand why she kept assigning him physical labor. But he was more perceptive than anyone.
Most strange of all was Kaiden himself.
After watching her carefully for a time, I had become completely absorbed by her.
That's why I displayed this duplicitous attitude—aware of the suspicion, yet making no effort to hide my affection for her.
My gaze always ended on Margaret. And now I realized that reason wasn't distrust alone. There was something more.
"It's my fault. I...."
Unable to finish, I swallowed my emotions.
If I hadn't called her to the cliff, or better yet, if I hadn't suspected her from the start, she would never have been in danger.
With my thumb, I gently caressed her cold cheek. It was ice-cold, devoid of any sign of life.
Guilt pressed down on me with a weight so heavy it made breathing difficult.
"I understand saying strange things to someone you don't even like. It's because of the earring, isn't it."
Kaiden rested his forehead against Margaret's shoulder, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath.
I didn't genuinely accept even his inexplicable affection toward me, dismissing it as nothing more than a broken earring's fault.
There was good reason for that. He had never shown me trust from the beginning.
He couldn't understand how he'd developed any affection at all for Margaret Rose Flone, someone he'd never ceased to despise.
Yet one thing was certain.
I wanted Margaret to live.
Even if I were injured and fell into danger instead, I wanted to save her.
Kaiden decided to completely set aside the last shred of doubt he harbored toward her.
What mattered now wasn't some secret she possessed, but understanding where this inexplicable emotion and confusion stemmed from.
So he resolved to act and speak according to his instincts from this moment forward.
* * *
When I opened my eyes, it was the dead of night.
I felt warmth, though it left me somewhat breathless. After my vision cleared, the first thing I saw was a firm, bare chest. I jolted upright in surprise.
Silver hair gleaming pale in the moonlight.
A shirtless man furrowed his brow, his eyebrows twitching.
"Mmm."
It was Kaiden.
But why was he shirtless here?
Now that I thought about it, my body felt chilled in the middle of the night. Perhaps it was worse because I was still wet.
Ah, was that it? To raise body temperature?
Yet it was Kaiden who seemed to have lost his senses.
I cautiously placed my hand on his forehead. He was running a fever.
I was still wearing my wet dress while Kaiden, trying to raise his body temperature, had removed his shirt and was holding me close—it made sense.
"Damn it."
To catch a cold on top of everything else. This was a serious problem.
'I packed medicine in my crossbody bag.'
I looked around for the bag. But there was nothing that resembled one anywhere.
"Surely not..."
Did it fall into the River?
Signal flares and explosives were useless when wet. They'd simply become scrap.
"Damn!"
I tore at my hair. Kaiden's fever needed to come down.
I checked his forehead again for temperature, then resolved to start a fire.
Starting a fire in the middle of the night wasn't ideal, but if Kaiden died from hypothermia, that would be far worse.
"Something's strange. Why are you the exception?"
"It's always been strange. There were more than one or two odd things. Margaret, what exactly are you hiding?"
"Are you trying to run away alone again? You only think about escaping, don't you? You planned to abandon us from the start."
I recalled the conversation I'd had with Kaiden just before the Tarantula appeared.
Kaiden's reasons for suspecting me were entirely valid. Had I been in his position, I would have done the same.
I knew he was only pretending to have affection for me. But knowing something vaguely and having it confirmed are two different matters.
That's right—I'm not the protagonist of this story. Yuanna is.
I hadn't expected the male leads' attitudes to shift simply because I'd shown a slightly different side of myself. It was bitter, perhaps, but that was reality.
I set aside my pointless musings and reassessed the situation. Right now, starting a fire was the priority.
"Damn it. I had a zippo lighter in my bag too."
If I'd had that, I could have started the fire much more easily.
I sighed and rose to my feet, then drew the short dagger tucked into Kaiden's waistband.
His shirt and mage's robe were draped over a branch—presumably he'd hung them there. I wished I could remove my dress as well.
'This is so uncomfortable.'
But I couldn't very well stand naked in front of Kaiden, so I approached the branches while still wearing my damp dress.
His shirt appeared to be completely dry, and though his cloak still had some wet patches, it seemed dry enough.
I dressed Kaiden again, draped his robe over him like a blanket, and got to my feet.
We'd been lying in a Forest not far from the River Bank—a fortress-like place surrounded by enormous leaves. How had I even found such a spot?
I looked around and searched for wood to start a fire.
As I wandered about, something brilliant white flashed in my vision.
Surely it wasn't another Monster?
Fear gripped me, and I swallowed hard. Tense, I unclenched my fists and clenched them again, then moved forward slowly.
As I drew closer, I realized it wasn't a Monster at all—it was an egg, no larger than a fist. Its silvery surface gleamed beautifully in the moonlight.
The shape was far too familiar.
It resembled what I'd seen at the Cliff—the very mysterious egg that had been the original cause of everything that had happened to Kaiden and me.
"...Surely not."
Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org