Chapter 248
Translator: yun
Hernan’s bird. It was an animal meant to accompany their Templar of Beasts for the rest of their lives. If it were to die, Hernan too would suffer from a fatal amount of damage. But how did she know that? Amor tried to see Ashley even with the dim lighting.
‘How did you…’
This was a secret that no one knew. If the bird gets hurt, Hernan would be inflicted with irreversible wounds so the bird would try to defend their companion when the other is in danger out of instinct and vice versa. Even though Amor had heard about it from Hernan, this was meant to be a secret. This piece of information was only known among Templars of Beasts and passed down from generation to generation.
“Back away.”
Hernan slowly retreated. In the meanwhile, the net had tightened around him completely and wrapped itself around him tightly. The beast who was now completely bound was forced to his knees whilst panting.
‘So, this is the end.’
He wondered why there seemed to be a beam of light shining on only her. Perhaps the moonlight was choosing to shine only on her. No, for a long time now, his moon and his sun had been shining towards only one person so this beam of light might have only been visible to him. Amor gave a faint smile.
‘Because my moon has always been you.’
As he watched Ashley walk towards him, Amor slowly closed his eyes. An unbearable fatigue overtook his body.
“Brother!”
***
All I could think about as I chased after Hernan’s bird was whether I was doing the right thing. Nevertheless, I had faith as I pushed my body to run through the dark hallways. I wondered why my body felt lighter than ever despite my previous exhaustion.
After some time, the bird stopped. I had already climbed down the stairs from the third floor to one of the hallways on the second floor.
Clang.
Not too far away, I could hear voices and the clashes of blades.
Rumble.
From under my feet, I could feel the ground shaking. Soon after, I smelled damp dirt. They were fighting in there. There was a fierce battle ongoing on the other side of this darkness.
“You know.”
I took a deep breath. Hovering in the air, the bird looked this way. In this darkness, I could only see the bird’s yellow eyes staring back at me. As if it was trying to relay something to me with its movements, I approached it slowly.
“I don’t know what you want from me.”
The bird tucked its wings before perching on an ornament on one side of the hallway. The 4th Prince’s palace had been opulently decorated and the decorative collection of swords the bird landed on was only one of its many ornaments. The palace contained everything from heavy and long greatswords, longswords, gladiuses… to very short daggers. I inspected the blade. When I suddenly looked down, I spotted something in the bird’s claws.
“… Do you want me to hold this?”
The bird twittered a tune. As if to tell me I was correct. Soon after, I pulled out one of the many blades the bird had been standing atop of.
“… A dagger?”
Other than the fact that its handle was plated in gold, the dagger looked like any other. When I unsheathed the sword, its blue blade was revealed. Though it might just be a decorative piece, its blade caught my eye. I quickly inspected the rest of the blades. It was only then did I realise that only this blade was unique to this dagger. I recalled hearing about something like this before. To defend against assassination attempts, a single real sword would be placed amongst ornamental ones. With its claws still on the sword’s handle, the bird looked up.
“Why are you giving this to me?”
My hand. This hand had never held a sword before. My hand was trembling. It was then did I realise a plausible explanation for the bird’s actions as my face twisted.
“If you want me to stab someone with this, I can’t do it.”
Everyone who had gathered here. There was not a single one of them who had regretted their choice to come. Who could I stab with this blade?
“You already know.”
And most importantly.
“I have no strength at all.”
I didn’t have the strength to stab someone with this dagger.
As regretful as that might be.
Perhaps noticing the sorrow in my expression, the bird suddenly lowered its head and started picking at its feathers. To my surprise, it placed a feather on my hand.
“A purple feather?”
From its tail where it plucked out a purple feather from, the bird plucked out another feather, this time, blue. Now, it looked as if the bird didn’t have any more blue feathers in its tail. I alternated my gaze between the two feathers on my palm. Purple and blue.
“You can consider the bird me.”
This bird had accompanied Hernan continuously. This bird had manifested as a result of Hernan’s abilities as they were considered to be one and the same. So, this bird was also Hernan. So, it wasn’t simply just his pet but they really had a relationship that was brought about by fate … Even if it might sound ridiculous, I looked at the bird again.
“Don’t tell me you want me to stab you?”
The bird gave a cry. Its cry almost made me tear up.
“… To force Hernan, who’s still fighting in there, to sleep?”
The yellow eyes of this animal, the pair that stared at me unabashedly, were clear. The bird flew up before biting the blue feather on my hand with its beak and dropping it.. This bird was intelligent. And what it was trying to say was clear to me. Blue, to give up on the feathers that resembled Hernan’s eyes.
“But.”
With my other hand still holding the sword, I felt helpless.
Clang.
An unprecedented sound rang the hall’s direction. That was an unusually loud sound, wasn’t it? A weird feeling took over me. Just then.
“Wait.”
The bird flew out of my hand. The direction the bird headed straight in was of course towards the battle. I was forced to chase down the flying bird without even being to tell it to wait.
“Dodge, my prince!”
Moonlight filled my vision. The hall revealed itself before my eyes.
Clang.
I turned my head to the sound that was filling the hall. The first thing that I saw was someone being flung to a wall. It was only when the dust settled did I realise it was Dane. I spotted Lord Ray quickly blocking another strike. As if meteorites had been falling into the hall all day, the ground had been dented with holes. Those were signs of the intense battle that must have occurred here. Almost as if revealing the results of the said battle, Hernan’s body could be seen wrapped in a net I had never seen before with his claws poking through.
I turned my head slowly at the sound of chirping. Before I knew it, the bird had been perched on my shoulders as it cried out to me. The weight of it sitting on my shoulders felt almost the same as the stone sitting in my chest. It made it hard to breathe.
“Why…”
Why was he always like this?
“Why do you always force me to make these kinds of choices?”
I felt a heat under my eyes but no tears fell. No, I had already cried about this in my heart thousands of times over. The desperate screams I could not let out here had been suppressed in my heart.
However, the situation had turned dire. As soon as Hernan, who had been dealing with Ray, swivelled around before readying to strike Amor, I quickly grabbed the bird. The bird had readied itself in my grip, neither dodging nor resisting. The hand that held the blade trembled.
“Stop, Hernan.”
Please stop. With the hand that was not grabbing the bird, I held the dagger and pointed it towards the bird. I stared at the man who lost his ego as I aimed the blade at the bird’s neck.
“Stop it.”
Clang.
I could see that he stopped mid-strike before his empty eyes turned to face me. His purple eyes in which I could no longer find anything captured me for a long time.
“If you want to see this bird die.”
I could see him putting up defences in those purple eyes. It seemed like he had instinctively sensed the threat. At last, as his animosity left him, the net managed to wrap itself around him completely. I immediately released my dagger. As I caught my breath, I lowered my head.
Pant. Pant.
Relief. It was really such a relief I didn’t end up stabbing you. I whispered softly. The bird, now sitting on the ground, stared at me. When our gazes met, the bird fluttered up towards me. The bird twirled around me once before heading to its owner. Almost as if to tell me that I had done my part.
My eyes followed the bird. Perhaps a part of Hernan’s ego still remained in that bird. As I stared at the bird’s back, I closed my eyes before opening them again. That was when my eyes widened. An unbelievable sight revealed itself before me.
“Brother?”
With a sword stuck in his waist, he staggered towards me. I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the blood that was soaking his clothes. Why? Amor shouldn’t be dying right now. Right. No. I needed to get it together. I got up and ran towards him. No, I tried to run but my legs weren’t listening to me. With his eyes half open, Amor stared at me before seemingly smiling for a moment.
“Brother!”
I called out for Amor, who had collapsed as if he couldn’t endure it any longer. It felt like something had come over me until I called for a cleric.
“If you call for a cleric, how would we explain…?”
“Doesn’t matter! Just call for one!”
Even after we had urgently moved him to his room, I couldn’t just wait for the cleric to come treat him so I waited by his side in a daze. Even when the cleric arrived, I could only watch as he treated him.
“The bleeding has been dealt with. Although the sword had seriously injured him, the 4th Prince was so strong that his divinity had protected his vital points till the very last moment. So, the gods could still treat it and there’s no need for great concern. It’s just that…”
“That?”
The old templar flinched at the sharp response. But instead of looking at me, he looked at Dane. It was only when Dane nodded his head did he continue.
“The 4th Prince was long known to be ill due to an unknown disease. But his disease seemed to have worsened tremendously. He needs urgent medical treatment but… But this is a disease no cleric can treat…”
What the old templar had said matched what had been written in the original novel. Amor had been suffering from a disease of unknown origins. Along with the emperor’s poison, the disease had plagued him. I closed my eyes.
“So, you’re saying that he’s not seriously injured and you don’t have a cure for his disease, correct?”
“Yes… That is the case.”
Only Rusbella could cure that disease. No, more like the medicine that had been used to save the male lead in the original novel could also be used to save Amor.
“Alright. You can leave.”
But I still had yet to confirm whether Rusbella actually existed. Was this really a world within a novel? What could I do when I wasn’t sure of anything?
“Cleric… or was it Herbis?”
“Yes.”
“It’d be best if you keep quiet about what happened today. I’m saying this because I’m looking out for you so please heed my advice.”
“… Yes.”
After the cleric left, I slowly covered my face. Thoughts ran in my mind as I covered my eyes.
Someone approached me. I could tell who it was without even looking. In this room, only Amor and I couldn’t open our eyes. But Dane was here too. I slowly raised my head upon the warmth on my shoulders.
“Ashley.”
With an unusually weary expression, Dane smiled. I noticed the thick lines drawn upon his cheek and forehead. And the hand he placed on my shoulder was no different. I frowned. My heart ached.
“It’d be best if you rest now.”
He was injured too. I was worried about his wounds so I asked him to be treated first but he was stubborn and insisted on remaining next to me. It occured to me that perhaps Dane would never get treated unless I went with him. And my hunch was usually right.
“Dane.”
“Hm?”
“You were hurt too.”
Chapter 248
Translator: yun
Hernan’s bird. It was an animal meant to accompany their Templar of Beasts for the rest of their lives. If it were to die, Hernan too would suffer from a fatal amount of damage. But how did she know that? Amor tried to see Ashley even with the dim lighting.
‘How did you…’
This was a secret that no one knew. If the bird gets hurt, Hernan would be inflicted with irreversible wounds so the bird would try to defend their companion when the other is in danger out of instinct and vice versa. Even though Amor had heard about it from Hernan, this was meant to be a secret. This piece of information was only known among Templars of Beasts and passed down from generation to generation.
“Back away.”
Hernan slowly retreated. In the meanwhile, the net had tightened around him completely and wrapped itself around him tightly. The beast who was now completely bound was forced to his knees whilst panting.
‘So, this is the end.’
He wondered why there seemed to be a beam of light shining on only her. Perhaps the moonlight was choosing to shine only on her. No, for a long time now, his moon and his sun had been shining towards only one person so this beam of light might have only been visible to him. Amor gave a faint smile.
‘Because my moon has always been you.’
As he watched Ashley walk towards him, Amor slowly closed his eyes. An unbearable fatigue overtook his body.
“Brother!”
***
All I could think about as I chased after Hernan’s bird was whether I was doing the right thing. Nevertheless, I had faith as I pushed my body to run through the dark hallways. I wondered why my body felt lighter than ever despite my previous exhaustion.
After some time, the bird stopped. I had already climbed down the stairs from the third floor to one of the hallways on the second floor.
Clang.
Not too far away, I could hear voices and the clashes of blades.
Rumble.
From under my feet, I could feel the ground shaking. Soon after, I smelled damp dirt. They were fighting in there. There was a fierce battle ongoing on the other side of this darkness.
“You know.”
I took a deep breath. Hovering in the air, the bird looked this way. In this darkness, I could only see the bird’s yellow eyes staring back at me. As if it was trying to relay something to me with its movements, I approached it slowly.
“I don’t know what you want from me.”
The bird tucked its wings before perching on an ornament on one side of the hallway. The 4th Prince’s palace had been opulently decorated and the decorative collection of swords the bird landed on was only one of its many ornaments. The palace contained everything from heavy and long greatswords, longswords, gladiuses… to very short daggers. I inspected the blade. When I suddenly looked down, I spotted something in the bird’s claws.
“… Do you want me to hold this?”
The bird twittered a tune. As if to tell me I was correct. Soon after, I pulled out one of the many blades the bird had been standing atop of.
“… A dagger?”
Other than the fact that its handle was plated in gold, the dagger looked like any other. When I unsheathed the sword, its blue blade was revealed. Though it might just be a decorative piece, its blade caught my eye. I quickly inspected the rest of the blades. It was only then did I realise that only this blade was unique to this dagger. I recalled hearing about something like this before. To defend against assassination attempts, a single real sword would be placed amongst ornamental ones. With its claws still on the sword’s handle, the bird looked up.
“Why are you giving this to me?”
My hand. This hand had never held a sword before. My hand was trembling. It was then did I realise a plausible explanation for the bird’s actions as my face twisted.
“If you want me to stab someone with this, I can’t do it.”
Everyone who had gathered here. There was not a single one of them who had regretted their choice to come. Who could I stab with this blade?
“You already know.”
And most importantly.
“I have no strength at all.”
I didn’t have the strength to stab someone with this dagger.
As regretful as that might be.
Perhaps noticing the sorrow in my expression, the bird suddenly lowered its head and started picking at its feathers. To my surprise, it placed a feather on my hand.
“A purple feather?”
From its tail where it plucked out a purple feather from, the bird plucked out another feather, this time, blue. Now, it looked as if the bird didn’t have any more blue feathers in its tail. I alternated my gaze between the two feathers on my palm. Purple and blue.
“You can consider the bird me.”
This bird had accompanied Hernan continuously. This bird had manifested as a result of Hernan’s abilities as they were considered to be one and the same. So, this bird was also Hernan. So, it wasn’t simply just his pet but they really had a relationship that was brought about by fate … Even if it might sound ridiculous, I looked at the bird again.
“Don’t tell me you want me to stab you?”
The bird gave a cry. Its cry almost made me tear up.
“… To force Hernan, who’s still fighting in there, to sleep?”
The yellow eyes of this animal, the pair that stared at me unabashedly, were clear. The bird flew up before biting the blue feather on my hand with its beak and dropping it.. This bird was intelligent. And what it was trying to say was clear to me. Blue, to give up on the feathers that resembled Hernan’s eyes.
“But.”
With my other hand still holding the sword, I felt helpless.
Clang.
An unprecedented sound rang the hall’s direction. That was an unusually loud sound, wasn’t it? A weird feeling took over me. Just then.
“Wait.”
The bird flew out of my hand. The direction the bird headed straight in was of course towards the battle. I was forced to chase down the flying bird without even being to tell it to wait.
“Dodge, my prince!”
Moonlight filled my vision. The hall revealed itself before my eyes.
Clang.
I turned my head to the sound that was filling the hall. The first thing that I saw was someone being flung to a wall. It was only when the dust settled did I realise it was Dane. I spotted Lord Ray quickly blocking another strike. As if meteorites had been falling into the hall all day, the ground had been dented with holes. Those were signs of the intense battle that must have occurred here. Almost as if revealing the results of the said battle, Hernan’s body could be seen wrapped in a net I had never seen before with his claws poking through.
I turned my head slowly at the sound of chirping. Before I knew it, the bird had been perched on my shoulders as it cried out to me. The weight of it sitting on my shoulders felt almost the same as the stone sitting in my chest. It made it hard to breathe.
“Why…”
Why was he always like this?
“Why do you always force me to make these kinds of choices?”
I felt a heat under my eyes but no tears fell. No, I had already cried about this in my heart thousands of times over. The desperate screams I could not let out here had been suppressed in my heart.
However, the situation had turned dire. As soon as Hernan, who had been dealing with Ray, swivelled around before readying to strike Amor, I quickly grabbed the bird. The bird had readied itself in my grip, neither dodging nor resisting. The hand that held the blade trembled.
“Stop, Hernan.”
Please stop. With the hand that was not grabbing the bird, I held the dagger and pointed it towards the bird. I stared at the man who lost his ego as I aimed the blade at the bird’s neck.
“Stop it.”
Clang.
I could see that he stopped mid-strike before his empty eyes turned to face me. His purple eyes in which I could no longer find anything captured me for a long time.
“If you want to see this bird die.”
I could see him putting up defences in those purple eyes. It seemed like he had instinctively sensed the threat. At last, as his animosity left him, the net managed to wrap itself around him completely. I immediately released my dagger. As I caught my breath, I lowered my head.
Pant. Pant.
Relief. It was really such a relief I didn’t end up stabbing you. I whispered softly. The bird, now sitting on the ground, stared at me. When our gazes met, the bird fluttered up towards me. The bird twirled around me once before heading to its owner. Almost as if to tell me that I had done my part.
My eyes followed the bird. Perhaps a part of Hernan’s ego still remained in that bird. As I stared at the bird’s back, I closed my eyes before opening them again. That was when my eyes widened. An unbelievable sight revealed itself before me.
“Brother?”
With a sword stuck in his waist, he staggered towards me. I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the blood that was soaking his clothes. Why? Amor shouldn’t be dying right now. Right. No. I needed to get it together. I got up and ran towards him. No, I tried to run but my legs weren’t listening to me. With his eyes half open, Amor stared at me before seemingly smiling for a moment.
“Brother!”
I called out for Amor, who had collapsed as if he couldn’t endure it any longer. It felt like something had come over me until I called for a cleric.
“If you call for a cleric, how would we explain…?”
“Doesn’t matter! Just call for one!”
Even after we had urgently moved him to his room, I couldn’t just wait for the cleric to come treat him so I waited by his side in a daze. Even when the cleric arrived, I could only watch as he treated him.
“The bleeding has been dealt with. Although the sword had seriously injured him, the 4th Prince was so strong that his divinity had protected his vital points till the very last moment. So, the gods could still treat it and there’s no need for great concern. It’s just that…”
“That?”
The old templar flinched at the sharp response. But instead of looking at me, he looked at Dane. It was only when Dane nodded his head did he continue.
“The 4th Prince was long known to be ill due to an unknown disease. But his disease seemed to have worsened tremendously. He needs urgent medical treatment but… But this is a disease no cleric can treat…”
What the old templar had said matched what had been written in the original novel. Amor had been suffering from a disease of unknown origins. Along with the emperor’s poison, the disease had plagued him. I closed my eyes.
“So, you’re saying that he’s not seriously injured and you don’t have a cure for his disease, correct?”
“Yes… That is the case.”
Only Rusbella could cure that disease. No, more like the medicine that had been used to save the male lead in the original novel could also be used to save Amor.
“Alright. You can leave.”
But I still had yet to confirm whether Rusbella actually existed. Was this really a world within a novel? What could I do when I wasn’t sure of anything?
“Cleric… or was it Herbis?”
“Yes.”
“It’d be best if you keep quiet about what happened today. I’m saying this because I’m looking out for you so please heed my advice.”
“… Yes.”
After the cleric left, I slowly covered my face. Thoughts ran in my mind as I covered my eyes.
Someone approached me. I could tell who it was without even looking. In this room, only Amor and I couldn’t open our eyes. But Dane was here too. I slowly raised my head upon the warmth on my shoulders.
“Ashley.”
With an unusually weary expression, Dane smiled. I noticed the thick lines drawn upon his cheek and forehead. And the hand he placed on my shoulder was no different. I frowned. My heart ached.
“It’d be best if you rest now.”
He was injured too. I was worried about his wounds so I asked him to be treated first but he was stubborn and insisted on remaining next to me. It occured to me that perhaps Dane would never get treated unless I went with him. And my hunch was usually right.
“Dane.”
“Hm?”
“You were hurt too.”
