Chapter 59

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter: 59

Chapter Title: His Kiss and Her Soul (3)

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Roxiana abruptly sat up. Her eyes brimmed with vitality as she gazed at Floyd, defying the fact that she'd been unconscious for a full week.

Floyd felt a dizzying wave hit him, and without realizing it, he took a step back. Standing there any longer felt like he'd get swept up in her whirlwind.

"Even if I overuse my power, as long as Your Highness shares your heat with me, I can recover without any issues. My soul felt like it was shattering into pieces, but now I'm truly fine. I don't know how that's possible, but..."

Roxiana crawled to the edge of the bed on her knees and reached out toward Floyd. Her small hand touched his chest. Floyd stared down at the hand pressing against him, his body rigid.

"It's this presence inside you that's keeping me alive. It's holding my soul together."

A foreboding premonition gripped him. Floyd suddenly wanted to flee from this overly cheerful version of her.

"Now I can do whatever I want. Your Highness will save me anyway."

Ah, he knew it.

Floyd felt a throbbing headache as he roughly seized her slender wrist, still lingering on his chest.

"Stop talking nonsense! Has something happened to your head? How can you say something like that in this situation?"

He didn't want to raise his voice at someone who'd just woken up, but her reckless words ignited his fury. The thought of her treating her near-death experience so lightly made his blood boil.

Yet Roxiana ignored his rough tone and asked,

"Has the forest come back to life? Did I succeed?"

"Is that what matters right now?"

"It is. Of course it is. It's a huge deal to me—I staked my life on it. Your Highness, please tell me. Has the forest revived?"

Floyd released her wrist and raked his hands through his hair in frustration. He clenched his teeth, swallowing a curse that threatened to spill out, and slumped into a chair.

"Yes, it has. Magnificently so, Princess. More trees have grown than before, and even the paths people used are overgrown with grass again—they're clearing new ones now."

Floyd stared at her, still kneeling at the bed's edge. Her cheeks flushed with pride over what she'd accomplished.

Fine, credit where it's due.

"You did something incredible. I can't believe it. That such a thing was possible..."

"My power... my power was useful after all."

"Princess, I've never wanted you to be useful to me."

"Your Highness, you can use me."

She seemed not to hear a word he said.

"I may not be a sword, a shield, or even a witch, but I can purify land corrupted by magic. The area I've revived can belong to Your Highness."

"I don't need land you nearly sacrificed your life for! Do I look like I'm short on territory? Forget it!"

Roxiana stared at Floyd in disbelief.

"Why are you being so stubborn, Your Highness? I only did what I could. I'm just doing what's possible for me. So why do you hate seeing me do anything?"

"Because you almost died!"

Her innocent gaze, as if she knew nothing, made his voice rise again in a surge of anger. The image of her sprawled lifelessly in the forest lingered vividly. The heart-stopping terror when he found her was still fresh.

Floyd was still afraid she'd suddenly collapse and crumble to dust. He'd lived without fear his whole life, but this moth-to-the-flame woman terrified him to the point of madness.

"Don't you get it, Roxiana? You really almost died! At first, you weren't even breathing. I truly thought you were gone! Sure, this crazy thing inside you saved you a few times. But what's the guarantee it'll happen again? The moment it goes silent like before, you're dead!"

Roxiana's eyes widened at Floyd's bloodcurdling shout. Stunned by his unprecedented fury, she stared blankly at his face, unable to find a retort.

Floyd squeezed his eyes shut, suppressing the outburst of irritation, rage, and anxiety. When he opened them again, his voice was lower as he asked,

"Or is this your new way of committing suicide?"

"Pardon?"

"Is that what this is—trying to die like this?"

Only then did Roxiana realize he was misunderstanding something. She shook her head quickly.

"No, Your Highness. No. I don't want to die anymore. I won't die."

"Then why do you keep risking your life?"

"Knights and Your Highness always face death battling magical beasts. Like soldiers sacrificing themselves on the battlefield, I'm just staking my life where my abilities can be used."

"Princess, we don't go to war expecting to die. We go in vowing to all survive. But you always brace for death. Isn't that right?"

"......"

"There's no need for that resolve in Torkan. So don't even think about using that power again. Starting today, you'll have a guard knight. They'll be with you every moment you breathe. Bear the inconvenience—it's the consequence of your choices."

As Floyd shot to his feet, Roxiana hurried off the bed. This conversation couldn't end like this. This was her last chance.

Her feet touched the floor, but her legs, unused for so long, lacked strength. She stumbled, and Floyd caught her arm, frowning as he supported her.

"This weak and..."

Ignoring his pained mutter, Roxiana looked up at him desperately.

"Your Highness, this power is all I have. Please, let me use it."

Floyd sighed at her endless pleading.

"Princess. We'll find a way to cleanly remove your slave brand. I'll give you a suitable status, and if you want, a fine estate with servants. Of course, knights to protect you too. You can live just like you did in Kanta, without ever using that power."

Roxiana shook her head rapidly.

"That's not what I want, Your Highness."

"Then what is it? What do you want so badly that you're doing this?"

His attitude of trying to lock her away without understanding infuriated her. It burned that she had power but no way to wield it.

She'd finally found something she could do. She'd thought it was a small step toward reclaiming her family and reaching them.

But was it not? Even this feat, accomplished at the cost of her life, couldn't break the chains on her ankles? Did that mean she'd live on breathing, reclaiming nothing?

What difference would that be from the undead? A life where she could do nothing for her brutally slaughtered family—what set it apart from soulless, wandering corpses?

"......I want to find them..."

Roxiana mumbled without knowing what she was saying. Her voice was so faint and small that Floyd bent down to hear.

"What?"

"I want to get my family back..."

Floyd swallowed a sigh. He pitied her refusal to accept their deaths, but it was time she faced reality.

"Princess, I'm sorry to say this, but... your family is dead. Even forbidden magic can't revive them after so much time."

"......The well..."

"What?"

She slowly lifted her head to meet Floyd's eyes.

"They threw my family into a well."

Her voice was clearer now, but Floyd couldn't grasp the meaning. It was too absurd. As he opened his mouth to ask her to repeat,

"They killed my family! Threw them in a well! So they couldn't even smell the Adelia Flowers! Sealed them in a well!"

The rage Roxiana had suppressed erupted.

Her bloodcurdling scream—something she'd never raised her voice for before—pierced Floyd's ears. He froze, staring down at her.

'What did I just hear?'

It sounded impossible. Too shocking and cruel; he forgot to breathe. Roxiana looked up at him and slowly recited her family's names.

"Father, Mother, Echion, Ian, Naufride, Lanian, Edith, Elizabeth, Frisin, Winiel, Benji. My parents and brothers, their wives and young nephews too, Your Highness."

Her voice echoed eerily.

"They're all wandering in some well in Kanta, unable to return to God's embrace. I don't even know exactly where that well is. All I saw were my parents' heads."

"......"

"But how? How can I live, Your Highness? How can I live like a princess in this splendid palace as if nothing happened? Eating delicious food, wearing fine dresses, attending parties? How? Tell me how that's possible. Can I do it? I don't know, Your Highness. I've racked my brain until it feels like it'll burst, and I still don't know."

Tears welled in Roxiana's eyes and streamed down her cheeks.

"I'm sorry, Your Highness. I can't live like that."