Chapter 45

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter: 45

Chapter Title: The Duke's Wound

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“Madam?”

Etra placed the back of her hand against Ilrin's forehead.

“Could it be... you had a dream?”

She was now one of the few who knew what significance Ilrin's dreams could hold.

Ilrin looked up at Etra and gave a short nod.

“I did. But...”

It was different from usual.

As she recalled the pupils slit long and horizontally, Ilrin rubbed down both her arms with her hands.

Goosebumps prickled her skin.

The back view had looked perfectly human, but those eyes... they couldn't be called human.

Who was it?

No—what was it?

That was when it happened.

“Ilrin. Are you asleep?”

Aden's voice came from outside.

Ilrin's eyes widened round.

With the fever gone, her mind quickly pieced together what mattered most.

And the top priority was this.

“Etra, how many days have I been asleep?”

“Pardon?”

Etra blinked at the sudden question.

“Not days—only a few hours.”

She checked the clock and did the math before answering.

“A little over two hours, I think.”

“...Two hours?”

Not days? Ilrin's gaze quickly flicked back to the door where Aden's voice had come from.

“Has Aden been treated?”

That was the first thing she needed to ask.

Etra smiled.

“Of course. He's fully recovered now.”

Already? There had been so much blood.

Ilrin's eyes widened round just then.

“Ilrin?”

Aden's voice came again.

Startled, Ilrin turned to the door.

“I'm awake.”

Only then did Aden ease the door open a crack.

With his keen hearing, he couldn't have missed their conversation inside, yet he waited for her to speak to him directly—a courtesy in his own way.

Aden poked his head through the gap and knocked on the door twice more.

It was a knock.

A faint smile curved his lips as he asked,

“May I come in?”

“Of course.”

Ilrin gave her permission.

Etra bowed deeply to her.

It was her way of saying she'd leave them to their time alone.

She offered the same courtesy to Aden before slipping quietly out of the room.

Unlike the creaky doors of the viscount's manor, the well-maintained doors of House Biplten's estate opened silently.

“Are you feeling a bit better?”

Aden approached the bed where Ilrin lay without hesitation.

In his light shirt, he seemed to radiate warmth like someone basking in sunlight.

“I'm not hurt.”

Ilrin eyed his left arm.

The spot where the arrow had grazed him showed no trace of injury.

Not even a bandage in sight, and through the thin shirt, nothing was visible.

Ilrin pulled her hand from beneath the soft, fluffy quilt.

A single shirt was too chilly in this air.

“...”

Her hand tentatively touched Aden's shoulder.

Somewhere around here, wasn't it?

“Doesn't it hurt?”

Her hand slowly slid downward.

Her eyes, fixed on Aden, carefully watched his expression.

If he winced even slightly in pain, she'd pull away at once.

“...”

Aden looked down at Ilrin's hand on his shoulder.

Her pale, delicate fingertips traced over the curve of his shoulder and downward.

There was no pain in his shoulder anymore.

It had healed long ago.

The wound had begun closing rapidly as soon as they entered the Winter Lands.

Beth had confirmed poison in the blood.

They'd need further tests to identify it, but it seemed the arrow had been tipped with toxin—though in such negligible amounts the symptoms were barely detectable.

In the end, he was perfectly fine now.

Ilrin had no need to fuss over his injury with such worried eyes.

“...”

But Aden didn't stop her.

Her slender fingertips trembled faintly as they brushed his shoulder.

He was holding me when he got hurt, so it must be around here.

Ilrin moved her hand very slowly, studying his face.

“...Does it hurt?”

Then she froze.

Aden's once-calm expression was changing bit by bit.

His gaze held steady, but his lips, which had narrowed, pressed into a firm line.

As if holding something back.

“Not at all.”

But his answer was the opposite.

No startled flinch, like one might expect from sudden pain.

Really?

Still, Ilrin finally withdrew her hand from his arm.

Or tried to.

“Like this.”

Aden guided her hand, which had only been lightly touching, to grip his arm fully.

It pressed harder than she'd expected, and she swallowed a startled breath.

“Are you all right?”

“...Of course.”

His reply came suspiciously delayed, a beat too late.

Ilrin looked up into his eyes.

Half-hidden by long lashes, they seemed oddly blurred.

She finally pulled her hand away from his arm with deliberate force.

“If you're doing this just to ease my worries, it's fine.”

Aden shook his head.

He let out a short breath.

Lifting his eyelids again, he caught her retreating hand once more.

“You don't believe me, do you.”

A helpless expression.

“Shall I let you check for yourself?”

“Pardon?”

“Whether there's a wound or not.”

He raised his left hand to the buttons of his shirt.

No, not with the injured arm...

Ilrin quickly reached out and grabbed his hand.

“Wait.”

In the end, she was the one who undid the buttons.

She needed to see if the wound had been properly treated.

Aden's uncharacteristically ragged breathing only heightened her unease.

She undid his shirt buttons swiftly but carefully.

“I'm really fine.”

Aden whispered calmly to her, who kept sighing with worry.

“It can't have healed already.”

Not even a day since the arrow hit.

And no proper treatment right away.

Considering the blood on her hands, it was a miracle he hadn't collapsed already.

With half the buttons undone, Ilrin reached to pull back his shirt.

Then Aden caught her hand.

“I really have healed.”

Ilrin narrowed her eyes at his words.

“I'll ask Beth if I have to.”

He let out a chuckle.

“Very well. Then...”

He gripped her soft, fragile hand in his trembling one.

Ilrin reacted sensitively to the tremor.

He wasn't the type to shake easily.

“—What if I really am healed? What will you do?”

“What—”

Aden continued smoothly, like flowing water.

“Will you grant me a wish?”

Ilrin looked up at Aden.

The tremor transmitted through their hands remained unchanged.

In that state, their not-quite-standoff stretched on.

Aden had no intention of letting go until she answered, simply gazing at her.

His lips pressed into that firm line again.

In the end, worry won out.

Ilrin's deliberation didn't last long.

“All right.”

The moment her answer fell, Aden released her hand.

Ilrin looked at his arm and pulled back the shirt.

With enough buttons undone, his upper arm was easily revealed.

Sliding his shirt up past his left elbow, Ilrin froze.

“Oh.”

It was gone. No wound. There was no reason to feel disappointed by its absence.

Just astonishment.

How?

How could a wound less than a day old vanish without a trace?

Her eyes widened wide.

As Ilrin stroked his arm in disbelief, Aden's hand overlapped hers.

He whispered slowly.

“Well?”

His hand slipped in slyly, interlacing their fingers, forming an intimate knot between her pale, delicate ones.

“May I make my wish now?”

“...”

With the wound truly gone, she couldn't deny him.

In the end, Ilrin looked up at Aden and had no choice but to yield.

“...Yes.”

Aden's smile deepened.

In that instant, the tremor in his hand vanished completely.

Ilrin realized then.

That shaking hadn't been from pain.

It was the tremor of his restraint.

Aden couldn't spend much longer with Ilrin.

He had only stopped by her room briefly before departing for Luminous Ello's territory.

The summer scent filling the room and her presence had merely fanned his impulses.

After a very short time together, he lifted Ilrin into his arms and gently laid her back down.

He even pulled the thick, fluffy cotton quilt up to her neck.

“I'll be back soon.”

Ilrin glanced at the clock.

Still, quite some time had passed.

“Will Luminous Ello be all right?”

They had rushed back to the Winter Lands because of Luminous Ello in the first place, hadn't they?

Aden nodded at Ilrin's question.

“It should be.”

“It seemed fine in the dream too, but...”

She couldn't help worrying anyway.

The knights of Luminous Ello wielding swords adorned with yellow tassels had looked a bit uneasy.

Probably because if that barrier of light shattered, they'd face the Yester Tribe head-on, borne on the north winds.

She hadn't seen what came after.

“...”

Those deep purple irises.

Not just the pupils—the entire iris was such a deep violet it almost appeared black at a glance.

And those eyes had definitely been looking this way.

“You had a dream.”

Aden neatly arranged Ilrin's silver hair scattered across the bed.

His fingers caught sparkling strands between them, as if reluctant to leave.

“Yes.”

“Did you see something troubling there again?”

His calm question carried a reassuring power.

Ilrin took his hand.

She knew what he was asking.

Whether she'd seen someone injured—or dying—again.

It wasn't that.

But she had seen something that lingered in her mind.

“...I saw something strange.”

“What kind?”

“First... I saw Luminous Ello's barrier.”

Not sure if 'barrier' was the right word.

Ilrin swallowed her hesitation, but Aden understood immediately.

“Luminous Ello's 'Barrier of Light,' you mean.”

“Yes.”

It truly lived up to its name—a barrier of light.

One that blocked external intruders.

“That's the power of Luminous Ello. It's why they've been able to defend their territory for so long, even right next to the monsters' domain.”

Aden explained briefly.

Ilrin nodded.

“Fortunately... it didn't break.”

Though it looked on the verge.

Ilrin chose her words carefully.

“To be precise, I didn't see the whole future.”

Aden felt a pang of regret at her words.

He wondered if her grandmother Verdi, who had the same ability, would intuitively understand what Ilrin meant.

But Ilrin's next words were ones even Verdi might not have grasped.

“The moment our eyes met in the dream, I woke up.”p>

Those deep violet irises, like they'd suck you in if you stared.

Ilrin gripped Aden's hand tightly.