The Escort Knight Who Is Obsessed by the Villainess Wants to Escape - Chapter 128

“Who… are you?”

Eliza felt her mind grow hazy.

The shock, far beyond her expectations, paralyzed her reasoning.

Her trembling breaths and racing heart calmed as if they had stopped altogether.

She blinked blankly.

She wanted to cry bitterly, but for some reason, the tears didn’t come.

It all just felt unreal.

Everything.

“My condition is a bit…”

Judas trailed off, about to explain that he couldn’t see or hear properly.

His throat hurt whenever he spoke, likely from having been in a comatose state for two days.

Eliza interpreted his words and expression differently.

Amnesia caused by returning from the brink of death.

She felt scared and wanted to flee.

Far, far away from this situation where he didn’t recognize her.

And yet, she felt relieved.

She didn’t know the exact mechanism.

But one thing was certain—he had come back to life.

That alone brought her reassurance and a sense of satisfaction.

“I am your…”

Eliza began to respond but abruptly closed her mouth.

“I am your… what?”

The one you served.

Your master.

Was that really all there was to it?

Could she be satisfied with that answer?

No, she couldn’t.

Perhaps, right here, they could start anew and become something different.

Such selfish thoughts crossed her mind.

Disgusted by her own desires, Eliza wanted to strangle herself.

In the end, she couldn’t bring herself to answer Judas’s question.

Meanwhile, Judas found the silence puzzling.

“Why did she stop speaking?”

Though he couldn’t distinguish her clearly, he could perceive sound when it was made.

“Maybe I just misunderstood because she didn’t actually say anything. I can’t hear properly, and my vision is like this—it’s driving me crazy…”

Even in a comatose state, the body’s functions shut down temporarily.

He hadn’t expected recovery to be easy, but this extent was beyond his predictions.

At the very least, it seemed certain that the person before him had stayed by his side until he woke up.

He needed to express his gratitude.

Judas cleared his sore throat again.

“I don’t know who you are, but thank you for helping me.”

In truth, he wanted to ask how many days had passed, what had happened to Jericho and the Gigantic Drake, and a host of other questions.

But he decided not to ask, knowing he wouldn’t hear the answers anyway.

“You must be busy, so feel free to leave.”

In reality, he wasn’t okay.

Even speaking was a struggle, and he lacked the strength to get out of bed.

Still, he couldn’t ask someone he didn’t even know to stay and help him.

A fleeting worry passed through his mind—what if this place was unfamiliar and dangerous? But considering the person had cared for him, it didn’t seem likely.

“Why isn’t she responding? …Could she be someone I know?”

The thought came belatedly.

For someone to bring him here and take care of him, it was likely someone he knew.

There were a few people in Jericho who might do such a thing.

“Eurydice and Orpheus… or maybe one of the four candidates from the old training center…”

It could even be someone like the head of the guards or a mercenary office staff member he had befriended through work.

“But… it doesn’t seem like any of them.”

Since perceiving her presence, Judas felt as though something was drawing him toward her.

That something emanated from the person before him.

He couldn’t see or hear her, but he felt she was warm like the sun.

It wasn’t just about feeling body heat; it was something else entirely.

For a moment, he even entertained the audacious thought of touching her.

In all his time with others, no one had made him feel this way, so she was likely a stranger to him.

“Um… are you all right?”

“…Ah.”

Judas asked again.

Only then did Eliza come back to her senses.

She had been momentarily lost in thought.

The words directed at her by Judas.

His tone.

The gaze and demeanor of someone facing a stranger.

Eliza’s instincts momentarily detached her consciousness from reality.

Because she didn’t want to see such a reality.

But it was impossible to avoid it forever.

What had Judas said again?

Ah, that it was okay to leave.

In other words, she was no longer needed.

It felt like a heavy stone had settled in her heart.

It was suffocating, oppressively painful.

Even with kind words to leave, this was how it felt.

Judas, who had heard her ask him to leave and die—what must he have felt?

She couldn’t even begin to fathom.

She didn’t want to leave.

This world suddenly felt absurd.

What she wanted was right in front of her, so why should she have to leave this place?

She couldn’t understand.

“I…”

Eliza decided to change her words.

“I am… just an ordinary mage. You can rest easy; I came to take care of you.”

Why would an ordinary mage take care of an injured person?

It was only after speaking that she realized how strange it sounded, but there was no way to take it back.

She waited nervously for a response.

Meanwhile, Judas thought to himself,

‘What is she talking about…?’

Though he couldn’t understand her words, he could make a guess.

‘She stayed even though I said it was okay to leave, so maybe she came to treat me or take care of me? Or someone sent her here.’

Even without understanding her language, he wasn’t entirely clueless.

The tone, the rhythm of her voice, and other nuances allowed him to draw a rough conclusion.

‘Whoever she is, she seems to have come to help me.’

It was a relief.

He had no strength to even lift a finger.

Judas nodded and smiled.

“In that case, I’ll gratefully… rely on you for a while. To be honest, I do need someone’s help right now.”

Eliza smiled brightly.

Her mood, which had been scraping the bottom just moments ago, soared high into the sky.

“Of course.”

Judas took her response as an agreement, then lay down again.

‘Come to think of it, did I tell her that I can’t see or hear…?’

Though he had managed to get up earlier, his body had been far from normal for some time.

He just wanted to sleep.

Dying and coming back to life was far more exhausting than he had imagined.

‘I must have said it… If I hadn’t, why would she choose to stay and help…?’

His barely-hanging-on reasoning concluded as it pleased.

His flickering consciousness lingered on one thought.

‘Eliza… is she doing well…?’

How many days had passed?

He wondered how Eliza’s battles had been going in the meantime.

He knew it was a foolish thought.

And Eliza, at that moment, was quietly staying by the sleeping Judas’s side.

***

It didn’t take long for Eliza to notice Judas’s condition with his eyes.

Judas woke up due to severe thirst.

“Is… anyone there?”

Eliza, who had been nodding off, suddenly raised her head.

“Yes! I’m here!”

Judas confirmed the presence of a sluggish figure.

“Sorry, but could I have some water…?”

Before he even finished speaking, Eliza teleported to fetch drinking water.

While handing him the cup, she realized her mistake.

‘I said I was an ordinary mage, but then I used teleportation! What if he finds it suspicious?’

However, Judas didn’t seem to care as he reached out his hand.

His struggling hand couldn’t find the cup and fumbled in the air.

His furrowed brows seemed to be searching for something.

The cup was right in front of him.

Only then did Eliza notice the strange discrepancy.

Carefully, she guided his hand to the cup, and he gripped it as if he’d finally found it.

He smiled awkwardly.

“Not being able to see is terribly inconvenient.”

“You can’t… see?”

Judas, who was about to bring the cup to his lips, realized he hadn’t properly told her.

“I’m not sure of the exact reason, but I haven’t been able to see since I woke up. It’s slightly better than yesterday, though… And…”

He started to say he couldn’t hear either but stopped and broke into a coughing fit.

Using his dry throat too much had left it feeling as if it were torn apart.

After excusing himself briefly, he drank some water.

The lukewarm water was at a perfect temperature to drink.

It felt like moisture seeping into parched earth.

As his vocal cords moistened, his condition noticeably improved.

Even breathing became easier.

‘…Where was I?’

Returning the cup, he continued explaining.

“Anyway, it’s not just my eyes—various parts of my body are uncomfortable as well.”

“……”

“I can’t tell you how fortunate I feel to have someone willing to help.”

But hadn’t the physician come by to examine his condition?

He wondered but chose not to ask.

It would lead to a detailed explanation that, in his current state, he wouldn’t be able to comprehend.

Eliza couldn’t purely feel happy about him relying on her.

‘His eyes…’

Since when?

And how long would it last?

‘If he doesn’t recognize me, then…’

Could it simply be because he couldn’t see?

That might be the reason.

If so, then what about her lie?

‘…No, it can’t be that.’

He could respond normally, so his hearing seemed unaffected.

There was no way he would have forgotten her voice.

It wasn’t an arrogant assumption.

They had spent about five years together.

After being knighted as his escort, she had stayed by his side day and night.

‘It must be that he doesn’t remember…’

At this point, it didn’t matter anymore.

Whether he remembered her or not. It was fine.

As long as he was alive.

And as long as she could see him like this.

He didn’t need to remember.

Perhaps it was better for him this way.

After all, those memories weren’t likely good ones.

Was this self-indulgence?

To him, her existence might not have mattered whether remembered or forgotten.

It could be that she was the only one with special feelings.

She didn’t know. How he thought of her.

What was certain, though, was that as long as he stayed alive, she needed nothing more.

Eliza promptly brought the physicians.

May and Gale.

The two immediately examined Judas’s eyesight under her instructions.

Meanwhile, Judas leaned against the headboard of the bed, waiting idly.

‘What’s going on? Why are there suddenly two more people? Doctors?’

Judging by how they were checking his condition, they didn’t seem like bad people.

So, he stayed still.

Instead, he checked his status window for the first time in a while.

‘…Huh? Did the Gigantic Drake die back then?’

The trait formerly known as Guiding Moon had changed names.

[Mended Moon.]

The effect remained the same.

‘Hmm… Not sure. The scripture said the moon was shattered, so mended must mean this is some sort of completed form? Something like that, I guess…?’

Meanwhile, Eliza asked impatiently.

“How is it? Is he really blind?”

“Well… For now, yes. But it seems to be a temporary condition. It should gradually improve over time.”

While May explained, Gale examined other parts of his body.

The wound in the center of his chest, where he’d been stabbed.

It had fully healed.

“I told you to take it easy, didn’t I? Sigh… Tch. Coming back from the brink of death—what the heck is with this guy’s body…?”

There were no remaining external injuries.

The rough handling of the patient somehow felt familiar to Judas.

‘He’s a lot like that old man Gale.’

Beside him, Eliza felt relieved by the confirmation that it was temporary.

“So, it’s only for a while… That’s a relief…”

It wasn’t a situation to fully relax about.

Not because of Judas, but because of her circumstances.

The leader of the Anti-Empire Alliance.

As a key weapon in the war, she couldn’t afford to idle away her time here.

Under the guise of reorganization, all forces were put on defense, but it was only temporary.

It was unsustainable.

It was a burdensome responsibility and position.

Looking back, that was the truth.

The position of nobility.

The responsibility that must be borne in proportion to the privilege enjoyed.

Never once, from childhood, had she willingly taken on that responsibility.

It was a luxury she had never desired.

She had simply been a naive child, happy as long as she was with her mother.

And now, she just wanted to be by Judas’s side.

She wanted to ignore everything else.

But once you take on a responsibility, you can’t just abandon it as you please.

For the next few days, Eliza cut down on sleep and managed her time as tightly as possible.

She stayed by Judas’s side while he was awake, and at night, she led operations or went to the battlefield.

It wasn’t until the early hours of the morning that she would return and fall asleep beside Judas’s bed.

Her complexion grew haggard, and dark circles deepened under her eyes.

Even so, Eliza was happier than before.

It was a fulfilling life.

On the day Judas tried to eat for the first time since waking up, he accidentally dropped his spoon.

“Ah…”

His vision was still blurry, and his body felt numb, leading to the mistake.

“I’m sorry. I…”

As Judas apologized, Eliza brought him a new spoon and prepared to feed him.

“Oh, no, that’s too much…”

Seeing his hesitation, Eliza smiled faintly.

She repeated the words he had once said to her.

“Ah, open wide.”

With his hearing somewhat restored, he clearly understood her words for the first time in a while.

“Well, I… I do have hands, you know… This is a bit…”

“Hurry. Open up.”

“…You’re unbelievable.”

Scratching his head, Judas reluctantly opened his mouth.

Eliza slipped the spoon into his mouth.

She smiled contentedly as she watched him eat.

When they were younger, Judas often fed her.

She wondered how he had felt back then.

Now, she would never know.

It was a precarious routine.

While caring for Judas, Eliza took great care not to let their skin touch.

She was afraid of causing him harm.

Although the constant warfare made her crave his coldness more desperately with each passing day, she held herself back.

Judas, on the other hand, wished their skin would brush, even just once.

‘Something… hmm… I don’t know, but I feel like I’ll understand if I touch it.’

A warm pull.

Even for a moment, he wanted to feel it.

Gradually, Judas recovered.

He could now recognize that the person beside him had black hair.

Long, wavy black hair.

It reminded him of Eliza.

But surely, Eliza couldn’t be the only person in the world with such hair.

He laughed at himself for entertaining such a ridiculous hope.

Then one day, Eliza asked a question.

It was a somewhat abrupt question, but it had been on her mind for a long time.

She wondered how much he remembered.

“What were you doing before you came here?”

Judas’s hearing had improved enough to catch the words.

He understood enough vocabulary to grasp the full question.

“I was a knight in service.”

“…That means you served someone.”

“Yes, back then.”

“Then why are you working as a mercenary here? I heard you’re quite skilled.”

Judas glanced at her briefly.

Unlike when he first met her, when everything was like a blurry fog, he could now discern her hair color.

And he could tell she was a small woman.

Now that he could somewhat recognize voices, her tone and manner of speaking reminded him of Eliza.

Except for the formal speech.

He smirked at himself.

Thinking it might be Eliza, he was deluding himself.

“Well, it’s not difficult to explain, but you’re unusually curious today.”

“Just curious. We’ve spent so much time together, yet there’s so much I don’t know.”

Indeed, they knew nothing about each other.

Judas hadn’t even asked her name.

He had his reasons for that.

Since it wasn’t a story he couldn’t share, Judas answered lightly.

“I was expelled. They said I wasn’t needed. No, more than that, they said I was a nuisance.”

“……”

“Even sent me to Bethany on deployment orders. It seems she was eager for me to die….”

The listener’s breathing trembled faintly.

But Judas didn’t notice, lost in reminiscing about that time.

“What can you do? A knight does what his master commands. Still, I had no intention of dying there, so I ran away… and ended up here.”

“…Do you not resent him?”

“Well….”

Resentment.

To say there was none would be a lie.

But even that feeling lasted only briefly.

What remained was self-reproach mixed with lamentation.

In the end, he had neither changed nor achieved anything.

“Not really. I wasn’t particularly resentful. Objectively speaking, I lacked what was needed and became unnecessary. I just had to accept it.”

“…….”

To be spilling such thoughts to someone whose face or name he didn’t even know.

How ridiculous.

Judas belatedly felt awkward.

Perhaps it was because he didn’t know who the other person was, making it easier to speak freely.

These were words he could never say to someone who knew him and Eliza.

Only after a long silence did the other person speak again.

“Have you ever… wanted to go back? Or missed her, the one who was your master?”

Why ask such a thing?

Maybe she found listening to someone else’s story amusing.

But this wasn’t a pleasant question, nor was it a lighthearted moment.

On top of that, this woman kept making him think of Eliza, which made it worse.

He hadn’t even asked her name, because sometimes he found himself thinking she was Eliza.

Because he wanted to think so.

Judas let out a faint sigh and cast his gaze out the window.

He didn’t want to answer while looking at the woman with black hair.

The scenery outside remained hazy and blurred.

Like a watercolor painting, its colors washed out.

When would his eyes finally recover?

After a pause, he barely managed to speak.

The answer wasn’t directed at the person beside him but seemed intended for the master who could no longer hear him.

“Always.”

“…….”

“Always, ever since I left. Not a single day has gone by without it.”

“…….”

“Even in those last moments as I fled Bethany, I kept wondering, ‘What if she comes?’ I thought if she sought me out, I could return at any time.”

It was all in the past now.

A long silence followed.

Judas turned to look at the person beside him, feeling his response had been too sentimental.

‘Why so quiet…? It’s making me feel embarrassed.’

Her black hair spread out like ink.

Still, he couldn’t make out her face.

As he observed her quietly, Judas suddenly flinched.

‘…Wait. Could it be this person is…?’