The Escort Knight Who Is Obsessed by the Villainess Wants to Escape - Chapter 129

After sharing a somewhat embarrassing story, Judas glanced at the other person and flinched.

‘…Wait. Could it be this person?’

The only discernible feature was the black hair.

The figure was trembling noticeably.

‘Una…?’

Even the voice sounded similar.

It was a ragged, almost sobbing breath.

‘Was it really that sad of a story…?’

It wasn’t just light sniffles—it was the sound of someone crying quite sorrowfully.

“Um… are you alright?”

The other person nodded.

Judas had planned to ask for their name today, but in this state, it was out of the question.

Finally managing to regain his composure, Eliza asked,

“By any chance, do you know who that person is…?”

She had intended to ask if they remembered but couldn’t finish as a fresh wave of grief overwhelmed her.

The memory of someone who couldn’t let go of their lingering attachment, even in their final moments, was both heartbreaking and filled her with guilt.

She regretted the words she’d said back then.

He wished he had thought things through a little more carefully before deciding.

At the same time, a glimmer of hope sprouted.

Having waited and longed for so long, perhaps he remembered her after all.

That hope crumbled with the next response.

“Well… not quite.”

Judas couldn’t casually reveal the name of his previous master.

Even if he had been cast out, he couldn’t speak it lightly.

Of course, Eliza and he were well-known enough that it wouldn’t be hard to figure out if one tried.

But saying his former master’s name aloud himself felt inappropriate.

Eliza misunderstood that answer to mean Judas didn’t remember.

“Ugh… Hic…”

It hurt.

A spreading pain constricted she entire body.

And she felt wronged.

She missed the place she longed to return to so much, but the person she sought didn’t even remember her.

The person in question was right here, mere steps away.

She wanted to reach out.

The other person felt the same way.

But they couldn’t touch—and they shouldn’t.

Eliza bit her lip hard enough to draw blood.

She had to hold back the tears.

She was just an ordinary mage, after all.

Crying this sorrowfully was far too strange.

Would seeing her cry like this jog Judas’s memory?

That hopeful imagination had no grounds.

Judas, flustered by her choking sobs, tried to lighten the mood.

“Well, um… I didn’t know you were this sensitive. If I had, I’d have kept it lighter.”

Suddenly, Eliza stopped crying.

Sensitive?

No one had ever said that to her before.

She had never thought of herself that way, either.

Someone who laughed and cried easily, she’d never associated herself with that kind of personality.

But around Judas, she was like this.

Laughing and crying so easily.

Whenever she was with Judas, controlling her emotions was near impossible.

It wasn’t until meeting him that Eliza realized this side of herself.

But that precious realization held no value.

Without Judas, neither that realization nor Eliza herself meant anything.

Judas’s words weren’t entirely without effect.

Thanks to the overwhelming sense of futility she suddenly felt, Eliza managed to stop crying.

She answered with a faint, helpless smile.

“You’re right. I guess I just learned this about myself today.”

In the end, she couldn’t tell Judas that she was the master Judas should return to.

It would only hurt her more to say such things to someone who didn’t remember.

If pain could accomplish something, she’d be willing to endure anything for Judas.

But if it was meaningless, she didn’t want to hurt anymore.

She’d already suffered more than enough.

The pain in her life had long since overflowed.

So much so that she sometimes thought dying would be easier than enduring such a miserable existence.

The only reason she didn’t give in to that thought was the person standing before her.

***

‘…Huh?’

He opened his eyes.

The ceiling above was one he knew well.

This is my room.

Specifically, the bedroom in my house in Jericho.

“Oh, what the…”

My vision had returned.

No longer blurry, everything was clear.

Colors, the distinctions between objects—everything was sharp.

I never realized how comfortable and beautiful it was to see the world properly.

“Life teaches you the strangest lessons.”

I was only completely blind for the first two days.

After that, my vision gradually recovered to a level that, while inconvenient for daily life, was manageable.

But the difference between seeing clearly and not is significant.

“My hearing’s also back to normal.”

The muffled sensation, like listening underwater, was gone, and everything was crisp.

Breathing sounds, the hum of life, the chirping birds outside—these small details felt vivid again.

“That person… She’s still here, aren’t she?”

Beyond the sound of my own breathing, there was another person’s.

By now, it had become familiar.

She stayed by my side, always.

Whether I was asleep or awake.

“Don’t she ever get uncomfortable?”

I glanced slightly to the side, and there she was again.

A head full of thick, wavy black hair rested against the edge of the bed.

As always, she was in a terribly awkward sleeping position—slumped over in the chair, leaning against the bed.

I’d told them countless times she didn’t need to go to such lengths, but she was stubborn.

“…Looking at them now, it’s not just a slight resemblance to Eliza. This head….”

Even the red scarf was the same.

And their clothes… something about them….

She stirred slightly.

Whenever I woke up, she seemed to sense it instantly and would rise with me.

She were an oddly perceptive person.

Why on earth did she care for me so devotedly?

Slowly, she lifted their head.

For the first time, I saw their face.

I wondered how she’d react if I told them my sight had returned.

I felt an inexplicable mix of anticipation and tension.

“…But that doll she was resting on….”

A black cat plushie.

It was definitely the one I had given to Eliza.

“……”

Our eyes met.

Crimson eyes.

Upturned, feline-like corners.

A tear mole beneath their right eye.

Though slightly thinner and more haggard than I remembered, with dark circles under their eyes and messy hair giving off a strangely decadent vibe, this person was unmistakably…

“…Miss Eliza?”

It was the Eliza I knew.

“No way… was the one who’s been taking care of me all this time…?”

It couldn’t be.

Eliza was supposed to be at war.

How did she even find me?

Why?

“……”

Eliza blinked slowly, pressing her fingers into her cheeks as if pinching herself awake.

Was she thinking this was a dream?

“If anything feels like a dream, it’s this, not… why would you…?”

Eliza, who had been staring blankly at me, suddenly leapt onto the bed.

“Ugh—!”

Startled, I fell flat on my back.

But Eliza didn’t stop.

She climbed onto me, her legs straddling mine, trapping me. Slowly, she crawled up toward my face.

Even so, she maintained a precarious distance. Her body didn’t touch mine directly, only brushing against the blanket and her clothes.

“W-Why are you doing this all of a sudden…!”

Eliza planted her hand next to my face, peering down at me intently.

Her long hair brushed against me, tickling slightly.

After staring at me for a long moment, she tilted her head like a curious cat.

“…Judas?”

“Y-Yes, that’s me, but why….”

“What did you just call me?”

“Why are you doing this all of a sudden…?”

“Before that.”

“…Miss Eliza?”

“……”

Eliza’s blinking grew faster.

Tears began to well up in her crimson eyes.

The shimmering tears looked just like jewels.

“Judas, You… You… remember now…?”

“…What?”

For a moment, my thoughts froze.

What in the world is she talking about?

“Remember…? What do you mean?”

“…?”

The expression on Eliza’s face, which seemed on the verge of tears, was suddenly painted with confusion.

She examined my face as if she were scrutinizing it.

“You… You nearly died and had short-term memory loss, didn’t you?”

“Me? Memory loss?”

“You didn’t even recognize me…”

“I… didn’t? When… did that happen?”

“…….”

“…….”

After a long silence and a brief exchange, we arrived at a ridiculous conclusion.

I leaned against the bedside, and Eliza sat in a chair.

.

.

“So…”

She began summarizing our earlier conversation.

“It turns out your vision and hearing were only temporarily impaired.”

“…Yes.”

“And the reason we could even talk in the meantime was purely based on deduction.”

“Yes…”

“You didn’t recognize me simply because your senses were dulled, and it didn’t make sense for me to be here. That’s all.”

“Yes.”

“So my assumption that you had lost your memory… was just my mistake.”

“…….”

I awkwardly averted my gaze.

I wanted to die of embarrassment.

Eliza was the one who had taken care of and protected me from the beginning.

This situation was absurd. Sometimes my wild imagination turned into reality, but…

Fine, I could accept that much.

‘Always. Always, it’s been that way. Since you left, not a single day has passed without it.’

That’s what I said yesterday in response to her question about whether I had missed her.

The words echoed in my head like a haunting refrain.

‘I want to die….’

I hadn’t realized it was Eliza who had heard me when I said that.

‘I wish I could just faint right now….’

Of course, no such luck.

Eliza sat blankly, as if replaying our earlier conversation in her mind. Then, she covered her face with both hands.

Her shoulders shook as she sobbed again.

“I’m so relieved… truly relieved…”

What is she relieved about?

I waited for her to calm down and asked,

“Was it you who saved me?”

“…Yes.”

“How…? Did you come looking for me?”

She nodded.

“Why did you do that?”

It wasn’t an accusation or an attempt to scold her. I was genuinely curious.

Eliza hesitated, glancing at me nervously.

“Because I missed you…”

“…….”

Eliza had changed a lot in the time I hadn’t seen her.

“I missed you so, so much….”

She had grown excessively honest.

For now, I decided to hear her out patiently.

Her first statement was shocking.

“First of all, I knew you weren’t actually dead.”

“…….”

Genius?

How did she know?

Well, Eliza is a genius, but still…

She glanced at my expression before whining softly,

“I just… know. When it’s about you, I just know everything.”

“I-I see….”

“Anyway, so… I thought it was because of what I said that you… well… I just… didn’t want to look for you…”

Eliza’s voice trembled as if she was choking up.

She wiped her face again, tears streaming down.

I unconsciously raised my hand to wipe away her tears like I used to.

But when Eliza saw my hand, she flinched and stepped back in surprise.

Feeling awkward, I lowered my hand again.

Does she really dislike me touching her so much…

“Anyway, after that… honestly, I don’t remember much. I can’t recall. I made the declaration of war and kept busy running around.”

“I know it’s awkward to ask this right now, but… is it really okay for you to be doing this here?”

Eliza is in the middle of a war.

Moreover, she is the most critical asset of the Anti-Empire Alliance.

Contrary to my concerns, Eliza remained composed.

“I’ve taken all the necessary measures. I even made time to leave at dawn.”

Her tone suggests I shouldn’t worry.

Even amidst everything, her diligence in fulfilling her duties is impressive.

“I don’t clearly remember how I ended up in Jericho. It just felt natural to come here. Strangely enough, it was as if you were leading me… And then, really, I saw you here.”

The Gigantic Drake.

She said that when she saw it attacking and devouring me, all her hazy memories came back to her.

Right after, Eliza killed the Drake instantly, tore open its belly, and rescued me.

‘…It’s still shocking. That she could kill it in one strike.’

After that, thinking I had lost my memory, she stayed by my side until now.

Eliza hesitated, looking at me, then spoke in a dejected voice.

Her head hung low like a scolded child, her fingers fidgeting nervously.

“I’m sorry… for saying those awful things to you… I shouldn’t have said them…”

“Then why did you… back then…?”

“I told you that if you stayed close to me, it would lead to your death.”

Eliza explained, saying she’d heard it from Epona.

She had rapidly grown strong by absorbing my magic since childhood.

But as a result, my body had reached its limits.

At the end of that road, she’d been told I wouldn’t survive.

As proof, black scorch marks had started appearing on my body at the time.

“I thought keeping you close would put you in even greater danger, so I decided to send you far away… I figured you’d try to run away while heading to Bethany. If I told you the truth, you’d probably have stayed, even if it meant dying. So I judged it better to drive you away, even if it meant lying…”

Surprisingly, she was spot on.

Had she tried to reason with me kindly, I would have stubbornly stayed by her side.

Of course, I would’ve tried to find another way to deal with the situation without getting too close to her.

“I’m sorry…”

Eliza’s voice cracked as she sobbed.

“Really, I’m so sorry… The things I said back then weren’t entirely true… They were lies…”

Her apology doesn’t erase the words I heard back then.

The words that I was unnecessary.

That she’d rather I be dead.

The expression she wore then.

The air and scent of the office.

How I felt in that moment.

I remember every single detail.

I stared silently at Eliza.

How did I spend the time while she was gone?

I thought back to those days and my emotions.

I listened to outside news every day.

I often dreamt.

There was so much more.

I felt my neck bare without the necklace and sometimes called her name in my sleep.

There wasn’t much to think about.

The answer was so obvious it made me chuckle.

‘From long ago, I’ve already…’

I slowly opened my mouth, holding onto one lingering curiosity.

“I…”

***

“So that’s how it was…”

Levi nodded as he scanned the documents in his hand.

The papers contained all the information gathered thus far, neatly organized.

“Bethlehem. The village Eliza stayed in before returning to her family. And that guy, Judas, he was there…”

So, could Eliza expelling Judas be related to this incident?

Hard to say. It’s ambiguous.

Shouldn’t the direction of negative emotions be aimed elsewhere?

‘Or maybe not. Perhaps it’s just the folly of a fool blinded by emotions.’

Emotions often shake reason.

‘By the way, Judas… is he really dead?’

That’s the official story.

Eliza dispatched Judas to Bethany, and he died there.

But Levi didn’t believe it.

Eliza’s recent period of rest had lasted far too long.

She had been fighting recklessly, as if she didn’t care if she died, and then, suddenly?

“It could really just be from accumulated fatigue… but if not.”

Judas was not dead, and Eliza had found him.

Levi speculated as much.

If that were true, the utility of this information would increase even further.

This is information that becomes more significant when the two of them are together and close.

“I hope no one else knows about this information besides me…”

Levi pondered while looking out the carriage window.

“How should I use this?”

A sly smile had unknowingly formed on his face.