The Escort Knight Who Is Obsessed by the Villainess Wants to Escape - Chapter 54

The golden flames that had wrapped around the wound disappeared.

My flesh became clean, as if it had never decayed.

The poison was purified, but the wound was not healed.

Blood gushed from the open flesh.

“Heal it.”

Eliza spoke in a choked voice.

The Doctor hurriedly opened his emergency kit and explained.

“The wound is quite serious. I’ll perform first aid, but it will need proper treatment afterward.”

“Then do that. Do everything you can.”

The Doctor nodded and began to stop the bleeding.

“Gah…! Ugh…”

I almost screamed.

The pain of stuffing gauze into the open wound and squeezing it with all my might was indescribably excruciating.

‘Wow…. Damn…’

I bit my molars tightly, holding back curses inside.

It hurt more than being stabbed by the knife.

The adrenaline was wearing off, and the pain was becoming vivid.

Eliza looked at me with anxious eyes.

Tears were still streaming down her face.

But that wasn’t the problem.

She was half-climbing on top of me, clinging tightly to my chest.

‘So heavy…’

But I couldn’t tell her to get off.

I had no spare energy to speak, and Eliza clung desperately to my collar as if she’d lose everything if she moved even a bit.

‘I was the one who hugged her first…’

In the end, I received treatment while holding her.

Eliza, glaring at the area where I was being treated, spoke.

“Miguel.”

Miguel, who had been waiting near the door, came forward immediately.

“Yes, my lady.”

“Lia.”

“Yes.”

“You both know where Narcissa is hiding.”

They talked about something I didn’t know well.

“I told you before, it’s time to choose sides.”

“…Yes, my lady.”

“Now is the time to decide. I won’t delay it anymore.”

“……”

“If you are going to be my enemy, run away now. Because I have to kill you. But if it’s the other way around, bring me all the information the Bevel family has hidden about Narcissa. Every single piece.”

Lia seemed about to say something but closed her mouth.

Instead, Miguel spoke.

“But my lady… the evidence for the Duchess…”

“Do I have to state the obvious guess?”

Does that mean Narcissa sent the assassin?

I don’t know why she reached that conclusion.

But Eliza seemed convinced.

Lia knelt on one knee first.

Miguel followed suit, bowing his head.

“…We will follow your orders, my lady.”

Their voices were resolute.

“Good. I look forward to it.”

As Eliza spoke calmly, Miguel stood up and hurriedly left.

Lia seemed intent on staying by Eliza ‘s side.

Eliza’s gaze returned to me.

By then, I was about to pass out from the pain of disinfecting my arm.

Eliza looked up at me with weary eyes.

The worried look was unfamiliar.

It was a face that didn’t match Eliza at all.

‘I didn’t know you had so many unfamiliar faces.’

Faces I could never have imagined before being possessed.

Still, for some reason, I was also a little pleased.

I forced a smile to show I was okay.

Eliza’s brow twitched.

She stared into my eyes quietly.

Her gaze, different from the one filled with worry earlier, was now intense, as if trying to pierce into something inside my eyes.

Her pupils, consumed by the mad fire, stared at me for a long time.

For a moment, as if captivated by that fire, I looked back at her while receiving treatment.

It felt like something was being drawn out of me through the hand she held my collar with….

“We’ve done all we can here.”

The Doctor, named May, said.

She quickly packed her emergency kit.

“The wound is deep; we can’t leave it as is. I’ve already requested a cleric from the nearest parish. We need to move to the treatment room now.”

There are many ways to treat wounds here.

Besides traditional methods like visiting a doctor or pharmacist, one can also see a mage who knows healing magic or a cleric who uses divine power.

However, medical knowledge is still essential, so even when using supernatural healing, a professional medical practitioner must always provide guidance.

“Yes. Let’s go right away.”

Eliza stood up immediately.

In her hurry, she first looked for a red blanket and a cat doll.

Meanwhile, the Doctor asked me.

“Can you stand?”

I rotated my ankle while sitting and answered.

“Yes, I can walk on my own.”

Eliza, now fully prepared, stood beside me.

She had the red blanket around her neck and a cat doll in one arm.

The sight somehow made me chuckle.

Unlike me, Eliza was serious.

She took my hand with her free hand.

Warm, soft, small hand.

“Let’s go.”

Eliza walked briskly ahead of the Doctor.

I let her small but firm hand lead me without resistance.

***

The boy walked through the village.

The simple village where he once lived as a shepherd.

The lively voices of the villagers echoed faintly like a hallucination.

The sound of children playing.

The clatter of preparing meals.

The hum of women hanging laundry.

The Sound of Bells That Ring When It’s Time to Pray

Hallucinations distorted the senses.

Sight and smell were also taken away at will.

A farmer led an ox to plow the field.

His sheepdog barked and ran from afar.

The rich smell of soup boiled from leftover cuts spread.

A slightly cool and refreshing afternoon breeze.

A calmly settled sky.

A peaceful landscape.

The shadow of a seemingly eternal daily life pricked the senses and fled beyond the darkness.

The boy walked through the village.

He walked through a village now turned to ruins.

Down a road where no children of his age remained.

Through the silence of a house where the family’s chatter had ceased.

He walked and walked through the ruins, stripped of warmth, huddling.

A flashing blade.

Gushing blood.

Scattered screams.

The death of his parents.

Himself, hidden away.

In the hazy memory, the scene he saw then was as stark as a knife in his mouth.

Even days after, the boy did not leave the ruins.

He just wandered aimlessly.

He lost his way.

Why did this happen?

Would it have been different if he hadn’t hidden?

He couldn’t find answers to different actions.

The answer to this action was hard to accept.

Misfortune that came without reason was like a disaster.

The reason those who wore black armor with glowing patterns came, he didn’t know.

Such a boy found a strange shadow at the village entrance.

Was he seeing things?

No, it was clear.

So clear, it was white.

A person in a white robe, like the shining moon.

He stopped in front of a ruin and prayed with his hands clasped.

When his mumbling ended, he took out an ivory ornament from his chest.

A short chain.

At the end, a round symbol like a full moon dangled.

He prayed to the uninhabited house, then shook the ornament and prayed again.

As he turned, he saw the boy.

Surprised, he hesitated and then approached the boy.

Murky golden eyes looked up at him.

The man spoke.

“You survived. Are you okay?”

The boy replied.

“I don’t know.”

The man looked down at the boy for a moment, then nodded.

“Those eyes. They symbolize the child of revelation. And you are qualified enough.”

The boy didn’t understand and didn’t respond.

“….”

“Let’s take revenge on them.”

“Revenge?”

“Yes, revenge. So they can never make you sad again, you must take revenge on the world.”

“…I don’t know. How?”

“I’ll help you.”

“Who are you, sir?”

“I am….”

“….”

The boy took the man’s hand.

On the man’s robe shoulders, yellow curves were intricately sewn.

Like nails cut and fallen off, thin and sharp.

A pattern resembling a crescent moon.

.

.

.

“Ugh….”

It seems I saw a similar scene to last time in my dream.

It’s too faint to be sure.

Was I deeply asleep, or is my head just foggy?

After being moved to the treatment room, I was soon treated by a priest.

The religion followed by the Bevel family, the religion that worships the main god of this world.

I was treated by a priest of the Sun Church.

Under May’s advice, the healing was successful.

Although lingering pain remained, the wounds were nearly healed.

To prevent further complications, I applied ointment and wrapped it in a bandage, and fell asleep as if fainting after the treatment.

“Why is my hand so heavy….”

I struggled to open my eyes and looked at my heavy left hand.

There was Eliza.

She must have fallen asleep by my side, guarding my sickbed.

With her hand on mine, she slept, slumped over the bed.

“Why is such an important person sleeping in such an uncomfortable position….”

She was there when I was treated, but I didn’t expect her to stay.

She’s sleeping soundly, unaware that I’m awake.

I quietly observed the sleeping Eliza.

A red blanket draped like a cloak.

And the cat doll she uses as a pillow, pressing her face against it.

Both were given by me.

“She looks like a cat, resembling the doll….”

Lately, wherever Eliza goes, she always carries those two items.

Why?

It seems that somehow, to Eliza, I have become more than just a conspicuous candidate.

What does Eliza think of me?

As much as I don’t want to admit it, I can’t ignore it forever.

Suddenly, a memory flashes.

An answer Eliza gave to one of my questions one day.

“Mine.”

I hurriedly shook my head.

I suddenly felt a pang of self-doubt.

Am I drinking kimchi soup just because I saved her a few times?

Why am I like this?

What’s good for me if I become special to her….

Is there? Hmm. To be honest, it’s not that it’s not there.

Well, that’s true…

‘…Ah, damn. I don’t know.’

I don’t know.

I’m not smart, so I don’t hold onto problems I don’t know until I figure them out.

If I don’t know, I just move on without knowing.

Anyway, I saved Eliza this time too.

She might have survived even if it wasn’t for me, but for now, that’s enough.

‘By the way, your face looks much better.’

Eliza’s cheeks used to be swollen.

It was because they were beaten.

That’s also why she used to wear heavy makeup.

But now, Eliza’s cheeks look like mochi.

‘Hmm. Hmmm….’

White, soft cheeks.

The touch I felt just before she died.

Suddenly, I wanted to touch them again.

I know it’s a crazy thought…

The more I looked at them, the more I wanted to touch them, so I turned my head away.

But my gaze was drawn to them like a magnet.

‘…I can’t resist.’

Just a little touch.

I saved these cheeks, didn’t I? So is it really wrong?

After all, she climbed into my bed while I was asleep, right?

Touching her cheeks is nothing compared to that.

“Miss…?”

I called Eliza softly.

She didn’t wake up, deeply asleep.

I glanced around.

There was no one else in the room besides Eliza.

Carefully, I reached out my hand.

Eliza was sleeping with her head on a cat doll, her cheeks bulging out.

My index finger moved carefully towards its destination, as if feeling the air.

I swallowed my saliva without realizing it.

Unlike my tense self, Eliza was breathing slowly, sleeping soundly.

My trembling index finger finally touched her cheek.

It pressed softly.

‘Oh… what’s this….’

It felt like freshly steamed warm rice cake.

Or maybe freshly baked white bread.

Eliza didn’t wake up.

The urge to touch more kept rising.

I decided to be a bit more daring.

I pinched her cheek with my thumb and index finger.

Just a little.

As I pressed, the warm, firm cheek was squeezed under my fingers.

‘Cute, I mean, uh… it is cute… it’s a fact, after all….’

The soft warmth touching my fingers was warm enough to melt my heart.

No matter how scary a villain she is, her cheeks are innocent. Hmm.

I was momentarily lulled by the warmth.

Then I felt a sudden chill and looked around.

Luckily, as I checked earlier, there was no one.

‘Phew…’

I sighed inwardly and looked back at Eliza, nearly dying of a heart attack.

Eliza was looking at me.

With her cheek being pinched by me.

Half-awake, Eliza looked at me with sleepy eyes and quietly asked,

“…What are you doing?”

I forgot to breathe.