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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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“…Goddess.”
Though she wasn’t sure if she deserved to call upon a deity, it was all Adriana could say when she first saw Robert’s condition. It was a truly horrific sight, a miracle that his soul still clung to his body despite the gaping hole in his chest. Tears welled up every time she touched his cold body.
She had braced herself for the possibility of this happening, but the reality was far more gruesome.
“What happened? How did he… sustain such a severe injury?”
“…He saved me. That’s… all.”
Adele, about to say it was her fault, closed her mouth. She didn’t think Robert would want her to say that. And if she did, it felt like he would truly die. Both Adriana and Adele were consumed by anxiety.
Robert had started breathing again when Adriana arrived. But that didn’t change the fact that he was about to die.
If Robert really died like this… could she find a reason to live? Adele shook off the pointless thought and slowly approached Adriana. Robert lay like a corpse. He was so cold that she would have mistaken him for dead if he hadn’t been breathing.
A chill ran down her spine every time she touched his body.
Robert, who had shielded her, and herself, who could only watch… Had he been planning to die like this? She was furious.
She wanted to grab him by the collar the moment he woke up. But her feelings of guilt and affection were stronger than her anger. Her trembling fists clenched, then loosened, and Adriana, who had been watching Adele intently, moved her lips.
“You should rest for a moment. You look exhausted.”
“…I’m fine. I wouldn’t be able to sleep even if I lay down.”
“I understand, but there’s nothing more foolish than blaming yourself. Robert wouldn’t want that either.”
Whoosh-
The light emanating from the Saint’s hand seeped into Robert’s body. The divine grace she had received directly from the Pope granted her greater power. A miraculous power that could even save someone on the verge of death.
Adriana’s face paled as the gaping hole in Robert’s chest slowly closed.
Cold sweat trickled down her face. How much would fate be twisted by saving someone who was dying?
Of course, this miracle would prevent the consequences from deviating too much, but she didn’t know how long she could maintain this healing.
“Haah…”
Adriana, panting, checked Robert’s condition again.
The gaping wound in his chest had completely closed. It was only superficial. To completely heal his shattered heart, she needed more power.
For now, Adele’s mana was serving as a substitute, but she had to heal him, even if it meant pushing herself—
Cough.
Adriana coughed up blood and stumbled back. She rubbed her blurry vision, grasped the floor for support, and then slowly raised her head, feeling a hand supporting her back.
It was Adele.
“…You told me not to push myself, but you’re the one pushing yourself too hard. To return your words, I don’t think Robert would want this either.”
“It’s a situation where I have to save him, even if it means pushing myself. It can’t be helped.”
Adele sighed softly, seeing Adriana wipe the blood from her lips. She knew that the Saint was the only one who could save Robert, but she hadn’t intended for Adriana to push herself this hard.
Her own mana was enough to sustain his heart. The reason Robert was still alive was because of Adriana’s presence.
For some reason, Robert’s regeneration had begun the moment Adriana arrived in the North.
“If you’re not going to rest, I’ll knock you unconscious. You need to rest until your divine power is fully restored.”
Adriana, glaring at Adele at her forceful tone, smiled wryly.
They were in the same boat, after all. There was no need to fight over a man like this. They had to save Robert, especially now. She grabbed Adele’s hand and stood up, but she wasn’t in good condition.
She stumbled several times, pressed her hand to her forehead, then leaned against the wall and forced herself to speak.
“Then I’ll accept your kindness. I’ll come back when dawn breaks, so until then… I need to rest-”
Thud.
Adriana collapsed in Adele’s arms, breathing softly. The amount of divine power needed to regenerate the wound in his chest was equivalent to that of dozens of high-ranking priests combined. It was only natural that she collapsed after handling it all by herself.
Adele pondered for a moment, then carried Adriana to the sofa.
She should leave her alone until she woke up. She knew it was impossible to keep performing miracles like this.
“Strange.”
The words she had said to Robert before the fight with the demons swirled in her mind. The memories of accusing him of being involved with Adriana and getting angry, and the uneasy feelings that had proven true, made her feel complicated.
Now, she was just like Adriana, anxiously trying to save him.
She smiled wryly at the reality that she couldn’t simply like him purely, slumped into a chair, and looked at Robert. The wound that had made her shudder was gone. His eyes, which she always saw open, were closed, but she could clearly hear his breathing.
How long would it take for him to wake up? Even though she couldn’t afford to waste any time, she couldn’t just leave Robert like this.
When would he wake up?
What if he didn’t wake up like this— Adele shook her head, dispelling the negative thoughts. It was better not to have such pessimistic thoughts. She noticed that night had fallen when the faint moonlight filtering through the closed curtains touched Robert, and Adele quietly closed her eyes.
With her eyes closed, she could hear the overlapping sounds of Adriana and Robert’s breathing. The playful voice she was used to hearing was gone. His usually mischievous smiling face was pale and still in sleep.
The thought that this sleep might never end drove her crazy, but Adele, biting her nails, was quite familiar with this feeling.
Before she regained her memories, this anxiety would always creep up on her whenever she thought about Robert.
Come to think of it, it was all Robert’s fault.
Was this what he had meant by their bet last time? And when he asked if she would be able to spend the winter with him…
Had he been trying to tell her that he would find a way to save her?
She hated him. But she couldn’t hate him. She had come too far to harbor such feelings. If she hated him, she would only end up hurting herself. She buried her face in the empty bed.
Perhaps because she had cried all her tears earlier, her eyes only stung, no tears flowing.
“…Idiot.”
Who was she calling an idiot? It was directed at herself, for being saved by him again, and at Robert, at the same time. She had so much she wanted to say. She had been preparing to finally convey the feelings she hadn’t been able to express before.
She hadn’t been able to convey even a single one of those things. She knew it was pointless to regret it now. He would wake up, and she knew she could tell him someday.
But she felt complicated. He had clearly had the strength to completely avoid the demon’s attack, yet he had come to save her and taken the attack that would have killed him instantly if Adriana hadn’t arrived just in time.
If Robert had died there, she would have regretted it for the rest of her life.
“Perhaps…”
She might have died there with him. Even though she knew she shouldn’t, she had momentarily lost her reason in that situation. Her cautiously outstretched hand touched Robert.
He wasn’t cold like before. Perhaps because his breathing had returned and his body had regained some warmth, Adele smiled faintly, caressing his slightly warmed hand.
Many memories flashed through her mind.
The time she had held a sword to his neck when they first met, the time she had ordered him to come to the North simply because she had taken a liking to him, a stranger. And Robert, who had actually come to the North after hearing those absurd words, the fight that had broken out with Bunta.
She hadn’t been pleased about him forming a connection with the Princess, but her heart had skipped a beat when she saw Robert lying there, covered in blood.
She had secretly thought he was dead, but who would have known that he would survive and defeat them all by himself?
“I finally understand why you didn’t hate me.”
She hadn’t remembered Robert, but Robert had remembered everything back then. They had been looking at each other from different perspectives.
She had been living in the present, while Robert had been living in the past.
How would it feel if every action seemed to overlap with the past, if she had witnessed the death of such a person multiple times?
It was an emotion Adele couldn’t even begin to fathom. Many things had changed after she met Robert. She had started to see the rain and the snow.
Sometimes, she would be lost in sentimental thoughts. Sometimes, she would have fantasies that anyone would laugh at, wondering if she should really bring him to the North and make him stay.
She had smiled for the first time, held hands for the first time.
She had worried for the first time about whether she should possess someone. That hadn’t changed even after she regained her memories of the past.
Her first time had always been with Robert Taylor, and it had always been Robert who had made her, a woman who had only ever known how to swing a sword like a butcher, realize her own femininity.
“I had something I wanted to say.”
But she had missed the opportunity. Adele, holding Robert’s hand, quietly took out a small box from her pocket. She had been preparing it for a while, but the Saint had beaten her to it. She should have just kidnapped him.
Adele sighed softly, reached out, and opened the box.
She took out a pair of rings and looked at them for a moment, then slipped one onto Robert’s finger.
The other one… Well, wouldn’t it be better if Robert put it on her himself?
It didn’t have to be a confession. It was a magically treated artifact, so it would be enough if it saved her life once in a dangerous situation.
“I think I like you. No.”
She caressed his hand, and her hand slowly moved up to his cheek. More gently than when he had been bleeding in the Northwest, recalling her past memories.
Adele smiled quietly and added,
“I think I love you.”
Even though she knew he couldn’t hear her, she wanted to say it now. When the time came, she would be able to tell him properly.
Adele renewed her resolve.
She held onto the hope of “later.”
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