Chapter 60
“I think so too. Well, as a knight, I should pretend not to notice my master’s secrets.”
“Since there’s a difference in status, it’s understandable to hide things.”
Dering made his own conclusion and said with pity,
“Lady Melody must be having a hard time.”
Melody ignored the fading voice behind her and kept walking.
When she returned to the campfire, she saw Awhin and Deonis sitting far apart from each other.
They were at opposite ends, as far as they could be.
“Come here.”
“This way, please.”
Both of them gestured to Melody. Her eyes flicked between them.
Awhin’s face was pale as he stood there, while Deonis, half-leaning up, looked dark and unwell. Melody walked toward Deonis.
“I’ll go to the duke. I’m worried about his wound.”
“If you receive healing, it would be over.”
“Isn’t restoring the barrier stone more important?”
“……”
Awhin frowned so deeply that lines formed on his forehead.
Melody pulled a blanket from her bag, spread it over the cleared ground, and sat down.
It was the best seat available.
“Are you both not tired?”
“I can endure.”
“I’m fine.”
Awhin bit his dry lips, and when Deonis noticed Melody’s gaze, he shifted his body to hide his injured arm.
Of course, the wound wouldn’t disappear just by hiding it.
The two men kept exchanging sharp glances, but Melody didn’t have the energy to care.
She lay down. It was hard, but lying down felt a little better.
She had stayed up nights making magic tools, and after wandering through the forest for three days, she was so exhausted she couldn’t even move her fingers.
“I’m tired, so I’ll rest first.”
Rustling came from above her, and she saw Deonis move to block the moonlight that was falling on her face.
Watching him, Melody closed her eyes.
Sleep quickly pulled her under.
Melody woke to the sound of faint groaning.
She didn’t know how much time had passed, but only glowing embers remained in the fire.
She sat up with a stiff body and saw Deonis.
He was curled up under the morning sunlight, sweating coldly.
“Duke…?”
Deonis was leaning uncomfortably against a tilted wall, letting out weak groans again and again.
Instinctively, she looked for Awhin, but he was nowhere to be seen.
Melody reached out to check his temperature.
Thankfully, his forehead felt warm, like her own—no fever.
‘That’s a relief.’
Just then, a rough hand grabbed her wrist.
“Ah…!”
Her vision flipped in an instant.
With a thud, Deonis pushed her down and climbed on top of her, gripping her throat tightly.
“…ghk…!”
Melody swallowed a groan.
Her breath was cut off, and she couldn’t say a word.
But soon, his eyes came back to focus.
“…Melody?”
“Yes… it’s me.”
At that moment, the strength in his hand dropped away.
His voice came out low, hoarse, and frightened.
“Did I… hurt you?”
“Cough, cough… No. I’m okay.”
Melody shook her head.
Deonis backed away, breathing roughly as if he had been the one strangled.
“…Did you have a nightmare?”
In his red eyes, fear still lingered.
“I dreamed of the days in the palace…”
“……”
“Every day was a nightmare.”
Deonis had left the imperial palace for the duke’s estate when he was seventeen.
So back then, he was younger and weaker than he was now.
Imagining him enduring all that pain inside the barrier at such a young age made Melody’s chest ache.
Deonis’s eyes flicked to her neck.
“Did I…?”
Was there a mark left there?
It felt like he was more hurt by this than she was. Melody quickly changed the subject.
“Sir Awhin must have gone to pray. Or maybe he went to check for monsters.”
Deonis only moved his lips slightly. His face was still clouded with confusion.
“Did you grow up… in a place like this?”
He asked slowly.
“Yes, sort of. There were fewer monsters than here, but it was similar.”
“Didn’t you resent your father?”
“Not resent… more pity. Every time he told me stories about the outside world, he would look at me with such sadness.”
Everywhere Melody went, people always spoke of life inside the barrier.
Like warriors singing of a lost homeland.
The most beautiful, the most peaceful time—
when humans could live like humans.
But Melody had never lived inside the barrier.
So instead, she was more drawn to the outside world.
She learned rune formulas from her father, and magic circles from other mages.
She faced endless monsters, and the world of magic was limitless.
Sometimes, someone would bring her books, and those were her greatest joy.
For her, not knowing life inside the barrier felt almost like a blessing.
But her father always felt guilty—
that his young daughter, not even a mage, had to run every day from monsters just to survive.
When she chewed on dry bread for meals, when she curled up in a dark cave to sleep—
his face was always filled with guilt and sorrow.
“So I thought… if it made Father sad, then I didn’t need to go there. But one day, someone gave me a chocolate cookie. It was so delicious. When I was little, my dream was to eat a pile of chocolates stacked high.”
Deonis pictured young Melody and a faint smile appeared on his lips.
“Did your dream come true?”
“…No. I don’t eat them anymore.”
“Why not?”
Melody paused.
At some point, she could no longer eat chocolate.
She knew her father hadn’t left just because she liked sweets—
but still, she couldn’t bring herself to eat it.
“…I guess my tastes changed. It just started to taste bitter.”
She pushed down the rising ache in her chest.
“Do you like chocolate cookies, Duke?”
“What does it mean to like something?”
“It means… you think of it every day. You want it. And if you can’t have it, it feels like you’ll die.”
Deonis thought for a moment, then looked straight at her.
“Think of it every day.”
His red eyes stirred quietly.
“Want it.”
Melody avoided his piercing gaze and looked down at her fingers.
“Feels like you’ll die if you can’t have it.”
His gloved hand brushed her fingertips.
“Then I must like it.”
It was only for a moment.
But when she lifted her head, his red eyes burned with heat.
Her heart nearly stopped.
“…When we return, I’ll have a chocolate cookie. For now, I’ll go check on my magic tools.”
Melody jumped up and left in a rush, almost running away.
Her pounding heartbeat replaced the sound of her footsteps.
She didn’t know why—
but it felt like she had just ruined everything.
