Chapter 126
Small and frail, Raphaella didn’t have the strength to fight off a severe cold. Having been isolated for a long time due to the landslide and still reeling from the mental shock of losing her entire family, she was already struggling. On top of that, food was scarce, and she couldn’t eat properly to maintain her nutrition.
The illness that started from accumulated fatigue and cold in her thin, young body had become serious. When her fever spiked, her eyes rolled back and she would have seizures. She even fainted from the constant coughing and difficulty breathing.
Gilli was even more terrified than when the army had passed through.
If Raphaella died too, he would be completely alone. And he realized that the only reason he had been able to endure until now was the sense of responsibility to take care of Raphaella.
The presence of this tiny girl, who would barely turn ten this month, was overwhelmingly significant.
Reluctantly, Gilli had no choice but to go down the mountain to find medicine. The admonitions from his father, saying he must never go alone, no longer held any meaning.
Though only a few times, he had gone down with his father before and had memorized the route. The lower village he had seen back then didn’t feel entirely unfamiliar, and he thought he could trade the supplies he had brought from the shelter like he used to.
But the village, recently scarred by war, was no longer what it once was.
People were all on edge, tense and wary, and prices for food and medicine were exorbitantly high—far beyond what a commoner could even dream of affording. The plain piece of cloth and a packet of dried mushrooms that Gilli offered were clearly insufficient.
“Get lost! Who tries to buy medicine with nonsense like this? You might barely get away with gold!”
“Please… just a little. My little sister is dying of a fever.”
“Your sister? I lost my whole family too!”
“Please! I’ll do anything….”
“You… You came from that stateless village up in the mountains, didn’t you? When our village was burning, you didn’t help! What right do you have to ask anything? If you’d warned us earlier, my family could have escaped. They wouldn’t have died so pointlessly!”
“At that time, our village had already been buried by a landslide. Only my sister and I survived.”
“Then at least you should have come running to warn us! If you could come down now, you should have come back then!”
Should he have? Why?
Gilli was filled with doubt.
Neighbors who had been like family were all dead in an instant, and the father who raised him was murdered. His home had disappeared, and there was no adult to rely on.
Yet these people at least had a village to rebuild. He had nothing.
Shouldn’t they be pitying me instead?
And is this even my fault? To be precise, it was the invading neighboring army’s fault. Why should he bear the blame?
Endless questions swirled in his mind. But the people needed somewhere to vent their anger, and for the young, weak Gilli, there was a “just cause” in their eyes: he hadn’t warned them.
They unleashed their justified violence without restraint.
Gilli had to endure the villagers’ beating until he nearly lost consciousness. Yet the despair of not being able to get medicine for Raphaella stung far more than the wounds on his body.
Too dejected to notice that someone was watching his retreating figure, Gilli trudged on.
Not wanting to return to the cabin empty-handed, he scoured the snow that sank past his thighs and managed to catch a single sparrow.
“If only it had been a pigeon… I could’ve fed Raphaella some meat.”
He resolved that in spring he would set traps and catch rabbits and deer to provide her with nourishing food. Just imagining Raphaella’s emaciated arms plumping up made his heart swell with anticipation. How adorable would her cheeks look once they became smooth again, free of the sores from malnutrition?
Yet at the end of such imagining lay cruel reality.
When Gilli lifted the ladle to stir the pot, he found that the meat had shrunk further after cooking, even smaller than before.
“Ella… I’ll feed you.”
Gilli blew on the tiny piece of meat, about the size of an egg, and picked it apart. Though the total amount barely filled a spoon, he placed it all in Raphaella’s bowl. He hoped that at least this would give her a little strength.
He put the remaining bones back in the pot to make broth until they softened.
As soon as Gilli returned with the thin soup, Raphaella, sitting on the bed, looked straight at him.
“Ella! Why are you crying? Are you in pain?”
“…Huh?”
Startled, Gilli hurried over and then realized that tears were streaming down Raphaella’s cheeks, wetting them.
She wiped her face with her sleeve and, with a bright expression, answered:
“No… it doesn’t hurt.”
“Then why were you crying so hard?”
“…H-Huh… I yawned!”
“What?”
“Ah… I felt sleepy sitting on the bed.”
Even though Gilli knew she was awkwardly trying to change the subject, he just smiled, accepting it. After all she had been through, she had a right to cry. Pressing her further might only make her more uneasy.
Gilli sat naturally by the side of the bed, scooping a spoonful of soup and blowing on it to cool it.
“I won’t ask anymore. Ah, here.”
“Aah~”
Raphaella obediently ate the soup. It was a bland broth with finely chopped potatoes and tough, fishy meat that had stringy fibers. But she was so hungry that she swallowed it all without chewing.
Then she noticed something she hadn’t seen before: Gilli’s face, battered and bruised, and his clothes caked in dirt.
Why hadn’t she noticed earlier?
It was as if someone had taken her eyesight and returned it suddenly; it hit her all at once.
“O-oppaa! Why does your face look like that?”
“Ah, this… I rolled in the snow while catching the sparrow.”
“Liar! Then whose footprints are on your clothes? Who? Who hit our oppa? I’ll get revenge. Tell me quickly!”
“Hahaha… What can a little girl like you do? Now, eat and get better. Ah~”
“No! I won’t eat until you tell me.”
“Being stubborn won’t work.”
“You can’t be stubborn either, oppa!”
“You little rascal… If you keep this up, the soup will get cold. Be good, okay?”
Though young, mischievous, and reckless, Raphaella was clever for her age. She quickly realized that Gilli had gone to the village and had been severely beaten there.
Raphaella was angry but bit her lip in guilt. Still, she hesitated and asked in a small voice:
“…It’s because of me, isn’t it?”
“No, really, I just rolled.”
“I mean… you went down to get medicine because I was sick, and that’s why…?”
“Yes, exactly.”
“Those bad people! How could they hit a child like that? When I grow up, I’ll crush them all. Not one spared, I’ll beat them all the same.”
“What? Beat them? Hahaha… why is my little one so fiery?”
Gilli laughed as if she were adorable.
He couldn’t help laughing at the thought of her tiny, skinny arms actually hitting anyone. Strangely, the place where he had been hit earlier didn’t hurt at all; it felt more like a badge of honor. Wasn’t it written somewhere that a knight protecting a princess could consider injuries a medal?
Raphaella puffed out her cheeks and stuck out her lips, pouting.
“It’s not that I’m fiery! You’re just too soft! Didn’t you fight back when they hit you?”
“Fight back…? Huh, you’re right. I didn’t even think about it.”
It was true. Though it was unfair, fighting back wasn’t even an option in his mind. He had never thought about hitting someone.
All he knew was to dodge or endure. His father had always taught him that. Don’t face people, don’t cause trouble, no matter what happens, just pass quietly.
“Ugh… I can’t even rest while sick. Oppa is too soft; I have to protect you.”
“Right. This oppa needs Ella to protect him.”
“Mm! Then then!”
“So, how should we protect each other?”
“…Learn swordsmanship?”
Raphaella considered this answer carefully. Gilli chuckled and gently pinched her nose.
“Ow!”
“Wrong answer. Eat well and grow strong.”
“…Okay.”
“Now, say ah~”
“Ah.”
“Good girl.”
Gilli smiled with satisfaction, moving his spoon diligently until the soup bowl was empty.
By the time Raphaella finished the soup, darkness had already fallen outside. Gilli tidied the kitchen and drank a little of the broth himself. That was the end of their dinner.
He moved the remaining embers to the central hearth and lit the fire. There wasn’t much wood left, so he didn’t know how long it would last, but at least it would help them endure the night’s cold.
Raphaella lay on the bed, coughing lightly, watching Gilli move busily through the tiny cabin. Her shoulder blades protruded over her stiff clothing.
“Cough, cough.”
Raphaella, still coughing, wanted to tell Gilli to drink a bit more soup, but…
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Someone knocked on the cabin door before she could say anything.
