Chapter : 44
It was the moment when I had given up on everything.
Screeech—
A sound came from the door that shouldn’t have been audible at all.
“Eani?”
Hearing someone call my name, I slowly lifted my head and looked ahead.
I couldn’t believe it.
The door that had never opened no matter how desperately I wished for it…
‘It’s… opening…’
A single beam of light pierced the pitch-black darkness.
“Eani!”
The man who shouted ran to me in a flash.
Then he knelt down to meet my eye level.
“Are you hurt?! Why are you sitting here?!”
I stared blankly at the man examining me.
Black hair, gray eyes, a cold and strong-looking appearance.
‘But the fool who always doesn’t know what to do when he sees me…’
“Hartn.”
His name slipped out naturally.
At that, Hartn’s eyes filled with sorrow, and he pulled me tightly into his arms.
“I’m so sorry for being late.”
I bit my lips tightly at his words.
If I were trapped in this room, no one would come to save me.
No matter how much I trembled in the darkness, no one would find me.
That’s why I had to endure everything alone for my whole life, abandoning all hope.
‘But now…’
Finally, someone had come to take me out of this room.
Breathing shallowly, blinking my eyes, I muttered quietly.
“You’re really late…”
Tears fell before I could even stop them.
“How long… have I waited…”
I had tired myself out waiting, scolding myself that no one would come to save me.
“Only now… only now…”
Hot tears burned at my eyes and streamed endlessly.
I buried my face in Hartn’s chest, hitting him lightly.
As if trying to absorb even my resentment, he hugged me tightly and whispered.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry, Eani. I won’t be late again.”
So don’t cry.
His words, meant to comfort me, only made me cry even harder.
In the end, I had to cry for a long while in his wide embrace.
Haah—. I knew this trap was obvious, but when it actually happened, I panicked immediately.
Even though I was trying to hold onto my mind.
I sighed deeply, being held by Hartn like a princess.
My fingertips were still trembling violently.
‘And this is the weakest trap?’
No wonder people collapse before even obtaining the magic core.
I sighed again, and Hartn, still holding me as he walked, spoke.
“Are you tired? Want to rest a little longer?”
Too exhausted to respond, I just shook my head.
Hartn looked at me pityingly, then continued walking with steady, unshaken steps.
I relaxed completely, resting my head on his chest.
‘A little embarrassing.’
Thanks to my repressed trauma, I had shown Hartn an unsightly sight.
He had only tried to help me, trapped in a hallucination and unable to collect myself.
‘But I connected it with my trauma on my own… and treated him like my savior.’
And then I cried and pouted like a child.
Of course, I was sure Hartn would never abandon me even if I showed him this side of me.
But being certain and being embarrassed are two different things.
‘Still… I feel like the wounds inside me have healed a little.’
I felt slightly relieved inside.
Apparently, back then, while I was mocking myself for having abandoned hope, I had desperately wished that someone would save me.
‘In modern times, I didn’t want to acknowledge this weak side of myself, so I buried it.’
Thanks to that, I now had a little leeway to face my wounds.
Glancing at Hartn, my eyes caught his ears.
Seeing his warm, reddish ears, I couldn’t help but smile faintly.
‘…By the way, is Hartn really unaffected?’
After a short rest, I regained some energy and asked him.
“Are you okay, Hartn?”
“Hmm? What do you mean?”
“This… right in the middle of the trap…”
The ominous magic from earlier was strongest here.
Even I, who had been arrogant as the next great mage, had been severely affected by this terrifying trap—but Hartn walked through it calmly, showing no signs of trouble.
“Hm, indeed—.”
“Indeed?”
“It’s just the same cave. It’s unusually dark, so it feels a bit stifling.”
‘Wow, I expected it, but he really doesn’t feel anything.’
Honestly, thanks to Hartn, I had snapped out of it, but I still hadn’t fully escaped the hallucination.
I could still see this place as the semi-basement room from before, not the interior of a cave.
‘If I hadn’t been held by Hartn, I wouldn’t even have been able to walk properly.’
Even this cruel trap couldn’t stop him.
I realized again just how powerful the “Sun Mage” truly is.
‘Hehe, soon I might get one step closer to that “Sun Mage”~.’
I smirked slightly, and Hartn paused, glancing around.
“But… where are we?”
“Lost our way again?”
“Ahem. I’m not bad with directions, but… as soon as we entered, the magic lamp went out, so there was nothing I could do.”
Even though the trap didn’t affect Hartn, this explained why he couldn’t leave the cave.
‘The cave is darker than I thought, so we lost our way.’
No matter how sharp his night vision was, he couldn’t enhance it with magic like I could.
And the ominous magic filling the cave even broke the magical lamp, so it was understandable to lose direction.
Still, there was no major worry.
Piyo-oooong!
We had a canary that was even more sensitive to magic than I was.
Flying like the wind, the canary chirped violently above Hartn’s head.
Piyo! Piyo!
It pecked at the crown of his head.
“Hrm.”
Hartn frowned slightly.
Startled, the canary flinched, but apparently, it didn’t allow itself to be weak and attacked him even more fiercely.
Holding me and unable to use his hands, Hartn muttered incredulously.
“Why does this bird hate me so much?”
“Hehehe.”
I laughed softly.
I remembered the bird finding me while I was trapped in the illusion with Hartn.
‘Back then, this bird had me in disarray, too.’
I was curious why a bird that liked me so much would show such hostility toward Hartn.
‘Does it discriminate between people?’
I tilted my head, then shrugged.
‘I’ll figure it out eventually.’
I had decided to raise this bird by my side.
I had never thought of raising animals before—but seeing the canary that found me with Hartn changed my mind.
-If I ever get into real danger, you must take responsibility and help me.
‘I said this before entering the cave…’
Remembering that, the canary immediately found the wandering Hartn and guided him to me.
How could I leave such a loyal bird behind?
I smiled faintly and extended my index finger.
The canary, which had been hostile toward Hartn, perched on my finger.
I gently stroked its small head and said,
“Looks like Hartn lost you again.”
Piyong
“From now on, I’ll make sure he doesn’t lose you.”
The canary looked at me with black eyes, flapped its wings, and flew back into the air.
Watching the canary, I fixed Hartn’s messy hair.
“Hartn, this is the third time you’ve lost it.”
“Ahem. As I said before, it’s not that I’m bad with directions, it’s just too dark to see the bird.”
He excused himself and hurried on.
This time, he didn’t lose the canary, and we safely reached the cabin we had seen earlier.
Hartn looked at the cabin with slight surprise.
“A cabin in a cave?”
“Let’s go inside.”
He nodded and approached the door.
The sign on the door read:
“Those without qualifications may not enter.”
‘Qualifications…’
Narrowing my eyes, I watched Hartn grasp the doorknob and turn it.
