“…!”
The one looking down at me with a face twisted by a mix of worry and fury was none other than Rastan.
Before I even had time to be shocked, he immediately loosened the gag in my mouth. Then he pulled me tightly into his embrace.
Relief, joy, the overwhelming sense that I was finally safe — all of it surged together in my mind. But the situation wasn’t over yet.
“What—what is that?!”
“Get rid of him!”
From behind us came the sound of other assailants’ footsteps rushing toward us.
‘Right. This isn’t the time to be holding me like this!’
A beat too late, I snapped back to reality and turned around to look. Or rather, I tried to.
But Rastan grabbed the back of my head with one hand, preventing me from moving.
“Rastan…?”
Still holding me against his chest, he lowered both hands behind me and untied the rope binding my hands.
‘No, freeing me is great, but that’s not the urgent part right now!’
Startled by his strange sense of priorities, I tried to squirm — just then, the assailants’ footsteps behind us suddenly stopped.
And then came a series of chilling sounds — crack, crunch — followed by agonized screams.
“Aaaagh!”
“Ugh, uh—!”
‘What on earth is happening right now?’
I tried to turn my head again, but by then Rastan had already finished untying the rope and raised one hand to stop me, just like before.
In the meantime, there came the sound of bodies collapsing heavily onto the ground.
I was desperate to know what was going on, but I couldn’t understand why he kept blocking my view.
I tried to lift my head to look at his face, but for some reason, Rastan wouldn’t allow even that.
Instead, just like earlier, he pulled my face back into his chest.
It felt as though he didn’t want me to see what was happening behind us, but at the same time, it also seemed like he didn’t want to show me his own face.
Suddenly, I felt a sense of deja vu from when I first met Rastan in this life.
‘That’s right, it was like this back then too. The thugs collapsed in pain for reasons I couldn’t understand, and Rastan made sure I couldn’t see it.’
All this time, I had often felt that he was hiding something from me. And now, I wanted to know the truth.
Maybe it was only because, unlike in my previous life, I wasn’t in a position of just owing him endlessly anymore that this bold curiosity was finally rearing its head.
“Rastan.”
Because I’d been so tense and shaken, my voice came out trembling, but I still managed to speak more clearly than I’d expected.
Rastan immediately answered in a low voice, almost whispering into my ear.
“Everything is fine now. You don’t need to be afraid anymore.”
Strangely enough, the warmth and steadiness of his voice calmed my trembling.
“Yes, but why won’t you let me look behind us?”
“Because it’s not something worth letting your eyes take in.”
“What if I am okay with it?”
“I don’t want to show you something that filthy.”
Reassured a little by his calm tone, just like always, I trusted him and stubbornly insisted.
“It is fine. I want to know what kind of situation this is.”
A soft sigh drifted down over my head.
It was obvious he was troubled, but as if there were no helping it, he loosened the arm that was holding me just a little.
With some space opening up, I was able to turn my body around.
And in the very next moment, the sight that unfolded before my eyes made me suck in a sharp breath.
“…!”
All of the assailants were sprawled on the ground, their arms and legs grotesquely twisted, foam spilling from their mouths.
I’d somewhat expected it, but seeing it with my own eyes was far more horrific than I’d imagined.
It was a terrible sight, but from the occasional twitch of their bodies, it seemed they were at least still alive.
Perhaps because I was seeing something I’d never seen or even heard of in my life, strength suddenly drained from my legs.
Rastan, who was still holding me, tightened his arms and supported my body.
Holding me close from behind, he spoke softly into my ear.
“See? I didn’t want to show you because I was afraid you would be startled. I will take care of all the filthy things, so it is fine for you to just live looking at beautiful things.”
Then, just like that, he carefully lifted me up in his arms.
“Pardon me.”
It seemed he’d noticed that there was still no strength in my body.
My body trembled so badly that even my fingertips felt cold, and I couldn’t bring myself to say things like that I was fine or to put me down.
But as he carried me, I happened to catch sight of his face—and his eyes were strange.
‘…Again.’
Since it was dark night, it wouldn’t have been strange if I couldn’t clearly make out the color of his eyes.
But the problem was that inside his pupils, two different colors were swirling like smoke without blending together.
No—rather, it looked as if one color was pushing the other aside, gradually taking up more and more space.
Still, I only managed to see his eyes for a fleeting instant.
It was as if Rastan didn’t want to show me that, because he quickly turned his head away—and at the same time, Ris came running toward us.
Without stopping, she almost slid on her knees and dropped to the ground right in front of us.
“I failed to protect you, my Lady! Please allow me to repay this sin with my death!”
Saying she would await judgment, she prostrated herself and slammed her forehead against the floor.
“No, Ris…”
I opened my mouth in shock to stop her, but Rastan was faster. He looked at her and spoke in a flat, emotionless voice.
“You were outnumbered, and they had Evelyn as a hostage. It couldn’t have been an easy fight.”
It seemed he was willing to let it go, but instead Ris shouted even more loudly.
“A soldier speaks only through results! I will not make any pathetic excuses! I, Ris—!”
At that moment, Rastan gave a small shake of his head and cut her off.
“Enough. I didn’t assign additional guards because I intended to come myself.”
This time, it was me who was stunned.
I turned my head to look at him.
“What? Why are you even here?”
Only after saying that did I realize that, unlike a moment ago, his eyes had returned to a single, steady color, just like usual.
However, Rastan answered immediately, leaving me no chance to comment on it.
“Let us go inside and talk. You look very shaken.”
Then he turned back to Ris and spoke firmly.
The tone of his voice made it clear he wouldn’t hear any more talk about fault or punishment.
“Ris, I won’t hold you responsible for what happened today. For now, go upstairs and tidy up Evelyn’s room. I have something to discuss with Evelyn, so I will borrow your room for a while.”
He meant we would talk in her intact room, instead of my own room, which had been left in shambles.
Once he issued a clear order, Ris bowed without a word and sprang to her feet, running upstairs.
Watching her retreating figure, I suddenly remembered the injuries she’d seemed to have when she was dragged down earlier, as if she’d been struck by the assailants.
“Ris looked hurt. Making her work right away like that…”
“She will be fine. She takes after her Master—her recovery is remarkably good.”
“What? Even so, shouldn’t she at least disinfect her wounds right away?”
I tried earnestly to argue, thinking he was being far too indifferent to his subordinate’s condition, but Rastan merely shook his head with a faint smile.
“She is someone who rolled around battlefields with me. In the middle of a fierce war, there’s no time to put antiseptic on scraped wounds. It is fine.”
“You’re carrying me like this even though I am not injured, but aren’t you being a bit too harsh on Ris?”
“I only ask each person to do what they are capable of. You are being carried because you cannot walk right now.”
“I-I can walk, you know?”
“Then go on.”
With a trace of mischief at the corner of his lips, Rastan pretended to set me down.
The moment my feet were about to touch the ground, I realized it.
My entire body was limp, trembling faintly all over.
I immediately switched tactics and grabbed his collar with hands that wouldn’t quite cooperate.
“D-Don’t put me down. I feel like I will just collapse right onto the floor…”
At my urgent, shaking voice, Rastan finally let out a soft, deflating sound of laughter.
“Do not pretend you are fine when you are not. That will not work on me.”
With a gentle motion, he adjusted his hold on me.
As I rested my head against his chest, my gaze drifted to the assailants who were still sprawled on the ground.
“Ah… is it really okay to just leave those people like that?”
“Don’t tell me you are worried about their condition too?”
One of Rastan’s eyebrows arched upward, deliberately teasing.
