Chapter 15
Rubelia frowned at the burning pain in her arm.
“…….”
Zerden’s expression stiffened instantly when he noticed her injury.
“Zerden, are you okay?”
Rubelia’s brief frown from the throbbing pain disappeared as she looked at him with concern.
“Now is not the time to worry about me.”
Zerden himself had escaped the assassin’s attack range thanks to Rubelia pulling him, but she hadn’t.
He felt a little angry—angry that her reckless actions had caused her to get hurt.
But seeing Rubelia worry about him, that anger melted instantly.
It wasn’t her fault at all.
She had simply noticed the assassin first and tried to protect him.
So if anyone should blame themselves, it was Zerden for noticing the threat too late.
‘I didn’t realize I’d need help this often.’
Seeing her get injured only made him feel worse. For the first time, he even felt a pang of self-doubt in his own abilities.
“But shouldn’t we catch the person who threw such a dangerous weapon?”
“You’re the one who got hurt.”
Right now, what mattered most to Zerden wasn’t the assassin—it was Rubelia’s injury.
“No, it hurts, but still…”
“……”
Zerden quietly looked at her.
“If we catch that person, we can find out who did it.”
Rubelia’s words came out defensively as she felt his gaze pierce her.
“That’s not important.”
“Why isn’t it important? What if that person tries to attack you again?”
Rubelia said angrily. Even though Zerden’s rebellion was the bigger threat, if the assassin killed him first, nothing else would matter.
Of course, judging from what he knew, it seemed unlikely he would die from this assassination attempt.
“Catching them won’t do any good anyway.”
“Why not?”
“I have an idea who it is.”
Zerden said casually. He didn’t know exactly who had ordered the attack, only that it was probably a noble from the Crown Prince faction.
If that was the case, Zerden could do nothing. Touching a noble from the Crown Prince faction would worsen his already precarious standing with the Emperor. Even if the noble had ordered his assassination, the Emperor would just see it as a plot to weaken the Crown Prince faction.
Zerden didn’t want to provoke the Emperor or worsen their relationship.
Although he had no attachment to the Emperor, he still felt something for the Crown Prince he had once been close to.
This level of assassination threat won’t kill me, so I’ll just ignore it.
Only a bitter feeling remained. Even if the nobles were behind today’s assassination attempt, the Crown Prince couldn’t be completely uninvolved. Knowing that strained Zerden’s mind.
“So you already have a good guess who did it?”
“Yes.”
Zerden answered calmly and gently held Rubelia’s arm to check her wound.
“But why aren’t you more concerned? They tried to kill you.”
“This is nothing. Their skill isn’t enough to kill me.”
He had survived so many assassination attempts that none of the attackers were truly a threat.
“How can you be so sure? You never know what could happen.”
Rubelia looked both angry and hurt. Zerden said nothing.
“And… it’s painful, isn’t it? Knowing someone wants to kill you.”
Rubelia had some idea that Zerden faced constant threats. She had guessed that might be why he committed rebellion.
Yet seeing him remain so unfazed by another assassin’s appearance made her suddenly furious.
“There’s nothing I can do anyway.”
Zerden said this as a kind of reassurance. But it only made Rubelia more upset.
“…Could the one who ordered it be the Crown Prince…?”
Rubelia’s words made Zerden widen his eyes slightly. She had immediately guessed the Crown Prince was behind it. It wasn’t hard to surmise who most wanted him gone.
“Well…”
Zerden could have denied it, but he didn’t. Perhaps he didn’t want to hide it, or maybe he wanted to evoke some sympathy from her.
Rubelia pressed her lips together, unsure what to say. Hearing it from Zerden himself made the situation feel heavier.
“Let’s pretend this conversation never happened.”
Zerden said casually, feeling his heart tighten at her almost-teary expression.
“Just because we ignore it doesn’t mean what you went through didn’t happen.”
“No need to make this incident bigger.”
Whatever she did now would only draw the Emperor’s attention. Zerden didn’t want unnecessary trouble or conflict. He knew very well that any overt move against the Emperor would count as rebellion.
“Have things like this happened often?”
“Right now, we should focus on treating your wound first.”
Luckily, the wound wasn’t too deep, but it needed care. Blood trickled from the torn sleeve across Rubelia’s pale skin, tightening Zerden’s chest with worry.
“…Alright.”
Zerden didn’t answer verbally, but Rubelia could read his agreement from his silence.
‘Not good.’
Learning a possible reason for Zerden’s rebellion didn’t make her happy; it made her head spin with worry.
Rubelia decided to end their city outing and return to the Marquis’s house with Zerden. She draped his jacket over his shoulders to hide the wound.
She knew if the Marquis saw it, he would panic—especially knowing Zerden had been injured protecting her. He might even grab a sword in a frenzy to “punish” whoever tried to hurt him.
Since the injury wasn’t serious, covering it for a few days was enough.
When Rubelia and Zerden arrived at the Marquis’s house, chaos erupted. The Marquis was especially shocked.
“This cannot happen. Absolutely not!”
Seeing Rubelia return with Zerden and wearing his jacket, the Marquis interpreted it as a marriage proposal.
“Father?”
Rubelia looked puzzled at his reaction.
“Marriage is absolutely impossible!”
Rubelia tried to explain.
“…I just had Zerden bring me back because I wasn’t feeling well.”
Zerden, who had also overheard the exchange, looked slightly bewildered.
“No, no. Just rest, that’s all.”
Rubelia stopped the Marquis from calling a physician, fearing her injury would be revealed.
“I’ll help.”
“Yep.”
Rubelia nodded, rolled up her sleeve, and Zerden’s expression darkened as he looked at her wound.
“That must have hurt a lot.”
“No, it’s bearable.”
Thankfully, the wound was minor. Rubelia gave a reassuring expression to ease Zerden’s guilt.
“Thank you, and I’m sorry.”
“It’s nothing between friends.”
Rubelia tapped his arm lightly, though Zerden’s face remained tense.
It was the first time anyone had cared for him so much. The attention made his chest tighten but also felt slightly bittersweet.
Zerden carefully wiped Rubelia’s blood from her arm and applied ointment. She felt no pain—like a feather brushing her skin.
After finishing, he wrapped her arm with a handkerchief.
At that moment, urgent footsteps approached, and the door swung open.
Aria and Hasedian entered.
