Held in his arms, I blankly looked around the room and realized that this was my room in the ducal manor.
In other words, the room I had moved into after telling Rastan we should use separate bedrooms.
Then suddenly, I felt that Rastan’s body, which was tightly holding me, was trembling very faintly.
“Rastan…”
“I felt like my blood was drying up every single day, afraid I might lose you again…”
‘Again?’
It was true that this was the second time I had reached death’s door, but there was no way he could remember my previous life, the first time.
‘Maybe he’s talking about how coldly I treated him these past few days.’
I wrapped my arms around his broad back in return.
“I am sorry. Even if I felt betrayed, I was too harsh to you. I regretted it the entire day yesterday.”
The apology I had wanted to tell him all day yesterday.
Being able to finally say it made me feel a little relieved.
After hearing that, Rastan slowly pulled away from me. But his expression was a little strange.
“Not yesterday. It was a week ago.”
“What? Back then, you hadn’t even told me your true identity yet…”
“You did not regain consciousness for a week after I brought you back.”
I had felt dazed as if I hadn’t fully woken up, but hearing that shocked me into full awareness.
“I was asleep for that long?”
“You were almost dead. Even after pouring all my healing power into you, I could not be certain you would wake up.”
‘Well, I did scrape together every last bit of my potential and used it all at once.’
Still, perhaps thanks to his immense healing power, my condition now was very good considering everything.
‘I feel like I could get up and walk around immediately. I thought I was really going to die that day.’
I recalled the last situation before I lost consciousness.
“Ah, I was in the underground prison. How did you find me?”
Only after hearing my question did Rastan seem to calm down slightly and sit properly in the chair beside my bed.
The face that had looked as if he might cry had already returned to its usual composed and dignified expression.
Perhaps because of that, even his tone had returned to normal.
“It seems another demon had placed a barrier blocking your presence. After I eliminated that demon, I immediately sensed your presence and was able to find you.”
“Was that demon’s name, by any chance, Astaroth?”
When I said that with a faint smile, Rastan’s eyes widened in rare surprise.
“How do you know that…?”
“Ifrit—no, Marquis Pavel—had made a contract with that demon.”
I told him everything, from how Ifrit had kidnapped me to how I entered his unconscious and completely destroyed his mental world.
“That is truly astonishing. It seems your ability is nearly limitless within the mental world.”
It was an embarrassing compliment to hear from someone who was close to omnipotent.
“That was only possible once, thanks to that pendant.”
“I am not so sure. No matter how mystical an object may be, it cannot grant power that does not exist at all.”
“That means…”
“It showed you your potential in advance. If you continue training steadily as you have until now, you may one day reach that level.”
‘My ability… not only controlling people, but even completely destroying someone’s mind?’
I was so shocked that my mouth opened slightly without realizing it.
Rastan quietly smiled as he watched me.
“I understand now what happened. Hearing your story makes everything fall into place.”
He explained that the moment I completely destroyed Ifrit’s mental world, the contract with Astaroth, which was bound by his soul as collateral, had effectively been broken.
“A soul trapped in a collapsed mental world, unable to escape, is useless to a demon.”
It was astonishing to realize that what I had done wasn’t merely turning Ifrit into a vegetable, but trapping his soul so it could never escape.
“And since I eliminated Astaroth, the contract would have been broken either way.”
Hearing Rastan’s words, my heart suddenly felt heavy.
“Then… does that mean I did not have to make Marquis Pavel end up like that…?”
Even though he was evil, it still weighed on my mind that I had turned someone into a state no different from being dead.
However, Rastan was firm.
“No. The moment his mental world was destroyed, Astaroth, who was connected to him, also took damage and showed an opening. Because of that, I was able to eliminate him.”
“So what I did helped you.”
“Rather than help, I would call it salvation.”
The expression sounded far too excessive, and I looked at him with wide eyes. But Rastan’s gaze was serious.
“If not for that, I might have been the one to disappear.”
…Disappear.
‘Rastan could have ceased to exist forever?’
Shocked by his words, I cried out without realizing it.
“No, that cannot…!”
“You are right. That cannot happen.”
Rastan let out a soft chuckle and wrapped his arm around my shoulders, pulling me into an embrace.
“Thanks to you, I am here now. You did very well. You truly endured so much.”
His warm praise made my heart flutter.
“And above all, I truly, desperately wanted to see you again. Thank you… for coming back.”
Just as I was about to raise my hand to embrace him in return, the door opened.
Startled, I instinctively pushed against Rastan’s chest and looked toward the door.
Entering were Sally, carrying a basin filled with water and a towel, and Ris, who had opened the door for her since Sally’s hands weren’t free.
“Oh? My Lady?!”
The moment they saw me, Sally and Ris ran toward me.
“Sally! Oh my, Ris, you’re safe too?”
“My Lady… I thought something terrible had happened! Uwaaaah…”
Overwhelmed by their fussing, Rastan had already been pushed aside from my side.
However, without a single word of reproach toward the maids, he simply watched us warmly as we embraced and cried.
***
Before I knew it, night had fallen.
“Yaaawn~ I slept for a whole week, so how is it possible that I am already sleepy again before even a full day has passed since waking up?”
It had been a long day spent amidst the bustling celebration of the ducal manor’s servants, congratulating me on waking up.
I let out a long yawn, lifted the blanket, and slipped in beside Rastan.
It had been a while since I came to sleep together in Rastan’s bedroom. He lay facing me, propping his head up with his arm as he looked at me.
“If you are sleepy, you can sleep again. Rest as much as you need whenever you are tired.”
After I woke up, his face had returned to its usual brightness.
‘He didn’t even take a nap… how strange.’
His face, smooth like porcelain, shone even more beautifully than before, almost dazzling.
“Do you remember the last thing you said to me before you lost consciousness that day a week ago?”
“Huh? I am not sure…”
It had been such a chaotic moment that I couldn’t immediately recall what happened right before I lost consciousness.
I retraced the events starting from right after I destroyed Ifrit’s mental world.
‘I returned to the real world in the underground prison… and I was struggling to breathe, losing consciousness, when suddenly Rastan appeared, covered in blood.’
“Ah, right!”
One corner of Rastan’s mouth lifted subtly.
“You remember?”
“Yes! You seemed badly injured back then—are you okay?!”
Only now recalling that fact, I was startled, but Rastan’s expression became somewhat strange.
“…Is that what is important right now?”
“You were bleeding so much, how is that not important? Let me see!”
I was dumbfounded by his reaction and pulled open his shirt, which was already half loosened, exposing his chest.
Rastan looked slightly flustered but didn’t resist and simply let me do as I pleased.
‘He’s probably the type to neglect taking care of his own body, so there’s no way he treated his injuries properly.’
I had acted without thinking, intending only to check how his wounds had been treated. But then…
“Huh?”
His exposed upper body was tightly formed with large, firm muscles—and completely smooth, without a single wound.
I blinked in confusion.
“That is strange, you were definitely covered in blood……?”
“Unfortunately, I am not an ordinary human, so injuries like that disappear immediately. More importantly…”
Rastan grasped both my wrists, which were resting on his shoulder and arm.
“This is nice. This kind of attention.”
As he said that, he brought one of my hands to his lips and lightly kissed my wrist.
And as he slightly lowered his head and looked up at me, that gaze… was irresistibly seductive.
