Chapter 9
Silas walked to his room without saying a word.
“……”
Selena’s eyes darted nervously toward the glowing ring, but she couldn’t say anything because of Silas’s tense presence.
As the heavy silence continued, the ring’s light began to intensify.
It was like looking at a bright star in a dark sky.
A very blue star.
The light, more brilliant than anything, burned brightly like a candle about to go out, then flickered.
At the same time, Iris’s body began to twitch.
“Ah… Iris…”
Her face was completely pale, as if she were dead.
Seeing her like that, Silas braced himself and acted.
Pop!
In an instant, Silas shot forward.
Thud.
Bang!
He arrived in the room in an instant and slammed the door open.
Lartelle, who had been quietly sitting there, widened her eyes like a startled rabbit at Silas’s sudden entrance.
She had already heard that something had happened.
“Iris is hurt.”
Silas gently placed Selena on the floor and carefully laid Iris on the bed.
“Wait a moment.”
Lartelle hurriedly began checking Iris’s condition.
An anxious few moments passed.
All Silas and Selena could do was watch Lartelle.
“She has no color in her skin. Did the young lady lose a lot of blood?”
“Yes. She was stabbed in the shoulder, but a top-grade potion was used.”
“Even with a top-grade potion… this is impossible.”
If it were truly a top-grade potion, her blood would have been partially restored.
But not Iris.
Her skin was pale, as if all the blood had been drained.
“It’s like seeing someone drained by a vampire. The solution would be a transfusion with the same blood type, but…”
“If money’s the issue, I’ll provide it. Fix her no matter what.”
“That’s not the problem… we need blood of the same grade. Human blood has types…”
“So, what do we do?”
Silas stepped closer to Lartelle.
“First… we need to check her blood type. Starting with…”
Lartelle pricked Iris’s thumb with a needle.
Drops of blood began to form.
She collected them in a vessel and started chanting a spell.
Brown mist swirled gently around Iris’s blood.
“Starting with me.”
Lartelle pricked her own fist.
Plop.
As her blood touched the dark energy, it shimmered and turned red.
“This…”
“I’m not the same grade. Madam?”
“I’ll try.”
“No, Selena. You stay. I’ll do this.”
Silas stopped Selena from pricking herself, drew his sword, and slashed his own palm roughly.
Drip, drip…
“Silas…!”
Selena cried out in shock, but he calmly spread the blood over the dark energy.
Shaa…
Immediately, the black blood began to stir.
Unlike before, the energy thrashed violently, then began to glow green.
“Looks like it worked.”
“Yes, yes!”
“Hurry and treat Iris.”
“Understood. Please lie next to her.”
Lartelle, still in disbelief, followed the procedure.
Silas lay down beside her as instructed.
“You might feel a bit dizzy.”
Whoosh…
As Silas grimaced slightly, a bright light began emanating from both of them.
“After a short rest, the treatment will be complete.”
With that, Silas lost consciousness.
In “The Saint Like Clouds in the Blue Sky”, the Duke was portrayed as terrifying.
He tormented the Saint heroine and the male protagonist mercilessly to become emperor.
He even killed his younger brother, Daik, the master of the magic tower.
What would one feel upon seeing such a potential criminal first thing in the morning?
Certainly, it would feel like a day of misfortune.
Just like now.
“You’re awake.”
His blue eyes glinted sharply as they stared at me.
“Ugh.”
Seeing those threatening eyes the moment I opened my eyes made me take a shallow breath and rise from my seat.
‘Is he angry I woke up late…?’
Where was I anyway?
I tried to piece together last night.
The puzzle pieces slowly fell into place.
‘I remember Silas coming in…’
Then this must be the Duke’s room…?
Had I slept in a tiger’s den?
Goosebumps erupted over my entire body as the conclusion hit me.
“Ah… good morning…”
I forced a smile at Silas, signaling, I’m just a clueless child!
“……”
“H-Haha…”
Silas’s cold gaze pierced me.
My mind rang alarms.
I needed to act fast to survive.
“Silas, if you stare at a child like that, she might cry.”
At that moment, a radiant light began to shine behind the Duke.
It wasn’t coming from him.
It came from Selena, the angel who had come to save me.
Pushing her husband aside, she smiled at me warmly.
“Good morning. Are you feeling alright?”
I praised my savior silently and smiled brightly.
“Yes. I’m completely fine now.”
I even pointed to my shoulder.
She must have given me a potion while I was unconscious.
The cut on my shoulder had healed perfectly.
The mental shock remained, of course, but having endured so much as a doctor, I had grown numb to such things.
“I’m glad. Actually, there’s something I need to talk about regarding yesterday. May I?”
Selena spoke cautiously, perhaps considering my feelings.
‘Did anyone in my past life ever truly worry about me like this…?’
No.
Everyone had enjoyed seeing me suffer—my colleagues, classmates, even the hospital director.
“Yes!”
Perhaps that’s why my voice carried a slightly excited tone despite myself.
As I smiled innocently, showing myself as harmless, Silas appeared carrying chairs for himself and Selena.
Startled, I looked at him and instinctively averted my gaze.
If I looked too long, he might attack.
Fortunately, my intuition was correct.
Silas sat down silently, avoiding eye contact.
‘Did I eat something wrong this morning…?’
Why was he acting like this?
“Iris.”
A deep, refined voice interrupted my thoughts.
It was smooth enough to melt hearts, yet one wrong answer could mean life or death.
‘But I can’t ignore him either.’
The world was cruelly unfair.
“Arphote does not withhold rewards from those who help. Most importantly, you saved my wife. Tell me what you want. I will grant it.”
The Duke spoke in a rapid-fire torrent of words.
I stared in disbelief.
How could he be so arrogant?
Yet somehow, he didn’t feel unpleasant at all—truly, the world was unfair.
“Duke…”
“…think about it slowly.”
Seeing Selena smile awkwardly, I paused to think.
‘Anything I want…’
I had wanted something for a long time.
Love.
I had craved love.
Having spent my childhood in an orphanage in both past and current lives, parental love was something I only imagined from novels.
My heart had always been cold, empty inside.
I had always yearned for a family.
“Family…”
The word slipped out unconsciously, and I immediately covered my mouth, shocked.
But the bus had long left the station and soared into the sky.
Glancing at Silas, I saw the expression: “You dared speak nonsense after I offered a reward? I’ll have to kill you immediately.”
My fingertips went icy.
I closed my eyes tightly and blurted out the first thing that came to mind.
“I-I just wanted cookies for the family…”
“……”
It was all meaningless.
Silas’s mixed gaze didn’t change.
Ding—
Silas rang the bell for the maid.
As if on cue, Lisa and the other maids rushed into the room.
“Your clothes are dirty. Go wash up.”
He said nothing more, averting his gaze from me.
It was essentially an order.
Judging by his previous threatening look…
‘He’s serious about killing me.’
I was dragged to the bath like a condemned prisoner.
Thanks to Lisa and the maids, I was stripped and placed in warm water.
The warmth eased my restless mind slightly.
‘He wouldn’t really kill me just for wanting a family, right…?’
Of course he would.
I nodded, spinning a happy little fantasy in my head.
Knock-knock.
A voice called:
“Miss, may I come in?”
It was Lisa.
“Sure… come in.”
I had no reason to refuse and gladly accepted.
The door opened, and Lisa approached with a tray.
“What’s this…?”
“Cookies and milk.”
I knew what she had brought, but I wondered why.
“Suddenly?”
Lisa smiled awkwardly.
“The Duke said it might take a while, so he told me to bring some cookies.”
“Huh?”
That man must be up to something.
Playing games, of course.
“Silas.”
Selena’s voice whispered in his ear.
But he didn’t respond, unable to meet her gaze.
Dragging out time would be foolish, he knew that.
From the start of their relationship, she could read his thoughts instantly just by looking at his face.
What would she say seeing this expression?
“Silas.”
Her voice came again.
A long silence.
Silas slowly lifted his head.
“…Why do you call me?”
A single transparent tear fell from his blue eye.
The blood grades matched.
The ring gleamed blue.
Everything pointed to one thing.
“Iris… the lost Ragrasha.”
The daughter he had been searching for all this time was right beside him.
Though he had only just brought her home, deep guilt flooded Silas’s heart.
All the emotions that had tormented him surged further.
“It’s not your fault…”
Selena approached carefully and hugged him tightly.
Each time she hugged him, she realized:
‘Silas is human too.’
Beneath his hard muscles, his heart beat like anyone else’s.
Stronger than anyone, yet tender only toward his family.
That was Silas.
Finding Ragrasha proved it.
“Finally… we’ve found Ragrasha.”
Selena’s heart swelled with emotion.
Surely she too had longed to see her lost daughter.
She had also suffered, keeping it deep inside.
“Now I wonder if the child will accept me.”
“Even if she hates you, even if she bites and resents you, we can still love each other. That’s what matters.”
Because that’s what parents do.
That’s love.
Their duty was to safely guide the pure, beautiful paper airplane that had flown to the Duke’s mansion back to heaven.
No matter how difficult, they endured.
And that day, the flawed parents achieved a small but meaningful growth.
