Chapter 57
My ears felt blocked. The explosion sounds, screams, and clashing swords from before were all gone. It felt like the world had stopped.
All the assassins were lying on the ground.
Blood was spread across the forest floor, soaking the soil in red.
Carlos stood in the middle.
Or rather, he was barely holding himself up. His shoulders shook every time he forced out rough breaths.
His whole body was covered in blood. His black clothes were even darker from the wet blood. The worst was the blood flowing from his back.
“Archduke!”
I jumped down from the carriage.
When my feet touched the ground, my legs almost gave way. I was still tense. But I didn’t care. I ran and grabbed Carlos.
He was heavy.
It was hard for my small body to support a grown man. But I couldn’t let go. If I let go here, he would fall to the ground.
“…Move away.”
Carlos spoke lowly.
His breathing was rough. His face was pale. Blood was on his lips. His eyes looked blurry, like his focus was fading.
He looked down at me and said firmly,
“Send the carriage right now.”
“Right now is not the important thing!”
“We have to go to the archduke territory. More soldiers might come. First you—”
“How can you say that after seeing the archduke’s condition?!”
I didn’t realize I was shouting.
Carlos looked down at me.
His red eyes trembled faintly. His focus seemed to be fading.
“…You’re shouting. So you must be safe.”
After saying that, Carlos closed his eyes.
His body fell weakly.
“Archduke!”
I quickly held him up.
His chest was moving slightly up and down. He was still alive. I felt relieved, but at the same time, I became more scared.
There was no color in his face. His lips were blue, and cold sweat was on his forehead.
Blood kept flowing from his back. It wouldn’t stop. My clothes were dyed red.
My hands were shaking.
‘…What should I do.’
My mind went completely blank. I couldn’t think properly.
Is there medicine in the carriage?
No. This wasn’t a situation medicine could fix.
Magical backlash from excessive mana use. Plus a sword wound. Three problems together. Normal treatment wouldn’t work.
My body moved before I had time to think.
I took a small knife from my chest. It was a self-defense weapon I carried.
I stabbed the knife into my skin. Sharp pain came, and blood began to flow. My face twisted from the pain. But it didn’t matter. This pain was nothing.
I gathered the blood on my palm and focused my mind.
The blood slowly hardened, then crystallized.
After a moment, a dark red purification stone began shining on my palm.
“…Please.”
I placed the purification stone on Carlos’s chest.
A bright red light wrapped around Carlos’s body.
The power of the purification stone stabilized the dark mana and began healing the damaged parts. Warm energy spread through his body.
Carlos’s breathing slowly became more stable.
His rough breaths became slightly even. The wrinkles between his brows loosened a little.
But it was not enough.
The wound was too deep. He lost too much blood. Mana consumption was also severe. One purification stone was not enough. More purification stones were needed. But I had no time or strength to make more.
‘…He must not die.’
My voice was shaking.
Tears fell. I didn’t know when I started crying. Tears ran down my cheeks. I couldn’t stop them.
“Please don’t die… please….”
He had to live.
Because this happened because of me. Because he fought to protect me. He couldn’t die. Absolutely not.
Then my wandering eyes caught the ring on my finger.
The ring I received from Sion.
He said to call him if there was an urgent matter. That he would come anytime I called. I thought it was light words back then, but now those words felt desperate.
I grabbed the ring tightly.
With a heart full of longing.
‘Please, please come. Please save this person.’
The space twisted, and with blue light, a familiar figure appeared.
“Hey, I was just thinking about yo—”
Sion stopped speaking.
Blood everywhere. Dead bodies scattered on the ground. The destroyed forest. Burnt black trees. Holes dug into the earth. Carlos lying down. And me, crying while blood flowed from my arm.
Sion frowned.
“Save him.”
I said while crying.
I had no pride. No dignity. I was just desperate. I begged him to save this man. Not to let him die.
“The archduke… he lost too much blood. There’s mana backlash, and he was stabbed by a sword… and he used too much magic. All because of me….”
My voice broke.
I felt like I would burst into tears.
“Please save him. He must not die.”
I clung to him desperately.
He had to live.
Because all this happened because of me. Because he fought the assassins to protect me. Because he took a sword in his back to protect me. If he died… If he died, I would…
Sion looked down at me.
Silence fell for a moment. His purple eyes looked at me like they were piercing through me.
Then his gaze moved to the purification stone on Carlos’s chest, and then to my blood-covered hand.
“You…”
His lips moved but closed again.
“…Okay. I understand.”
It was a short answer, but I felt so relieved from that one word.
Sion knelt and sat beside Carlos. He stretched out his small hand and placed it on Carlos’s chest.
Blue light spread and slowly wrapped around Carlos’s body.
“…His condition is bad.”
Sion frowned.
“His magic circuit is damaged. Internal injuries are severe. It looks like he forced mana out too much.”
“Can he be saved?”
I asked urgently.
My voice was shaking. Please. Please let him live.
“Fortunately, it’s not enough to kill him.”
“Is, is he okay?”
“Probably.”
Probably.
Does that mean he might not be okay?
My heart sank.
Seeing me like that, Sion patted my back as if trying to comfort me.
“Right now I can’t check his condition properly. I’ll do emergency treatment first. The bleeding will stop and mana will stabilize. But for proper treatment, we have to go to the archduke mansion.”
“Can he move?”
“I’ll move him. I’ll use spatial teleportation magic.”
Sion raised his hand.
Blue light surrounded us. It was warm light.
“…You will sleep for a moment.”
“Eh?”
“Spatial magic consumes energy. And you lost a lot of blood. It’s safer if you move while sleeping.”
“But…”
“Listen to me.”
Sion tapped my forehead lightly.
My vision became blurry. Strength left my body. As tension released, fatigue came rushing in. It felt like something heavy was pressing on my eyelids.
‘…Hold on a little longer, archduke.’
With that thought as the last thing, darkness came.
