Episode 34
When Lizbeth saw Duke Partine and Elysia arriving together, she realized she was going to die today.
The moment the door to the annex closed, she even felt as if the blood in her body had turned cold.
Death was creeping up right behind her.
While the two were inside, Lizbeth sat alone, lost in thought.
Most of those thoughts were about her younger sister.
It couldn’t be helped.
Lizbeth had lived her life centered around her younger sister.
In the end, her life wasn’t much different from Elysia’s.
She felt overwhelmed, wondering how her lacking, clumsy sister would survive without her.
At the same time, she found herself thinking she didn’t want to die.
But that feeling didn’t last long.
Lizbeth had a vague idea why Duke Partine had selected mere knights instead of the most skilled captain of the order.
It was so that he could have the captain kill her in the end.
“I’ll die just like the others I killed. I already knew that.”
That was why she didn’t want to kill the knights whom the Duke had ordered to kill her.
Then, as Elysia had once said, she rationalized it.
If she didn’t kill them, she’d be the one to die.
“If I had known I’d die this soon, maybe I should’ve disobeyed orders and died instead.”
As she imagined meaningless what-ifs, Lizbeth quietly shook her head.
That would have only hastened her death.
If that was the case, she’d rather drag things out as long as possible. No—truthfully, she just didn’t want to die.
Even though she had killed others, the selfish desire to live still weighed heavily on her conscience every single day.
The more she thought about it, the more Lizbeth felt she wasn’t suited to be a knight at all.
Skill aside, her heart was never suited for it.
Most importantly, she lacked loyalty toward her lord—almost to the point of having none.
She had joined the duke’s knights only because of her sister’s hospital bills, so it was no surprise.
“If I had loyalty, would I have killed without hesitation and died without regrets?”
She didn’t know.
Right now, all she could think was that she didn’t want to die.
As Lizbeth stood waiting for death without even blinking, the door finally opened.
At that point, she was somewhat resigned to her fate.
“I swear, today is one of the top three most nerve-wracking days of my life.”
Late at night, when everyone was asleep.
Elysia boldly came to the annex without hesitation.
And the first thing she said upon seeing Lizbeth was that.
“You helped me….”
Lizbeth started to say she hadn’t known but then shut her mouth.
Elysia wasn’t the type to be so heartless.
So maybe it wasn’t all that strange that she had helped her.
“I know, right.”
Leaning against the wall, Elysia gave a feeble reply. Honestly, even she hadn’t expected herself to go out of her way to help Lizbeth.
Not until Duke Partine had spoken to her.
“Why did you help me? If things had gone wrong, people might’ve thought you and I made a deal.”
“If you dig that deep, then I should’ve already been a suspect the moment Eden arrived.”
“……”
“And the reason I helped you is…”
Why did she help?
Elysia asked herself before answering.
The answer came quickly.
“I figured if you died, I’d keep thinking about it.”
“…”
“Um… and in a really uncomfortable way?”
“…What is that supposed to mean.”
“It means I’d feel guilty.”
Looking up at the dark night sky, Elysia spoke with unfiltered honesty and sincerity.
“It was basically a gamble, but I’m glad it worked out.”
She sighed in relief, but the more she thought about it, the more ridiculous it all seemed.
“And seriously, telling me to monitor Eden 24/7? Were you out of your mind? Did you really think that was possible?”
“……”
“It might’ve been possible for you, but not for me. Never! Absolutely impossible!”
“……”
“Oh, right. And you—telling me to take breaks all the time, and yet you were pushing yourself harder than I was. When do you even sleep? Bathe? Eat?”
“I’ve trained to go without sleep for up to two weeks. Also, I’ve taken naps whenever I could, so I managed. As for meals, I brought food when I brought Eden’s meals and ate mine too. Bathing—I haven’t in several days.”
“……”
Lizbeth answered with a straight face, explaining everything sincerely.
Each part of her routine was shocking in its own way. The least disturbing part was that she hadn’t bathed.
“…Why are you backing away from me?”
“Huh? Just your imagination.”
“You’re clearly stepping away. How is that my imagination?”
As Elysia subtly backed off, Lizbeth frowned in displeasure.
Elysia chuckled and brushed it off.
It was her way of lightening the mood.
And just as she intended, the atmosphere softened quickly.
It had been a day like a snowstorm with a hurricane thrown in.
Elysia mainly took care of Eden during the day and into the night—more precisely, from lunchtime until bedtime.
Lizbeth handled the rest.
Technically, Lizbeth covered more hours, but that was due to her strong insistence.
She was firmly against Elysia taking the early morning shift.
It was because Elysia was still growing, and maintaining a regular schedule was important.
“Eat more.”
Elysia patted Eden’s head as she spoke. Starting today, she would be the one bringing him meals.
Thanks to that, she could now observe him throughout mealtime.
“I’m full…”
By Eden’s standards, he had already eaten a lot. His cheeks were puffed with food he hadn’t yet swallowed.
Finally, Eden gave up and placed his spoon on the tray.
At the same time, Elysia picked it up again and lifted another spoonful of food toward his mouth.
“Swallow that and take another bite.”
“Mmm…”
With his cheeks still full, Eden let out a muffled whine.
“So cute.”
Elysia thought to herself with a stern face but silly thoughts.
Meanwhile, Eden chewed and swallowed the food diligently, then took the spoonful offered to him.
His right cheek puffed up again.
“You’re eating well.”
Satisfied, Elysia set the spoon down and moved the tray aside.
Then she stroked his head and praised him.
Brightened by her compliment, Eden smiled with his eyes.
It resembled the smile she had seen yesterday.
“Elysia, are you going to stay here for a long time now?”
Apparently, Eden also remembered what happened yesterday. After swallowing, he fidgeted with his fingers and asked.
Elysia nodded in response.
“Yeah. I’ll be here until night from now on.”
She slid under the blanket beside him and smiled.
As the weather had gotten colder, this was how she shared her warmth with Eden.
Thanks to that, he could endure the cold whenever she was around.
So, he had always been disappointed that their time together was so short.
But now she said she’d be with him for much longer.
Eden’s cheeks flushed with joy.
Meanwhile, Elysia—unaware of how Eden was feeling—was wondering whether she should bring Ariel here starting tomorrow.
Of course, Duke Partine couldn’t know, but now that she could openly visit Eden, it would be much easier to bring Ariel too.
“Hee…”
Eden stomped his feet in happiness at the thought of spending more time with her.
Each stomp made the bed and shackles clatter.
There was no way to describe the sound as pleasant, even as a lie.
Elysia glanced toward the noise, then looked at Eden’s bright, excited face.
He didn’t look like someone who had been through something terrifying the day before.
“…Before Ariel, there’s something else…”
As she imagined Ariel and Eden together in a cozy scene, Elysia’s expression darkened.
She still hadn’t forgotten how Duke Partine had yanked Eden by the hair the day before.
To Duke Partine, Eden wasn’t the prince of the Seimen Kingdom or even a child—he was a tool to achieve his goals.
Elysia could see his intentions all too clearly.
“Eden. Don’t you want to get your memories back?”
Elysia had avoided talking about Eden’s memories until now, but today she suddenly brought it up.
It was because the duke had blatantly said things in front of Eden the day before. There was no point hiding it anymore.
She also wanted him to know that recovering his memories was an option.
“My memories?”
Eden’s reaction was surprisingly indifferent.
“Yeah. Aren’t you curious about who you were before you came here, who you were with, and where you were?”
Elysia’s facial muscles tensed awkwardly at his lukewarm response.
“I’m not curious.”
Opposite to her expression, Eden answered with a bright smile.
A completely unexpected answer.
Elysia’s face twisted for a moment at his words.
“Why…?”
He wasn’t lying.
His firm, unwavering tone was proof of that.
Which only made it harder for Elysia to understand.
“Because I don’t know anything.”
Eden noticed her frown and replied cautiously.
“Since I don’t know anything… I’m not curious.”
“Don’t you get curious because you don’t know?”
“……”
Eden looked into her eyes for a moment before dropping his gaze to his feet.
With his slow movement, his eyelashes fluttered.
“Um… It’s like… I don’t even know what I’m supposed to be curious about…”
“……”
“I’m sorry. I’m not explaining this well… It’s frustrating, right…?”
He seemed to realize even he couldn’t understand his own explanation, and he looked apologetic.
Elysia’s frown didn’t fade.
“It’s not that I’m frustrated—it just doesn’t make sense.”
“Well… My first memory starts with you, Elysia.”
“?”
Now she understood even less.
“I don’t remember anything before you asked my name. Ah—except for my name.”
Now that he thought about it, he couldn’t even recall the voice of the person who had told him his name.
But he did remember that someone had given it to him.
Like this, Eden had known for a while now that something was strange in his head.
But he didn’t want to fix it.
More accurately, he didn’t feel the need to.
