Chapter – 03
His eyes, which had been spraying medicine on her other leg, slowly lifted and met hers. Through the slightly parted strands of his bangs, one of his eyebrows raised slightly.
“You looked like you were in pain. I don’t like seeing people in pain.”
“…Duke Grixia.”
“Erebe.”
“What?”
After pouring the very last drop of the medicine from the bottle onto her leg, he spoke in a relaxed tone.
“Erebe Sans Ovenil Grixia. I don’t like complicated names, so just call me Erebe. Or Lev if you want something even simpler.”
At his words, Ferdia’s expression twisted slightly, and a smile appeared on his lips again.
“Nice to meet you, Fedi.”
What was going on here? Ferdia frowned strangely at the way he called her. Seeing her unusual expression, Erebe let out a small laugh.
“You can make interesting expressions too?”
“W-what did you just say?”
“You can make interesting expressions too?”
“No, not that!!”
When Ferdia shouted urgently, Erebe shrugged and took another medicine bottle from the box and handed it to her. Ferdia stared at the bottle offered to her before turning her gaze away. Erebe spoke casually at her reaction.
“What’s so complicated? I just don’t like long names.”
Still… calling her “Fedi” so warmly. Ferdia rolled her eyes and looked into his black eyes, then slightly furrowed her brow.
“Were your eyes always that color? They were red before.”
“Oh, these?”
At her words, Erebe moved his eyes and smiled slightly. His black eyes scanned her, then instantly turned a dark crimson. At the same time, his presence became incredibly fierce. The chilling aura he emitted was enough to make her body flinch just from being nearby. Seeing her reaction, he closed his eyes.
“It’s a trait of the Grixia family.”
“…A family trait?”
“You sure are curious. We have plenty of time anyway. How about we finish your treatment first? I’d rather not have such a long conversation with someone who looks like they’re hurting.”
He pointed at the bottle in her hand with his finger.
“I can treat external injuries like this, but for internal injuries you need to drink the medicine yourself.”
His arm reached toward her leg.
“Excuse me.”
At the same time, his large hand grasped her calf and began massaging the muscles and tendons. Startled by his sudden action, she tried to pull her leg away, but she lacked the strength and her leg remained trapped in his grip.
“Don’t move. I can’t treat you if you do.”
Treatment? At his voice, Ferdia stopped struggling and slightly lowered her head. His beautiful blond hair swayed softly. The warmth of his fingers as they gently loosened her muscles and traced her tendons spread pleasantly.
A faint scent of mint drifted from his body. Ferdia lowered her gaze and stared silently at his fingers tending her calf. Such careful hands.
It was hard to believe this was the same man who wielded the sword of desire and cut people down until he himself finally broke. Compared to the battlefield, his atmosphere was softer now, and his expressions much freer.
“Drink it.”
“Huh…?”
“Drink. I matched the dosage.”
Snapped out of her thoughts by his voice, Ferdia looked confused. His eyes shifted toward the bottle in her hand. Following his gaze, she nodded and slowly opened it. The moment she let the medicine flow into her mouth, her face crumpled from the indescribable bitterness.
“Oh right. That’s extremely bitter. Drink it slowly.”
“……”
Couldn’t you have said that earlier, you bastard?! Ferdia struggled to swallow the medicine, whose bitterness felt almost sinful just touching her tongue. Strangely, she could feel every bit of it as it went down her throat.
“Ugh… damn it.”
She muttered as she finished the bottle and placed the empty vial on the table.
“One more.”
“What?”
“The recommended adult dosage is two bottles.”
“……”
Is this a health supplement or something? Her expression soured.
After what felt like torture—being forced to consume all kinds of medicines and treatments—Ferdia’s condition improved in proportion to the suffering she endured.
Even with normal treatment, her wounds and internal injuries would have taken at least two months to fully heal. But the medicine Erebe forced her to drink and the ointments he gave her to apply to her hands and feet were beyond imagination in effectiveness.
As a result, Ferdia, who had returned to near-normal condition in just two hours, stared blankly at her hands and feet. Erebe scanned her condition with his eyes and smiled with satisfaction as he closed the box.
Thud.
The sound of the box closing snapped her back to her senses. She looked at his black eyes. After putting the box back in its place, he returned to his seat and asked:
“Anywhere else uncomfortable?”
“I don’t think so.”
“No nausea? No weakness in your hands? Any difficulty circulating mana?”
She shook her head. Erebe nodded, then leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes lightly. Ferdia stared blankly at the man who had suddenly shut his eyes.
What is this?
She couldn’t understand the situation.
Just moments ago, she had been imprisoned in an underground dungeon, hoping that the death coming for her soon would at least not be painful. During the trial, she had hoped they would grant her a peaceful death, but instead they only discussed cruel punishments, making it feel like her world was collapsing.
To think she had been pulled into this damned novel only to face an even more terrible death. She wanted to refuse it, but here she was a criminal. There was no one to save her. Her country had fallen, and she had been abandoned. There was nowhere to rely on.
But then the trial suddenly ended, she was brought here, and the man who had defeated her was now treating her with full effort, sitting calmly with his eyes closed.
Was this really the same grim reaper from the battlefield who had looked at her with dark red eyes and spoken in an emotionless voice?
Ferdia was a knight. A very capable one. When the Empire captured her, the first thing they did was cut the tendons in her legs. Then they reduced her meals to weaken her vitality. To ensure she could never resist.
And yet this man, who called her “Fedi” and treated her carefully, now sat relaxed with his eyes closed even though she was fully recovered.
It looked like a beast sleeping with its head inside a predator’s mouth.
He looked full of openings. It felt like she could move right now and snap his neck.
But—
“…Why did you treat me?”
That came first. She looked at him with suspicion.
Why?
Is this some new kind of torture? Weren’t you going to kill me? What’s the point of healing someone like me? What if I caused trouble after recovering? What if I went on a rampage?
Once she started, the questions kept pouring out. Every sentence ended with a question mark. It felt ridiculous and unsatisfying to only ask questions, but she needed answers.
To know her future.
His closed eyelids lifted, revealing black eyes. He stared at her quietly and said:
“Fedi.”
“Could you stop calling me that so affectionately?”
“You don’t have to be so cold. We have plenty of time. Shouldn’t we at least grow a little attached?”
His words made her eyes narrow slightly.
“Hey…”
“Erebe.”
He was smiling.
“Don’t be so formal. Erebe, or Lev… or any nickname you think of. Call me comfortably.”
“……”
So this is what it means to be so dumbfounded you can’t even speak. His way of talking was so strange it almost felt like he was having a conversation by himself.
“Du—”
“Erebe.”
“Stop—”
“Erebe.”
“Now—”
“Erebe.”
His previously relaxed body suddenly moved, and before she realized it, his face was right in front of hers. That sharp mint scent reached her again.
“I’d really like it if you called me that…”
His lips curved slightly into a smile.
“Fedi?”
Still flustered by his sudden kindness, and now faced with his almost childish insistence that she call him by name, Ferdia raised both hands.
“Fine… Erebe.”
“That sounds nice.”
He leaned back again, satisfied, and closed his eyes. Ferdia pressed her lips together as she watched him, feeling swept up in his pace.
“I know you’re curious, but I can’t answer right away.”
“Why?”
“Because your opinion is important.”
“My opinion?”
“Your opinion. Your thoughts. Your judgment. Your perspective. Your views. Your ideas.”
He opened his eyes.
“And your voice.”
“…What are you trying to say?”
“I want to give you a choice.”
“A choice?”
He nodded and slowly spoke to her blank expression.
“So? Do you want to die?”
What was his intention? Ferdia met his gaze with complicated emotions. He simply waited for her answer.
She checked her physical condition. Countless possibilities ran through her mind.
If he tried to kill her, should she just accept it?
Her body was fully recovered. She didn’t have a sword, but if she left this room she felt she could escape. Even if this was the Imperial Palace, if she truly tried, it might be possible.
But the risk was huge. She had already prepared herself for death—but she didn’t want to die horribly. Being impaled, burned alive, flayed…
She wanted to reject those possibilities with everything she had.
So if he intended to kill her in a less cruel way… would it be better to just accept it?
She bit her lip while meeting his gaze.
The fact that he treated her bothered her. Why did he heal her? To save her? But she was a criminal. To the Empire, probably a heinous one. Execution was certain—the only question was how.
But… if she said she wanted to live… would he let her?
